Tracing Ancient 'Nomads': Isotopic Research on the Origins of Vertical 'Transhumance' in the Zagros Region

Abstract

Introduction 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. This way of life emerged in a geographical and ecological framework marked by the conjunction of two interrelated factors: seasonal aridity and humidity of varying degrees, associated with the territorial use of highlands and lowlands. A major consequence of this system was the elaboration of appropriate strategies of territorial management which implicitly led to the intricate formation of technical adaptations and social relationships. Since the most important capital of nomads is herds, specific herding strategies are required to ensure productivity in different environmental and social contexts. With the impetus given by Braidwood and his project on the origins of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent (Hole and Flannery 1967; Hole et al. 1969; Mortensen 1972; Lees and Bates 1974; Gilbert 1975; Wright et al. 1975; Zagarell 1975, see also for an overview Young 1987 and Sumner 1994), archaeologists have been interested in documenting the pastoral mode of ecological adaptation in the Zagros. Henry Wright and Kent Flannery were amongst those who, on the basis of regional excavations in southern Iran (Dehloran valley), characterised seasonal campsites as a pattern of settlement (Wright et al. 1975; Hole 1980 and 1987b). But as Hole (1987a: 24) himself underlines: 'Unfortunately despite the fact that most highland regions were probably occupied by transhumant people, there is little to say about interaction, except to mention the possibility, for there are few sites or data to shed light over any presumed relations.' Zagarell (1975) investigated this issue of interactions in the Bakhtiari region in 1974 and suggested the possibility of interaction between herding societies (pastoral nomads) and cultivators (sedentary societies) at the end of the Neolithic. Questioning the origins of specialised transhumant pastoralism in the Zagros highlands, Heurickson (1985) proposed the Chalcolithic period as a starting point, based on the spatial distribution of sites according to the topography and other environmental factors, regional demographic analysis, and characterisation of the type of settlement by structural analysis of all types of archaeological remains (pottery styles, etc.). Differences of opinion among archaeologists over the chronology of this event in the Zagros region and difficulties in identifying the phenomenon have stimulated the present research? This study aims first, to develop the appropriate methodological tools to deal with the problem of cyclic movement and then to contribute in documenting the question in the Zagros region which is critical for prehistoric studies. The project is a pilot research programme on the origins of vertical transhumance in the Middle East through stable isotope analyses ([sup. …