Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-cjp7w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-17T12:39:59.388Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tuvan reindeer husbandry in the early 20th century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Ian Whitaker
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Among students of the history of reindeer domestication the Tuva occupy a special position. Their homeland, the Sayan mountains and the basin of the upper Yenisey, to the south-west of lake Baykal and to the north of the present-day frontier between the USSR and Mongolia, has frequently been suggested as the region where reindeer were first domesticated. This attribution rests on two types of evidence: the first archaeological, and largely consisting of rock carvings depicting reindeer; and the second ethnographic, comprising observations of the techniques of reindeer management employed by the Tuva, chiefly made by two western travellers, the Englishman Douglas Carruthers in 1910, and the Norwegian Ørjan Olsen in 1914. The fieldwork of Olsen has only been published in Norwegian (Olsen, 1915a; 1915b), and therefore has not been widely used by scientists. Yet of the two travellers he was perhaps better equipped to make technical ethnographic observations. In this article I shall analyse the descriptions of reindeer husbandry made by both men, but with especial attention to Olsen. I shall then assess the contribution that observations of the Tuva might make to the debate between ethnologists on where reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L) were first domesticated.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 20 , Issue 127 , January 1981 , pp. 337 - 352
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appelgren-Kivalo, H. 1931. Alt-Altaische Kunstdenkmäler. Helsinki, Finnische Altertumsgesellschaft.Google Scholar
Atkinson, T. W. 1858. Oriental and western Siberia: a narrative of seven years' explorations and adventures. New York, Harper.Google Scholar
Bacot, J. 1956. Reconnaissance en Haute Asie Septentrionale par cinq envoyes ouigours au VHIe siécle. Journal asiatique, Vol 244, p 137–53.Google Scholar
Bounak, L. 1928. Un pays de l'Asie peu connu: le Tanna-Touva. Internationales Archiv für Ethnographic, Vol 29, p 1–16.Google Scholar
Carruthers, D. 1914. Unknown Mongolia: a record of travel and exploration in north-west Mongolia and Dzungaria, Vol 1. 2nd ed. London, Hutchinson.Google Scholar
Castrén, M. A. 1856. Nordische Reisen und Forschungen. 2. Reiseberichte und Briefe aus den Jahren 1845–49 St Petersburg, Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften.Google Scholar
Central Asiatic Journal. 1969. Obituary. Central Asiatic Journal, Vol 13, p 25–27.Google Scholar
Chlenova, N. L. 1962. Ob olennykh kamniyakh Mongolii i Sibiri [Representation of reindeer on rock in Mongolia and Siberia]. In: [Kiselev, S. V. ed.] Mongol'skiy arkheologicheskiy sbornik [Mongol archaeological handbook], p 27–36. Moscow, Akademiya Nauk SSSR.Google Scholar
Clauson, G. 1957. A propos du manuscrit Pelliot tibétain, 1283. Journal asiatique, Vol 245, p 11–24.Google Scholar
Clauson, G. 1965. Turkish and Mongolian horses and uses of horses, an etymological study. Central Asiatic Journal, Vol 10, p 161–66.Google Scholar
Cleinow, G. 1928. Neu-Sibirien (Sib-krai: eine Studie zum Aufmarsch der Sowjetmacht in Asien. Berlin, Hobbing.Google Scholar
Coloo, Z. 1976. Notes on Mongol Uriankhai vocabulary. Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, Vol 30, p 59–67.Google Scholar
Dióoszegi, V. 1960. Tracing shamans in Siberia. Oosterhout, Anthropological Publications.Google Scholar
Dióoszegi, V. 1961. Problems of Mongolian shamanism. Acta Ethnographica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, Vol 10, p 195–206.Google Scholar
Dióoszegi, V. 1962. Tuva shamanism: intraethnic differences and interethnic analogies. Acta Ethnographica Academiae Scientarium Hungaricae, Vol 11, p 143–90.Google Scholar
Dorzh, D. 1962. K istorii izucheniya naskal'nykh izobrazheniy Mongolii [On the history of study of the rock drawings of Mongolia]. In: [Kiselev, S. V. ed.] Mongol'skiy arkheologicheskiy sbornik [Mongol archaeological handbook], p 45–54. Moscow, Akademiya Nauk SSSR.Google Scholar
Erdelyi, I.and others. 1967. Results of the Mongolian-Hungarian archaeological expedition, 1961–1964. Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scienlarum Hungaricae, Vol 19, p 335–70.Google Scholar
Eudin, X. J. and North, R. C. 1957. Soviet Russia and the east, 1920–1927: a documentary survey. Stanford, Stanford University Press. (Hoover Library on War, Revolution and Peace Publication No 25.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friters, G. M. 1949. Outer Mongolia and its international position. Baltimore, John Hopkins Press.Google Scholar
Gabori, M. 1959. Urjanchaische Waldjager in der NW-Mongolei und ihre archaologischc Beziehungen. Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, Vol 11, p 457–81.Google Scholar
Geographical Journal. 1962. Obituary. Geographical Journal, Vol 128, Part 3, p 368–69.Google Scholar
Gorbunova, M. 1927. Zabytyy narod [A forgotten people], Sovetskaya Aziya, Tom 3, p 107–08.Google Scholar
Granö, J. G. 1909. Archaologische Beobachtungen von meinen Reisen in den nordlichcn Grenzgegenden Chinas in den Jahren 1906 und 1907. Suomalais-ugrilaisen Seuran Aikakauskirja, Vol 36 No 3.Google Scholar
Granö, J. G. 1912. Die Nordwest-Mongolei. Zeilschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin, 1912, p 561–88.Google Scholar
Granö, J. G. 1919. Altai: upplevelser och iaktagelser under mina vandringsar. 1. Fdrland och jkoger. Helsinki, Soderstrsm. (Turistresor och forskningsfarder Vol 7.)Google Scholar
Granö, J. G. 1938. Itinerarien und Landschaftsprofile J. G. Grano aus Uranchai (Tannu-Tuwa) und der Nordmongolei. Acta Geographica, Vol 6, No 1.Google Scholar
Hatt, G. 1919. Notes on reindeer nomadism. American Anthropological Association. Memoin, Vol 6, p 75–133.Google Scholar
Hausen, H. 1925a. Physiognomy of the area. Acta Geographica, Vol 1, No 1, p 9–34.Google Scholar
Hausen, H. 1925b. Historical review of the typographical and geological reconnaissances of the area. Acta Geographica, Vol 1, No 1, p 35–44.Google Scholar
Jansma, T. 1959. Oost-westlijke verkennungen in de dertiende eeuvi. Leiden, het Vooraziatisch-egyptisch Genootschap ‘Ex Oriente Lux’.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johansen, U. 1960. Neues archaologisches und ethnographisches Material aus Tuva. Ural-altaische Jahrbitcher, Vol 32 p 283–85.Google Scholar
Kisilev, S. V. 1949. Drevnyaya istoriya Yuzhnoy Sibiri [Ancient history of southern Siberia] Moscow, Akademiya Nauk SSSR. (Materialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii, No 9).Google Scholar
Klementz, D. 1899. Voyages de Dmitri Klementz en Mongolie occidentale de 1885 a 1897. Bulletin de la Societe de Geographic, 7th series, Vol 20, p 308–29.Google Scholar
Korostovetz, I. J. and HAuer, E. 1926. Von Cinggis Khan zur Sowjetrepublik: eine kurze Geschichte der Mongolei unter besonderer Berucksichtigung der neuesten Zeit. Berlin, De Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyzlasov, L. R. 1952. Drevneysheye svidetel'stvo ob olerievodstve [Recent findings on reindeer husbandry]. Sovetskaya Ethnografiya, No 2, p 39–49.Google Scholar
Laufer, B. 1917. The reindeer and its domestication. American Anthropological Association. Memoirs, Vol 4, p 91–147.Google Scholar
Laufer, B. 1920. The reindeer once more. American Anthropologist, Vol 22, p 192–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leimbach, W. 1936. Landeskunde von Tuwa: das Gebiet des Jenissei-Oberlaufes. Petermanns Mitteilungen. Erganzungshdfl, 69, Part 222.Google Scholar
Lindgren, E. L. [recte E. J.] 1925. The Reindeer Tungus of Manchuria. Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, Vol 22, p 221–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mänchen-Helfen, O. 1931. Reise ins asiatische Tuwa. Berlin, Bucherkreis.Google Scholar
Mänchen-Helfen, O. 1939. The Ting-ling. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol 4, p 77–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menges, K. H. 1959. Die tiirkischen Sprachen Siid-Sibiriens. III. Tuba [Sojon und Karagas]. Central Asian Journal, Vol 4, p 90–129; Vol 5, p 97–150.Google Scholar
Minns, E. H. 1942. The art of the northern nomads. British Academy. Proceedings, 1942, P47–99.Google Scholar
Mintslov, S. R. [1915]. Sekretnoye porucheniye (Puteshestviye v Uryankhay) [Secret assignment (a journey to Uryankhay)]. Riga, Sibirskoye Knigoizdatel'styo.Google Scholar
Mirov, N. T. 1945. Notes on the domestication of reindeer. American Anthropologist, Vol 47, p 393–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nellemann, G. 1961. Theories on reindeer breeding. Folk, Vol 3, p 91–103.Google Scholar
Olsen, Ø. 1915a. Et primitivt folk: de mongolske ren-nomader. Kristiania, Cappelen.Google Scholar
Olsen, Ø. 1915b. Til Jeniseis kilder: den Norske Sibirie-ekspeditions reise 1914. Kristiania, Cappelen.Google Scholar
Olsen, Ø. 1917. Gjennem Sojoternes land. Norske Geografiske Selskabs Aarbok, Vol 26–27, p xxvii–ix.Google Scholar
Pao, K.-Y. 1965. Studies on the Secret history of the Mongols. Indiana University Publications. Uralic and Altaic Series, Vol 58.Google Scholar
Pelliot, P. 1949. Histoire secrete des Mongols. Paris, Adrien-Maisonneuve. (CEuvres posthumes de Paul Pelliot, Vol 1.)Google Scholar
Potapov, L. P. 1953. Ocherki po istorii Altaytsev [Outlines in the history of the Altayans, 2nd ed.]. Moscow, Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Instirut Ethnografii im. Miklukho-Maklaya.Google Scholar
Potapov, L. P. (ed.) 1960. Trudy tuvinskoy kompleksnoy arkheologo-etnograficheskay ekspeditsii. Tom 1 [Transactions of the Tuvan complex archaeological and ethnographic expedition Vol 1]. Moscow, Akademiya Nauk SSSR.Google Scholar
Potapov, L. P. 1962. The origins of the Altayans. In: Michael, H. N. ed. Studies in Siberian ethnogenesis. Toronto, Toronto University Press, p 169–96. (Anthropology of the North: Translations from Russian Sources No 2.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potapov, L. P. 1964. The Tuvans. In: Levin, M. G. and Potapov, L. P. eds. The peoples of Siberia. Chicago, Chicago University Press, p 380–422.Google Scholar
Potapov, L. P. 1969. Ocherky narodnogo byta Tuvintsev [Outlines in the daily life of the Tuva]. Moscow, Akademiya Nauk SSSR.Google Scholar
Pozdneyev, A. M. 1971. Mongolia and the Mongols. 1. 1892. Indiana University Publications. Uralic and Altaic Series, Vol 61.Google Scholar
Radloff, W. 1865. Reise durch den Altai nach dem Telezker See und dem Abakan. Archiv für wissenschaftliche Kunde von Russland, Vol 23, p 1–55, 218–316.Google Scholar
Al-Din, Rashid. 1971. The successors of Genghis Khan. New York, Columbia University Press. (Persian Heritage Series.)Google Scholar
Schmidt, W. 1951. Zu den Anfa'ngen der Herdentierzucht. Zeitschrift für Ethnologic, Vol 76, p 1–41.Google Scholar
Serdobov, I. A. 1971. Istoriya formirovaniya tuvinskoy natsiy [History of the formation of the Tuvan nation]. Kyzyl, Tuvinskiy Nauchno-issledovatel'skiy Institut Yazyka, Literatury i Istorii.Google Scholar
Shirendev, B. and Sanjdor, M. eds. 1976. History of the Mongolian People's Republic. Harvard East Asian Monographs, Vol 66.Google Scholar
Skalon, V. N. 1956. Olennye kamni Mongolii i problema proiskhozdeniya olenevodstva [Representations of reindeer on rock in Mongolia and the problem of the orgin of reindeer husbandry]. Sovetskaya Arkheologiya, Tom 25, p 87–105.Google Scholar
Skalon, V. N. and Khoroshikh, P. P. 1951. Ob olennykh pisanitsakh Severnoy Azii [On reindeer rock drawings of North Asia]. Akademiya Nauk SSSR. Institut Istorii Material'noy Kul'tury. Kratkiye Soobshcheniya, Tom 39, p 53–62.Google Scholar
Sosnovskiy, G. D. 1933. Drevneyshiye sledy skotovodstva v Pribaykal'i [The most ancient traces of cattle breeding in Cis-Baykal]. [Izvestiya] Gosudarstvennaya Akademiya Istorii Material'noy Kul'tury, Tom 45, p 210–22.Google Scholar
Tallgren, A. M. 1933. Inner Asiatic and Siberian rock pictures. Eurasia Septentrionalis Antiqua, Vol 8, p 175–210.Google Scholar
Tang, P. S. H. 1959. Russian and Soviet policy in Manchuria and Outer Mongolia, 1911–1931. Durham, Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Togan, A. Z. V. 1962. The composition of the History of the Mongols by Rashid al-Din. Central Asiatic Journal, Vol 7, p 60–72.Google Scholar
Vasilevich, G. M. and Levin, M. G. 1951. Tipy olenevodstva i ikh proiskhozhdeniye [Types of reindeer husbandry and their origin], Sovetskaya Etnografiya, No 1, p 68–87.Google Scholar
Vaynshteyn, S. I. 1960. K voprosu o sayanskom tipe olenevodstva i yego vozniknovenii [On the Sayan type of reindeer husbandry and its origin]. Akademiya Nauk SSSR. Institut Etnografii. Kratkiye Soobshcheniya, Tom 34, p 54–60.Google Scholar
Vaynshteyn, S. I. 1970. Problema proiskhozhdeniya olenevodstva v yevrazii [The problem of the origins of reindeer husbandry in Eurasia. Sovetskaya Etnografiya, No 6, p 3–14.Google Scholar
Vaynshteyn, S. I. 1972. Istoricheskaya etnografiya Tuvintsev: problemy kochevogo khozyaytva [The historical ethnography of the Tuva: problems of nomadic economy]. Moscow, Akademiya Nauk SSSR.Google Scholar
Whitaker, I. 1980. Marco Polo's description of the Merkit. Folk, Vol 21–22, p 389–96.Google Scholar
William of Rubruck. 1900. The journey of William of Rubruck to the eastern pans of the world, 1253–55. Edited by W. W. Rockhill. London, Hakluyt Society. (2nd Series, Vol 4.)Google Scholar
Wittfogel, K. A. and Feng, C.-S. 1949. History of Chinese society: Liao (907–1125). American Philosophical Society. Transactions, Vol 36.Google Scholar