Daniela Festi

Introduction​

On September 19th, 1991 at the borderline between Italy and Austria, the most sensational European archaeological discovery took place: the mummy of a man, that had been trapped in ice for over 5300 years was found on the Similaun Glacier, at 3210 m a.s.l.. The ice mummy was nicknamed Ötzi, after the Ötztal Alps, the mountains where he was recovered. This finding represented a unique opportunity to gain knowledge on how was the daily life during the Copper Age (3300-2200 yr BC see Table 1 for chronology) in the Alps. Its detailed study required the collaboration of many scientists of various disciplines, who analyzed the mummy’s body, as well as the objects that had been found next to it. In 20 years of studies the researchers revealed several aspects related to the Iceman and his equipment (Spindler et al. 1995; Egg and Spindler 2009); however, little it is known about the societal setting in which he used to live. Well-known facts are his affiliation to the Copper Age Remedello Culture (ca. 3400–2400 cal. BC) (Prinoth-Fornwangner and Niklaus 1995) and that his place of origin was south of the Alps, precisely in the Vinschgau valley (Müller et al. 2003, Oeggl 2007). One of the commonly accepted theories about his social status was proposed by Spindler (1993), and depicted the Iceman as a shepherd involved in the practice of transhumance. This theory originated from the palynological studies conducted by Bortenschlager (2000) in an Austrian mire located near the Iceman discovery site. According to this study, an increase of pasture indicators at about 6400 yr cal BP suggests the occurrence of local grazing. Since no coeval settlements existed in the Ötz Valley and upper Inn Valley, it was assumed that livestock was brought up from the Italian side. This implied the occurrence of transhumance across the main Alpine ridge (Bortenschlager 2000). In fact, on the Italian side, a contemporaneous valley settlement in Juval (Tecchiati 1995) (Fig.1) was known in the Vinschgau, place of origin of the Iceman (Müller 2003). Nevertheless, this hypothesis of early transhumance remained quite controversial, due to the fact that it was not supported by any kind of archaeological evidence proving the use of the alpine pastures.

In this frame, the aim of the present PhD thesis is to detect the onset of the vertical transhumance and alpine summer farming in the Vinschgau by means of palaeoecological investigations. 

 

​What are transhumance and alpine summer farming?

Seasonal transhumance and alpine summer farming are traditional practices that still play a great role in the dairy farming in the Alps. In fact, also in the Vinschgau Valley transhumance still takes place twice a year and it is celebrated as a great occasion that became a touristic attraction. The event involves about 4000 sheep and goats, that in the middle of June leave from Vernagt and Maso Corto (Schnals Valley), cross the main Alpine ridge at the Hoch Pass and Nieder Pass, to finally reach the Austrian pastures of the Vent Valley. In fact, the grazing rights of this territory belongs to the farmers of the Schnals Valley (Werner 1969). The journey lasts two days, during which the shepherds guide the flocks over steep rocky areas and snow fields, covering a distance of about 44 km. In September shepherds and flocks return to the Schnals valley following the same route backward.

In order to be able to contextualize the practice of transhumance and alpine summer farming in the past and understanding the possible factors that might have triggered their onset, it is important to define it and outline its main features.

Transhumance in the Alps can be defined as the vertical movement of livestock/flocks from the valley to the higher altitudes at the beginning of the summer, and their consequent moving back for the wintertime (Spindler 2003). In this work we deal with short-distance transhumance, also called intra-regional transhumance, meaning that the traveled distance varies from a few kilometers up to 40-50 km at the most, always remaining internal to the home-territory of the community (Cleary & Delano 1990). The seasonal movement of the livestock implies the presence of a stable valley settlement characterized by an agro-pastoral economy, where the animal owners give a part of their livestock to a common shepherd, who leads it to the alpine pastures and takes care of it during the summer (Spindler 2003). The aim of transhumance is merely meat production (Grass 1980); no production of milk and milk products is implied. This movement of a fraction of the livestock is necessary in the mountain regions, where space for agriculture in the valley floor is quite limited. In this sense transhumance is a subsistence strategy that aims to exploit the spatial distribution of the natural resources within a limited space, namely the flat and fertile valley floor for agriculture and the alpine grassland for grazing. It must be noted that an animal owner needs to have very good reasons in order to decide to move his livestock to feed it, and he will surely move it as close as possible to the home village. Transhumance is, indeed, costly: in terms of time, labor, animal form, and eventually in term of loss of beasts (Cleary-Delano 1990).

The origin of the alpine summer farming (Almwirtschaft) tradition has its roots in the practice of transhumance. Indeed, it is considered as the evolution of this practice due to the intensification of agriculture in the valley floor (Jacobeit 1961) and the beginning of dairying. Alpine summer farming is directly connected to an intense dairying activity (Spindler 2003). The livestock is taken to the mountain for the summer season where secondary milk products are prepared and stored for the winter time. The summer farming implies thereby the presence of seasonal constructions meant for hosting humans and animals, such as a refuge, a dairy farm shelter (in German “Alm”), and eventually a stable. It may include as well the hay making practice, which allows gathering and storing of winter fodder for the livestock and, at the same time, it maintains the pastures free from forest. Indeed, the prolonged use of the alpine grasslands as pastures and for hay making is an important factor that shaped the alpine landscape, keeping a great surface of naturally forested areas free from the woods.

Both transhumance and alpine summer farming imply a spatial exploitation of two environments: the valley bottoms and the uplands. Specific ecological, climatic and socio-economical conditions trigger the need for transhumance/alpine summer farming: 1) the scarcity of pastures near the home farm and the simultaneous availability of pastures in the uplands; 2) a period of severe summer drought that affects the valley pastures forcing the animal owners to move their livestock up to the mountain in order to feed it on fresh pastures; 3) a high human and livestock demographic pressure in the valley; 4) a high agricultural pressure near the village, that leaves no free areas for grazing.

 

​Our approach 

The Ötztal Alps (Fig. 1) are hereby used as a case study to investigate the occurrence of transhumance during the Neolithic, taking into account all the possible causes that might have played a role in its emergence. The study consists in a multi-proxy reconstruction of the former conditions characterizing the Vinschgau’s valley floor and high altitudes from the Neolithic period, by means of archaeobotanical analyses, namely pollen, macro-remains and anthracological investigations. The study was complemented by parallel archaeological excavations in the study sites, that aimed to find archaeological structures connected with pastoralism. As mentioned in the paragraph describing transhumance and alpine summer farming, those practices imply the exploitation of natural resources located in the valley floor and in the high altitudes, and it was hence crucial to acquire information about both environments in order to have a complete picture of the situation of the study area during the Iceman´s life time. This has been achieved by focusing the investigation on different sites located in different altitudinal zones.

1. Valley floor: the Copper Age site of Latsch.

The settlement (3895- 3010 cal BC) (Fig.1) is located in the valley floor of the Vinschgau at 620 m a.s.l., and represents so far the only clear settlement traces coeval to the lifetime of the Iceman (3300-2900 cal BC). Its investigation provided the opportunity to gain an insight on the life in the valley during the Iceman´s life time. The analyses of carbonized macro-remains supplied information about the agricultural system, while macro-charcoal fragments allowed the reconstruction of the former vegetation and the use of wood within the settlement. Faunal remains gave a picture of the composition of livestock and the importance of husbandry at that time and, finally, the archaeological findings furnished details about other activities carried out in the settlement. 

  2. Higher altitude: Lake Vernagt, Schwarzboden, Lagaun and Penaud mires.

In the high altitudes the study focuses on three mires (Schwarzboden, Lagaun, Penaud) and one lake (Lake Vernagt) lying on the traditional transhumance route going from the Vinschgau valley floor up to the Iceman discovery site (Fig.1). Pollen, micro-charcoal and NPPs analyses were performed on the sediment and peat cores collected from the sites. Parallel to the palaeo-ecological analyses, archaeological excavations were conducted in the area, aiming to find prehistoric stone structures connected with pastoralism. The palynological analyses provided the reconstruction of the vegetation history and land use in the montane and subalpine zone of the Vinschgau and Ötztal Mountains from the Neolithic till the present time, including the development of alpine pastures.

  3. Altitudinal transect

The reconstruction of the pastures development was based on a calibration set created for the study area using the modern pollen analogues technique. Samples of modern pollen rain have been collected along an altitudinal transect and pollen spectra have been investigated by means of different statistical methods (Davis indices of association, underrepresentation and overrepresentation, ordination analyses, weighting average). This provided a list of useful pasture indicators to be applied in the interpretation of fossil pollen diagrams for the reconstruction of former pastures. 

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This project was funded by Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and Südtirol Wissenschaftsfond (SWF)