Reindeer Bones Research Articles

Military supply, everyday demand, and reindeer: Zooarchaeology of Nazi German Second World War military presence in Finnish Lapland, Northernmost Europe

During the Second World War, in 1941–1944, Nazi German troops held the frontal responsibility of the Arctic front in Finnish Lapland. In this paper, we present the first zooarchaeological study of the wartime faunal remains from German military camps in Lapland. This illustrates the supply situation of both the German soldiers and their multinational prisoners. The official military supply was substantially supplemented with local food sources, namely, with the local semi-domesticated reindeer that dominates the bone assemblage. Bones of cattle, ovicaprines, and pig occur in lower numbers and appear to represent the German long-distance supply chain stretching from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Ocean. The remains of reindeer and wild species remind of the close interactions with locals and of the prisoners' hunting activities to supplement their meager diet. Even if the reindeer bones dominate both the soldiers' and prisoners' faunal assemblages, there are notable differences in the body parts, with bones from meatier portions always found in the soldiers' food waste. Besides highlighting a tension between the military supply and everyday demands, the faunal remains can draw attention to wider anthropological questions that reach beyond the information available in historical documents, such as adaptations into an alien northern environment. This emphasizes the importance of zooarchaeological analyses of recent past faunal materials from superficially familiar contexts.

Temporal and spatial variability of bone collagen stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios of Norwegian reindeer

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) bones from three Norwegian modern wild reindeer populations (Setesdal Ryfylke, Hardangervidda and Rondane) were used to investigate variations in δ13C and δ15N between, and within, populations. Each of these reindeer populations lives in different climatic and environmental conditions, thus vegetation and climatic conditions could be linked to their stable isotopic signature. Reindeer bones from several archaeological sites on Hardangervidda representing three chronological ranges (275–350 CE, 11th, and 13th century CE) were then analysed for their stable isotopic composition. No statistically significant differences were found within the populations, but the stable isotopic values differed between populations. Subsequently, these stable isotopic values were used to infer modern climatic conditions to sub-fossil palaeoenvironmental conditions on Hardangervidda.

Population mobility and lithic tool diversity in the Late Gravettian – The case study of Lubná VI (Bohemian Massif)

This paper presents the results of excavations conducted at the Late Gravettian site of Lubná VI in 2012 and 2018. This site is an exceptional example of a short-term Late Gravettian campsite, occupied between 27.5 and 27.1 ka cal BP. Due to the specific location of this site, in an area situated far from lithic raw material sources, the archaeological remains offer a rare possibility to understand the subsistence strategy of highly mobile hunter-gatherers in the Late Pleistocene. The knapped lithic assemblage is composed of erratic Cretaceous flint imported over long distances, and the tool inventory is typical of Late Gravettian assemblages from Central Europe, with a dominance of burins and backed implements. However, the lack of chert and flint raw material in the vicinity of the site inspired the occupants to use bladelet blanks to make hunting weaponry from burin spalls. This specific behaviour is unique among Gravettian inventories known from the western Carpathians. Reindeer dominate the faunal assemblage over other species. The season of occupation at Lubná VI was probably early autumn, and may be associated with the maximum use of environmental resources by the hunter-gatherers. The small campsite was located at a convenient spot for processing reindeer carcasses, where some hearth stone constructions were arranged. Because there was no woody vegetation in the closest vicinity of the site, reindeer bones and fat were used as fuel in hearths. Given the lack of nearby flint raw materials, the accessibility of large numbers of reindeer near Lubná, probably present on a seasonal basis, explains the occurrence of Late Gravettian occupation in this micro-region.

Identifying early stages of reindeer domestication in the archaeological record: a 3D morphological investigation on forelimb bones of modern populations from Fennoscandia

Reindeer herding probably developed during the Late Iron Age onwards and is still an important part of the subsistence and culture of many peoples in northern Eurasia. However, despite the importance of this husbandry in the history of these Arctic people, the period and place of the origin as well as the spread of domestic reindeer is still highly debated. Besides the existence of different breeding methods in these territories, identifying domesticated individuals in the archaeological record is complicated because reindeers are considered to still be in the early phases of the domestication process. Indeed, the traditional morphological markers used in zooarchaeology to decipher the domestication syndrome are hardly perceptible in these early stages. In this work, we propose solutions for identifying domestic reindeer bones using 3D geometric morphometrics on isolated elements from the long bones of the forelimb (i.e. humerus, radio-ulna and metacarpal). These bones are important to understand both the feeding behaviour and the mobility of reindeer, and the potential effect of load-carrying or draught in the case of domestic reindeer. We analysed 123 modern specimens from Fennoscandia, including the two interbreeding subspecies currently present in these territories: mountain reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and forest reindeer (R.t. fennicus); and where the sex and the lifestyle were known (i.e. free-ranging, racing or draught and captive individuals). A good level of discrimination between the size and shape variables of the bones of the forelimb was found among both subspecies and sexes. Moreover, individuals bred in captivity had smaller bone elements and a thinner and more slender morphology than free-ranging individuals. This demonstrates that the long bones of the forelimb can provide information on changes in feeding and locomotor behaviour prompted by the domestication process, like control and/or reduction of mobility and food of individual reindeer by humans. This also demonstrates that analysis in 3D geometric morphometrics is useful in detecting reindeer incipient domestication markers. Our results can be used by archaeologists to trace the early stages of domestication from fossil reindeer remains, and aid in reconstructing the socio-economic changes of past Arctic populations over time.

Radiocarbon chronology and environmental context of Last Glacial Maximum human occupation in Switzerland

Central Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) was dominated by polar desert and steppe-tundra biomes. Despite this, a human presence during this time period is evident at several locations across the region, including in Switzerland, less than 50 km from the Alpine ice sheet margin. It has been hypothesised that such human activity may have been restricted to brief periods of climatic warming within the LGM, but chronological information from many of these sites are currently too poorly resolved to corroborate this. Here we present a revised chronology of LGM human occupation in Switzerland. AMS radiocarbon dating of cut-marked reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) bones from the sites of Kastelhöhle-Nord and Y-Höhle indicates human occupation of Switzerland was most likely restricted to between 23,400 and 22,800 cal. BP. This timeframe corresponds to Greenland Interstadial 2, a brief warming phase, supporting the hypothesis that human presence was facilitated by favourable climatic episodes. Carbon, nitrogen and sulphur stable isotope analysis of the fauna provides palaeoenvironmental information for this time period. These findings contribute to our understanding of human activity in ice-marginal environments and have implications for understanding cultural connections across central Europe during the LGM.

An Early Iron Age Camp of Reindeer Hunters in the Bolshezemelskaya Tundra, Nenets Autonomous Okrug

This study outlines the fi ndings of excavations at More-Yu II—a site in the northern Bolshezemelskaya tundra. The habitation layer with numerous charcoal lenses was discovered inside the layer of buried soil overlain by eolian sand. Most fi nds are ceramics and animal bones. Arrowheads, o rnaments, tools, and ritual items are very rare. On the basis of palynological and faunal analyses, environmental changes from the sub-boreal warming until the end of the sub-Atlantic period are reconstructed. The temperature regime during the formation of cultural deposits was unstable. The principal subsistence strategy was reindeer hunting. The age of reindeer suggests that habitation periods coincided with cold seasons. Radiocarbon dates generated from reindeer bones point to the Early Iron Age. The camp dwellers were native reindeer hunters inhabiting the tundra belt of northeasternmost Europe. Ceramics representing the More-Yu type belong to the early stage of the Subarctic Pechora culture. They mark the Arctic component that became part of the n orthern Glya denovo population, abruptly changing the Finno-Permic culture of the taiga part of the Pechora basin in northern Urals.

ANIMAL BONES IN RITUAL ACCUMULATIONS AT MONKYS URIY

At Monkys Uriy, a late 16th–17th century fort on the Bolshoy Yugan River, in the taiga zone of the Ob basin, Western Siberia, bones of wild animals (reindeer, elks, brown bears, and wolves) and those of domestic dogs were found in residential areas together with artifacts. We describe ten ritual accumulations of bones, species composition, that of skeletal elements, fragmentation types, and the age of animals. Seven accumulations of bones were found at residential quarters. Six of them contained complete or partial skeletons of reindeer and cranial bones of an elk. These accumulations may indicate construction sacrifi ces and those marking childbirth. Three bone accumulations found outside the residence area include bones of a dog and a brown bear, evidently sacrifi ced during funerary rites. Ethnographic and folkloric evidence suggests that such sacrifi ces were practiced by the Yugan Khanty as late as the 19th and 20th centuries and had been rooted in ancient traditions of Ugrians and Samoyeds.

Heaps of fascinating fragments: reconstructing a medieval reindeer population based on bone middens from the Hardangervidda high mountain plateau, Norway

AbstractThe results of a detailed morphological and pathological study on reindeer bones (Rangifer tarandus) from four medieval hunting stations on Hardangervidda are presented. As intensive marrow collecting left almost no bones intact, traditional sexing methods could only sparsely be applied. Alternative methods had to be explored to successfully assign the fragments to a sex. Employing linear discriminant analysis (LDA) on early‐ and non‐fusing skeletal elements, I have shown that (incomplete) calcanei, metapodia and phalanges I and II can be used successfully to assign a specimen to a sex and should no longer be excluded from osteometric analyses. Differences in the demographic compositions of the taphocoenoses lead to the assumption that hunters in the 11th century AD targeted large reindeer bucks, while at the 13th‐century sites, the complete biocoenose is represented, albeit in a different ratio. There seems to have been a shift in hunting technique: from selective hunting to mass hunting. Size wise, the reindeer from Hardangervidda were smaller than reindeer from contemporary assemblages from the Dovre area (central Norway), a population that is genetically different. Few pathologically affected bones were encountered in the material, but some cases of infections, bone lesions and a progressed osteosarcoma are described.

Kholyato-1 Ritual Complex on the Yamal Peninsula

The ritual complex of Kholyato-1 was situated at the Yuribei River mouth on the Yamal Peninsula. It was represented by an anthropomorphic figurine located in front of a semi-circle of arrowheads, and a concentration of reindeer bones and antlers. The ritual complex was placed over a burial. The site is dated to the turn of the 17th–18th centuries and has been interpreted as a warrior burial containing part of the body or as a cenotaph constructed for a warrior, possibly a chief, that was subsequently used as a ritual place. The ritual site was used for post-funeral ceremonies and then as an assembly place for the local home guard.

Environmental context of the Magdalenian settlement in the Jura Mountains using stable isotope tracking (13C, 15N, 34S) of bone collagen from reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

The Jura Mountains are considered to be a region where phases of ice cap extension and retreat in response to climatic variation during the Upper Pleniglacial and Lateglacial (ca. 24,000–12,800 cal BP) are well reflected in the vegetation and animal spectrum composition. A new set of direct AMS radiocarbon dates of collagen from reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) bones found at archaeological sites indicated an almost continuous occupation of the Jura region since the end of Last Glacial Maximum, at ca. 24,000 cal BP, until its local disappearance around 14,000 cal BP. To investigate a possible change in reindeer ecology, isotopic analysis of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur in collagen (δ13Ccoll, δ15Ncoll, δ34Scoll) were performed on the dated specimens. A decrease in the δ13Ccoll and δ15Ncoll values of Jura reindeer was found at the beginning of the Lateglacial period around 16,300–15,600 cal BP. While the change in δ13Ccoll values was better explained by a change in diet composition with a decreasing input of lichens, the relative low δ15Ncoll values of the reindeer during the Lateglacial was consistent with a geographical pattern of soil maturity inherited from the Last Glacial Maximum. The same pattern was also seen in the δ15Ncoll values of the Lateglacial horse (Equus sp.) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) until ca. 14,000 cal BP. The decrease in reindeer δ15Ncoll around 16,300–15,600 cal BP and around 21,000–20,000 cal BP in the Jura region may be linked to the occupation of territories recently released by glaciers that formed during the Heinrich event 1 and the Last Glacial Maximum, respectively. The associated high δ15Ncoll and δ34Scoll values found in two specimens indicate the occurrence of areas of high soil activity in a globally cold context. This might correspond to the occupation of refugia in the close surroundings of the Jura region. Such local refugia could explain the capacity of the reindeer to occupy rapidly the newly available territories during phase of glacier retreat. The intensification of the Magdalenian human settlement could have been favored by these local ecosystem expansions.

A remarkable collection of Late Pleistocene reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus) remains from Woerden (The Netherlands)

Woerden, in the central part of The Netherlands, is a locality where the amateur-archaeologist Pieter Stoel collected several thousands of fossil mammalian remains of Pleistocene age. The stratigraphically-mixed assemblage includes a broad variety of taxa including species that are indicative of interglacial conditions such as Hippopotamus sp. as well as species that inhabited the area during glacial episodes e.g. Mammuthus primigenius and Coelodonta antiquitatis. The fossil remains have an early Middle Pleistocene – Late Pleistocene age. Rangifer tarandus is one of the species that is very well represented in the faunal assemblage from Woerden. Woerden yielded not only thousands of fossil bones but also Palaeolithic artefacts. A direct relationship between the reindeer bones and these artefacts could not be indicated. Most of the bones are complete and not a single reindeer bone or bone fragment shows traces of human interference such as clear impact or cut marks. This is remarkable considering the many European Palaeolithic sites where reindeer hunters left their traces. Detailed investigation of the reindeer remains indicates that the majority of the reindeer remains from Woerden represent one population with juvenile as well as adult individuals. The adult specimens show a female/male ratio of 2:1, which is characteristic for natural living reindeer populations. This ratio as well as the standard deviation of the size measurements suggests that the assemblage is one distinct population and not a mix of fossil assemblages with reindeer of different size and different geological ages. Further remarkable is that the dimensions of the limb bones indicate that the reindeer from Woerden were extremely slender; much more slender than the fossil Middle and Late Pleistocene reindeer assemblages from other localities in north-western and central Europe.

Relationships between reindeer and man in southwestern France during the Magdalenian

French Late Glacial deposits, mostly discovered at the end of the 19th century, contain abundant reindeer bones ( Rangifer tarandus). This species, which disappeared from France ca. 12000 BP, during the Allerød climatic oscillation, constituted the main game of Magdalenian groups of several geographical zones. This paper presents the results regarding modalities of acquisition and treatment of reindeer carcasses by Magdalenian groups in southwestern France. The Reindeer mass kills hypotheses proposed for the Parisian Basin cannot be applied to the South of France. The factors responsible for this difference are considered, notably seasons of hunt and extent of reindeer migrations.

Medieval mass trapping of reindeer at the Hardangervidda mountain plateau, South Norway

The south Norwegian mountain plateau Hardangervidda has the largest wild reindeer population in Europe. Bones from archaeological excavations of settlement sites and hunting stations, spanning in time from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages, indicate that these mountains have been inhabited by reindeer since shortly after deglaciation. A special trapping technique was used in the second half of the 13th century AD, when entire herds were driven into lakes where they were killed by hunters in boats. Dating evidence indicates that this large-scale trapping probably went on for less than 50 years. Hunting stations with remains of stone huts with adjacent middens containing large amounts of reindeer bones have been found at four sites in the northern part of Hardangervidda. Results from field investigations by an interdisciplinary project 2004–2008 studying archaeological, biological and climatic aspects of importance for the understanding of ancient reindeer hunting are now being analyzed. This article presents preliminary results from the archaeological and osteological investigations of one of the hunting stations, Sumtangen at Lake Finnsbergvatn.

Les objets non utilitaires en os du site du Paléolithique supérieur récent de Byki-7 (province de Kursk, Russie)

This work is dedicated to the manufacturing technology and functional analysis of the zoomorphic figurine from the Late Upper Palaeolithic site of Byki-7(I). This site is located on left bank of the Seim River in the Desna basin (Russia). The date of Byki-7(I) was generated through the analysis of horse and reindeer bones by L. Sulerzhitsky : 17000 ± 90 BP. In 2004, the site’s first truly figurative artefact was discovered. The shape of the artefact is unique. It is a large ivory ring with a sculptural top shaped like a horse’s head. The zoomorphic figurine is significant in that it may provide certain information concerning the beliefs of the seasonal camp’s dwellers. Unlike many Western European horse figurines with carved details such as eyes, nostrils, etc., the specimen in question, as mentioned above, is rather schematic. The carver’s high skill proves that the schematic representation of the horse’s image was deliberate. This leads us to consider the symbolic character of this artefact.

The estimation of body weight of the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) from skeletal measurements: preliminary analyses and application to archaeological material from 17th- and 18th-century northern Finland

In this study, a variety of postcranial skeletal measurements of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) are used to predict the body mass. Regression equations for estimating the body weight of females as well as correction factors for estimating the weight of males are generated. These are applied to archaeological reindeer bones from 17th- and 18th-century Northern Finland. Predicted weights of archaeological reindeer correspond well with the weight of modern reindeer. Sexual dimorphism, however, caused problems in this analysis, since the criteria used for sex assessment affect the body weight prediction and thus the results of inter-assemblage comparisons.

Identification of semi-domesticated reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus tarandus, Linnaeus 1758) and wild forest reindeer ( R.t. fennicus, Lönnberg 1909) from postcranial skeletal measurements

Reindeer bones are common finds from archaeological sites from prehistoric and historic Fennoscandia. The interpretation of the reindeer bone finds, however, is often hindered by the difficulty to separate the different subspecies of reindeer using the postcranial skeletal morphology. In this paper, skeletal measurements of modern semi-domesticated reindeer and wild forest reindeer are explored with multivariate statistical methods in order to find suitable methods for subspecies identification. The results are then applied to archaeological reindeer bone finds from Northern Finland and archaeological implications of the results are discussed.

On the early history of the wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) in Finland

This paper discusses the early migration of the wild reindeer into Finland. Reindeer bones found in dated archaeological contexts suggest that the two subspecies, the mountain reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus L.) and the forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus Lönnb.), were part of our fauna as early as c. 9000 BP and 7000 BP, respectively. The mountain reindeer may be descended from the European Pleistocene reindeer, and may have migrated into northern Finland via the west coast of Norway. The forest reindeer invaded Finland directly from the east, from its glacial refugia in Siberia. During the Holocene, the distribution ranges of these two subspecies fluctuated in accordance with climatic and vegetational changes in northern Finland.

High resolution archaeology at Verberie: Limits and interpretations

Verberie is a late Palaeolithic site with high resolution in the preservation of archaeological materials and their spatial configuration. While excellent preservation offers great promise for the interpretation of past human behavior, it cannot be assumed that this is a totally pristine site. Post‐depositional pedogenetic processes have eradicated stratigraphic bedding of the sediments, leaving a methodological challenge for the archaeologists to separate materials from multiple occupation lenses, which have retained most of their spatial integrity. Impressionistic back‐plotting, statistical analysis of artefact elevations, and refitting of flint, fire‐cracked rock and reindeer bones have contributed to deciphering the depositional puzzle. These have revealed artefact associations and spatial configurations which can be given well‐founded behavioral interpretations derived from experimental and ethnoarchaeological research.

Traditional reindeer hunting and social change in the local communities surrounding Hardangervidda

At some of the lakes on the mountain plateau Hardangervidda are found the remnants of large stone huts surrounded by middens rich in reindeer bones. On the opposite side of the lakes from these huts a number of cairns making up drift fences indicate that the animals were forced into the water, there to be killed by the hunters. It appears that the method ‐ which was in use until the Black Death ‐ on the western side of Hardangervidda was known from before the Christian era, whilst on the eastern side it was first introduced in the Early Medieval Period. The author discusses this variation and relates it to population movements and social change.

On the Stone Avenues of Carnac, and other Pre-historic Monuments of Brittany

The monuments described in this article belong to that section of the pre-historic age which has been designated the period of polished stone implements. Formerly they were supposed to be among the most ancient structures that told of the earliest inhabitants of this globe. But archaeological researches have now shown that there was a more remote period of human history, in which man did not erect such buildings, but took refuge in dens and caves of the earth, making them his abodes in life and his last resting-places in death. The cave-men, however, would seem to have been more advanced in the arts than those who planned and executed the grand avenues and other megalithic monuments of Brittany. The caves which they occupied have produced engravings and sculptures on stones, ivory, and reindeer bones, that are marvellous for accuracy of delineation and truthfulness of form, compared with which the carved stones of Brittany are rude and unmeaning. Some of these sculptures and engravings, preserved in public and private collections, are full of artistic life and vigour. Now it is said that there was a remoter period still of human existence, in which man simply chipped flints into rude implements and knew not how to polish them, nor did he know how to manufacture clay vessels and to procure fire. The antiquity of this people is supposed to be lost in the impenetrable mists of the post-glacial period. Not for the archaeologist alone, but for every sensible and intelligent person, these ...