The Ancient Period, Before 600 BCE: Content Summary 1.4: Pastoralism in Ancient Afro-Eurasia

Nomadic peoples made up the remaining 10% of the global population. Despite their more limited numbers, nomadic peoples occupied a majority of the inhabited space on Earth. (1.4.A)

While the practice of shifting cultivation continued, many nomads adapted to climates that could not sustain agriculture by engaging in pastoral herding. (1.4.A)

Notable areas associated with pastoralism were the steppe grasslands of central Eurasia and the desert fringe and savannah areas in the Arabian Peninsula and Sudanic Africa. (1.4.A)

Notable areas associated with pastoralism were the steppe grasslands of central Eurasia and the desert fringe and savannah areas in the Arabian Peninsula and Sudanic Africa. (1.4.A)

When the conditions of an area no longer supported grazing, pastoral nomads required mobility to relocate. (1.4.A)

The domestication of the horse and the camel facilitated the movement of pastoral communities. (1.4.A)

Pastoral lifestyles were largely absent from the Americas, which did not have many native livestock species other than llamas. American pastoralism did not blossom until the introduction of the horse and Eurasian herding animals, such as cattle, sheep, and pigs, during the Columbian Exchange of the early modern period. (1.4.A)

In the winter and spring, large herds consumed plant cover across expansive areas, and communities set up temporary tent camps as they moved with their herd’s need for fresh grassland. (1.4.B)

Overgrazing not only put pastoral communities at risk, it also led to a compaction and erosion of the soil that could contribute to desertification, and it had detrimental impacts on their environments. (1.4.B)

For example, compaction and erosion contributed to the decline of the Indus River Valley civilization when runoff made rivers impossible to control. (1.4.B)

Pastoralists produced specialized products such as meat, milk products, wool, hides, and bone implements. (1.4.C)

They traded with sedentary communities in order to diversify their diets and to acquire other goods such as metal tools and weapons. (1.4.C)

Nomadic pastoralists served as important commercial and cultural intermediaries in the spaces between complex urban societies. (1.4.C)

They were important agents in the Afro-Eurasian diffusion of iron-based technologies, such as the chariot, bridle, and stirrup, as well as the Indo-European and Bantu languages. (1.4.C)

Pastoral nomads developed sophisticated military skills that were built upon the advantages of mobility. Pastoral warriors could fight on horseback or in wheeled chariots and made use of powerful bows. (1.4.C)