This doctoral dissertation revisits the horse in Blackfoot culture in order to explore how its adoption altered Blackfoot hunting practices and landscape uses during the Contact Period in the Northwestern Plains of North America. The Blackfoot provide one of the best avenues for research into the horse's impact on big-game hunters because of their pre-contact trajectory, history of interaction with other groups, detailed ethnographic record, and continued investment in equestrianism. While the socio-economic consequences of the horse's introduction have been studied from a historical perspective, the archaeology of this transition remains ambiguous. This project presents a new, archaeological dimension to the dynamics of the Blackfoot equestrian transition by incorporating material culture with traditional knowledge, historic accounts, and geospatial data into a multi-scalar, transnational interpretation of the horse's impact on both Blackfoot social, economic, religious, and spiritual life, as well as the way in which Blackfoot peoples used and understood their landscape. The results of this study show how these changes may be best understood as a transition in modes of production from hunting and gathering to nomadic pastoralism. In this endeavor, this project contributes new theoretical and methodological approaches as well as substantive new data to our understanding of hunting and pastoralism among people of the Northwestern Plains.

Cette thèse en Anthropologie filmique porte sur l’espace habité des Bédouins de Syrie, en termes d’espace humanisé, c’est-à-dire modelé et rendu utilisable par les personnes qui l’occupent. La recherche, tout à la fois anthropologique et filmique, met en œuvre pour la première fois une méthode d’enquête audiovisuelle appliquée à l’étude de l’espace habité nomade. A partir de l’observation et de l’analyse de l’habitation (tentes et abris) d’une famille bédouine syrienne vivant dans un campement aux alentours de Palmyre (Nord-Est de la Syrie), ce travail dévoile comment le mode de vie des Bédouins influence la forme et la fonction de leur habitation. Le texte est accompagné de dix films qui décrivent le campement et les différentes utilisations de l’espace. / This thesis in Visual Anthropology examines the Syrian Bedouins’ living space in terms of humanized space, i.e. built and functionally transformed by the persons living in it. The field research was anthropological, but used the camera as the main tool for investigation. For the first time, this research proposes a filmic investigation method for the study of the nomads’ dwellings. Through the observation and analysis of the habitation (tents and shelters) of a Bedouin family living in a camp near Palmyra (North-East Syria), it shows how the Bedouin way of life influences the structure and the functions of their living space. Ten films describing the camp and its different utilization complement the text.

Prior to this study, knowledge of Gobi Desert prehistory was mostly limited to early and mid-20th century descriptions of undated stone tool assemblages from unanalyzed museum collections. This research focuses on the use of extensive existing museum collections to establish a baseline chronology of technology, economy, and land-use for prehistoric Gobi Desert groups. Radiocarbon and luminescence dating are used to establish an artefact-based chronology and provide a relative age for 96 archaeological site assemblages. Interpretations of land-use derived from lithic analysis are compared to detailed regional and local palaeoenvironmental records in order to contextualize residential mobility and subsistence. Results indicate that a dramatic shift in land-use after about 8000 years ago was related to a combination of widespread forestation and the increased productivity of lowland habitats during a period of high effective moisture. Hunter-gatherers organized their movements around dune-field/wetland environments, but utilized a range of both high- and low-ranked foods such as large ungulates from adjoining plains and uplands, and seeds and/or tubers from dune-fields and wetlands. New radiocarbon dates indicate that the use of dune-fields and wetlands persisted into the early Bronze Age, overlapping with the rise of nomadic pastoralism across Northeast Asia. These findings illuminate the period just prior to the rise of nomadic pastoralism in Northeast Asia and add considerable depth to our understanding of hunter-gatherer adaptations within arid environments following the Last Glacial Maximum.

Cette thèse, qui s’appuie sur plusieurs enquêtes ethnographiques chez les Halh de Mongolie et les Bouriates d’Aga, ainsi que sur des sources écrites en langues mongole, russe et occidentales, porte sur le pastoralisme nomade des peuples mongols. En étudiant la manière dont les éleveurs conçoivent l’agentivité de leurs animaux (chevaux, chameaux, bovins, moutons, chèvres et chiens) et se reposent sur cette dernière, elle montre que l’élevage pastoral, loin d’être réductible à un simple rapport de domination, est un système complexe composé d’interactions multiples entre humains et animaux, qui s’adaptent mutuellement pour faire communauté. À travers une abondante cartographie constituée à partir d’enregistrements GPS, l’analyse des aspects spatiaux de la cohabitation met au jour l’importance de la relation triadique homme-animal-environnement qui participe du maintien de la communauté. Cette communauté multispécifique engage des moyens de communication qui mobilisent les cinq sens et qui révèlent les capacités cognitives des animaux. Les éleveurs exploitent celles-ci dans les situations de coopération homme-animal, où le rôle joué par les animaux est différencié selon leurs caractéristiques individuelles. Malgré les différences environnementales, socio-économiques et politiques des deux terrains d’enquête, la perspective comparative met en lumière des éléments d’un continuum mongol. Les assemblages et équilibres fins à l’œuvre dans les relations interspécifiques révèlent la grande autonomie des animaux, dont les éleveurs attendent qu’ils jouent un rôle actif dans les tâches pastorales. / This thesis, based on several ethnographic surveys among Halh Mongols and Aga Buryats (Russia), as well as written sources in Mongolian, Russian and Western languages, addresses the nomadic pastoralism among the Mongols. By studying the way herders conceive the agency of their animals (horses, camel, cattle, sheep, goats and dogs) and rely on it, it is shown that animal husbandry, far from being reducible to a mere relation of domination, is a complex system made of multiple interactions between humans and animals, who mutually adapt to each other to build community. Through an abundant cartography based on GPS records, the analysis of the spatial features of cohabitation brings to light the importance of the triadic human-animal-environment relation which contributes to maintaining the community. This multispecies community engages means of communication which mobilize the five senses and reveal the animals’ cognitive capacities. Herders build on those in situation of human-animal cooperation, in which the role played by the animals is differentiated depending on their individual characteristics. Despite the environmental, socio-economic and political differences between the two fields, the comparative perspective highlights elements of a Mongol continuum. The assemblages and delicate balances prevailing in the interspecific relations reveal the large autonomy of animals, which are expected by herders to play an active role in pastoral tasks.

Cette thèse, qui s’appuie sur plusieurs enquêtes ethnographiques chez les Halh de Mongolie et les Bouriates d’Aga, ainsi que sur des sources écrites en langues mongole, russe et occidentales, porte sur le pastoralisme nomade des peuples mongols. En étudiant la manière dont les éleveurs conçoivent l’agentivité de leurs animaux (chevaux, chameaux, bovins, moutons, chèvres et chiens) et se reposent sur cette dernière, elle montre que l’élevage pastoral, loin d’être réductible à un simple rapport de domination, est un système complexe composé d’interactions multiples entre humains et animaux, qui s’adaptent mutuellement pour faire communauté. À travers une abondante cartographie constituée à partir d’enregistrements GPS, l’analyse des aspects spatiaux de la cohabitation met au jour l’importance de la relation triadique homme-animal-environnement qui participe du maintien de la communauté. Cette communauté multispécifique engage des moyens de communication qui mobilisent les cinq sens et qui révèlent les capacités cognitives des animaux. Les éleveurs exploitent celles-ci dans les situations de coopération homme-animal, où le rôle joué par les animaux est différencié selon leurs caractéristiques individuelles. Malgré les différences environnementales, socio-économiques et politiques des deux terrains d’enquête, la perspective comparative met en lumière des éléments d’un continuum mongol. Les assemblages et équilibres fins à l’œuvre dans les relations interspécifiques révèlent la grande autonomie des animaux, dont les éleveurs attendent qu’ils jouent un rôle actif dans les tâches pastorales. / This thesis, based on several ethnographic surveys among Halh Mongols and Aga Buryats (Russia), as well as written sources in Mongolian, Russian and Western languages, addresses the nomadic pastoralism among the Mongols. By studying the way herders conceive the agency of their animals (horses, camel, cattle, sheep, goats and dogs) and rely on it, it is shown that animal husbandry, far from being reducible to a mere relation of domination, is a complex system made of multiple interactions between humans and animals, who mutually adapt to each other to build community. Through an abundant cartography based on GPS records, the analysis of the spatial features of cohabitation brings to light the importance of the triadic human-animal-environment relation which contributes to maintaining the community. This multispecies community engages means of communication which mobilize the five senses and reveal the animals’ cognitive capacities. Herders build on those in situation of human-animal cooperation, in which the role played by the animals is differentiated depending on their individual characteristics. Despite the environmental, socio-economic and political differences between the two fields, the comparative perspective highlights elements of a Mongol continuum. The assemblages and delicate balances prevailing in the interspecific relations reveal the large autonomy of animals, which are expected by herders to play an active role in pastoral tasks.

Cette thèse, qui s’appuie sur plusieurs enquêtes ethnographiques chez les Halh de Mongolie et les Bouriates d’Aga, ainsi que sur des sources écrites en langues mongole, russe et occidentales, porte sur le pastoralisme nomade des peuples mongols. En étudiant la manière dont les éleveurs conçoivent l’agentivité de leurs animaux (chevaux, chameaux, bovins, moutons, chèvres et chiens) et se reposent sur cette dernière, elle montre que l’élevage pastoral, loin d’être réductible à un simple rapport de domination, est un système complexe composé d’interactions multiples entre humains et animaux, qui s’adaptent mutuellement pour faire communauté. À travers une abondante cartographie constituée à partir d’enregistrements GPS, l’analyse des aspects spatiaux de la cohabitation met au jour l’importance de la relation triadique homme-animal-environnement qui participe du maintien de la communauté. Cette communauté multispécifique engage des moyens de communication qui mobilisent les cinq sens et qui révèlent les capacités cognitives des animaux. Les éleveurs exploitent celles-ci dans les situations de coopération homme-animal, où le rôle joué par les animaux est différencié selon leurs caractéristiques individuelles. Malgré les différences environnementales, socio-économiques et politiques des deux terrains d’enquête, la perspective comparative met en lumière des éléments d’un continuum mongol. Les assemblages et équilibres fins à l’œuvre dans les relations interspécifiques révèlent la grande autonomie des animaux, dont les éleveurs attendent qu’ils jouent un rôle actif dans les tâches pastorales. / This thesis, based on several ethnographic surveys among Halh Mongols and Aga Buryats (Russia), as well as written sources in Mongolian, Russian and Western languages, addresses the nomadic pastoralism among the Mongols. By studying the way herders conceive the agency of their animals (horses, camel, cattle, sheep, goats and dogs) and rely on it, it is shown that animal husbandry, far from being reducible to a mere relation of domination, is a complex system made of multiple interactions between humans and animals, who mutually adapt to each other to build community. Through an abundant cartography based on GPS records, the analysis of the spatial features of cohabitation brings to light the importance of the triadic human-animal-environment relation which contributes to maintaining the community. This multispecies community engages means of communication which mobilize the five senses and reveal the animals’ cognitive capacities. Herders build on those in situation of human-animal cooperation, in which the role played by the animals is differentiated depending on their individual characteristics. Despite the environmental, socio-economic and political differences between the two fields, the comparative perspective highlights elements of a Mongol continuum. The assemblages and delicate balances prevailing in the interspecific relations reveal the large autonomy of animals, which are expected by herders to play an active role in pastoral tasks.