The Basseri of Iran

Tennille Wilkins

ANT 101

Professor James Turner

May 17, 2014

The Basseri of Iran

In Iran there is a native pastoralist tribe called the Basseri. What makes this tribe pastoralist is they have pastures that allow cattle, sheep and goats to graze in plus the tribe depends on the animals for food. All that the Basseri do is centralized around the animals that they own. In the following pages it will discuss who the Basseri are, their culture and how their living arrangements are set up, the kinship system, their economy, and the pastoral chiefdom that is their leader. In a pastoral culture, everything revolves around the ability to be able to successfully execute economic transactions with the animals owned. This applies to marriage as well; however, in the...