Transhumance

The geography of the land will often help define the cultures that have settled upon it.  Hills, valleys, rivers, low lands and uplands will allow certain activities that give advantage to some, and a disadvantage to others. Understanding these factors will give an insight to the realities of life of the ancestors.   The drawing to the right is an outline of my families homeland.  The head waters of the rivers (Dee and the Severn) are shown, allowing a land bridge to form from the highlands to the low lands.  Cattle, sheep, goats, and those animals necessary to life would find their way along this land bridge to the summer grazing.  The seasonal movement of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures would of course be accompanied by herders or their owners who made this activity a part of life.  From the east to the west, and back again, would be the direction of this pattern.   Pathways are roughly shown on the drawing, giving an idea of  how this might have worked.  The hillforts are shown along the ridges of the high ground.   A summer home, a winter home is the idea.   Transhumance it is called. It would work reasonably well until someone put up a fence. [Shown in red.]   Perhaps this was the primary reason for such a fence...to change the culture you wished to conquer.  That Offa did not completely get his way.