With Russian migration to this region of Siberia, mobility was reduced to only two major residential shifts per year for most groups (Zhambalova 2004). Mobility was high year-round, but during winter use of permanent settlements was common in some areas (Batueva 1989).
Mobility and herding practices in the study area involved mixed herds and periodic migration from pasture to pasture. The relative abundance of cattle here appears to have increased toward the beginning of the twentieth century, perhaps as facilities for providing winter forage were developed and sedentism increased (Zhambalova 2004 : 97). Unlike cattle, horses and sheep were more highly favored here because horses can use their hooves to forage under snow while sheep (and goats) can follow after them to feed in exposed areas. Sheep historically accounted for approximately 50–60 percent of all animals raised by the Buriats inhabiting Ol’khon Island (Zhambalova 2004 : 97 data not available for other steppe regions of Cis-Baikal). Sheep and goats were probably the most important animals in local diets due to their rapid reproduction in comparison to cattle and horse and ability to consume vegetation that is marginal for most other domesticates (Barfield 1993 Zhambalova 2004). More locally, horses were historically of great importance among the Kurykane, who bred and traded them across a broad region. Furthermore, horses were well-known symbols of warfare, wealth, trade, and spiritual concerns throughout the steppe zone (Dashibalov 1995 Nikolaev 2004). Among these animals, the horse is (and was) the key animal in culturally defining Eurasian steppe pastoralists, form- ing a major element of their identity (Anthony 2007 Curtin 1909 Georgi 1777). They include horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and occasionally camels (Batueva 1989 Galdanova 1992 Pallas 1788). Cis-Baikal pastoralists raised herds composed of five main species suitable for the region.
Like many other Eurasian steppe pastoralists (Barfield 1993), the Buriats consider horse meat and milk as delicacies (Zhambalova 2004). The Buriats, and perhaps also earlier pastoralists in Cis-Baikal, used cattle, sheep, and goats for pro- ducing meat, milk, and wool, while horses and oxen were primarily employed for traction and transport, but sometimes also were eaten.
Foremost among the shared subsistence practice of the pastoralist groups in this region were the species of animal raised and products produced from them. These shared subsistence practices most likely have persisted in some form because the environment of Priol’khon’e and broader Cis-Baikal is characterized by relatively marginal pastures and poor soils (compared to regions to the south) as well as short growing seasons, all of which limited agricultural activities. While our research area was home to a mosaic of di¤erent nomadic groups during the late Holocene, it has been argued that all populations here shared a general pattern of animal-based subsistence practices (Kharinskii 2005). Archaeological information on Kurykane and early Mongols is largely taken from Dashibalov (1995) and Aseev (1980), with useful overviews in Kharinskii (2001 a, b ). Galdanova 1992 Georgi 1777 Viatkina 1969 Zhambalova 2004).