The ecological adaptation of the Lutfi herder-horticulturists of south Iran

Abstract

This report describes the subsistence and settlement patterns of the Lutfi herder-horticulturists of south Iran. While specialized intensive agriculturists and nomadic pastoralists have been much studied in the Middle East, mountain dwelling populations who combine a number of extensive subsistence techniques including foraging and horticulture have not been described. These often entail, as is seen in this case, some amount of movement or nomadism. The general pattern reported here is likely to have been quite widespread in highland Iraq, Iran, and Turkey where wild stands of fruit tree were once common. The Lutfi are semi-sedentary, spending most of their time in one seasonal camp. They move three times a year: from the main village to a temporary camp, to the orchard, and back to the main village. They are neither pastoral nomads nor sedentary agriculturists, but rather tend semiwild trees (vines, figs, and almonds) and rose bushes which produce fruits, nuts, and roses that they sell in order to buy agricultural and other products. Animals are secondary in their subsistence contribution but provide milk products, meat, skin, and hair the latter of which are used to manufacture containers and blankets. The pattern of seasonal movement is not determined by the requirements of the animals as in the case of other transhumant pastoralists. Lutfi subsistence is based on a combination of herding (mainly goats) and the cultivation of semi-wild, non-irrigated orchard and rose bushes in the high altitude (1500-2000 meters) of the Zagros mountains. The area is an extension of the chains of Zagros mountains which extend from northwest