Villanders (; ) is a village and comune in South Tyrol in northern Italy with 1,875 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2013). It is located in the Eisack Valley above Klausen. Geography Villanders lies on the Villanderer Berg (Mountain of Villanders), at the top of which lies the Totensee (Lake of death). The village is bordered by Barbian, Klausen, Lajen, Ritten and Sarntal. History Coat of arms The emblem is party per fess of azure and gules, in the first three points of argent, in the second a fess dancetty of argent. It is the arms of the local Lords of Vilanders and Pardell. The emblem was granted in 1966. Toponym Villanders was first mentioned in an official document in 1070 under the name Filandres; in 1085 under the name Filanders, later on as Filanders or Vylanders. The origin of the name Villanders, which is often believed to derive from the term "viel anders" meaning "a lot different", is not clear to date. Sometimes, the name is believed to have pre-Roman origins (similar to the neighbouring villages Verdings/Verdignes and Feldthurns/Velturno). Other linguists have tried to look for Roman roots (for example "villa antrorum" or "valles antri"), while others even suspect a connection to Flanders in Belgium. However, none of these proposals is convincing. Following a legend, some people in Villanders believe the village was first called "Schönberg", meaning beautiful mountain, and when it was destroyed by a landslide, everything looked "a lot different" ("viel anders" in German) afterwards. Prehistory and early history It can be supposed that in the distant mists of time people discovered that life was pleasant on the fertile moraine soil of the sunny slopes of Villanders and so they settled there. There is evidence that the adjoining Sarntal valley and the surrounding mountains, including the Villanders Mountain and the Alpine meadow have been explored by men and economically exploited since at least the Mesolithic. These finds and the features of the landscape of the alpine meadow of Villanders, which is an ideal grazing ground for ibex, the preferred prey of Mesolithic hunters, suggest that the entire meadow was a summer hunting ground at that time. During excavations in the archaeological zone at Plunacker in the area within and around the village of Villanders, a Mesolithic occupation layer was uncovered, containing stone tools made from flint from the 8th and 7th centuries BC. At the beginning of