Constructing the Archaelogy of Mobile Pastoralism: bringing the site level into long-term pastoral narratives

CAMP aims to study long-term pastoral dynamics in drylands through the development of a novel and reliable methodology to investigate archaeological pastoral sites. Pastoralism is now considered a smart economy for producing food in drylands, especially within the present climate-change scenario where variability in natural resources is globally on the increase. Old stereotypes about the inefficiency and irrationality of pastoralism are being revisited, and paradigms in the approach to contemporary pastoralism are changing. At the same time, the archaeology of pastoralism is attracting renewed attention due to the longevity and sustainability of documented pastoralist lifeways. Yet, the archaeological record of pastoral sites remains elusive and extremely difficult to study using current archaeological approaches, which still lacks reliable tools to bring to light such crucial archives of past human behavior.