モンゴル牧畜社会における銀製品 --その経済的な価値と文化的な価値

Abstract

Livestock and land are the primary means of production in Mongolian pastoral society. Similarly, silver and silver goods play important roles in Mongolian society and economy. In fact, silver was used as currency until the socialist revolution at the beginning of the 20th century. This paper investigates the economic value and cultural meanings of silver goods by comparing the practices involving silver goods with those involving livestock in Mongolian pastoral society. The result is that silver goods support people to survive in crises such as collapse of herds by natural disaster, and that silver goods are esteemed highly as symbols of richness and spiritual harmony in cultural dimension of daily life.