Luulöydöistä vuorovaikutukseen:uusia näkökulmia poron domestikaatioon sekä ihmisen ja poron välisiin suhteisiin

Tiivistelmä Oulun yliopistossa käynnistyi syksyllä 2017 Suomen Akatemian ja Euroopan Tutkimusneuvoston (ERC) rahoittama Domestication in Action — Tracing Archaeological Markers of Human-Animal Interaction -projekti. Projektin tavoitteena on luoda uusia menetelmiä eläinten, erityisesti poron, domestikaation tutkimukseen. Taustalla on ajatus siitä, että eläinten domestikaation tutkimuksessa perinteisesti käytetyt arkeologiset menetelmät toimivat poron tapauksessa huonosti, johtuen poron ja ihmisen suhteen erityisestä laadusta poronhoidossa. Projektissa keskitytään ihmisen ja poron vuorovaikutukseen pureutuviin menetelmiin, esimerkiksi vetoeläinten käytöstä kertoviin jälkiin luurangossa sekä ruokinnan vaikutukseen luukudoksen stabiili- isotooppikoostumukseen. Projektissa toteutetaan myös osallistuvaa etnografiaa nykyisten poronhoitajien keskuudessa erityisesti liittyen ihmisen ja poron välisiin suhteisiin kilpaporojen koulutuksessa ja kilpailutoiminnassa. Vuorovaikutukseen keskittyvä lähestymistapa haastaa perinteisen tavan ajatella domestikaatiota sellaisena lajien välisenä suhteena, jossa ihminen kontrolloi ja säätelee eläimen elämää. Vuorovaikutusten arkeologinen tunnistaminen auttaa domestikaatioprosessin lisäksi ymmärtämään menneisyyden poronhoitajien suhteita kesyporoihin ja poroja koskevia kulttuurisia käytäntöjä

The archaeology of reindeer domestication and herding practices in northern Fennoscandia

Abstract Animal domestication is a profound change for human societies, economies, and worldviews. The shifting definitions of animal domestication reflect its varying and process-like nature. Reindeer is one of the species whose domestication is not easily pinned down using standard definitions and research methodologies of animal domestication. In recent years, advances in archaeological methodology and the conceptual understanding of animal domestication have opened new avenues for research on this topic. This review summarizes recent research on the archaeology of reindeer domestication among the Indigenous Sámi of northern Fennoscandia. It compiles a chronological framework of reindeer domestication with an emphasis on the development of reindeer-herding practices and human–reindeer relationships. I argue that while a major transition to reindeer herding occurred among the Sámi from the 15th century onward, small-scale reindeer herding characterized by interspecies sociality, cooperation, and care developed earlier during the Late Iron Age, with regional variations in the timing and details of the events. By focusing on reindeer-herding practices and the human–reindeer relationships embedded in them, I also argue that reindeer domestication, and animal domestication in general, is a relationship constructed and constantly renegotiated in everyday interactions with the animals

Muinaisen poronhoidon tutkimusta Oulun yliopistossa

Tiivistelmä Poronhoito alkoi kehittyä myöhäisellä rautakaudella, 800-luvulla ja yleistyi elinkeinona 1400–1500-luvuilta alkaen. Vaikka tältä ajanjaksolta on olemassa joitakin poronhoitoa sivuavia kirjallisia lähteitä, esimerkiksi Ottarin kertomus 800-luvun lopulta ja Olaus Magnuksen kirja Pohjoisten kansojen historia 1500-luvulta, on pääosa poronhoidon kehitystä koskevasta tiedosta peräisin arkeologisesta tutkimuksesta. Poronhoidosta kertovia arkeologisia lähderyhmiä ovat esimerkiksi muinaiset asuinpaikat, uhripaikat ja näiltä paikoilta löytyneet peuran tai poron luut. Arkeologisen tutkimuksen avulla voidaan selvittää poronhoidon roolia menneisyyden ihmisten elinkeinoissa ja taloudessa, poronhoidon tapoja ja poronhoidon leviämistä eri alueille ajan kuluessa. Arkeologisen tutkimuksen avulla saadaan siis tietoa poronhoidon kehityksestä ja tavoista ajalta, jolta on olemassa niukasti historiallisia lähteitä. Oulun yliopistossa käynnistyi syksyllä 2017 Suomen Akatemian ja Euroopan Tutkimusneuvoston (ERC) rahoittama Domestication in Action — Tracing Archaeological Markers of Human-Animal Interaction -projekti. Projektin tarkoitus on tutkia poronhoidon alkua ja kehitystä arkeologisen tutkimuksen keinoin

Covariation between entheseal changes and cross-sectional properties of reindeer long bones:considering bone functional adaptation as partial contributing factor

Abstract Entheseal changes and bone cross-sectional properties are used as skeletal activity markers for different animal species, although most studies are targeted on humans. While there is compelling evidence on the association between activity and bone cross-sectional properties, studies on association of entheseal changes to activity have presented more contradictory results. In previous research, covariation between entheseal changes and bone cross-sectional properties is considered a possible result of common underlying factor. However, these studies are performed predominantly on human material. We provide beyond-species scope by studying this covariation in reindeer skeleton. The results will provide platform for discussing bone functional adaptation pathway in which activity modifies entheseal appearance. The material are wild forest reindeer, domesticated free-ranging reindeer and zoo reindeer of Northern and North-East Finland. We found that bone formation in most studied entheses (25 out of 27) were associated with increased values in bone cross-sectional properties and proxies of bone/body size. Features of bone resorption, when significant, were also associated with increased values in bone cross-sectional properties and bone/body size. We conclude that as entheseal changes were associated with bone cross-sectional properties and bone/body size, the observed variation at reindeer entheses likely reflects skeletal robusticity. While causal factors resulting in association between skeletal robusticity and entheseal appearance cannot be evidenced, bone functional adaptation can be hypothesized as at least a partial contributing mechanism to entheseal appearance

Tangled worlds:the Swedish, the Sámi, and the reindeer

Abstract Reindeer pastoralism developed among the indigenous Sámi of northern Fennoscandia, but the established colonial relationship with Sweden brought on an expanded use of reindeer. Tradesmen, priests, and officials of Swedish origin benefited from domesticated reindeer in many ways — trading reindeer products and using reindeer as transport during winter trips to marketplaces. Reindeer were, therefore, in many ways focal in the encounters between the Sámi and the Swedish. In this paper, we use zooarchaeology, stable isotope analysis, and ancient DNA analysis to interpret reindeer remains from towns, marketplaces, and agrarian settlements in medieval and early modern northern Fennoscandia. We argue that reindeer played important roles in contacts and encounters. The Sámi, the Swedish, and the reindeer formed a multispecies community. The exploration of the relationships in this multispecies community captures the complexity of human and human-animal relationships in colonial encounters. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance and agency of animals in colonial histories

Kolari marketplace in a multicultural landscape between Sámi, Swedes, and Finns

Abstract The marketplace in Kolari, Northern Finland was used until the 1880s. Located on Kolarinsaari island on the Muonionjoki river in close proximity to the Kolari church, it was a winter meeting place for local farmers and Sámi, as well as for tradesmen from the areas that are now Sweden, Finland, and Karelia. Archaeological excavations were carried out in summer 2018 and in connection to these, soil geochemical values were analysed. This paper focuses on the Kolari marketplace as a part of a landscape shared by Swedes, Finns, and Sámi. Furthermore, through the soil analyses we examine the intercultural interactions that took place during the winter market and scrutinize how different activities, people, and animals were located in the marketplace as well as in the wider landscape surrounding the marketplace. The latter is approached using GIS analysis and Tim Ingold’s concept of taskscape. This case study shows how the historical archaeology of landscapes and taskscapes can contribute to our understanding of contacts and multicultural encounters between the Sámi and other groups

Influence of captivity and selection on limb long bone cross-sectional morphology of reindeer

Abstract The emergence of pastoralism and animal husbandry has been a critical point in the history of human evolution. Beyond profound behavioural changes in domesticated animals compared to wild ones, characterising the morphological changes associated with domestication process remains challenging. Because reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) can be considered to still be in the early phases of the domestication process, the study of modern populations provides a unique opportunity to examine the impact of captivity and selective breeding on skeletal changes. In this work, we investigated the morphological changes in long limb bone cross-sections using 137 wild and domestic reindeer individuals bred in free-range, in captivity or used for racing and pulling. The shape and shaft cortical thickness of the six long limb bones (i.e., humerus, radioulna, metacarpal, femur, tibia and metatarsal) were measured using a 2D-geometric morphometrics approach taking into account subspecies, sex, body mass and lifestyle differences. These bones are important to understanding functional morphological changes because they can provide information on feeding and locomotor behaviours, as well as on body propulsion and weight bearing. Apart from the effects of taxonomy, etho-ecology and sex, we have found that captivity and selection induced important variations in the size and body mass of modern reindeer. Our results also showed that patterns of variation in cortical bone thickness of long limb bone cross-sections were strongly impacted by body mass and human-imposed restrictions in roaming. This demonstrates that bone cross-sections can provide information on changes in locomotor, reproductive and feeding behaviours induced by the domestication process. These results are valuable not only for (paleo) biologists studying the impact of captivity and selection in ungulates but also for archaeologists exploring the origins of domestication and early herding strategies