The Maasai of East Africa are well-known and much-studied cattle pastoralists. Unlike other studies of the Maasai, the primary focus of this study is upon the cattle, specifically "cattle ecology." That is, I re-examine the hypothesis that cattle are a part of both the biological and social environments and that social relationships, cemented through cattle, are an essential part of the survival strategy of humans in pastoral systems.; My inquiry sought to elucidate the ways in which the requirements of the cattle shape Maasai life. By means of interviews with Maasai consultants over a period of 10 years, I was able to establish that cattle-tending was strongly supported by and integrated into Maasai social organization. Notably, the mobility necessary to provide cattle with the best grazing and water supplies available, and the advantages of spreading the risks inherent in periodic drought and disease, have led to a complex system of cattle acquisition, redistribution, and exchange.; Nearly all of these transaction are strongly reflected in Maasai social organization. Historical and ethnohistorical evidence shows that this system was in operation at least as early as 130 years ago. Moreover, since this system is designed to accommodate climatic and environmental fluctuations, its inherent flexibility has enabled it to survive a variety of external political and legal pressures. This conclusion has wide implications. First, the faunal record from the "Pastoral Neolithic" of East Africa (beginning 5,000--4,000 BP) reflects the same variability as that seen in cattle mortality patterns in recent times. Second, the flexible Maasai-type system appears in similar form in early medieval Ireland, where textual evidence attests to a heavy reliance on cattle-rearing. Although Irish society was far more hierarchical than that of the Maasai, and the climate of course very different from that of East Africa, the Irish had a complex system of reciprocal ties that mirrors that of the Maasai in structure. These comparanda encourage a conclusion that Maasai cattle pastoralism embodies a durable and flexible system that was wide-ranging in both time and space.
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