High Mountain, Pyrenees

Écrire l’histoire des estives et du pastoralisme dans une vallée des
Pyrénées. Rien de plus facile en apparence, pour une pratique
plurimillénaire dont tout suggère la stabilité. Mais comment
remonter d’un point de vue archéologique la trace fugace des
parcours des troupeaux ? Comment avérer les changements des
systèmes d’exploitation et les fluctuations de la pression pastorale
au cours des siècles ? Dans quelles sources lire l’histoire non écrite
des paysages ? Et quand l’écriture existe, comment débusquer dans
les archives le témoignage des plus humbles, qui ne parlent pas, et
démasquer les stratégies des puissants ?
Autant d’interrogations qui avaient l’attrait d’un défi pour les
vingt-cinq spécialistes – archéologues, historiens, géographes,
pastoralistes, ethnologues, paléo-environnementalistes – qui ont
exploré ces questions dans l’espace emblématique de la vallée
d’Ossau, en Béarn. Sous leurs observations croisées, l’histoire – ou
plutôt les histoires – des estives se dévoilent progressivement.
Troupeaux, herbages, forêts, cabanes, fromages mais aussi terres
communes ou droits d’usage, partages territoriaux et pratiques de
l’espace sont appréhendés dans le temps à la lumière de nouvelles
sources et de nouveaux regards. Il s’agit de comprendre des aspects
de la culture et du patrimoine encore largement méconnus ainsi que
la façon dont la recherche les construit.
Richement illustré de photographies, cartes et schémas, cet ouvrage
est accessible à un large public.

The issue of resource exploitation, both plants and animals, by Neolithic communities has always attracted vast interest. In particular, resource exploitation at mountain cave sites is still being widely discussed. This paper explores the use of grass resources at the archaeological site of Els Trocs (Aragón,
Spain), a Neolithic mountain site in the Pyrenees. The analysis of phytolith samples suggests that grasses growing in the surrounding of the site were widely used. The morphological assemblages identified, and their spatial distribution, indicate that wild grasses were probably used as floor spread. The integrated approach used in this study, combining phytolith, spherulite and micromorphological analyses, confirms this hypothesis. Furthermore, the analysis of phytolith assemblages and micromorphological traits
indicate the seasonal occupation of the site, placing human frequentation at this location during late spring/early summer. Several studies have highlighted the presence of charred seeds of domesticated cereals in the archaeological record of mountain cave sites however, in many instances, whether these crops were cultivated near the sites or whether the grains were transported to the cave from the valley bottom remains under debate. This paper also contributes to this debate by showing that no cropprocessing
activities were taking place at the site.

The Madriu–Perafita–Claror valleys (MPCV) (Eastern Pyrenees, Andorra) were the focus of a multidisciplinary microregional landscape research project that aimed to study the long term shaping of this UNESCO World Heritage Site in the category of cultural landscape. The study area is situated on a glacial modelled high mountain environment ranging from 1250 to 2800 m.a.s.l.

Multidisciplinary approaches integrating archaeology and palaeoenvironment have been directed towards the unravelling of the long-term human–landscape relationships, which ultimately resulted in the MPCV cultural landscape. The development of high-resolution temporal and spatial studies could successfully correlate archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data. This study leads to the location of more than 400 archaeological structures, 55 of which were excavated, and the multiproxy study of 7 palaeoenvironmental sequences. The combination and analysis of all these data have permitted developing a history of human–environment interactions from the Mesolithic to the 20th century. In this paper, data gathered in the MPCV corresponding to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods are presented for the first time.

During the Early Neolithic small groups are documented with a diversified economy in which grazing, hunting, fishing, gathering and an incipient cereal agriculture activities are well represented. These groups seem to follow highly mobile occupation patterns with continuous high mountain seasonal grazing exploitations that lasted one or two centuries. They appear to frequent diverse altitudinal belts in order to take advantage of different resources. A strong pastoral orientation is related to the exploitation of high mountain areas.

During the Middle/late Neolithic human groups show a higher degree of sedentism. Hunting and gathering are still important activities although agriculture and animal husbandry increase in importance. During this period an augmentation in the pastoral pressure in the MPCV is also documented, linked to the first use of fires to create grazing areas. Symbolic landscape appropriation practices are also firstly documented during this period.

During the Chalcolithic, human landscape use becomes intensive enough to cause permanent landscape changes. The upper parts of the MPCV are deforested by the action of fire while intensive agriculture takes place at the lower valleys.

The evidence presented by the MPCV project demonstrates that it was during the Neolithic when this high mountain cultural landscape was firstly formed. This process is probably related to an increase in the population and progressive sedentism, which required a more intensive and organised use of resources and, eventually, the adoption of landscape management practices.