John> Cultures found without settlements and characterised only by
cemetaries are usually nomadic.
Gerry: Yes. True. And Scythians were nomadic yet did establish a city
in Crimea.
John: This is also the view of the recently publiched
Prehistory of Europe, which tends to take a pro-systemic view and
supports the secondary products view. Christian's book on the History
of Russia till the Mongol Period also takes the view that because of
the absence of settlements - Kurgans were nomadic - but he also
suggests that there was a dependence upon agriculturists in nomadic
cultures for certain items and the shift from agriculture to nomadism
and back again was something that occurred repeatedly along the steppe
and semi-arid margins of agriculture.
Gerry: I really can't understand what you're saying! I thought we had
cleared up the definition of "kurgan"? What do you mean when you say
Kurgans were nomadic? But I do concur that some nomadic groups
practiced some forms of agriculture. BTW, how do you differentiate the
practice of agriculture and the practice of "gathering wild grasses"?
Or do you see both being similar? And a further question: how do you
differentiate a tolos from a kurgan?
Thanks,
Gerry
--
Gerald Reinhart
Independent Scholar
(650) 321-7378
waluk@...
http://www.alekseevmanuscript.com