tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post4870515020423838575..comments2024-01-04T04:11:55.717+02:00Comments on Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog: Geographic patterning of goats from Greece, Albania, and ItalyDienekeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02082684850093948970noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-69717149436706797362009-09-28T08:58:47.538+03:002009-09-28T08:58:47.538+03:00During the period in question the islands and coas...During the period in question the islands and coastal lands would not have been just scrub.<br /><br />It is highly doubtful goats would have been used to deal with forested islands, many of which had quite substantial stands of oak.<br /><br />It was much easier, even in the stone age, to use human lumber to fell lumber. In fact stone axes were not preferable just to copper but also to bronze and other alloys.<br /><br />No, goats were not used for clearing trees.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064974858744314873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-76186450171403801432009-09-15T06:54:12.682+03:002009-09-15T06:54:12.682+03:00I too have had quite a bit to do with goats and ag...I too have had quite a bit to do with goats and agree with you both. And you only have to be in West Africa for five minutes and you can see why the Sahara is expanding: goats, perhaps aided a little by a drying climate. But then that drying climate may be caused by de-vegetationing anyway.terrythttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17327062321100035888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-62249464818331920642009-09-14T23:09:13.926+03:002009-09-14T23:09:13.926+03:00Actually with stone tools: there were no bronze or...Actually with stone tools: there were no bronze or even copper tools until much later (though unalloyed copper tools were not better than stone ones anyhow). <br /><br />But that should not have been a problem in the Mediterranean, where forests are much less dense and large areas are just scrub (maquis). <br /><br />Still you do have a point as goats being great clearing "machines": they eat nearly all and pretty quick.Majuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369840391933337204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-28709043600007445292009-09-14T18:20:02.990+03:002009-09-14T18:20:02.990+03:00Maju,
As someone who has owned goats and seen the...Maju,<br /><br />As someone who has owned goats and seen them in action, it would also make perfect sense for migrating farmers to introduce goats first, as they will quickly de-forest - by both stripping bark off mature trees, and eating shoots and saplings - an area, and so make it easy to turn into farmland. People often wonder how with crude bronze tools early agriculturists manages to hew large trees, my theory is that goats did the job for them.<br /><br />It's well known in the Age of Exploration, sailors would leave some breeding livestock on islands, so that on return trips, maybe months or years later, they would be able to stop by and hunt some of them for food.pconroyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10312469574812832771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-7645082465688784262009-09-13T22:36:39.554+03:002009-09-13T22:36:39.554+03:00I really can imagine the Cardial Pottery peoples m...I really can imagine the Cardial Pottery peoples migrating on their ships with a bunch of goats aboard. <br /><br />This is one of the specifics of CP culture, that bovines are initially absent and instead ovicaprids abound. Too often archaeologists can't differentiate a sheep from a goat but I figure that goats are more appropriate to carry aboard of ships because they don't get easily annoyed (the only problem could be if they ate the ropes or sails, as these animals are known to eat everything they can grab).Majuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369840391933337204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-90632498321265656982009-09-12T12:28:13.682+03:002009-09-12T12:28:13.682+03:00It will be very interesting if they look at distin...It will be very interesting if they look at distinct Mediterranean islands, and if they can compare to goats from North Africa and Middle East.Andrew Lancasterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15050253327442799011noreply@blogger.com