The reuse and recycling of lumber in the long term in peasant constructions in the Southern Alps A dendrochronological and archeological reading of medieval and modern subalpine constructions in the Mercantour Massif (the French Alps)

This article sheds light on the reuse of lumber in the Mercantour Massif’s peasant constructions, covering practices little known outside cities. Ninety agricultural-pastoral buildings were studied thanks to dendrochronology and archeology. The reuse and recycling of wood are systematic and regular practices that have been observed since the Middle Ages in reconstructions. These sites bear witness to a practice inscribed in know-how and in the local economy.