Earliest archaeological evidence for domesticated reindeer economy among the Sámi of Northeastern Fennoscandia AD 1300 onwards

Abstract

The domestication of the reindeer among the Sámi of Northern Fennoscandia is a pressing question for the archaeology of the area and has wider relevance to animal domestication studies globally. Despite considerable research activity, many details of reindeer domestication and early reindeer management remain unclear. This paper explores the use of draught reindeer in early Sámi reindeer herding and the implications for understanding reindeer domestication and early reindeer herding strategies. Faunal assemblages from three Sámi dwelling sites in Northeastern Fennoscandia (AD 1300–1800) were subjected to radiocarbon dating and analysis of palaeopathological lesions, entheseal changes and osteometric measurements. The results suggest that working reindeer were present in the archaeological assemblages from AD 1300 onwards. This is the earliest direct evidence of draught reindeer use by the Sámi. It predates the earliest unequivocal historical sources on draught reindeer use, and confirms the hypothesis that draught reindeer were important in early reindeer herding. Our results show that that small-scale reindeer herding was integrated into the subsistence strategy of the Sámi of Northeastern Fennoscandia earlier than previously suggested. Furthermore, the results imply that training and working together with reindeer were ways of constructing the domestication relationship between the Sámi and reindeer.