U.P.S. (Unravelling Pastoral Societies) project. Follow the sheep: origin and evolution of transhumance in a Central Mediterranean context

U.P.S. (Unravelling Pastoral Societies) project.Follow the sheep: origin and evolution of transhumance in a Central Mediterranean context.UNESCO has recently (2019) inscribed Transhumance on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Many European landscapes have been characterised by networks of transhumance routes, across space and time. UPS project focuses on the study of prehistoric transhumance in a pivotal zone of central Mediterranean, Southern Italy. This ambitious research will be based in advanced research centres, using state-of-the-art methods, in line with the multidisciplinary standards of the so-called ‘third revolution of archaeology’. The two Research Questions of the UPS project are: 1) verify if it is possible to track the early origin and development of transhumance, one of the most characterizing aspect of ancient (and modern) pastoral societies; 2) verify if transhumance can be considered one of the main factors inducing connectivity through mobility, making it possible the development of social complexity even in those inner context of peninsular Italy commonly considered less permeable to foreign contacts then coastal settlements. UPS project will be the first project to study prehistoric transhumant pastoralism in southern Italy combining the study of strontium, oxygen and carbon isotope ratios to address intra-annual mobility patterns of both animals and humans in a diachronic perspective. The combination of robust sampling strategies and advanced methodologies acquired through cutting-edge training in state-of-the-art facilities will allow the reproducibility of the results beyond the study area.