Theme:
4. Persisting with Change: Theory and Archaeological Scrutiny
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Changing land use strategies at high mountain areas in Europe since the Neolithic
Content:
In the last 2 decades archaeology in European high and middle mountain areas has undergone a remarkable development. Numerous research projects have provided information regarding new sites and have uncovered long occupation sequences, often in areas where virtually no archaeological evidence was known. Despite these advances, the understanding of the processes of occupation of these high and medium mountain areas is generally based on a fixed premise, namely that the main purpose of the frequentation of these territories from the Neolithic onwards was their exploitation as pastures for livestock.
Numerous indications indeed confirm the presence of various forms of livestock farming in these areas. However, the progress of archaeological research also shows possible indications of other activities, such as agricultural practices, from the Neolithic onwards in altitudinal belts located at and above the current higher altitude villages in various European mountain ranges. Some excavations have yielded a considerable volume of carpological remains, together with evidence of processing and storage. Others have documented, through microbotanical remains, residues or traces of cereal exploitation. In some sedimentary cores, e.g. from lakes and peat bogs, the sign of possible cultivation is also worth of consideration. In some contexts, traces of terraces and even ancient cultivation fields are being documented using geoarchaeological techniques.
This evidence invites us to rethink the changing forms of occupation of medium and high mountain environments and to what extent, beyond an almost exclusively livestock specialisation, agriculture played a role in these processes in some periods. Papers presenting case studies or regional approaches either with new data or modelled scenarios are welcome, as well as ethnographic or more theoretical papers on human-mountain interactions through time.
Keywords:
Mountain archaeology, Changing land use strategies, Mountain livestock farming, Mountain agriculture, Geoarchaeology, Spatial modelling
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Ermengol Gassiot Ballbè (Spain) 1
Co-organisers:
Ferran Antolin (Germany) 2,3
Ignacio Clemente Conte (Spain) 4
Affiliations:
1. Departament of Prehistory. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
2. German Archaeological Institute
3. Prähistorische und Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie (IPNA), Universität Basel
4. Departament d'Arqueologia i Antropologia, IMF-CSIC
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