Vol. 7 · No. 2 · 2003

Marjan Mashkour

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Sheep/goat pastoralism is a constant and dominant feature of traditional societies in the Middle East, both sedentary and nomadic. The present paper addresses the development of pastoralism in the latter context. Several studies by anthropologists document systems of herd management and territorial organisation among nomadic groups in Iran (e.g., Barth 1961; Irons 1972; Amanolahi-Baharvand 1975; Digard 1981; Black-Michaud 1986; Papoli Yazdi 1991). Further studies providing a theoretical base for reflection on the subject and discussing the variability inherent in this way of life are those of de Planhol (1965), Sunderland (1968), Dyson-Hudson (1972), Salzman (1972); Dyson-Hudson and Dyson-Hudson (1980), Khazanov (1984)and Galatay & Johnson (1990). All of those point to the difficulty of defining and classifying nomadism and pastoralism. For the sake of clarity I shall define pastoral nomadism as the association of man and herd in a pattern of cyclic mobility that is linked to the search for food for the herd , in the form of pastures in view to securing in its turn a constant and/or conservable human source of food, especially a protein, and in addition other by-products, such as wool.