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- Title
Constructions and mountain pasture landscapes in the Ligurian Alps: knowledge for potential preservation.
- Authors
Vecchiattini, Rita; Gnone, Marta
- Abstract
On the Ligurian Alps, south-west of the alpine chain, particular artefacts may be found at an altitude higher than 1400 m a.s.l. These artefacts are strongly connected, due to their collocation and function, to life on the mountain pastures. They are a silent testimony to the alpine, woodland and pastoral civilisation that for years has continued to herd the cattle to new pastures from June to September. The structures that can be observed are selle (or sèle) which are used to store cheeses and dairy products during the pasture months or giàss (or löve), temporary sleeping quarters, once used as primary spaces for milk production. Other construction types are the caselle, with a circular or quadrangular plan and usually covered by pseudo-vaults in concentric rows made of stones. Finally, balme were shelters constructed under huge irregular rocks. Structures like stables or barns can be observed at a lower altitude (1400-1600 m). They usually have two stone fl oors bound by lime mortar with architraves, attics and wooden coverings. As the altitude increases (1600-1900 m) the use of wood and lime decreases, because these materials are more difficult to find and to produce in such areas, while the use of dry stone (or stone bound with clay mortar) is more widespread. Thanks to the use of materials collected in the surrounding area, mountain pasture structures are successfully integrated with the natural landscape, becoming an essential part of it. Besides brick structures, which can be easily recognised, one may also observe a number of smaller details: lines of dry stone walls to separate pasture areas, tracks, small canals dug in the ground to channel water from streams, depressions in the ground to collect rain water and specific vegetation due to exploitation during pasture season. The landscape of mountain pasture is therefore anthropomorphised and it is difficult to preserve because its artefacts are fragile and precarious in that they are altered or eradicated rapidly, as a consequence of the abandonment of these areas by the cattle herders. Some features are by nature so ephemeral that they change in a few seasons, while others maintain their characteristics for longer even if they need constant maintenance that in pasture areas is guaranteed only when the area is still in use. Maintenance work on these constructions taken out in the last century were careless and did not consider local and traditional materials: cement mortar was inserted within the spaces between stones or at the extrados of stone vaults, a bitumen sheath was laid on the coverings or on the vaults of the séle, a metal plate was used to substitute the hay that was once used for "enclosed roofs" (thatched roofs enclosed by the two pediments of the house) and in rare cases attics were built with clay-cement or reinforced concrete to substitute wood, that probably crumbled. Structures and areas of pasture are cultural landscapes, with a strong connotation reflecting the long interaction between man and nature. The decline of traditional practices caused by the depopulation of mountainous areas (started in the post-war period of World War II) and by the abandonment of marginal areas, triggered a process of transformation of the semi-natural environment of mountain pastures involving structures and infrastructures which are not in use anymore. In order to preserve it, the cultural landscape of mountain pasture requires more and more interventions for an active safeguard and management of the territory. Mountain pastures are safeguarded in various ways but in the areas where pastoral economy is not active and no longer linked to cattle herding, their preservation is only passive, whereas in areas with a strong tradition of livestock and/or where tourism is a source of income, they are actively safeguarded. Moreover, even if there are different forms of safeguard for constructions and mountain pastures, we are still far from preserving the culture of mountain pasture life, with its tradition and knowledge.
- Subjects
LIGURIAN Alps (Italy); PASTURE ecology; CIVILIZATION
- Publication
Il Capitale Culturale: Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage, 2015, Vol 12, p857
- ISSN
2039-2362
- Publication type
Article