The Economic and Ecological Impact of Dairy Production in Alpine Prehistory: A Numerical Approach

The dairy industry has played a central role in the economy of the Alps for many centuries, and archaeological evidence suggests a prehistoric origin for this practice. During the Bronze Age, the Alps experienced a rapid increase in upland pastoralism, attributed to the growing importance of cheese production for the subsistence of human communities in the region. However, the effects of dairy specialisation on prehistoric mountain economies remain unexplored. Furthermore, the impact of dairy-focused pastoralism on the vulnerable ecosystems of the Alps has largely been speculative so far. A mathematical model was developed to formally investigate how the intensive exploitation of milk affects labour efficiency and land use in prehistoric subsistence systems. Model parametrisation was based on archaeological information available for the Alps, as well as ethnographic analogues. Sensitivity tests were conducted to assess the reliability of the parameters and the robustness of the model. Four scenarios were created by adjusting the contributions of crop and animal farming, as well as the importance of cheese making in the model. The results clearly show that a crop-farming economy supplemented by intensive dairy production provides the best labour return using the least amount of land. The same economic strategy without milk exploitation appears to be the least efficient in terms of labour and land use. A system primarily focused on pastoralism also seems unsustainable. These tests suggest that dairy specialisation was crucial for the development of Bronze Age societies in the Alps. It transformed dairy products into important commodities, contributing to the Stored-Product Revolution across the continent. The higher labour return could have also fostered demographic growth in the region.