Perpetually on the move from the lowlands to the highlands in Northern Greece

Summary

"On the move" is a pan-Mediterranean project on transhumance implemented by the Mediterranean Consortium on Nature and Culture. As part of this project, I have produced a documentary that illustrates the life and experiences of transhumant pastoralists in Northern? Pindos, Greece. The seasonal movement of these people with their flocks from the valleys to the alpine meadows of Pindos, although a practice currently in decline, has for centuries been the backbone of the economy of Greece and many other Balkan countries. Nomadic pastoralists not only provided the populations of Greece and the Balkans with milk, cheese, wool and textiles but also kept the mountainous areas alive both culturally and ecologically. Their routes have functioned as ecological and cultural corridors connecting the cities and towns of the lowlands with the most remote peaks of Pindos. This previously unscreened video seeks to shed light onto issues of connectivity and the complexities emerging from the cultural interactions of the people of the highlands with those in the lowlands. It also hopes to challenge long-held cultural and social prejudices about transhumant groups and individuals.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Connecting highlands and lowlands – Towards a holistic approach to upland and lowland symbiosis in the past, present and for the future

Keywords

Spatial Coverage