Patrolism
PASTORALISM
Intro
This lecture provides an overview of pastoralism, covering following topics:
1. Definition: What exactly is pastoralism?
2. Origins: When & why did it arise?
3. Environmental/geographical distribution: Where does it occur?
4. Subsistence strategies: How does it work?
5. Social organization: What are its social correlates? Definition
Various definitions & classifications, but simplest are these:
1) Pastoralism = subsistence system based primarily on domesticated animal production (meat, milk, hides, blood) (Note that this definition excludes groups specializing on wild herd animals, such as Plains Indian bison hunters)
2) Pastoralists = any population or segment of population subsisting primarily via pastoralism (if also practice significant amount of agriculture, termed "agropastoralists")
The term "subsisting" is intended to exclude those who raise animals strictly for exchange value rather than direct consumption (e.g., commercial ranchers and dairy farmers), though as we'll see, most subsistence pastoralists rely on trade to some extent, even if large-scale impersonal markets & monetary currency are absent (or only became important in recent decades)
Pastoralists can be categorized in terms of frequency of movement (nomadism):
1) Settled pastoralism = keeping animals in one place most or all of year, provisioning them with fodder (e.g., hay), which is the typical pattern for many traditional European pastoralists (or agropastoralists); this system is relatively capital-intensive (need substantial barns, means to transport hay, etc.)
2) Transhumance = regular round-trip from home base to pasture (e.g., move herds up into mountain pastures in summer, back to lowlands in winter), without any major dwellings or barns in any location
3) Nomadic pastoralism = moving herds to any avail. pasture, often on opportunistic basis over long distances and with no fixed pattern; characteristic of populations most dependent on
Intro
This lecture provides an overview of pastoralism, covering following topics:
1. Definition: What exactly is pastoralism?
2. Origins: When & why did it arise?
3. Environmental/geographical distribution: Where does it occur?
4. Subsistence strategies: How does it work?
5. Social organization: What are its social correlates? Definition
Various definitions & classifications, but simplest are these:
1) Pastoralism = subsistence system based primarily on domesticated animal production (meat, milk, hides, blood) (Note that this definition excludes groups specializing on wild herd animals, such as Plains Indian bison hunters)
2) Pastoralists = any population or segment of population subsisting primarily via pastoralism (if also practice significant amount of agriculture, termed "agropastoralists")
The term "subsisting" is intended to exclude those who raise animals strictly for exchange value rather than direct consumption (e.g., commercial ranchers and dairy farmers), though as we'll see, most subsistence pastoralists rely on trade to some extent, even if large-scale impersonal markets & monetary currency are absent (or only became important in recent decades)
Pastoralists can be categorized in terms of frequency of movement (nomadism):
1) Settled pastoralism = keeping animals in one place most or all of year, provisioning them with fodder (e.g., hay), which is the typical pattern for many traditional European pastoralists (or agropastoralists); this system is relatively capital-intensive (need substantial barns, means to transport hay, etc.)
2) Transhumance = regular round-trip from home base to pasture (e.g., move herds up into mountain pastures in summer, back to lowlands in winter), without any major dwellings or barns in any location
3) Nomadic pastoralism = moving herds to any avail. pasture, often on opportunistic basis over long distances and with no fixed pattern; characteristic of populations most dependent on