Domestication in Action - Tracing Archaeological Markers of Human-Animal Interaction

Project Information

DOMESTICATION

Grant agreement ID: 756431

DOI

10.3030/756431

Project closed

EC signature date 22 January 2018

Start date 1 February 2018

End date 31 May 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 490 915,00

EU contribution

€ 1 490 915,00

Coordinated by

OULUN YLIOPISTO
Finland

Periodic Reporting for period 4 - DOMESTICATION (Domestication in Action - Tracing Archaeological Markers of Human-Animal Interaction)

Reporting period: 2022-08-01 to 2023-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The purpose of this research project is to create new methodology for identification and interpretation of past and present animal domestication, with a case study pertaining to reindeer domestication among the
indigenous Sámi in northern Fennoscandia. Identification of early animal domestication is complicated as it is anticipated that human control is limited over the animals’ life cycle. This leads to difficulties in interpreting morphological and genetic data, as well as in using traditional concepts and definitions of domestication. These problems are especially pressing in the study of past reindeer domestication, as human control over the reindeer’s life cycle has been, and still is, very limited, complicating the application of traditional methods and concepts. However, understanding reindeer domestication is important to local communities as well as to the scientific community due to the central role of human-reindeer relationship as a carrier of culture and identity among many peoples, including the Sámi of Northern Fennoscandia, as well as because of the wider relevance of the results for human-animal studies.

The project focusses on interactional events between humans and animals as indications of domestication taking place. The project will create methods aimed at identifying interactional events such as draught use and feeding, between reindeer and humans. Draught use of reindeer will be examined with physical activity reconstruction, which entails the examination of draught-related changes and stress markers on reindeer bone. Reindeer feeding practices will be accessed through the examination of stable isotope values as well as skeletal changes related to feeding behavior. The methodological package is novel in domestication studies. Participatory ethnography among reindeer herders will be conducted to examine the current understanding of personhood and agency of domesticated reindeer, which will help to conceptualize past understandings of human-domesticate relationships. The new methodological package will then be applied to archaeological reindeer bone finds. Ultimately, the results will be used to examine changing human-animal relationships among the indigenous Sámi.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project has focused on three main objectives: 1) Archaeological method development, 2) Understanding reindeer personhood and agency through participant research, and 3) Archaeological interpretation of reindeer domestication in Fennoscandia.

Methods were developed to identify human-reindeer interactions such as draught reindeer use and reindeer feeding in the archaeological record. These methods were then applied to archaeological materials from Northern Fennoscandia to identify steps and phases of reindeer domestication, along with the reindeer herding practices of the Sámi in the late Iron Age and historical period.

The results show that reindeer herding began among the Sámi around the 7th century AD. Early reindeer herding was small in scale and complemented by hunting, fishing, and gathering. Draught reindeer were used, and supplementary feeding practiced already in this early phase. A transition to mobile reindeer pastoralism occurred around 1400–1600 AD. Draught reindeer use and supplementary feeding continued throughout this transition. Our results also show that wild reindeer hunting was practiced and culturally important despite the transition to reindeer herding.

The combination of archaeological results with traditional knowledge of reindeer herders has highlighted that care and trust between human and reindeer partners probably played important roles in past reindeer herding practices. Together, these lines of evidence have led to a novel understanding or reindeer domestication as a relationship built in everyday activities and encounters between the human and animal partners, continuously evolving with changing socio-cultural and environmental factors.

The results have been disseminated through scientific publications and conference presentations as well as through popular articles, press releases, social media, and public lectures.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The development of animal physical activity reconstruction methodology advanced the research field significantly beyond the state of the art. While physical activity reconstruction has been applied to human skeletal remains for some time, these methods have barely been applied to animals apart from palaeopathological analysis. In this project, we developed new tools, honed the existing ones, and applied them successfully to archaeological material to obtain new information about reindeer domestication in Northern Fennoscandia.

Another significant advance in the state of the art pertained to the understanding of animal domestication as a continuously evolving process that is shaped in the daily interactions and encounters with the animals. These advances were made largely thanks to the contribution from participant research. Coupled with the methodological advances in detecting these interactions in the archaeological record, this project also significantly advanced the understanding of the chronology and details of the reindeer domestication process in Northern Fennoscandia.

Reindeer crossing the road