The elements that substantiate the origin of Stelvio or Stilfser cheese have clear historical references that define cheese-making tradition, place of origin and the relationship of the area in which it is made to the production zones defined in the disciplinary. These references date back to ancient times, as the influential Tyrolean historian Hermann Wopfner outlines in his book about mountain farmers (Book of Mountain Farmers by Hermann Wopfner, Bergbauernbuch, Universitaetsverlag Wagner; Volume I and Volume III). Various documents and manuscripts cited in the book clearly show that the cheese is well established in the dietary habits of both the farming and non-farming populations. The widespread existence of Schwaigen - farms in the 13th through the 16th century that paid taxes to landowners in the form of cheese - throughout Tyrol is well documented in land registers of the time. That cheese was used as a medium of exchange proves the importance of this product in the economic, and thus social, structure of the population of that time. Production of Stelvio or Stilfser cheese has been in the historical record since 1914, when documents from the Stilfs (Stelvio) dairy describe production of the cheese.