A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF THE HUMAN RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE ALPINE ENVIRONMENT: THE CASE OF THE SAN GRATO VALLEY, ISSIME

The Interreg Italy-France ALCOTRA project DAHU has the overall objective to investigate, on a landscape scale and through interdisciplinary cooperation, the long-term climate change in the mountain valleys of High-Savoy (France) and Aosta Valley (Italy), its impact on the landscape and the constant adaptation of humans to the environment. Within the framework of this project, a multidisciplinary research group was set up to conduct an in-depth study of the San Grato Valley, Issime (AO). San Grato is a lateral watershed of the Lys valley (Western Italian Alps), located at an altitude between 1.400 and 2.300 metres. This valley has been inhabited by a German linguistic minority population, the Walser, from the 13th century onwards. Although it is believed that this area has been inhabited even before, the Walser people have deeply influenced the landscape and morphology of the watershed since their colonisation. Meanwhile, the population has adapted to climate change occurring over the centuries, modifying its habits and exploiting buildings and land located at higher altitudes in different ways. The valley has been almost completely abandoned by humans since the 19th century and it is now extremely well preserved. The team of archaeologists, historians, linguists, specialists in rural architecture, forest ecologists, soil scientists, wood specialists, geomorphologists, and paleoecologists is producing an accurate landscapescale analysis about how climate influenced the behaviours of populations and how in turn their traditional activities (e.g., agriculture, forestry, animal grazing) impacted the landscape with both temporary interventions and more permanent landmarks (e.g., terraces, charcoal kilns, stone walls).