Abstract

Starting from the observation of one of the first modern land register in Europe, the Perequazione Generale della Savoia, the article deals with some questions regarding property, common resources exploitation and the relationship between common resources and the administrative structure of territory. The article compares cadastral maps and registers with documents regarding juridical conflicts for common resources exploitation in the second half of XVIII century. This comparison will shed light on two different territorial and administrative models: on one hand the arrangement created by the Perequazione, that aims to a progressive centralization of local political unities and their resources; on the other hand the model exposed by social actors during conflicts, focused on a great number of family-based settlement units that claim the ownership of common resources.