Abstract
The origins of Alpe Borghetto, a present-day summer farm complex in Val Febbraro (Italian central Alps), were investigated in 1996–2004 on the basis of five peat mires at 1,895–2,103 m a.s.l. which were analysed palynologically, and five main archaeological sites at 2,015–2,115 m. The area appears to have started to be used in the Neolithic according to environmental evidence at Borghetto Sotto, around 4500–3800 cal bc. Increased human land use during the Copper and/or Bronze Age is indicated by pollen results from the Barch and Lavazzé sites and by archaeological findings at Lavazzé. Some kind of regular summer activity may have taken place at Lavazzé and perhaps in the Barch area along the natural tree line. In the early Iron Age, a substantial reduction of woodland around 800–500 cal bc at Barch probably marks the beginning of traditional dairying-based summer farming in the area, soon followed by a ‘protohistoric’/early Medieval settlement at Barch. A year-round settlement of similar date appeared at lower altitude in the nearby valley of Starleggia, following Bronze Age woodland clearance. A subsequent decrease in charcoal input at Barch can be associated with the period when mountain farmers left the zone and settled lower down at present-day Borghetto, as evidenced from Borghetto Sotto. This resettlement was possibly brought about by a lack of wood for building, fuel and tools, and may have taken place over many centuries during the Middle Ages. Pressures from Iron Age economies within and around the Alps might have influenced the appearance of traditional summer farming in Val Febbraro.
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Acknowledgements
This paper is a contribution of a joint Norwegian-Italian programme within the Central Alps Project, formerly based at the Anthropology Laboratory of Naples University and presently in Turin. Research on Borghetto was particularly supported by funds from Comunità Montana della Valchiavenna (FGF) and on the Norwegian side by the Olaf Grolle Olsen and Miranda Bødtker legacy, University of Bergen (DM). The Beta Analytic radiocarbon measurements were personally paid (FGF). We would like to thank Jill Morris and Kirsten Moe for support in the field, Marino Buzzetti, Roberto Castaldi, Laura Colombo and Clelia Scaramella for their participation in difficult archaeological work, and Jan Berge, Solfrid Hjelmtveit, Anette Overland, Ingvild Mehl and Anne Bjune for laboratory preparation and analysis. Over the years, the Del Curto family provided much-valued hospitality at Borghetto Alto, while Martino Raviscioni and his ‘Locanda Cardinello’ created a friendly home at Isola. The paper was edited by FGF. We acknowledge Jean Nicholas Haas and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments to improve the manuscript and James Greig for streamlining both the ideas and the language.
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Moe, D., Fedele, F.G. Alpe Borghetto: origins and evolution of a summer farm area in the Italian central Alps based on vegetation history and archaeology, Neolithic to present. Veget Hist Archaeobot 28, 141–162 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-018-0695-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-018-0695-6