Mobilità, porti e mercati nell’alto medioevo in Italia settentrionale Quadri generali, linee evolutive, casi di studio

The data obtained from the excavation in Piuro and the classification and study of the distribution of soapstone extracted there in northern Italy require us to rethink the classic model of goods distribution networks in the Po Valley. Starting from these premises and the role of public power, this article explores new possible paradigms through the analysis of several case studies relating to mobility and trade between the tenth and twelfth centuries, taken from the Verona area where the data are particularly significant. It also extends the analysis back to the ninth, eighth and seventh centuries through the study of several normative texts. The results obtained aim to describe more general trends; these aspects emerge even more significantly when the investigation is extended backwards and the data from the eighth and seventh centuries are compared with those from the sixth and fifth centuries. Through these faint but significant traces, possible elements of continuity that have been scarcely valued until now emerge.