Everyday life in L'aquila / Abruzzo - what were they doing?

[KitHannay]

Hello!

Researching the L'aquila area where a Di Nardo ancestor lived (in Corfinio, at that time called Pentima, specifically) and it seems as though people in this area weren't farmers as it was/is very mountainous. I'm having a hard time figuring out what people in this area did for a living (or really any information on everyday life at all) and would appreciate any help!

[Ruskie]

I’ve never heard of this place but have you looked at their occupations on birth or baptismal records, marriages and deaths?

You don’t mention which decade or century but you might expect occupations to be mentioned somewhere.

I would think that mountainous areas can still be farmed - crops and/or animals.

You could look at natural resources in the region, which may give clues aa to what people did there.

[teragram31510]

Look at the Wikipedia article on the city:
<<From its beginnings the city constituted an important market for the surrounding countryside, which provided it with a regular supply of food: from the fertile valleys came the precious saffron; the surrounding mountain pastures provided summer grazing for numerous transhumant flocks of sheep, which in turn supplied abundant raw materials for export and, to a lesser extent, small local industries, which in time brought craftsmen and merchants from outside the area. >>

Farming isn't restricted to huge machinery and enormous acreages of flat cereal plains: many mountaineous regions raised/still raise sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, poultry, wool, wood etc. and employ those who look after/breed/use/transform them.
For particular occupations of individuals that may be mentioned on baptism, marriage, death, census records, depending on the period.

[KitHannay]

This ancestor emigrated to the US in the 1880s or so and we know extremely little about his time in Italy before this. We don't really know his parents or any siblings who may have stayed behind - and we're not sure how to find any Italian records beyond actually going to Italy to search (and our Italian is non-existent sadly!) so resorting to occupations as listed on official records is a non starter at the minute.

I’ve never heard of this place but have you looked at their occupations on birth or baptismal records, marriages and deaths?

You don’t mention which decade or century but you might expect occupations to be mentioned somewhere.

I would think that mountainous areas can still be farmed - crops and/or animals.

You could look at natural resources in the region, which may give clues aa to what people did there.

[TreeSpirit]

I looked at 3 di Nardo marriages and the rule seems to be that the men are laborers and the women are spinners 

Here are those 3 marriages from Corfinio:

In Nov 1856 Pelino di Nardo is a lavoratore i.e. a laborer. His Mother in law seems to a filatrice i.e. a spinner (https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/an_ua19172958/5B1gEGm )
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In Dec 1856, Pelino Alexandro Di Nardo is also a lavoratore and his father/father in law too, Mother and mother in law are spinners.( https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/an_ua19172958/0ArxoG7 )
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In Oct 1860, Pietro Paolo Di Nardo is again a lavoratore and his father in law too. His mother is a spinner (https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/an_ua19172962/0nKA9yA )