anthropology

The sixteenth of November 2018

goats

Most (not all) of the goats I have shared on this blog, so far, have been goats I have actually met. I met this goat about a month ago at Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats. She (I think, I did not go to great lengths to confirm, and as gender is a human social construct, I think goats are beyond that sort of thing) had the most luxurious, softest coat. Clearly, she was well aware that she was one fabulous looking goat and trotted across the grass with amazing confidence. The weekend is a great time to break out and do things that make you feel fabulous, whether it’s going out dancing, strutting across the greens or pampering yourself with the comforts of home on a staycation.

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A confident caprine at Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats

The thirteenth of November 2018

goats

How long have humans and their related ancestral species created art? It is entirely impossible to know for sure, as many mediums may have not survived millennia and it is difficult to say what a person living during the Paleolithic era would have considered art. The earliest forms of art identified by archaeologists come from paintings in caves, most famously the Lascaux Caves in southwest France. Cave art is prevalent throughout France and Spain; however, recent research has identified even older examples in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Last week, a paper in Nature describe the oldest known cave art that was crafted at least 35,000 years ago in the East Kalimantan mountains of Borneo, Indonesia. The inside of the cave is said to be entirely covered in art, including animals and outlines of human hands. Of course, one of the animals that was painted onto the walls of Lubang Jeriji Saléh was indeed, a goat. As new dating methods emerge, archaeologists theorize that some cave art in Europe may be as old as 65,000 years, which means they were created by Neanderthals rather than modern humans. At any rate, the new discoveries from Borneo show that goats have always been part of the story of humans, even before their estimated date of domestication approximately 10,000 years ago.

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An image of a goat on the wall of the Lubang Jeriji Saléh Cave, painted 35,00 years ago.

The first of November 2018

goats

Today’s goat of the day comes from the film Ski-baz, or The Skier. The Skier was directed and written by Fereidoun Najafi.  The film follows the day in the life of Jolie, a small boy in red wellies who lives in rural, southwest Iran amongst the Bakhtiari tribes. Jolie has cared for a mountain goat that wandered into his village to escape wolves; however, a death in his family network has made his parents wish for it to be sacrificed in a traditional funerary ceremony. To not sacrifice the goat would be to dishonour his family and imbalance important economic distinctions between groups. Jolie is also on a quest to get enough money to buy some new skis so he can compete in a skiing competition, which will give him enough money to potentially keep the goat.

The main theme was not animal rights or coming of age; rather, the steady creep of globalization and change against traditional, tribal values. The Bakhtiari people have long inhabited the southwest corner of Iran as pastoralists, although the number of nomadic pastoralists has significantly dwindled. According to legend, some believe they were descended from Cyrus the Great of Persia. Sheep, goats and their associated by-products are a large part of the traditional economy of the Bakhtiari, but in a world increasingly connected by technology many values fade along with the nomadism. In some ways this is good, for example women can move more freely throughout society. In other ways, letting go of old traditions is sad. By the end of the film, Jolie had seemed to have moved on from his pet goat onto his next quest across the snowy hills. The Skier was nominated for a Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Best Youth Feature Film in 2017.

The balance between the old while welcoming the new can be difficult. As an anthropologist, I really enjoyed this film and learning about this part of the world. As a goat enthusiast, I wish that there had been more goats.

Note: Until today, all of the goats have been from my own personal photos. Today’s goat of the day comes from a picture from the film. 

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Jolie and his pet goat, named simply Mountain Goat.