The Ecology of Pastoralism in Relation to Changing Patterns of Land Use in the Northeast Peloponnese

From the Introduction: The principal aim of this dissertation is to analyse the form and effectiveness of the adaptations of village pastoralists in the Argolid under conditions of agricultural intensification, changing land use, increasing market penetration and cash flow, and general population increase. The study will describe and analyse the response of the shepherd households of the village of Didyma to increasing involvement in the political and economic structures of the developing Greek state and its cash economy. Specifically, how has this cultural and economic change affected the pastoralists of Didyma and their flocks - have there been adjustments in productive groups, in flock composition and size, in subsistence practices, and in the basic life objectives of these people? The broad answer to these questions is that these herders have faced their incorporation into an expanding economy by attempting to intensify the production of their animals. The means by which this has been done and the problems attendant to this process will provide the focus of the study.