FINDER OF
and POPULARIZER
For the new section of #Abîmedelivres #dueparolesullastoria , I had as a guest Daniele Bodei, researcher and popularizer of finds and stories of the First World War, with his research group carried out numerous investigations on the mountains of Alto Garda, its territory, where during the White War more than 10,000 Italian soldiers lived, fought and died for the homeland.
There were many topics covered in the 45 minutes, interspersed with questions from followers, very interested in the theme of the evening.
We started from the definition of "Finder", a word that originally identified the people who, in order to maintain themselves, after the World War I, went in search of metals such as: copper, brass or iron that can be sold to earn the necessary to live.
Today, the finder no longer deals with collecting to sell but to search for the finds, with passion and care in retracing the paths of history and of the people who have lived it.
Daniele is part of a group of volunteers that deals with historical research both in the field and in archive sources. The association has been based for some years the MU.RE of Toscolano Maderno.
The theme of the research has aroused general curiosity, among those who asked for some information on the places of research, who about the possible sources to be analyzed or the tools used.
Together we also talked about the difference between finder and archaeologist, two entities that perform similar but not equal works, the first surface research instead the second deals with a detailed stratigraphic analysis of the excavation sites.
After dealing with the modalities of research and recovery, the discourse has landed on the theme of the finds, making the necessary clarifications on the modalities and the rules to be followed.
In fact, to reiterate is that not everyone can go in search of historical material without any control, it is necessary to be informed about historical constraints and possible risks arising from research in reserved areas or subject to certain controls and protection by the State and the appropriate authorities, so as to avoid unpleasant and costly inconveniences, it is better to rely on professionals before starting an investigation.
For this reason, even the use of the Metal Detector must be absolutely anticipated by a knowledge of the laws and risks involved.
Not only simple fines, but also the possibility of finding unexploded ordnance that even after a hundred years can still be dangerous if not lethal, so as Daniel stresses maximum attention and always contact the competent authorities (112 unique number) that will clean up potential explosives.
The question of the most significant find ever answers the shell of a walnut, an unusual piece of exciting history, the result of a search in the mountains found near a woolen balaclava stuck in the ice, impossible to recover because stuck in the ice; so what most may seem a waste becomes the silent witness of the horror and hardships of war and soldiers in the mountains.
His narration of the discovery of a container still engraved with the name of a soldier who died on the front of the Isonzo and the career of another fighter fortunately returned to the family is also exciting.
To leave the listeners some reading advice we talked about two very interesting books about the topic:
ARDITI, THE ITALIAN ASSAULT TROOPS 1917-1920 LEG Edizioni "le guerre"
GH'É RA LA GUÈRA Self pub, Sebastiano Pernigo
The story of the last witnesses of the two great world conflicts collected within this publication, the result of three years of hard work carried out by Sebastiano between 2018 and 2021. The volume is accompanied by numerous images and historical facts told in detail, necessary to contextualize the different testimonies.
I do not anticipate more because soon I will publish the full review.
n the conclusions we reiterated again the differences that exist in historical research, different from the collective imagination.
Not forgetting the ways to support the MU.RE , in particular through word of mouth, necessary to make known the association and the museum of Toscolano-Maderno.
If any of you had found a historical piece of which you do not know information, you can contact Daniele who will try to reveal some doubts about your finds.
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