I due versanti della montagna. Forme e mutamenti della mobilità a Roaschia (Valle Gesso)

In the past 20 years historical and anthropological research in the Alps has identified a multitude of community models, which form a spectrum ranging from a strong degree of economic and structural closedness to a remarkable openness deriving from migration and trade relations. This article presents results of an ethnographical and historical-demographic study of Roaschia, a community inhabited by transhumant herdsmen and peasants in the Valle Gesso. In the light of recent literature Roaschia shows unusual features; these, however, could possibly be uncovered in other places of the Maritime Alps, thus in a sector of the mountains particularly stamped by transhumance. The two oldest forms of mobility are examined (transhumance into the plains of Piemont; seasonal migration into Southern France), as well as the growth of trade in milk and milk products around the middle of the 20th century. This trade, which accompanied transhumance and partly replaced it, allowed an expansion of the complex system of relations based on Roaschia into Piemontese, Ligurian and Lombardic centres.