The Linking Role of the Alps in Past Cultures

The Alps cover a large area characterized by a pronounced relief that has been shaped by glaciers and which, historically, has been arbitrarily separated by political frontiers. Arguably, no other natural landscape in Europe has influenced our imagination as powerfully as the Alps. The Prealps and the Alpine foreland are also considered as part of the Alpine region because of geographical, cultural and historical links. Alpine climate, landforms, and hydrography, together with flora and fauna, form a complex environmental system that has determined the nature of the colonization and exploitation of the region by man. The Alpine habitat displays unique characteristics due to its richly diverse prehistory and history, which have yet to be comprehensively and coherently studied

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