Pastoralism Flashcards
Module 3
What kind of horses did nomads on the Steppes primarily use?
Przhevalsky Horses, also known as Mongolian wild horses
When were horses first domesticated and by whom?
4000 - 3500 B.C.
The Scythians
Steppe Horses features
- Small and Sturdy
- Fast
- Resistant to the cold
- Can survive on just grass
- Will dig under the snow to find grass
- Run up to 60 miles per day
- Provides milk, leather and meat😢
What is Pastoralism?
An alternative to settled agriculture, where herders rely on mobile herds of domestic animals to provide for their group.
Advantages of Nomadism
- Not restricted by local government or rules
- Ability to relocate/migrate “as the wind blows” based on needs
- Healthier because of less dense populations = less epidemic diseases spread quickly
- More egalitarian (better equality)
What pushed settled peoples into a nomadic lifestyle?
- Severe drought killing off crops
- Invasions forcing them to flee
Pastoralist’s Contributions to Society
- Connected agrarian communities together through migration and trade
- Controlled and protected trade routes
- Farmers and Nomads borrowed from each other to improve on ideas
- Refinement of Iron
- Invented the Horse-drawn Chariot
- Invented Pants
- Oral origin stories became foundation of religious mythologies (Vedas and Hebrew bible)
Why did settled civilizations view pastoralists negatively?
- They were feared because they were beyond state control
- They did not write their own history, so people in settled communities would twist stories to make them sound like the bad guys
- They were different than everyone else and had different beliefs
Inner Eurasia includes:
Includes the former Soviet Union, Sinkiang and Kansu (China’s Central Asian empire), and Mongolia
Outer Eurasia includes:
Mesopotamia, China, India
Inner Eurasia Ecology
Basically the “North Eurasia”
Cold dry climate
Agriculture delayed
Sparsely inhabited
Steppes and Mountain terrain
Outer Eurasia Ecology
Basically “South Eurasia”
Warmer and more humid climate
Much runs along rivers, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean
Very early start to agriculture
Densely populated
Nomads most important animals
- Horses 🐎
- Camels 🐫
- Sheep 🐏
- Cattle 🐄
- Goats 🐐
Indo-European Migrations
4500 - 2500 B.C.
Speakers of Indo-European language descended from common ancestors who migrated from the steppe region of modern-day Ukraine and southern Russia
Indo-European language family
Linguistics in the 18th and 19th century discovered that many languages of Europe, southwest Asia, and India have common roots and similar grammatical structure.
Their conclusion was that the Indo-European languages all descended from one common language ancestor. All of these languages, from English to Greek to Hindi share the same roots!
