Les patrimoines de l’agropastoralisme dans les Hautes-Alpes

Abstract

Agropastoral traditions have changed considerably in the Alps since the beginning of the twentieth century, but some of these traditions are still alive and prospering. Bearing witness to a cultural heritage of which the intangible roots are not easily perceptible, landscapes, understood as cultural objects, the agricultural fabric and the different crafts that maintain it, the built forms of dwellings resulting from the accumulations of centuries, vernacular architecture as a vector of identity, all these remain as indications of how the mountains were inhabited. In the Hautes-Alpes department, the practice of mountain pasturing during the summer (‘estive’) is still perpetuated, although the heritage associated with this practice has witnessed a period of abandonment and then reconquest. The mountains landscapes have been fashioned and sculpted by agropastoral practices and remain as a living witness to these practices. The buildings for the alpine pasturing and the isolated shelters for shepherds are fragile constructions requiring constant maintenance. Their restoration guarantees the survival of this mountain heritage, even if the buildings are only rarely used today for pasturing. The evolution of the heritage of agropastoralism is well illustrated by the farms of the reconstruction period after the Second World War. They offer a new typology based on post-war modernisation.

Keywords

• landscapes
• agropastoralism
• chalets
• mountain pastures
• alpage
• mountain