La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	Shepherd carvings and drawings in the plain of La Crau: a fragile and unknown cultural heritage
Auteurs :	Guillaume Lebaudy, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Ecologia Mediterranea (30(1, Sp. Iss. SI) 2004)
Article en page(s) :	35-45
Résumé :	Hundreds of inscriptions have been carved and drawn on the walls of the sheepfolds in the plain of La Crau between the 18th century and today. They represent the history of transhumance, seasonal movement of livestock (here, sheep) between mountains (the Alps) and lowland pastures (in Provence) under the care of shepherds or owners. La Crau is a cultural landscape resulting from an old and intense relationship between human activities and the environment. The inscriptions show how La Crau plays a major role in the seasonal migrations and how shepherds and owners perceive this vast plain. This pastoral society shaped the landscape by managing it to meet forage needs. The varied inscriptions made by shepherds not only show seasonal migrations of flocks and men but also the pride of young shepherds to be part oft his pastoral society of La Crau: la pastriho.

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