|
Environment
The country of Turkey is divided into several differnet regions. Within these regions lie moutains such as the Taurus and Anti Tauras Mountains on the east side, The Pontic Mountains to the north bordering the Black Sea and in between these main ranges is the Anatolian Plateau. The general climate of Turkey is described as Medditerranean, which basically means wet winters and warm summers. However the eastern part of the Anatolian Plateau experiences more evaporation and is prone to drought. Basically, there is a rain shadow effect occuring there. For a more detailed analysis of the regions in Turkey click here http://www.allaboutturkey.com/regions.htm#ic
Some of the other features of Turkey would include Mt. Ararat, which is a religous area in dispute by several governemts. Another feature would be the the headwaters of the Euphrates river which is very important to many middle east countries.
Settlement Pattern
The Yurok are maninly known as nomadic pastoralists. That is they move according to the seasons. They dont move lineally from one area to the next. Instead they practice transhumance. Which is the annual migration of the herds from the Anatolian Plateau to the mountains. This is very important to the Yurok as they have changed from a sustinence culture to that of a capital based. Whats striking and unique to these nomads, is that they have changed their systems to whichever will earn them money. One year one tribe may be sedentary selling their wool or beautiful kilims(carpets) and then the next they would be moving along with their sheep. The pattern though remains that each area there is a plain and a mountain range and that is where you would usually find the Yuork.
Cultural Ecology
Yurok once used their sheep as sustinence. Because of the Western influence they work for the market. Basically they do not own their lands that the sheep graze on, they rent them, and because they rent them out they have to sell the wool for more capital. Whats interesting in this regard is the Yurok tribes fluctuate between nomadism, sedentary agriculture, and owners of shops. This system actually helps keep the flow of capital within themselves ensuring they at at least would have enough to survive. This system is productive in that no two tribes would be in competition for the resources available. One of the more visible parts of the Yoruk tribes, are the Yurts (tents). The black tents can be seen dotting the landscape alongside camles sheep and other small grazing animals. In the market economy you can find many Yoruk shops that sell kilims made from the wool of their sheep. The Yoruk have indeed found a niche in which to survive in however whether or not this is sustainable is yet ot be seen.
|
