TABLE 6

POZZA DEL MAS - VAL DI MASO
MAS manso maso

Mas_ (a. 1627) the name may derive from MANSO, late medieval Latin meaning “farm (of 25 fields)”, or from the Cimbrian MAAS measure. The mansi farms were given to farmers and servants by the feudal lord. In the Astico Valley there was the “curtes di Valle” with the center “Massa Carturni” (Caltrano). In the area in addition to the Val di Maso there was Mas in Canove (a. 1627), Mazetto in Cavrari and Mass north of Asiago.
The mountain pasture pools are small artificial basins in beaten earth between 50 and 100 cm deep created in the pastures to conserve rainwater collected by surface runoff or through small irrigation ditches from the surrounding meadows and roads.
Generally, the pools exploit natural depressions in the ground and have a circular shape. They were created by spreading layers of clay mixed with hand-beaten beech leaves that were trampled by cattle. They were often surrounded by limestone slabs, stoanplatte or dry stone walls, adapting to the morphology of the land.
The Pozza del Mas, created like others on public land along the ancient road from Mosson to Asiago, was used to water the flocks in the “montegare” and “desmontegare” of the mountain pastures, avoiding interference with the neighboring pastures.
The pools are environments of biodiversity ideal for the reproduction of frogs, toads, newts and salamanders. Equally characteristic are the insects such as dragonflies, dytiscus, water striders and velids that move quickly suspended on the water. It is important to conserve these precious ‘islands’ of biodiversity, created in a karst terrain, scarce in water. The Pozza del Mas was cleared of invasive vegetation by volunteers from Montagne e Solidarietà APS to restore its original function and historical memory.