Bioarchaeological approaches to understanding the long-term development of mountain societies

Bibliographic Data

ID5255183
AuthorsKevin Walsh (0000-0003-1621-2625, University of York, corresponding author), Juliette Knockaert (0000-0003-4627-9599, University of York), Katharina Dulias (0000-0002-3938-6663, University of York), Charline Giguet-Covex (0000-0002-5141-4815, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Dianne Unsain (0000-0001-8369-7509, Aix-Marseille Université), Sylvain Burri (0000-0001-7165-8908, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Pierre Magniez (0000-0002-9953-1519, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Alistair Pike (0000-0002-5610-8948, University of Southampton), D Orton (0000-0003-4069-8004, University of York), Florence Mocci (0000-0001-7048-1821, Aix-Marseille Université)
Year2023
Volume15
Issue12
Publication date2023-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArchaeological and Anthropological Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1866-9557 • E-ISSN: 1866-9565
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s12520-023-01889-z
OpenAlexW4389240791
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited159

Archaeologists do not always differentiate between human activities, practices and techniques within landscape archaeology. This problem is reflected in some research into the development of pastoralism in the Alps. Here, we develop a framework within a "position paper" that engages with these different processes by assessing recent developments in bioarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental methods. Over the last two decades, alpine research has moved beyond the mere characterisation of human activities toward the classification and interpretation of specific practices and techniques, changing how we study the development of alpine pastoralism. Research into the development of mid-/long-distance transhumance from the Provencal plains to the Western Alps has generated considerable interest over the last 20 years. Therefore, the PATHWAy (Pastoralism, TransHumance in the Western Alps) project focuses on studying the Iron Age to Medieval pastoral systems in the Western Alps and south-eastern France, which is today one of the main regions in Europe where transhumant pastoralism still takes place. Finally, this contribution aims to review how bioarchaeological methods, combined with "cultural" archaeology, inform detailed quotidian aspects of lifeways rather than impactful, mediatised generalising statements, such as mass population movements or simplistic generalisations about past diet

Archaeology · Ethnology · Geography · Livestock · Pastoralism · Population · Sociology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology