Protohistoric to Medieval pastoralism in the Western Alps: The origins and development of long-distance transhumance

该项目将研究西阿尔卑斯山从铁器时代到中世纪的长途游牧（在低地到高海拔牧场之间管理和移动动物）的发展。通过将动物从最好的可耕地转移到不适合种植作物的地区，畜牧业使以前贫瘠的土地变得肥沃。许多社会和国家的财富都建立在复杂的畜牧业基础之上。今天，高山（高海拔）景观的重要性得到了国际上的认可——严格来说，“高山”是高山牧场——自新石器时代或青铜时代以来，一些地区的文化景观被修改和管理。尽管它们很重要，但我们对形成这些景观的迁移牧区系统的发展知之甚少。我们对哪些动物被利用以及出于什么目的的理解也是有限的。这些景观通过生产肉类、奶酪、羊毛和相关副产品，为地区和国家的经济和文化做出了贡献。今天，羊（用于肉类和奶制品）主导着南阿尔卑斯牧区系统，牛和牛奶生产主导着北阿尔卑斯-这不太可能一直如此。该项目将是第一个采用区域规模方法的项目，旨在通过综合和跨学科的方法解决这些问题。我们将整合考古、动物、古环境档案（包括古代DNA）来寻找阿尔卑斯山长途迁徙的起源。这将通过重建铁器时代的动物迁移模式来实现，一直到中世纪的羊和牛在西阿尔卑斯山和邻近地区。该项目将从该地区的低地和高海拔地区获取约10个多时期的骨骼组合，并通过一系列科学方法表征羊群和牛群的组成。利用锶和氧同位素测量，我们将确定羊和牛的动物运动，并对远距离迁移的发展做出推论。该项目将访问该地区所有地点的动物报告。在这项工作的同时，我们将对四个高山湖泊进行取样，并研究侵蚀（通过研究沉积物）、植被变化（通过研究花粉和aDNA）的证据，此外，aDNA将允许在我们的景观中精确识别家养动物的外观。一段时间以来，考古学家和古代历史学家一直认为阿尔卑斯山的长途迁徙起源于罗马；这一点从未被证实过。因此，这个项目将在某种程度上回答这个问题。此外，通过将中世纪骨骼组合纳入本研究，我们将能够将基于同位素数据的结果和推论与与动物畜牧业和畜牧业相关的历史文献提供的证据进行比较。我们将同位素结果与书面档案进行比较和对比的能力将对考古学家在所有时期进行同位素研究感兴趣。这个项目的应用和效益是多方面的。对学者的好处在于，关于牧民活动对景观的相对影响的详细知识的发展，以及对社会变化与新形式的牧民活动之间关系的清晰评估。研究结果将阐明欧洲主要景观类型之一的演变及其相关的经济实践。我们将与阿尔卑斯山的国家公园合作，为公众提供政策、规划和遗产材料方面的信息。我们将传播关于这些景观的长期经济开发的信息，解释几千年来畜牧业是如何发展的。

This project will study the development of long-distance pastoral transhumance (the management and movement of animals between lowland to high altitude pasture) in the Western Alps, from the Iron Age to the Medieval Period. Pastoralism rendered previously unproductive land productive by moving animals away from the best arable areas and into areas unsuitable for growing crops. The wealth of many societies and nations was founded upon complex pastoralism. Today, the importance of Alpine (high-altitude) landscapes is internationally recognised - strictly speaking, an "Alp" is a high mountain pasture - a cultural landscape modified and managed in some areas since the Neolithic or Bronze Age. Despite their importance, we know relatively little about the development of the transhumant pastoral system that has faceted these landscapes. Our understanding of what animals were exploited, and for what purpose/s, is also limited. These landscapes contribute to regional and national economies and cultures via the production of meat, cheese, wool, and related by-products. Today, sheep (for meat and dairy products) dominate the southern alpine pastoral system cattle and milk production dominate the northern Alps - it is unlikely that this was always so. This project will be the first to adopt a regional-scale approach designed to address these issues via a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach. We will integrate archaeological, faunal, palaeoenvironmental archives (including ancient DNA) in the search for the origins of long-distance transhumance in the Alps. This will be achieved through the reconstruction of animal transhumance patterns of Iron Age through to medieval sheep and cattle in the Western Alps and abutting regions. The project will access c. 10 multi-period bone assemblages from lowland and high altitude sites from the region and characterise the composition of flocks and herds in via a range of scientific methods. Using strontium and oxygen isotope measurements, we will identify animal movement for sheep and cattle and make inferences regarding the development of long-distance transhumance. The project will access faunal reports for all of the sites in the region. In parallel to this work, we will core four alpine lakes and study evidence for erosion (via the study of sediments), vegetation change (via the study of pollen and aDNA), in addition, the aDNA will permit the precise identification of the appearance of domesticated animals in our landscapes.For some time, archaeologists and ancient historians have argued for Roman origins of long-distance transhumance in the Alps; this has never been demonstrated. Therefore, this project will go some way to answering this question. Also, through the inclusion of Medieval bone assemblages in this study, we will be able to compare the results and inferences based on isotope data with evidence provided by historical documents that relate to animal pastoralism and transhumance. Our ability to compare and contrast the isotope results with written archives will be of interest to archaeologists applying isotope studies in all periods. The applications and benefits of this project are many. The benefits for academics lie with the development of detailed knowledge regarding the relative impact of pastoral activities on the landscape and a clear assessment of the relationship between societal changes and new forms of pastoral activity. The results will elucidate the evolution of one of Europe's keystone landscape types and associated economic practices. We will be working in partnership with the National Parks in the Alps to feed the information into their policy, planning and heritage materials for the general public. We will disseminate information on the long-term economic exploitation of these landscapes, explaining how pastoralism has developed over the millennia.