Mappare le trincee: l’Archivio Piatti e la Prima Guerra Mondiale sull’Altopiano dei Sette Comuni

In the wide range of methodologies applied to Conflict Archaeology – and, specifically, to the Archaeology of the Great War – the use of aerial photographs produced during the conflict is often employed for the reconstruction of battle fields. However, the most important research refers mainly to northern European contexts. In Italy, the use of the same aerophotographic sources is still limited. This paper, in fact, intends to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of this type of documentary material and to assess its effectiveness in analyzing the transformations of the Italian territory caused by the war. The study is based on a collection of almost 1000 aerial photographs taken mostly in 1918 by Italian, British and French squadrons in the area of the Plateau of the Seven Municipalities, in the Venetian Pre-Alps. This archive (“Archivio Piatti”) offers new research opportunities on different topics related to the Plateau area. Indeed, in addition to presenting a unique view of the impact of the war on the territory, the aerial images provide an exceptionally valuable record of the pre-Alpine landscape of the early 20th century. Consequently, the digitization, georeferencing and digital mapping of this vast heritage represent key steps for the reconstruction of the landscape, for the purpose of providing new insights into the recent history of the Plateau of the Seven Municipalities.