Pastoralism and Landscape Sustainability: A Mediterranean Perspective

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Exploring Long-Term Pastoral Dynamics: Methods, Theories, Stories" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The contraction of traditional pastoral practices in the last century has prompted a rapid transformation of those landscapes whose character had been shaped by pastoral mobility. A transformation that is accentuated by the consequences of climate change. This process is particularly relevant in Mediterranean landscapes, where vertical and horizontal transhumance have been practiced for millennia and are currently in rapid decline. To understand what might happen to these pastoral landscapes in the future we have to investigate their long-term evolution. Reconstructing the processes that led to the transformation of vegetation, soil and landforms under the pressure of mobile herders, provides us with precious insights to anticipate future changes. The PLAS research program (Pastoralism and Landscape Sustainability) combines methods from mathematical, natural and human sciences to investigate the consequences of the long-term interaction between pastoralists and environments, focusing on different regions of the old continent. In this paper, the first results from two case studies in the Mediterranean will be presented. The analysis of prehistoric transhumance in the Alps and modern agropastoralism in Aspromonte have revealed that animal farming is responsible for the development of the current character of these mountain landscapes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Exploring Long-Term Pastoral Dynamics: Methods, Theories, Stories

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39348.0