
































Pastoralism and Pastoralists Since the Bonze Age till the Present: an 

Environmental Interpretation of Historical Phenomenon 

Review by Olena Smyntyna 

The Ecology of Pastoralism

by Nick P. Kardulias (editor)

University Press of Colorado, 2015

The Ecology of Pastoralism is an outstanding collection of papers edited by Nick P. Kardulias, well-

known in  the  scientific  community  through  his  works  in  the  field  of  prehistoric  archaeology and

ethnography  of  the  Mediterranean  region  and  Midwestern  United  States.  The  basic  idea  of  this

anthology originally was born about 15 years ago in frames of special sessions of Annual Meeting of

the  Central  States  Anthropological  Society  and  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Anthropological

Association  (both  in  Chicago  in  1999)  organized  by  the  volume  editor  Nick  Kardualis  and  his

colleague,  Mark  T.  Shutes  (1947-2001),  specialist  in  the  field  of  economic  anthropology  and

comparative  ethnographic  analysis.  Although  the  book  took  a  while  to  crystallize,  I  highly

recommended it for reading and careful examination.

Kardulias states that the fundamental goal of the book is “to explore the ways pastoralism is

embedded in an environment whose framework is set by the terrain, the distribution of vital resources,

and the needs of the animals herders tend” (p. xiv). And this goal is successfully reached with the help

of a refined combination of geographic and chronological frames of the project. Profound case studies

in the volume cover target areas of Asia (Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Mongolia, some parts of Russia and

China, Iran and Turkmenistan), Africa (Chad Basin), Europe (Ireland and Greek island Dokos) and the

New World (Southwestern United States) and deal with the period of time since the Early Bronze Age

(i.e., from the very beginning of the pastoralism as historical and ecological phenomenon) through the

Early Iron Age (the period of its highest development) till the present. Selection of environments with



principally different characteristics of climate and natural resources available for groups of population

associated  with  different  civilizations  and historical  epochs provides  readers  not  only  with  freshly

published research data (with no doubts, very interesting even per se), but also opens for inquisitive

minds broad possibilities of comparisons through time and space,  across cultures and civilizations,

stimulating  in  such  a  way  to  further  cognition  of  pastoralism  in  its  environment  and  a  deeper

understanding of mechanisms in their interaction.

Such a unique and alluring combination of geographic and chronological frames are possible

due to a synthesis of different national schools and methodological approaches drawn from a rather

broad  range  of  scientific  disciplines.  The  volume  has  contributions  from  archaeologists,

anthropologists, ethnographers, sociologists and specialists in environmental reconstructions and GIS-

added modelling from United States, Australia and Russian Federation.

In spite  of  the  international  and interdisciplinary  composition of  the  book contributors,  the

volume is not theoretically eclectic or amorphous. The theoretical frames of the anthology are clearly

formulated by Nick P. Kardulias in Chapter 1. He understands pastoralism as a peculiar human adaptive

strategy, which covers not only “basic subsistence but also the network of social, political, and religious

institutions  of  the  respective societies” (p.  1).  This  theoretization is  followed by a  contribution  of

Claudia  Chang (Chapter  2)  devoted  to  the  reconstruction  of  history  of  studies  of  Eurasian  steppe

nomads with special emphasis on the theoretical differences in the conceptualization of pastoralism in

both  Western  and  also  Soviet  and post-Soviet  science.  These  two chapters  provide  an  exhaustive

outline of both past and present field of pastoralism studies, and supply the reader with references to

the most important and relevant theories and empirical datasets published in relation to the subject

under study.

In Chapter 3, Nikolay N. Kradin proposes his own historical vision of pastoralists in this large

scale region, which also includes reflections about social and political structure of the nomads. He does

so based on the results  of over  a century long field studies of climate,  livelihood and subsistence

strategy of nomads of Inner Asia, which he views as including southern Siberia and the Trans-Baikal

region of Russia, Sinkiang, Inner Mongolia, northern Shensi, northern Shansi and Manchuria of China

and Mongolia.

The series of contributions that follow provide detailed case studies of several nomadic groups,

which are important for understanding the connection between pastoralists' history and culture and their

environment.  Homayun  Sidky  (Chapter  4)  models  subsistence  strategies  based  on  peculiar

transhumances practiced by the Hunzakutz people who live in the western Karakoram Mountains of

northern Pakistan.  Erik G.  Johannesson (Chapter  5) reconstructs  processes  of  nomadic pastoralism



adoption in the Xiongnu region, Mongolia, and the subsequent emergence of the first nomadic state

there in the third century BCE. Michelle Negus Cleary (Chapter 6) examines the Late Iron Age fortified

enclosures and system of canals of ancient Chorasmia oasis in Central Asia as integral elements of a

proliferated  system of  control  of  local  environment  and  domination  in  the  oasis  practiced  by  the

pastoralists. Mark Moritz (Chapter 7, first published in Geography Research Forum (volume 25, 2005)

and reprinted here with the permission) discusses the role of the neo-patrimonial state in the lives of

Chad Basin nomadic population (FulBe Mare’en pastoralists).

Lawrence A. Kuznar (Chapter 8) reveals the flexibility of the Navajo (Dineh) of the American

Southwest land use system, and detects shifts in their mode of life through the time. Two following

chapters by Mike T. Shutes are based on his field studies in Ireland. In Chapter 9, he demonstrates that

localized  agnatic  kinship  bonds  could  be  regarded  as  the  fundamental  background  of  the  social

organization of the Rural Irish Parish. In Chapter 10, he argues that adoption of animal husbandry there

brings  substantial  changes  in  existing  social  links.  Nick  P.  Kardulias  (Chapter  11),  based  on  his

ethnoarchaeological  investigations  at  the  arid  island  of  Dokos  near  the  eastern  coast  of  the

Peloponnesos (Greece), models dynamic land use there from the Early Bronze Age to the Early Modern

period.  These case studies are  accompanied with 20 figures and 4 tables which make the authors'

reflections and conclusions more perceptible and illustrative.

The final contribution of the collection (Chapter 12) by Thomas D. Hall concludes with very

interesting ‘conclusions, questions, speculations’ which stimulate further inquiries not only in the field

of  pastoralists’  ecology  but  also  in  respect  with  their  history.  Briefly  analyzing  the  previous

contributions  and discussing some their  main  points,  he comes to  the conclusion  that  pastoralists,

precisely because of their mobility in all areas of their dissemination, have often been major vectors of

change and “the stimulus for increasing complexity in neighbouring societies and for binding together

heretofore  isolated  groups  into  larger—even  if  inchoate—systems”  (p.276).  His  macro-analysis  of

pastoralist societies (so called world-system analysis) allows him to suggest that “studying pastoral

societies is fundamentally important to understanding the structure of past and present civilizations” (p.

xvii).

That’s  why  The  Ecology  of  Pastoralism is  an  important  milestone  in  the  research  of  the

pastoralism as historical, ecological, cultural, ethnic and archaeological phenomenon which is strongly

recommended for  specialists  as  well  as  for  students  and the  general  public  interested  in  a  deeper

understanding of the inner workings of the interaction of people and nature in historical retrospection.

Olena Smyntyna, Dr. Sci (Habilitated) in History, Full Professor, Head of Department of Archaeology



and Ethnology of Ukraine at Odessa National I.I. Mechnikov University (Odessa, Ukraine), specialist

in the field of prehistoric environmental archaeology, and author of over 200 scientific publications,

four monographs and two textbooks.

© 2015 Olena Smyntyna


