Fieldwork Diaries
David Brooks’ Fieldwork
David Brooks conducted fieldwork in Iran in November 1963, March-December 1964, March-May 1966 and May-August 1967. Twice he went with the Bakhtiari on their spring migration.
Fieldwork diary extract
“We rode in the middle of the flocks in fact and accompanied Jangi’s family, slowly riding through the dust up a quite fantastic ravine called Tang. Most fascinating. From ahead came the sounds of the flocks being serenaded by a young ragged shepherd boy with his pipe. The loaded donkeys piled high with goods and people, some of the women clutching children with them, or baby goats being carried or tied by the legs, standing upright on the back of a loaded mule. The sounds of the people shouting comments to each other, laughing and shouting, mingled with the clanging of our stirrups against the boulders as we wound our way slowly up and up, along a path winding its way between gigantic boulders and trees growing in the most improbable places at the most unlikely angles. We could not see the top of the ravine sides for the dust. What we did see looked fairly well wooded for some reason. The path was well marked and cleared of stones too awkward to manoeuvre. Up over the ravine we stopped and had some meat to eat before pushing down the mountain side to a small river. The sheep were urged into the water showing more than a little dislike for the idea but once in the water behaved with some decorum. The shepherd stayed downstream and would rush forward to catch an erring sheep and push them out at the allotted spot. The climb out of the water was none too nice. On the banks of the river were many trees and we stopped and had some lunch as we watched the whole group cross their sheep and mules”.
Resources
- David Brooks’ Fieldwork diary, 1964 (Re-typed) (last modified: 28 July 2017)
- David Brooks’ Fieldwork diary, 1966 (Re-typed) (last modified: 28 July 2017)
Further information
1. ‘The Bakhtiari’ is a field report written while Brooks was studying social anthropology at Baliol College, Oxford. The report was written in 1965, between his first and second period of fieldwork. He outlines the information he had gathered and his plans for future trips.
2. In 1971 Brooks wrote up a lecture on his fieldwork experiences. This document outlines some of the many challenges and rewards of fieldwork among a nomadic group such as the Bakhtiari.
▸ Read Brooks, D.H.M, (1971) Fieldwork lecture, Durham.
3. The Migration section features 5 diary extracts with corresponding photographs from David’s migration route.
▸ View the Migration section’s first page (Munar) for more information.
