Pastoralism, where people travel with domesticated animals, is a way of life that can still be found in many areas today.
Origin of pastoralism
Around 12,000 years ago, at the same time as the rise of agriculture, another new specialization emerged: pastoralism, the herding of domesticated or partially domesticated animals, whereby one is largely dependent on the animals, their skins, meat, dairy products and sometimes also blood. Pastoralism is closer to the previous phase, that of hunting and gathering, than agriculture, partly because pastoralists usually also lead a (partly) nomadic life. The herds must be constantly driven to new places with fresh food.
The size of the herd , like the size of the population, depends on the weather, rainfall and the amount of food available. The existence of pastoralists is generally demanding and not easy, but stable over a long period of time. One generation does exactly the same as the previous one and the next.
Marginal areas
Pastoral cultures developed mainly in marginal regions, often in semi-arid areas, which were not suitable for agriculture. The areas where pastoralism occurs today are the Middle East and the eastern part of the Mediterranean, East Africa and the Sahel, North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, the Central Asian steppes, the Tibetan plateau and northern Eurasia. In all these areas, agriculture is not or hardly possible. When agriculture takes place in the same region, there is usually trade between the two systems, with farmers exchanging their grain, metal and possibly other items for hides, wool, meat and dairy products. Both are therefore dependent on each other. However, the mobility of the nomads also often led to raids in agricultural areas, which was often very advantageous for the pastoralists. The farmers often had to deal with a rapidly growing population and were looking for new areas to develop, which meant they wanted to expand their area into the domain of the pastoralists. This gave rise to organized warfare.
Forms of pastoralism
In general, three forms of pastoralism are distinguished. First of all, there is pastoral nomadism, in which all members of the group move around together with the herds. In addition, there is transhumance or agro-pastoralism, where part of the group travels with the herds and the rest stays behind in a village. This could include, for example, herds that are driven to pastures high in the mountains in the summer and driven back down again when it gets colder. And there are also established pastoralists who keep their herds in one place and possibly supplement their animals with hay and other feed. The latter form is quite capital-intensive. This article is mainly about the first group.
Anthropologists and pastoralism
The first researchers saw pastoralism as a phase between hunting and gathering and settled agriculture. Farmers are settled and exercise great control over their habitat, while hunters and gatherers tend to be nomadic and adapt to their habitat rather than the other way around. Pastoralism seems to fit in nicely here. However, modern scientists see this differently. Virtually all pastoral cultures are at least partially dependent on agricultural products. Moreover, it seems impossible to domesticate animals without using agricultural products and an at least partially established base. Archaeological finds also indicate that domestication took place in settled areas where plants were also domesticated. Today, pastoralists are believed to have emerged from a marginalized section of an agricultural population that lost their land. Modern anthropologists have regularly seen this process take place, with poor farmers losing everything in bad years and turning to a nomadic existence. Conversely, successful herders will sometimes convert their flocks into cash and purchase land to become farmers. The opposite also occurs, where successful farmers become nomads, this happens in areas where nomadic existence has a higher status than agricultural existence.
Knowledge of pastoralists
Pastoralists are faced with difficult decisions to make. Which animal species are best to keep? Which herd composition and size is best? How can one make the most optimal use of the pasturelands and what is the best way to travel around? Is it possible to make a living in other ways besides pastoralism?
To answer all these questions, labor is often organized in certain ways and social institutions are very complex, trying to find a balance between flexibility, which is necessary in the uncertain circumstances, and control.
The social mechanisms in pastoralist societies are flexible , but there are usually good networks through which information is disseminated, there are often work units that help each other and all kinds of groups (such as age groups, ritual societies) that transcend kinship play an important role. Descent plays an important role, cattle can be kept in the family and marriages are also very important because ties with other groups are strengthened and cattle are exchanged between groups.
For a long time, researchers greatly underestimated the knowledge of pastoralists and understood too little about the way of life to conduct proper research into it. Often the economic rationality of pastoralists was and is misunderstood or even completely overlooked by bureaucrats. Pastoralists were often accused of keeping too large herds, which would lead to overgrazing. The reasons why large herds are often kept are diverse, there is no market to sell animals, most groups depend on dairy products and blood, not meat , with low storage costs. In addition, livestock is people’s capital, often needed in case of dowries to be paid or emergencies. In addition, large herds provide protection against the sometimes catastrophic losses that can occur due to disease and drought. These same catastrophes also create periods in which the land can recover from overgrazing.