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Concept
Alpine transhumance
Summary
Alpine transhumance is transhumance as practiced in the Alps, that is, a seasonal droving of grazing livestock between the valleys in winter and the high mountain pastures in summer (German Alpwirtschaft, Almwirtschaft from the term for "seasonal mountain pasture", Alp, Alm). Transhumance is a traditional practice that has shaped much of the landscape in the Alps, as without it, most areas below would be forests.
While tourism and industry contribute today much to Alpine economy, seasonal migration to high pastures is still practiced in Bavaria, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, France and Switzerland, except in their most frequented tourist centers. In some places, cattle are taken care of by local farmer families who move to higher places. In others, this job is for herdsmen who are employees of the cooperative owning the pastures.
Most Alpine pastures are below ; all are below .
The higher regions not suitable for transhumance are known as the High Alps.
The German word Alp or Alm (meaning "seasonal mountain pasture", from Old High German alpa, alba) is originally identical to the name of the Alps (German Alpen) itself, probably a pre-Roman (and possibly pre-Indo-European) term for "mountain".
In French, the corresponding word for "alpine pasture" is alpage.
Evidence survives of a transhumance economy in the Alps dating to the later Neolithic period (c. 3000 BCE).
with evidence for pastures above the treeline reported for the Bronze Age (17th to 11th centuries BCE) in the Northern Limestone Alps.
The transhumance system in the Alps has remained virtually unchanged since at least the High Middle Ages, with a document referring to a summer pasture from 1204.
Along the edge of the Alps, starting around 1300 in west and central Switzerland and a little later in eastern Switzerland, cattle production became the primary agricultural activity. A number of specialized cattle markets grew up in Arona, Bellinzona, Como and Varese in the south and Villeneuve in the west.
Official source
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