Proposal:Tag:settlement=transhumance

Tag:settlement=transhumance
Proposal status:	Draft (under way)
Proposed by:	B-unicycling
Tagging:	settlement=transhumance
Applies to:	node, area, relation
Definition:	An area of historical seasonal settlement for herding animals.
Statistics:
Draft started:	2026-05-19

Problem Statement

Transhumance is a specific type of (indigenous) people tending animals in a seasonal location, usually by moving dairy animals like sheep, goats or cows to different pasture grounds in summer than in winter, once common throughout Europe and western Asia. Because the people tending the herds have to live with them for their safe-keeping, they build seasonal shelters. In the past, this activity was sometimes undertaken by young people living in small groups in very small settlements together. Because of their seasonal character and the sub-culture that developed in these settlements, a separate tag would be useful for analysis of their locations and state of conservation.

Place-names still reflect that culture, even in areas where the custom itself has died out, for example "Drovers Road", tratturi in Italian, several place-names in Ireland containing "Booley-" (from Irish buaile), "Route de la Transhumance" (15 cases on taginfo as of 2026-05-19) etc.

These are often in found in areas not too frequented by commercial surveying services, because they are not very accessible. They can, however, be spotted by mappers working with aerial imagery. This proposal is in fact the direct result of the author of the proposal discovering four such sites in Ireland which were previously unrecorded and have since become recorded monuments.

There are already over 22,000 settlements recorded under the Scottish term "shieling", but a more international word would be preferred, especially to be more inclusive with the French speaking community.

Proposal

It is proposed to allow mappers to set nodes or draw the area of the settlement, or, if needs be use relations (as part of a heritage trail or heritage park). The sub-tag settlement=transhumance allows for more specific definition under historic=archaeological_site + archaeological_site=settlement or a more direct historic=settlement (31 cases as of 2026-05-19).

Rationale

Transhumance settlements are different from permanent settlements, because they are seasonal AND they were only inhabited by a fraction of the society they came from, usually young people. They developed their own sub-culture with music and story-telling, and their return to the main village was celebrated annually (see "Almabtrieb" on Wikipedia).

It is a specific and once widespread enough sub-culture with physical remains to warrant its own tag.

The already established tag historic=shieling, despite being a word originating in Scotland, is mainly used in Norway. Judging from Wikipedia, the term "transhumance" is internationally used and would therefore be more user friendly and accessible.

Tagging

Depending on the preference of the mapper, they can either use the suggested settlement=transhumance with the tag combination historic=archaeological_site + archaeological_site=settlement or a more direct historic=settlement.

Examples

• 
  Ruins of Loch Tay shieling
• 
  Deserted booleying village on Achill Island, Ireland
• 
  Transhumance in Haute-Provence, France
• 
  "Almabtrieb", i.e. the return of cows from the summer pasture in Trentino-South Tyrol, Italy

• OpenStreetMap example in Ireland 1 - remains of hut, settlement enclosure and larger enclosure - open editor or other way to display aerial imagery
• OpenStreetMap exampled in Ireland 2 with three hut sites and settlement enclosure
• list of townlands with the name "Boley" in Ireland
• examples in the 1930s folklore collection, the Schools' Collection in Ireland containing the Irish word buaile

Impact on Data Consumers

This should improve the data for consumers, because it gives more specific tags for filtering and research.

Usage

Usage of related keys

tag	number
name=Rue de la Transhumance	15 (taginfo template doesn't work)
name=Chemin de la Transhumance	41
historic=settlement
name=Transhumance
historic=shieling
building=shieling_hut

International words around transhumance

(taken from Wikipedia)

• England: hefting
• Germany/ Austria/ German speaking Switzerland: Alm (for the pasture area), Almhütte (for the hut)
• Ireland: booleying
• Italy: tratturi
• Poland: redyk from St. Wojciech's Day (23 April) to Michaelmas Day (29 September)
• Scotland: bothies or shielings, see historic=shieling
• Spain: cañadas for the droveways
• Wales: hafod the summer pasture house
• etc

References

Please comment on the discussion page.