Climate Factors And Shepherds' Graffiti In Northern Italy: an Investigation Through Dendrochronology

In the Fiemme Valley (Trentino, northern Italy), thousands of inscriptions can be found on the limestone cliffs of the southfacing slopes of Mount Cornón (Fig. 1), at altitudes between 1200 and 2000 m above sea level, in the highest and most remote portion of a small cluster of villages (Tesero, Panchià, Ziano di Fiemme and Predazzo). Concentrated along the steep trails that lead to the highest pastures, they were made with local red ochre, called Bból^, by goat keepers and shepherds who used these short-distance transhumance trails, and include dates, signatures, initials, family insignias, herd counts, pictographs, sacred symbols, dedications, and greetings (Fig. 2). Shepherds were seasonally employed to keep the flocks of sheep and goats on the large sections of the mountain that were not subject to regular hay mowing and away from the fields and meadows that surrounded the villages, which could be used for grazing only after the last hay cutting.