Program > By author > Reinhold Sabine

Climate change has been one of the central topics of global scientific discussion in recent decades. Reports of extreme weather events and conditions triggered by the environmental impact of global anthropogenic activities are today commonplace. Climatic fluctuations have been a constant phenomenon in the history of the planet and were particularly significant since the beginning of the Pleistocene.
Mountain ranges represent unique contexts for human occupation. Although their topography and elevation usually determine harsher conditions for life, their biodiversity and resource availability have always attracted human populations. Moreover, the effect of climatic fluctuations on human strategies is more pronounced in extreme environments, with mountain landscapes providing a prime example.
Examining past human occupations in mountain landscapes, with a specific focus on periods of past climatic change, offers us the possibility of uncovering issues and examples that are highly relevant for our current situation.
This session aims at discussing the relationships between climatic variations, environmental changes, and human occupation of mountain environments through time and space. It addresses different aspects of the diachronic reconstruction of highlands with respect to natural resource exploitation, settlement, mobility, and connections.
We seek contributions addressing the aforementioned topics in all the different mountain ranges of the planet, from the Pleistocene through the Holocene, including the Anthropocene.
Possible themes might include, but are not limited to: adaptations, responses and resilience during phases of climatic change; examples and interpretation of intensive use of the mountains in phases of climatic degradation or examples and interpretation of decreasing human occupation in phases of climatic amelioration.