mountain areas such as the Pyrenees (Gassiot et al. 2016; Fortó and Vidal 2016;
Clemente et al. 2014b; Tzortzis and Delestre 2010).
The archaeology of mountain areas in southern Europe is undergoing a kind of
revolution that is very recent and yet cannot be adequately explained by general
changes in the archaeological science. What is this phenomenon due to, therefore?
Several factors have converged. On the one hand, some fortuitous finds have
demonstrated that high mountain areas were occupied since very early times. The
paradigmatic example is the find in summer 1991 in the Tissenjoch Glacier in South
Tyrol, at 3,200 m altitude, of the remains of a man who was killed by an arrow
wound between 3370 and 3100 cal BC (Kutschera and Miller 2003; Spindler
1995). Ötzi, as he is colloquially known, is currently one of the best known
archaeological finds in Europe.
On the other hand, growing spatial sensibility of some social sciences (Santos
2000) has jelled in an archaeology that is increasingly aware that it needs to study
how human societies live in a place, in an environment that influences them and
which, at the same time, they transform (Redman et al. 2004; Folke 2006). This
interest has been combined with a particular perception of the uniqueness of high
mountain areas, which have slowly changed from being seen as practically pristine
places to being viewed as areas full of life, including human life. In a certain way,
the UNO’s declaration of 2002 as “International Year of Mountains” attests this
change in paradigm, which is also reflected in archaeology. Evidence of this is the
proliferation of multidisciplinary programmes in the mountains of south-west
Europe, studying the human occupations in long sequences, their impact on alpine
and sub-alpine environments and the influence of climate variations (Galop 2006;
Pèlachs et al. 2007, 2017; Bal et al. 2010; Palet et al. 2012; Cunill et al. 2012). In
general, these different theoretical and methodological approaches share an interest
in understanding past human activities in a particular physical space, high mountains, which they have shaped over time, together with climatic and ecological
factors (Angelucci et al. 2013; Calastrenc et al. 2006; Fedele 1999; Le Couédic
2010; Leveau and Segard 2006; Orengo et al. 2014; Palet 2006; Palet et al. 2007,
2012; Rendu 2003; Rey 2006; Walsh et al. 2010).
The present study is a brief summary of archaeological data obtained in recent
fieldwork in high altitude areas of the Pyrenees, especially in central and eastern
parts of the mountain range. To delimit the long temporal sequence of the human
population that is currently being documented, this paper will be focused on the first
part of the sequence. This choice is connected with some of the questions posed by
archaeological research in such regions in recent years. When did human occupation of high mountain areas begin? How was the livestock farming that currently
characterises these areas introduced? In what way is this process related to the
neolithisation process of nearby areas? From the beginnings of the twenty-first
century, new approaches and techniques have been applied to answer these questions, obtaining results, as it will be shown below, that 10 or 12 years ago would
have been unimaginable to most of the archaeologists.
4 The Beginning of High Mountain Occupations in the Pyrenees …
77
Clemente et al. 2014b; Tzortzis and Delestre 2010).
The archaeology of mountain areas in southern Europe is undergoing a kind of
revolution that is very recent and yet cannot be adequately explained by general
changes in the archaeological science. What is this phenomenon due to, therefore?
Several factors have converged. On the one hand, some fortuitous finds have
demonstrated that high mountain areas were occupied since very early times. The
paradigmatic example is the find in summer 1991 in the Tissenjoch Glacier in South
Tyrol, at 3,200 m altitude, of the remains of a man who was killed by an arrow
wound between 3370 and 3100 cal BC (Kutschera and Miller 2003; Spindler
1995). Ötzi, as he is colloquially known, is currently one of the best known
archaeological finds in Europe.
On the other hand, growing spatial sensibility of some social sciences (Santos
2000) has jelled in an archaeology that is increasingly aware that it needs to study
how human societies live in a place, in an environment that influences them and
which, at the same time, they transform (Redman et al. 2004; Folke 2006). This
interest has been combined with a particular perception of the uniqueness of high
mountain areas, which have slowly changed from being seen as practically pristine
places to being viewed as areas full of life, including human life. In a certain way,
the UNO’s declaration of 2002 as “International Year of Mountains” attests this
change in paradigm, which is also reflected in archaeology. Evidence of this is the
proliferation of multidisciplinary programmes in the mountains of south-west
Europe, studying the human occupations in long sequences, their impact on alpine
and sub-alpine environments and the influence of climate variations (Galop 2006;
Pèlachs et al. 2007, 2017; Bal et al. 2010; Palet et al. 2012; Cunill et al. 2012). In
general, these different theoretical and methodological approaches share an interest
in understanding past human activities in a particular physical space, high mountains, which they have shaped over time, together with climatic and ecological
factors (Angelucci et al. 2013; Calastrenc et al. 2006; Fedele 1999; Le Couédic
2010; Leveau and Segard 2006; Orengo et al. 2014; Palet 2006; Palet et al. 2007,
2012; Rendu 2003; Rey 2006; Walsh et al. 2010).
The present study is a brief summary of archaeological data obtained in recent
fieldwork in high altitude areas of the Pyrenees, especially in central and eastern
parts of the mountain range. To delimit the long temporal sequence of the human
population that is currently being documented, this paper will be focused on the first
part of the sequence. This choice is connected with some of the questions posed by
archaeological research in such regions in recent years. When did human occupation of high mountain areas begin? How was the livestock farming that currently
characterises these areas introduced? In what way is this process related to the
neolithisation process of nearby areas? From the beginnings of the twenty-first
century, new approaches and techniques have been applied to answer these questions, obtaining results, as it will be shown below, that 10 or 12 years ago would
have been unimaginable to most of the archaeologists.
4 The Beginning of High Mountain Occupations in the Pyrenees …
77