Experts of prehistoric artefacts are puzzling over an unusual terracotta tablet which is part of the collection of the Museum Ladin Ciastel De Tor in the Dolomite resort town of San Martino in Badia. The tablet, known locally as the brotlaibidole because it resembles a bread roll, is believed to be 3,500 years old and is engraved with enigmatic signs that so far no-one has been able to interpret.

Antiquity historians believe it may either be an amulet, worn to protect its owner, or a token used in trade to prove that goods had been delivered.

The tablet is a remnant of a primeval culture that extended from the north of Italy as far as the Carpathian Mountains and the lower Danube.

The brotlaibidole and other prehistoric finds from the area can be seen in the Castle De Tor of San Martino in Badia, now converted into a state-of-the-art museum recounting the story of the Ladini culture. A new section was opened last summer in San Cassiano, 20 kms away, illustrating the geological formation of the Dolomites. There is an interesting collections of fossils, as well as a well-preserved skeleton of a cave bear.

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