18 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A rare 3,300-year-old wooden yoke found in northern Italy

After eight years of complex excavation, recovery, and restoration, a rare 3,300-year-old wooden yoke discovered in a Late Bronze Age pile-dwelling settlement in Este, Veneto, northern Italy, has been presented to the public.

The archaeological discovery of a recent Bronze yoke (14th – 13th century BC) from the stilt house in Via Comuna in Este (province of Padua), in 2015, had not received the deserved response. In fact, it took eight years to complete the delicate restoration operations, while the study of the artifact and other materials is still ongoing, involving various scientific professionals. Finally, in 2023, the Padua Superintendency presented – at Palazzo Folco – the wooden finds from the Atestino site.

The discovery occurred during archaeological investigations preliminary to the laying of a section of the SNAM methane pipeline.

The pipeline expansion route has been investigated due to the abundance of archaeological remains in the area; however, the existence of a Bronze Age prehistoric settlement was previously undiscovered. The wooden remains underwent radiocarbon and dendrochronological dating, which showed that the settlement was occupied between the middle of the 13th and middle of the 14th century B.C. Although there have been a few finds from this era made in the Este region before, this is the first instance of a clearly organized Bronze Age settlement.

This Italian-language video has excellent shots of the conserved finds and of the pile dwelling remains in situ.

The yoke is a head yoke, used by attaching it to the neck of a pair of draft animals (probably oxen) and securing it to their horns with leather straps or ropes. Curved cut-outs were made to fit the yoke snugly around the animals’ horns. It was originally estimated to be one meter (3.2 feet long), but about foot of it — the section that was mounted to the second animal of the pair — did not survive the millennia.

This yoke is significantly smaller than early modern yokes, indicating that domesticated bovines in Northern Italy during the Bronze Age were much smaller than they would later become. An ancient repair to one of the teeth in the yoke beam to which the horns were strapped is of particular archaeological interest. The farmer or craftsman must have broken it off while using it, and in order to place a new tooth, they dug out a square hole.

During the Bronze Age, the region was a wetland where people built pile homes over the water. The muddy conditions kept wood and other organic remains intact for thousands of years. Sections of soil were removed en bloc and sent to the Central Institute for Restoration in Rome, where experts in the conservation of wet wood carried out a laborious micro-excavation, PEG treatment, and controlled drying to stabilize the wet wood in a lab setting.

The excavation and conservation is not over yet. There are more wood artifacts to be discovered in the soil blocks and more analysis of the objects that have been stabilized to be done.

Related Articles

Archaeologists discovered 130 dwellings around the Ringheiligtum Pömmelte monument “German Stonehenge”

15 June 2021

15 June 2021

Archaeologists have unearthed 130 dwellings at an Early Bronze Age monument in Germany, indicating that the ‘Stonehenge’ was once home...

Ukrainian Soldiers Uncover 6th–5th Century BC Burial Site During Fortification Works

1 April 2025

1 April 2025

In a remarkable archaeological find, soldiers from the 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade have uncovered an ancient burial site dating back...

Rare Prehistoric Animal Carvings Discovered For The First Time In Scotland

31 May 2021

31 May 2021

Animal carvings thousands of years old have been found for the first time in Scotland. The carvings, estimated to be...

Persian plateau unveiled as crucial hub for early human migration out of Africa, study suggests

29 March 2024

29 March 2024

60,000 to 70,000 years ago, our species Homo sapiens walked out of Africa and began to find new homes around...

Spectacular Roman Mosaics Unearthed in Thalheim bei Wels: A Unique Discovery in Upper Austria

10 June 2025

10 June 2025

Archaeologists from the University of Salzburg uncovered three exceptionally preserved Roman mosaics during excavations A remarkable archaeological discovery has captivated...

The 3,000-Year-Old Ancient City is Under Danger

8 February 2021

8 February 2021

For the port planned to be built in Izmir’s Aliağa district, a part of the 3,000-year-old ancient city is in...

Bronze Age women’s jewelry set discovered in Güttingen carrot field, Swiss

17 October 2023

17 October 2023

A set of Bronze Age women’s jewelry was discovered by archaeologists in Güttingen, Thurgau canton, northeastern Switzerland, in a freshly...

Archaeologists Discovered Over 500 Ancient Coins and A Gold Template for Making jewelry in Bulgaria

17 August 2024

17 August 2024

In Plovdiv, in southern Bulgaria, archaeologists have discovered over 500 ancient coins and a gold template for making jewelry from...

In Lake Mendota, Wisconsin archaeologists discover the oldest canoe ever found in the Great Lakes region

23 September 2022

23 September 2022

A group of divers from Madison, Wisconsin’s Lake Mendota emerged on Thursday carrying a remarkable piece of history for the...

Archaeologists unearth 128 ancient urn burial tombs for children in north China

22 November 2021

22 November 2021

Archaeologists have uncovered urn burial chambers containing the remains of 128 infants among the ruins of an ancient city of...

In Russia, archaeologists 2100-Year-Old Medallion of Goddess Aphrodite and a warrior tomb unearthed

30 October 2022

30 October 2022

Archaeologists have unearthed a silver medallion depicting the Greek goddess Aphrodite (Roma Venüs) in a 2100-year-old grave of a priestess...

1900 years old funerary altar of a teenage girl discovered in Rome

9 May 2022

9 May 2022

A funerary altar indicating the location of the remains of Valeria, a 13-year-old girl who died in the 2nd century...

The new study presents evidence suggesting the use of threshing sledges in Neolithic Greece as early as 6500 BCE, about 3000 Years Earlier than Previously Thought

17 May 2024

17 May 2024

The threshing sledges, which until a few decades ago was used in many Mediterranean countries from Turkey to Spain to...

Researchers believe mass immigration to Orkney during the Bronze Age was mostly led by women

8 February 2022

8 February 2022

Researchers believe mass immigration to Orkney during the Bronze Age was mostly led by women.  Mass migration to Orkney during...

Iron Age Warriors Bend the Swords of Their Defeated Enemies

22 April 2021

22 April 2021

Archaeologists from the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL) announced that a metal detector has discovered “one of the largest Iron Age...