Posted by Yon Bard on March 30, 1999 at 12:41:38:
In Reply to: Aesthetic Investment posted by John Downie on March 30, 1999 at 09:37:30:
: As Saul points out, many of these people were at an economic level not too far above subsistence, so they faced rather high opportunity costs. Instead of the tremendous amount of work that must have gone into the beautiful Caucasian mafrash in the article, the weaver could have made, much more quickly, a simple, plainwoven piece. It is a testament to the aesthetic sensibilities of the group that the much higher time investment was deemed worthy.
According to Mike Tschebull (who has done field work with the Shahsevan), nomads are usually fairly well off. Being a nomad requires owning a lot of animals and equipment. If you are very poor, you cannot afford to be a nomad.
Regards, Yon