- [<] Status Log - created:: 2021-08-01 - status-updated:: 2022-03-18 - current-status:: #articleseed - [S] Marketing - purpose:: Supports [[Early Pastoral Economies and Herding Transitions in Eastern Eurasia]] - Link:: [Tweeted 2021-08-01](https://twitter.com/EleanorKonik/status/1421840584378101765) - [b] References * [[social impacts of early cattle domestication in ancient Russia]] ``` THREAD START So, I know that there's a whole lot of nuance missing from the phrase "geography is destiny" and that #twitterstorians rightly get a little white-knuckle about the whole "guns, germs, & steel" "geography explains everything" argument, buuuut... --- I really do find it fascinating when I come across little factoids in my #history research that make it clear just how interconnected environmental considerations are with sociopolitical / anthropological realities. --- Apparently, cows require high daily water intake and graze a relatively limited range, while horses move frequently over larger ranges. Horses will break ice and move snow to find food. Ok, fine, so what (or so I thought at first). --- Small differences in how horses and cows graze and roam seemed negligible at first, since I'm used to the idea cattle-ranchers also breeding horses — like, ok fine, horses get hobbled whereas sheep and cattle get penned, so what? --- But the more I read, the more it seems like cattle herding lends itself to a less nomadic, more ranch-style system that almost inevitably leads to social stratification and really ostentatious chiefs, whereas with horse herding ... --- ... well, horse herding seems to lead to a society that is more nomadic in nature than cattle or sheep herding, and probably (?) correlates with raiding economies because horses allow for greater mobility and more importantly, hit-and-run tactics. --- For more information about pastoral raiding economies and theories about how and why humans domesticated horses check out my analysis of some relevant academic studies here: https://eleanorkonik.com/early-pastoral-economies/ --- I don't know that I have any particularly strong thesis to make, certainly not in the sense that Taylor and Anthony are trying to make A Point, but from a #worldbuilding perspective I feel like I'm a lot closer to being able to create coherent herding cultures... --- For example, it's surprisingly plausible (if you squint) to have a fantasy culture herd giant vegetarian spiders for their silk and meat. I did a deep dive on it once: https://newsletter.eleanorkonik.com/spidersilk/ --- ...because worldbuilding lands that aren't carbon copies of real-world places is important to me, and I'm getting a better sense of what elements lead to different sociopolitical outcomes from an ancient history perspective. --- Researching all this (thanks especially to #obsidianmd and the #zotero / kindle highlights workflows) lets me (I think, at least) take my stories beyond "horses = nomads / raiders" into something a lot more nuanced and informative for the audience. THREAD END ```