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Contingency and Agency in the Mountain Landscapes of the Western Pyrenees: A Place-Based Approach to the Long Anthropocene

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  • Ted L Gragson

    (Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
    Laboratoire TRACES-UMR 5608, Université Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, 31000 Toulouse, France)

  • Michael R. Coughlan

    (Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA)

  • David S. Leigh

    (Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA)

Abstract

Regional- and biome-scale paleoecological analyses and archaeological syntheses in the mountain landscapes of the western Pyrenees suggest that the Long Anthropocene began with agropastoral land use at the onset of the Neolithic. Historical and geographic analyses emphasize the marginality of the western Pyrenees and the role of enforced social norms exacted by intense solidarities of kin and neighbors in agropastoral production. Both are satisfying and simple narratives, yet neither offers a realistic framework for understanding complex processes or the contingency and behavioral variability of human agents in transforming a landscape. The Long Anthropocene in the western Pyrenees was a spatially and temporally heterogeneous and asynchronous process, and the evidence frequently departs from conventional narratives about human landscape degradation in this agropastoral situation. A complementary place-based strategy that draws on geoarchaeological, biophysical, and socio-ecological factors is used to examine human causality and environmental resilience and demonstrate their relationship with the sustainability of mountain landscapes of the western Pyrenees over medium to long time intervals.

Suggested Citation

  • Ted L Gragson & Michael R. Coughlan & David S. Leigh, 2020. "Contingency and Agency in the Mountain Landscapes of the Western Pyrenees: A Place-Based Approach to the Long Anthropocene," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-22, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:9:p:3882-:d:355998
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Giuseppe Bazan & Angelo Castrorao Barba, 2022. "Historical Ecology, Archaeology and Biocultural Landscapes: Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to the Long Anthropocene," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-4, April.

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