Nomads

Nomads herded sheep, cattle and other animals. They could digest milk and so had better food than most other people, for in those days most people lost the enzymes needed to digest milk as they grew up. They also gathered some plants but meat and milk were their main foods. Nomad tribes lived in tents and moved about looking for grass, led by a chief. They fought with other tribes over pasture and animals.

Asian Steppe

Many of the nomads lived on the grassland called the steppe ("step") which stretches from Europe across Asia to northern China. It is shown in black on this map. By 5500 years ago they had domesticated horses. As the climate changed these nomads left the steppe and play a key part in the history of both the east and west.