trail-3-237 Last Vestige of Nomadic Pastoralism Frank Hole Mazaryk University, Brno, CZ, October 2013 Last Vestige of Nomadic Pastoralism •A bit of geography and history •A bit of social anthropology •A lot of migration, including some video clips •Quick look at an ancient nomad camp looking back-097 Luristan is a land of mountains and narrow valleys The tribes migrate each year between pastures in the low (warm) country and high (cool) country Depending on the specific topography, migrations may take from a few days to several weeks. Sekandar-3-235 My Migration in 1973 •Arranged by an Iranian Anthropology student and tribal member, Sekandar Amanolahi Baharvand • • • • • •The migration took about two weeks and was followed by about six weeks of visiting other nomadic camps • Goals of My Trip •To try to discover the origins of nomadic pastoralism •To learn how to manage herds of sheep and goats •To learn how to travel and how to camp •To discover what kinds of traces nomads leave •To find ancient nomad sites Migration Route •We started in March at the winter camp in Chin-i-Zal and ended high in the mountains above the city of Khorramabad §We traveled over successively higher mountains at each stage §We camped for one or more days at each stop, depending on available pasture for the animals • • MigrationRouteBothMaps Migration route Chin-i-Zal Migration route Chin-i-Zal first camp-195 Winter campground: Chin-I-Zal A Little History •Lurs are one of many tribes of Western Iran – others are Kurds, Laki, Bakhtiari, Qashgai •Traditionally independent and often feared by the central government •Regarded by European travelers as lawless, liars, thieves and murderers •Conquered and settled by Reza Shah’s forces in late 1920s •Resumed migration during and after WWII Social Organization •Tribal •Descent through male line with eldest male first in line - primogeniture •Tribes have “ancestor” male •Tribal sub-sections (e.g., Baharvand) are named for their lineage ancestor •Camping units have fluid composition, but often are composed of close relatives • first camp-4-199 The sheltered winter camp in Chin-i-Zal where they do some cultivation of wheat chin-i-zal river-205 The Ab-i-Zal river river-193 The Ab-i-Zal upstream from the winter camp First camp-154 milking-182 break camp-2-180 Breaking camp and packing for migration break camp-4-186 C-i-Z fields-207 cave bins-200 grain bins-2-203 Mhd Ali-153 break camp-157 C-i-Z fields-2-208 break camp-4-192 trail-3-229 lamb-240 first stage-2-169 camp-15-217 camp-15-214 camp-8-011 camp-10-015 MK-232 trail-2-228 Kialon-234 Kialon Kuh trail-3-237 trail-4-239 FH-236 unpacked-077 camp-2-004 rest break-075 snack-076 campsite-034 01-020 churning-044 herders-046 other tribe-2-093 Sedaron-092 top-099 snow-101 Bewi-110 Bevi crops-118 Summer pasture and wheat fields Results? •I accomplished my main goals to learn how nomadic pastoralists travel, where they camp, and what kinds of things I might look for as an archaeologist •I recorded many installations, such as acorn grinders and kilns, grain bins, watering troughs, tent foundations, etc •Soon after the trip I excavated an 8500-year old nomad camp – the first of its kind discovered Lessons from the migration •Transhumance essential for the animals to find fresh forage •Distances may be short if route is vertical •Tents and pack animals not necessary •Wild foods, both game and vegetable were readily available in the past •Nomads had small farms in both winter and summer camp grounds •Shift from settled to nomad relatively easy • Facilities made by nomads in the Zagros Mountains •Tent bases, partially outlined with rocks •Rock platform to hold skin bags and bedding off the ground •Mangers •Water troughs •Acorn crushers and kilns •Grain and straw storage bins •Pens and corrals for animals • • fig Now we see the movie • camp-14-213 camp-15-214 Tepe Tula’i, an ancient herders’ camp •Located on a semi-arid steppe grassland in the northwestern part of Khuzistan •Among the hottest places on earth in summer, Khuzistan receives about 15” of rain in the cool winter •Traditional Luri and Bakhtiari pastoralists move seasonally between Khuzistan in the winter and the nearby mountains in summer •Tula’i is about 8500 years old • • 73-18-14 Landscape of Tepe Tula’I, Khuzistan, Iran- Winter pasture of Luri pastoral nomads • 73-18-31 Tula’I, an 8500-year old campsite Tula'i scan • 73-18-34 73-24-1 73-24-8 73-24-12 73-24-2 8500-year old pottery and figurines from Tula’i Now we look at some video •I took these pictures in 1973 with a Hi8 film video camera. Each film reel was good for about 3 minutes. None of the footage was staged. I filmed activities when I could, sometimes from horseback. The clips that follow show the people in motion and some of their daily activities. • • • Laki Transhumants •Studied in 1959-50 by Patty Jo Watson, this is a tribe that takes a one-day migration from their winter village of Mangalat to their summer pasture, Duzaray •En route, setting up tents, collecting water •Shearing sheep camp-9-012 camp-3-005 camp=7-009 camp-6-008 first stage-168 camp-2-079 camp-12-172 landslip-197 the end?-102 C-i-Z fields-2-208 camp-15-217 C-i-Z fields-207 Murad K's tent-181 break cmp-3-185 grain bins-2-203 caves-136 camp-16-219 camp-14-213 camp-15-214 camp-11-018 camp-8-011 camp-10-015 mill-090 on trail-095 other tribe-091 Bevi-2-123 summer tents-117 tent outlook-104 Sekndar-2-139