Exploring Long-Term Pastoral Dynamics: Methods, Theories, Stories

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Exploring Long-Term Pastoral Dynamics: Methods, Theories, Stories" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This session aims to delve into the multifaceted realm of long-term pastoral dynamics, employing the perspectives of archaeology and ethnoarchaeology to unravel the methods, theories, and stories that shed light on the intricacies of pastoralist lifeways. The objective is to deepen our understanding of the longevity and sustainability of pastoral practices, emphasizing the complex interactions between humans, animals, and the environment over extended periods. Specifically, this session has been organized to examine the social and cultural transformations within pastoral societies over time in different regions of the world where pastoralism continues today in order to try and understand the resilience and flexibility of these communities in response to environmental, social, political, and economic changes. We hope that this exploration will shed light on the strategies employed by pastoralists to adapt and thrive. We also hope that by drawing on the lessons learned from long-term pastoral dynamics, we can identify time-tested and innovative practices to ensure the sustainability of pastoralist lifeways.