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

本项目将研究从铁器时代到中世纪时期阿尔卑斯山脉西部的长距离放牧季节性转移（动物在低地到高海拔牧场之间的管理和移动）的发展。畜牧业通过将牲畜从最好的可耕地迁移到不适合种植作物的地区，使以前贫瘠的土地变得富有生产力。许多社会和国家的财富是建立在复杂的畜牧业基础上的。今天，阿尔卑斯山（高海拔）景观的重要性已得到国际认可-严格来说，“阿尔卑斯山”是一个高山牧场-自新石器时代或青铜时代以来，在某些地区修改和管理的文化景观。尽管他们的重要性，我们知道相对较少的发展，跨季节放牧系统，这些景观。我们对什么动物被利用以及出于什么目的的理解也是有限的。这些景观通过肉类、奶酪、羊毛和相关副产品的生产，为区域和国家的经济和文化做出了贡献。今天，羊（肉类和奶制品）主导着南部的高山畜牧系统，牛和牛奶生产主导着北方阿尔卑斯山-这不太可能一直如此。该项目将是第一个采用区域范围办法的项目，旨在通过全面和跨学科办法解决这些问题。我们将整合考古，动物，古环境档案（包括古代DNA），在寻找阿尔卑斯山长距离迁徙畜牧业的起源。这将通过重建铁器时代的动物游牧模式来实现，直到西阿尔卑斯山和毗邻地区的中世纪羊和牛。该项目将访问C。从该地区的低地和高海拔地区收集了10个多时期的骨骼组合，并通过一系列科学方法确定了羊群和牛群的组成。使用锶和氧同位素测量，我们将确定动物运动的羊和牛，并作出推论，关于发展的长途transshumance。该项目将获得该区域所有地点的动物群报告。在这项工作的同时，我们将对四个高山湖泊进行取样，研究侵蚀的证据（通过对沉积物的研究），植被变化（通过花粉和aDNA的研究），此外，aDNA将允许在我们的祖先中精确识别驯养动物的外观。一段时间以来，考古学家和古代历史学家一直在争论阿尔卑斯山长距离游牧的罗马起源;这一点从未得到证实。因此，本项目将在一定程度上回答这个问题。此外，通过纳入中世纪的骨骼组合在这项研究中，我们将能够比较的结果和推断的基础上，同位素数据与证据提供的历史文件，涉及到动物畜牧业和季节性畜牧业。我们的能力，比较和对比的同位素结果与书面档案将感兴趣的考古学家应用同位素研究在各个时期。这个项目的应用和好处很多。对学者的好处在于发展有关教牧活动对景观的相对影响的详细知识，以及对社会变革和新形式的教牧活动之间关系的清晰评估。结果将阐明欧洲的基石景观类型和相关的经济实践之一的演变。我们将与阿尔卑斯山的国家公园合作，将这些信息纳入他们的政策，规划和遗产材料中，供公众使用。我们将传播关于这些景观的长期经济开发的信息，解释畜牧业如何在数千年来发展。

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.