In 2019, through a three-year agreement between the University of Trento, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage of the Autonomous Province of Trento and the Municipality of Nago-Torbole, the excavation and archaeological research project began at the pre-Roman and Roman site of the Doss Penede in Nago (TN). The site is located on a limestone ridge which, despite being just 285 m asl, allows an extraordinary 360 ° visual control over a large portion of the territory that includes a large part of Lake Garda, the lower Sarca valley, the terrace di Nago and through it the natural corridor that connects the Sarca valley with that of the Adige. Despite its current relevance to the Province of Trento, the upper Garda area where the site is located was attributed in the late 1st century BC. to the Brixia ager. The site was known locally starting from the early nineties of the last century, thanks to a series of reports following cleaning operations carried out by local enthusiasts. Given the remarkable level of conservation of the structures, some of which emerged before the excavation, and the wide chronological arc indicated both by the visible walls and by the movable finds collected in the past, it was believed that the Doss Penede could constitute the starting point of a larger project aimed at investigating the transformations of the settlement network, economic systems and landscapes in the area between Alto Garda and the Sarca river valley between the second Iron Age and the late imperial age (VI BC-V AD).

The excavation in 2019 focused on four areas located on the western slopes of the hump, where part of the high-altitude settlement was brought to light, organized by means of oriented terraces against which buildings of various functions are attached. The transformations in a monumental key and the thickening of the buildings seem to be placed at the turn of the first century BC. and the first century AD, while the occupation, where certain dates could be collected, does not seem to exceed the III / IV AD. Particularly significant is the fact that in at least three of the four excavation areas there is evidence referable to the occupation of the second Iron Age. They are represented by rectification of the limestone to create building spaces and by the remains of terracing works in large blocks placed dry and subsequently incorporated into the Roman sack walls, which instead make extensive use of lime mortar. The resilience of the high-altitude sites that developed in the context of the Fritznes-Sanzeno or Rhaetian culture widespread in the Trentino area in the second Iron Age and characterized by settlement continuity in the Roman-Imperial age is a phenomenon of great interest, well documented even more north in the Anaune territory. Through a three-year agreement, the research will continue in 2020-2021 with the aim of completing the excavations begun and investigating new areas, also in order to make a portion of the site usable in the medium term.