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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.

The concept of gender becomes significant when associated with variable and unpredictable effects of climate change. It is important to assess the linkages and outcomes between humans and their environment. I highlight the level of vulnerability and burdens on the different genders and discuss how these environmental influences are shifting what we will considered “traditional” social norms and responsibilities within rural households of Kenya and Tanzania. For agricultural and pastoral communities in eastern Africa, drought triggers many socio-economic alterations that lead to great shifts in traditional roles and daily duties especially for women. The key focus of this study relies on changing gender dynamics as a result of intensified and prolonged episodes of drought, considering male and female interactions and coping strategies. Using my case study of Ayalaliyo, Tanzania as a springboard, I will be analyzing women’s vulnerability, increased workloads, health implications, and alternative incomes as well as male disempowerment in the rural communities of Kenya and Tanzania. I aspire to find the connections between women and the environment and detect whether or not there have been similar changes in gender roles as a result of climatic changes throughout the rest of East Africa’s farming communities. I will be concluding by tying these effects to a more global perspective on the importance of gendering climate change adaptations.

Dans les pays du Sud, l'élevage est soumis au défi de l'augmentation de la demande en produits animaux, qui devrait doubler à l'horizon 2050. Parallèlement, face aux changements globaux en cours (climat, démographie et pression sur les ressources, urbanisation), la question de la vulnérabilité des populations qui vivent de l'élevage se pose comme une question de plus en plus forte. Cette thèse se propose d'étudier les systèmes d'élevages pastoraux au regard de ces deux enjeux, de production et de sécurisation, et de répondre à la question suivante : quelles sont les relations entre les moyens de sécurisation mis en place par les campements pastoraux et la gestion technique et économique des troupeaux ? Cette question est traitée pour le cas de la communauté rurale de Tessekre, située dans la réserve sylvo-pastorale du Ferlo, au Sénégal, en zone sahélienne. Cette zone est quasi-exclusivement dédiée à l'élevage pastoral et fournit 25 % de la viande consommée à Dakar. Une approche pluri-disciplinaire a été mise en place, associant des travaux en zootechnie système sur le troupeau et des travaux en socio-économie sur la sécurisation des ménages. Le concept de sécurisation mobilisé dans ce travail se définit comme la capacité à durer sur le long terme en mobilisant différents moyens de sécurisation que sont: l'accumulation des troupeaux ; la diversification des activités et des revenus ; la mobilité à grande distance ; l'organisation de la famille. Dans une première partie du travail, des trajectoires sur le long terme des campements, de leurs activités et de leurs troupeaux ont été établies sur 16 campements. Ces trajectoires ont permis de voir comment étaient combinés les moyens de sécurisation dans les campements et d'établir des profils de sécurisation des campements. Couplées à une analyse statistique de la diversité des systèmes d'activités pour 508 campements de Tessekre, ces étapes ont permis de caractériser la diversité des contributions des troupeaux à la sécurisation. Dans une deuxième partie du travail, un suivi zootechnique de 10 campements a permis de caractériser la conduite technique et la gestion économique des troupeaux pendant une période d'un an. Cette étude a montré que, même une bonne année sur le plan climatique, et même pour des profils sécurisés, il n'y a pas forcément d'épargne réalisée grâce au troupeau. De plus, les troupeaux ovins sont apparus très exploités. Une épargne a pu être réalisée pour une partie seulement des troupeaux bovins ; et, même s'ils sont épargnés, les bovins contribuent à satisfaire les besoins monétaires des campements. De plus, des éléments de conduite technique (gardiennage, grande transhumance au Saloum, opérations des béliers Tabaski) ont été traités et reflètent les contraintes notamment d'organisation de la main d'œuvre familiale auxquels sont soumis les éleveurs. L'étude fine des opérations Tabaski en élevage ovin montre une diversité dans les façons de commercialiser et acheter les mâles alors que la conduite est plus homogène. Seuls les profils sécurisés ont pu mettre en place des opérations de grande ampleur. Dans une dernière partie, c'est un moyen de sécurisation particulier qui a été traité : celui de la mobilité des jeunes migrants à la recherche de diversification. Des entretiens ont été menés avec 12 personnes, dans les campements et en milieu urbain. Ces entretiens révèlent les différences de points de vue au sein du campement notamment en ce qui concerne la commercialisation des animaux : entre jeunes plus attirés par les modes de vie urbains, plus « gaspilleurs » ; et chefs de famille, garants de la sécurisation des campements et plus favorables à l'accumulation des troupeaux. Ce travail permet d'établir des ponts entre la sécurisation des campements, qui est un objet plus habituel des sciences humaines et le troupeau, objet des zootechniciens. / In tropical countries, the livestock sector has to answer to a great challenge: an increase in animal products demand from the markets, which is predicted to double until 2050. Simultaneously, global changes such as climate changes, demographic increase and pressure over natural resources highlight vulnerability issues of rural population depending on livestock activities. Therefore, livestock activities have to face to this double challenge. This thesis proposes to study pastoral livestock systems regarding this double challenge. In this thesis, our aim is to answer to the following question: what are the relations between security means used by pastoral settlements and the technical and economical management of the herds? This question is applied on the rural community of Tessekre, in the sylvopastoral reserve of Ferlo, Senegal. This Sahelian zone of Ferlo is nearly exclusively dedicated to pastoral livestock activities and provides 25 % of the meat consumption of Dakar. A pluri-disciplinary approach is here presented : we associated livestock farming systems approaches to study the herd, to socioeconomic approaches in order to study the security of pastoral settlements. Concept of security used in this thesis is defined as: the ability for pastoral settlements to last over the long term, using four different security means. These security means are: accumulation of the herds, diversification of activities and incomes, long distance mobility; familial organization.In a first step, long term trajectories of settlements, their herds and activities have been established for 16 settlements. It was therefore possible to describe how the means of security were used and combined in the settlements and to establish distinct security profiles. This approach was coupled with a statistical analysis of the diversity of systems of activities of the 508 settlements in Tessekre and resulted in the characterization of the diversity of possible contributions of the herds to settlements security. In a second step, a monitoring of the herds in 10 settlements was realized during one year. This study gave data about technical and economic management of the herds. We showed that, even during a year marked by good climatic conditions, and even for secured profiles, accumulation of the herds was not always possible. High off-take rates of sheep herds were always realized during the year of monitoring. Regarding bovine herds, accumulation was possible for a part of the herds; in all cases, even if they were accumulated, bovine contributed to monetary needs of the settlements. Technical management was studied through several elements: sheepherding, long distance transhumance to Saloum, Tabaski rams sales. This study highlights constraints in the organization of familial workers. The study on Tabaski sales showed a diversity in the ways herders sell and purchase rams, whereas herd technical management is more homogeneous. Only the secured profiles are able to realize Tabaski sales at a great scale. In a third step, a particular security means was studied: the mobility of young migrants looking for diversification. 12 interviews were realized both in the settlements and in Dakar. These interviews revealed the different point of views existing in the settlements, regarding animal sales: the ones of the young more attracted by urban and consumerists ways of life and the ones of the family chieves, more attached to the accumulation of the herds, a warranty for settlement's security.

The thesis is focused on two mtDNA haplogroups of Eurasian origin that occur mostly among the Fulani, herders of the African Sahel. On the initial analysis 544 DNA samples from unrelated Fulani individuals were used. These samples were classified to haplogroups according to hypervariable segment I (HVS-I) of mtDNA and subsequently, specific Eurasian haplotypes were chosen for the whole mtDNA genome sequencing. Obtained mito-genomes were assigned to phylogenetic trees and dated. It turned out that they belonged to haplogroups U5b1b1b and H1ca1a with the probable origin in the Iberian Peninsula, presumably in Franco-Cantabrian refugium where their ancestors originated in the period between the Late Glacial and the first half of the Holocene. Afterwards they migrated through the Strait of Gibraltar to North Africa and the Sahara, where the proto-Fulani pastoral population was being formed. It may also be assumed that a part of this population came to Africa from the Near East, along with cattle. In the second half of the Holocene, this pastoral population migrated from the drying Sahara to the Sahel. Probably due to small number of female migrants the females from the local populations were integrated, which explains the major representation of West African mtDNA haplogroups in contemporary Fulani....

A presente tese se centra na compreensão do sistema pastoril em Santa María, Província de Catamarca, Argentina. Os grupos pastoris desta região apresentam mobilidade sazonal em busca de fontes hídricas e pastagens, indicando movimentos que tradicionalmente se distinguem entre os vales e o interior das serras. Especificamente, esta mobilidade que lhes é característica também atua na percepção e apreensão da paisagem. Neste contexto, a paisagem tem um valor ativo nestas práticas e no imaginário das pessoas do lugar. A partir de uma abordagem etnoarqueológica se buscará compreender a maneira como as características específicas do sistema pastoril atuam na relação entre humanos e o meio e na internalização da paisagem, considerando as implicações materiais dessas escolhas e comportamentos. / This dissertation focuses on understanding the pastoral system in Santa María, Catamarca province, Argentina. Pastoralists movements are based on a seasonal mobility to search water sources and pastures, indicating movements that are traditionally distinguished between the valleys and the mountains. Specifically, the mobility pattern also acts on perception and apprehension of the landscape. In this context, the landscape has an active value in practices and imagination of the pastoral people. The study uses an ethnoarchaeological approach, to investigate the pastoralist system, and the implications of the relationship between humans and the environment and the internalization of landscape, considering the material implications of choices and behaviors.

This dissertation is a contribution to the ethnography of contemporary indigenous reindeer pastoralism in Norway: specifically, to the study of the neglected fields of reindeer killing and slaughtering practice. Its central contention is that in recent decades, the proliferation of human powers vested in the conduct of reindeer slaughter has created new conditions for practice, placing the identities of reindeer and herders at stake in new and still only dimly conceptualized ways. By exploring these, the dissertation aims to broaden existing debates concerning the so-called modernization of pastoral practice in Norway, drawing attention to some of its neglected aspects and inscribing them in a new register. Two principal strands inform the theoretical framework: one, approaches to the social study of knowledge that emphasise its practical, non-verbal and material aspects; and two, Foucauldian concepts of biopower as these may or may not be applicable to the human management of animal life. Individual chapters examine, in turn: the local politics of space on the Varanger peninsula, focusing particularly on links between the spatial management and the killing of reindeer; the practices and social relations of slaughter as it is conducted at the round-up corral; the social effects of the introduction of slaughterhouses, and of the regime of which they form a part; controversies surrounding specific slaughtering techniques and instruments, particularly the curved knife; and the politics of animal welfare discourse and practices in their application to reindeer herding. Finally, using the figure of animal sacrifice as a guiding trope, the concluding chapter attempts to situate some key aspects of the modernization of reindeer slaughter in relation to the operation of broader sacrificial economies that regulate the destruction of life at aggregate or populational levels.

This project investigates Saharan pastoralist rock-art (7500-3000BP), with a particular focus on the engravings of the Messak Plateau in southwest Libya. Taking an anthropological approach, the art is examined within the context of the lives of its creators - transhumant cattle-herders who occupied the plateau seasonally. Drawing from fieldwork in Libya together with data from multiple expeditions in the Sahara, the study addresses a major lacuna in Saharan research by focusing on materially constituted, as-lived dimensions at the micro scale. A fundamental but archaeologically elusive aspect of lived experience is a consideration of 'movement', both physical and esoteric. Its incorporation is central to this project, forming a multi-aspected theoretical framework and a methodological tool. Augmented by input from specialists in geomorphology, pastoralism, stone sculpting and animal behaviour, this movement-driven focus has produced a more developed picture of the Messak herder lives, advancing our understanding of these particular non-text, somatic societies. A singular contribution is the creation of a hypothetical model for small-scale, quotidian pastoralist practices, which expands upon the archaeological evidence, fleshing out details of a well-systematised form of dairy pastoralism involving controlled breeding and the processing of milk products. At the same time it is proposed that the herders' relationship with their cattle was one of partnership rather than ownership, involving trans-species empathy and a valuation of animal personhood. This viewpoint is part of a broader set of animal-human relations reflecting a cosmological order that diverges from modern, Western ontological constructs. Other significant findings include detailed information on the role and identity of the image-maker, revisionist data on the amount of effort and skill expended in carving processes, and an examination of the ways in which rock-art was used to manifest social emotional concerns. These were expressed via animal emotions portrayed in the rock-art, and also through performative, gestural markings associated with the imagery. Such expressions include apotropaic, supplicatory or other interactions involving communication with unseen powers.

This thesis presents findings from a qualitative enquiry into the rapid uptake of the mobile phone by pastoral communities in Tanzania and its use as a tool to tackle marketing constraints. The research design involves an interregional comparative analysis of two key production regions: Arusha and the Lake Zone, and two groups of livestock producers (the Maasai pastoralists and Wasukuma agro-pastoralists respectively). Applying the Social Shaping of Technology (SST) perspective from Science and Technology Studies (STS), and in particular the concept of 'appropriation', the study examines the embrace of mobile phones by those producers - who keep livestock under the extensive (pastoralist) and semi-intensive (agro-pastoralist) systems respectively. The thesis examines the extent to which the mobile phone is changing how livestock keepers interact in the livestock market and how this is affecting their livelihoods. The thesis shows that the significance of the mobile phone varies with user groups; for instance, for the Maasai who still lead a nomadic life, the mobile phone is used 'conservatively' to communicate about herd management and to coordinate household affairs in ways that do not substantially disrupt traditional social practices and roles. In contrast, the Wasukuma agro-pastoralists use mobile phones to introduce new processes to support production and marketing, one good example being the strategy used to coordinate transportation of cattle to market. The study findings suggest the extension of the 'appropriation' (Williams, Stewart, & Slack, 2005) conceptualisation by adding the possibility of a spectrum from shallow to extended according to users' role and the context of use. Nevertheless, and in more generic terms, it is possible to say that the mobile phone use did not disrupt some of the traditional practices and trade customs amongst the Maasai, and it has reinforced the innovative behaviour of the Wasukuma. The thesis also examines a parallel initiative whereby aid agencies and public bodies in Tanzania supported the development of the Livestock Information Network and Knowledge System (LINKS), as an ICT platform designed to improve the livestock market by sharing market information. However, studies show that LINKS has not had the intended effect, is not trusted and has not been adopted by many pastoralists. The study shows how the concept of trust, which is key in market dynamics and trade relations, has been reshaped, because the mobile phone has supported informal communications that reinforce traditional methods of policing trust in the market. The thesis contributes to ongoing debates surrounding the conceptualisation of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). The failure of early ICT4D initiatives was attributed to a failure to address users' specific requirements, due to gaps in the translation process, as well as to socio-political and technical fragilities such as the lack of adequate infrastructure, and a deficient social learning process. The initial reworking of ICT4D highlighted the need to design technology as a specific solution appropriate to particular contexts/user groups. These were seen as finished solutions (corresponding to the idea of a 'technical fix'). Focusing upon 'appropriation', in line with the Social Shaping of Technology - Mark 2 approach - allows scope for a further rethinking of ICT4D which addresses not just design but the active role of users in shaping technological innovation to the context and purposes of communities in developing countries.