What is that building doing there on Via Borgo Vico? New archaeological perspectives on the Iron Age occupation of the Como (Northern Italy) lakeshores

The city of Como (Lombardia, Northern Italy) is in a plain at the interface between Lake Como and mountain slopes. The most widely accepted narrative states that all the pre-Roman settlements were located on the hills surrounding the Como plain, that was marshy and uninhabited. The present-day downtown lies in the plain. New archaeological remains of a large and complex building dating back to the V cent. BC (Golasecca Culture – Iron Age) were discovered in the “Borgo Vico” site, located in the western suburb of Como. We analysed the new archaeological remains and re-enterpreted the available archaeological, stratigraphic, geomorphological data and historical cartography, to reconstruct the configuration of the Iron Age settlement, and the changes of the lake shoreline position between the Late Glacial and Iron Age/Roman Age. During these periods, the suburb was a strategic obligatory passage between Northern Italy and Central Europe, comprising a fundamental commercial and cultural route. In this context, the large structures could be interpreted as representative buildings. The Late Glacial coastline gradually advanced toward the lake during the Holocene, after repeated alluvial events and anthropogenic landfilling. Geomorphological and stratigraphic evidence and an ancient map suggest the existence of an inlet during the Iron Age/Roman Age, potentially serving as a protected anchorage for merchants or fishing boats. Our findings indicate a more extensive and developed human presence during the Iron Age in the Como area than previously assumed.