Fontecchio, a Charming Town Among Great Mountains

Partner Blog (Charlie Mogen and Matt Macfarlane)

The Abruzzo Region of Italy is an amazing place for travel, relaxation, history, living, eating, practically everything. Within the region people can find great mountains, such as the Gran Sasso, and the remnants of a once great Transhumance. Centuries ago shepherds marched over a million sheep through these lands, grazing their sheep and other animals, which helped to provide the meat, cheese, and wool to the Roman Empire.

These sheep herders utilized the resources they had in order to survive. The area, which can be rather arid and prone to drought forced the people to turn to animal husbandry. Consequently, this sheep herder economy proved as a way of survival for centuries. My partner and I analyzed this economy extensively in an article entitled, "Tribes, Chiefs, and Transhumance- A Comparative Institution." What we found most interesting about the entire article is that there are many other places around the world that like the Abruzzo region practice Transhumance. For example, the Tuareg of West Africa, tribes within Botswana, and the Rwala of Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi. Most of these tribes utilized camels rather than sheep but proved a worthy comparison to Transhumance in Italy.

This trip has been a great adventure, there have been so many things I could have never imagined happening, so many things we've seen that are indescribable, we will be back!