Investigating reindeer pastoralism and exploitation of high mountain zones in northern Mongolia through ice patch archaeology.

William Taylor,E James Dixon,Jocelyn Whitworth,Julia K Clark,Oyundelger Batchuluun,Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan,Myagmar Nansalmaa,Björn Reichhardt,Gregory W L Hodgins,Craig M Lee,Xinyi Liu

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0224741

Abstract

In interior Eurasia, high mountain zones are crucial to pastoral subsistence, providing seasonally productive pastures and abundant wild resources. In some areas of northern Mongolia, mountainous tundra zones also support a low-latitude population of domestic reindeer herders–a lifestyle whose origins are poorly characterized in the archaeological record of early Mongolia. Traditionally, reindeer pastoralists make significant seasonal use of munkh mus (eternal ice) for their domestic herds, using these features to cool heat-stressed animals and provide respite from insect harassment. In recent years, many of these features have begun to melt entirely for the first time, producing urgent threats to traditional management techniques, the viability of summer pastures, and reindeer health. The melting ice is also exposing fragile organic archaeological materials that had previously been contained in the patch. We present the results of horseback survey of ice patches in Baruun Taiga special protected area, providing the first archaeological insights from the region. Results reveal new evidence of historic tool production and wild resource use for fishing or other activities, and indicate that ice patches are likely to contain one of the few material records of premodern domestic reindeer use in Mongolia and lower Central Asia. The area’s ancient ice appears to be rapidly melting due to changing climate and warming summer temperatures, putting both cultural heritage and traditional reindeer herding at extreme risk in the years to come.

Highlights

In the cold, dry, and harsh environs of the Eurasian steppes, mountain regions have played a key role in herding lifeways both and in the past -while contemporary climate warming threatens both pastoral adaptations and the region’s fragile archaeological record
Discussions with residents of Mengebulag indicate that ice patches play a crucial role in reindeer pastoralism
In Mongolia, mountain zones host unique species of domestic animals, that provide the economic foundation of some modern lifeways, but evidence of the process by which they were domesticated is almost absent from the archaeological record

Summary

Introduction

Dry, and harsh environs of the Eurasian steppes, mountain regions have played a key role in herding lifeways both and in the past -while contemporary climate warming threatens both pastoral adaptations and the region’s fragile archaeological record. Improved rain and pasture reliability of montane zones enables herders to practice vertical seasonal movements over short geographic distances into alpine summer pastures, where the well-watered forage can sustain larger populations of heavier, more water dependent livestock, as well as the coldadapted yak (Bos grunniens) and the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), which are found only in northern Mongolia. Owing to these unique ecological roles, montane regions in Mongolia appear to have been hotspots for the region’s earliest herding economies during the early Bronze Age (Taylor et al in review)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion