Practices

Transhumance

trans-HYOO-muhnss

Citation Formats

General Reference

Agriculture and Farming Atlas. "Transhumance." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-agriculture.interactiveatlas.org/practices/transhumance.

APA Style

Agriculture and Farming Atlas. (n.d.). Transhumance. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-agriculture.interactiveatlas.org/practices/transhumance

BibTeX

@misc{agricultureandfarmingatlas-transhumance,
  author = {Agriculture and Farming Atlas},
  title = {Transhumance},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-agriculture.interactiveatlas.org/practices/transhumance},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Herding animals between fixed seasonal pastures, typically high mountain grass in summer and sheltered lowland in winter, with only the herders traveling while the rest of the community stays settled. Milk, butter, yoghurt and cheese made at the summer pasture are the practice's staple product. It has been documented across the Alps, the Balkans, the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Central Asia and the highlands of Africa and the Americas, wherever livestock and elevation both change with the season.

Facts

Practice Class

Livestock grazing and seasonal movement 1

Origin

Practiced across Europe, western Asia and beyond since before written record; isotope analysis of prehistoric livestock bones shows seasonal herd movement going back to deep antiquity. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections