Le fluitazioni del legname nelle Alpi orientali. Fra continuità e discontinuità (XV-XIX secolo)

This essay focuses on the Eastern Alps, one of the most important wood-producing areas in northern Italy due to its rich forests (spruce, fir, larch, and beech) and to the growing demand of the densely populated Venetian mainland. Until the introduction of the railway in the mid-nineteenth century, an enviro-technical system was progressively developed along this area’s rivers and streams to link the forests to the markets for the transport of timber, an asset that has interconnected mountains and plains for centuries. The descent of the logs corresponded to a parallel ascent of goods that were not available in the mountains, such as wheat and wine. These goods were traded along the river route used by the rafts, intersecting and using the land road system. In the early modern period, a system of ports was established from which it was possible to float on rafts. Beyond this threshold, only rafting was practicable thanks to the infrastructure system (locks and canals) whose main resource was always water.