Ethnography: shepherds’ huts, mills and trades

For centuries mountain life depended on what woodland and river provided. Trades now almost vanished grew from them: shepherds building juniper huts, timber floaters guiding Tagus logs, resin tappers cutting pines, smiths and millers harnessing water power.

Many sites are small and unobtrusive, yet tell how people lived better than any museum.

Plants preserve work too: distilled lavender, asphodel for pigs, juniper for huts, oaks for firewood and fodder. Everyday plants gathers documented uses and identifies each account’s village.

Traces to keep reading

These places connect the theme with the territory’s stories. Choose a trace and open its page to follow the story.

• Ablanque’s shepherds’ huts: Grazing and woodland architecture.
• Armallá saltworks: Salt water and the historical economy.
• Sequero de Orea Interpretation Centre: Pine-wood trades, when the centre is open.