HST 197 Lecture Notes - Lecture 44: Fermented Milk Products, Nomad, Charismatic Authority
Document Summary
Turkish people never formed a homogenous group but they organized themselves into tribes and clans that often fought against one another. These nomadic people kept herds of animals such as horses, sheep, goat, cattle and camels. They built societies by adapting to ecological conditions of arid lands. Grasses and shrubs flourished in the steppes. Maintenance of flocks required pastoral peoples of central asia to move frequently. They took their animals to lands abundant with grass and as the grass thinned they moved somewhere else. They didn"t just wander, they followed migratory cycles that took account of the climates and local conditions. They lived mostly off milk, meat and hides of their animals. They used animal bones for tools and animal dung as fuel for fires. They made clothes and shoes out of wool from their sheep. They also fermented milk to make alcohol. Settlements were small and few and often temporary.
