Florence Mocci

Mobility in the Mountains: Late Third and Second Millennia Alpine Societies' Engagements with the High-Altitude Zones in the Southern French Alps

AbstractThe assessment of the important changes that occurred in late third and second millennia societies across Europe often emphasizes changes in technology and the emergence of associated objects and art forms, changes in burial rites, and developments in economic practices. Notions relating to the evolution of homo economicus dominate many of the discourses, and the evidence for increased long-distance trade / contact across Europe is used to bolster this assessment. These themes are underpinned by an obsession with ever-refined chrono-typological phases. In an attempt to present a more socially embedded perspective, this paper considers the changes that occurred in the uses of the high-altitude, sub-alpine, and alpine zones in the southern French Alps during the third and second millennia BC. From c. 2500 BC onwards, there was a fundamental change in the use of and engagement with this landscape. The first substantial stone-built pastoral structures at high altitude (2000 m and above), appear at thi...

Temps de la feuille, temps du boisillage ? Lire les données anthracologiques au prisme de l’économie alpestre médiévale

Des les annees 80, grâce a l’emergence d’outils empruntes a la biologie1, les traces du vegetal conservees en contexte archeologique deviennent un materiau d’etude de l’histoire. Mais ce n’est vraiment qu’a partir des annees 90 qu’elles sont plus systematiquement relevees, echantillonnees et analysees. De la sorte, elles contribuent a une lecture renouvelee du territoire, du terroir et apprehendent la foret, les espaces incultes et les systemes agraires jusqu’alors peu ou pas documentes par les sources ecrites anterieures au XIIIe siecle. En corolaire au developpement des strategies d’echantillonnage

Etnoarcheologia dei paesaggi alpini di alta quota nelle Alpi occidentali: un bilancio preliminare / Ethnoarchaeology of Western Alpine upland landscapes: preliminary results

Lo studio dell’interazione tra gruppi umani e ambiente montano e centrale nell’attuale ricerca archeologica. L’etnoarcheologia contribuisce analizzando questa interazione nei contesti moderni e contemporanei, con lo scopo di creare modelli analogici per interpretare il passato e di comprendere piu a fondo le strategie umane storiche e attuali. Il progetto EthWAL (Etnoarcheologia dei paesaggi alpini di alta quota nelle Alpi occidentali), nato nel 2013, si pone come punto di riferimento per lo studio delle attivita umane nelle alte quote alpine in epoca moderna e contemporanea. E un progetto multidisciplinare (unisce i metodi archeologici a quelli etnografici e storiografici, alle analisi spaziali e alle analisi dei suoli) e multiscalare (dalla piccola alla grande scala). Particolare attenzione e data alle capanne pastorali tradizionali. I risultati di questo progetto saranno utili all’archeologia e permetteranno la valorizzazione delle caratteristiche culturali dei paesaggi di alta montagna. The study of the interaction between human groups and mountain environment is crucial for archaeological research. Ethnoarchaeology contributes the analysis of this interaction in modern and contemporary contexts, aimed at creating analogical models for interpreting the past and understanding human strategies in historical and modern periods. The EthWAL project (Ethnoarchaeology of Western Alpine upland Landscapes), started in 2013, and aims to be a reference for the study of human activities in the alpine uplands during the modern and contemporary age. This is a multidisciplinary (associating archaeological methods to ethnography, historiography, spatial analysis and soil analysis) and multiscalar project (small to large scale). Specific attention is given to traditional pastoral huts. The results of this project will be useful for archaeology and contribute to the management of cultural heritage in high altitude landscapes.