In this paper, we present a history of pastoralism in the ancient Near East from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age. We describe the accretional development of pastoral technologies over eight millennia, including the productive breeding of domestic sheep, goats, and cattle in the early Neolithic and the subsequent domestication of animals used primarily for labor—donkeys, horses, and finally camels—as well as the first appearance of husbandry strategies such as penning, foddering, pasturing, young male culling, and dairy production. Despite frequent references in the literature to prehistoric pastoral nomads, pastoralism in Southwest Asia was strongly associated with sedentary communities that practiced intensive plant cultivation and was largely local in nature. There is very little evidence in prehistoric and early historic Southwest Asia to support the notion of a “dimorphic society” characterized by separate and specialized agriculturists and mobile pastoralists. Although mobile herders were present in the steppe regions of Syria by the early second millennium BC, mobile pastoralism was the exception rather than the rule at that time; its “identification” in the archaeological record frequently derives from the application of anachronistic ethnographic analogy. We conclude that pastoralism was a diverse, flexible, and dynamic adaptation in the ancient Near East and call for a reinvigorated and empirically based archaeology of pastoralism in Southwest Asia.

中文翻译：

---

古代近东牧民主义的兴起

在本文中，我们介绍了从新石器时代到青铜时代的古代近东牧民的历史。我们描述了八千年来牧业技术的发展，包括新石器时代早期家养绵羊，山羊和牛的生产繁殖以及随后主要驯化用于劳动的动物（驴，马，最后是骆驼）以及畜牧策略的首次出现，例如围栏，饲料，放牧，年轻男性淘汰和乳制品生产。尽管在文献中经常提及史前牧民，但西南亚的牧民与久坐的社区紧密地联系在一起，久坐的社区进行了密集的植物栽培，并且在很大程度上是本地性的。在史前和早期历史悠久的西南亚地区，几乎没有证据支持“双态社会”的概念，这种社会以分离的专业农业家和流动的牧民为特征。尽管到公元前二千年初期，流动牧民已经出现在叙利亚的草原地区，但当时的流动牧民是例外，而不是规则。它在考古记录中的“身份”经常来自不合时宜的民族志类比的应用。我们得出的结论是，牧民主义是古代近东地区的一种多样化，灵活和动态的适应，并呼吁在西南亚重新振兴和以经验为基础的牧民考古。尽管到公元前二千年初期，流动牧民已经出现在叙利亚的草原地区，但当时的流动牧民是例外，而不是规则。它在考古记录中的“身份”经常来自不合时宜的民族志类比的应用。我们得出的结论是，牧民主义是古代近东地区的一种多样化，灵活和动态的适应，并呼吁在西南亚重新振兴和以经验为基础的牧民考古。尽管到公元前二千年初期，流动牧民已经出现在叙利亚的草原地区，但当时的流动牧民是例外，而不是规则。它在考古记录中的“身份”经常来自不合时宜的民族志类比的应用。我们得出的结论是，牧民主义是古代近东地区的一种多样化，灵活和动态的适应，并呼吁在西南亚重新振兴和以经验为基础的牧民考古。