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Article

English

ID: <

http://hdl.handle.net/10261/196919

>

Where these data come from
Seasonal shepherds’ settlements in mountain areas from Neolithic to present: Aralar – Gipuzkoa (Basque country, Spain)

Abstract

Aralar is a karstic mountainous landscape situated to the south of the western-most part of the Pyreneeswhere, apart from forests, mountain pastures are very important. We have found evidence of seasonalshepherds' settlements from the Neolithic to the present in the form of megaliths, caves and foundationsof dwelling huts dating from the Bronze Age, and confirmed by radiocarbon dating. Pastoralism, apartfrom gathering and some hunting, enables the use of resources in these areas. The environmental,cultural and economic conditions determine the characteristics of the animal herds here. Thus, mountainareas are used in summer, when grass and nutritional resources are good but, when lignification in-creases, the livestock is moved lower down the valleys. More than two decades of archaeological researchin this landscape has helped to understand the shepherds' way of life over time.

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