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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.

Rangifer tarandus, the northern species including both reindeer and caribou, is a pillar of northern ecosystems and the lives of northern peoples. As the only domestic cervid, reindeer are important not only to the herders and hunters who presently interact with them, but also to zooarchaeologists and palaeontologists tracing their histories. Unfortunately, limited anatomical information on Rangifer tarandus muscles is available beyond descriptions of the large muscle groups. The lower limb and hoof in particular is poorly documented. This is problematic, as this important body part has the potential to be informative in zooarchaeological analyses of habitual activity, especially in regards to historical animal health, movement, and habitual activity. Better understanding of the hoof can additionally be useful to herders and veterinarians seeking to provide veterinary care for living animals. This study has used dissections and comparisons of the reindeer hoof with other domestic ungulates to document both the common and unique structures in Rangifer tarandus hooves, including the presence and attachment points of these structures. As these structures have proved unique, especially in regards to the dewclaw, it is important that other ungulates not be used exclusively in the analysis of Rangifer tarandus remains.

For centuries, reindeer herding has been an integral part of the subsistence and culture among the Sami of northern Fennoscandia. Despite the importance of this husbandry in their history, the timi...

Habitual loading patterns of domesticated animals may differ due to human influence from their wild counterparts. In the early stages of human-reindeer interaction, cargo and draft use was likely important, as well as corralling tame reindeer. This may result to changes in loading as increased (working) or decreased (captive) loading, as well as foraging patterns (digging for lichen from under the snow versus fed working and/or captive reindeer). Our aim is to study whether differences in activity modify variation in bone cross-sectional properties and external dimensions. Our material consists of donated skeletons of modern reindeer: 20 working reindeer (19 racing and one draft), 24 zoo reindeer, and sample of 78 free-ranging/wild reindeer as a reference group. We used general linear modelling to first establish the total variation in cross-sectional properties among wild and free-ranging reindeer, and then to infer how differences in loading modify observed variation among zoo and working reindeer. According to our results, direction of greater bone quantity as well as external dimensions in of radioulna of female reindeer differs from female reference group, likely relating to foraging behavior. External dimensions of humerus differ in working and zoo male reindeer compared to male reference group. Increased robusticity of long bones, especially of tibia among working male reindeer, may indicate increased loading, and increased cortical area of long bones may indicate sedentary lifestyle among female reindeer. The results of this study can be used to understand early stages of reindeer domestication by observing reindeer activity patterns from archaeological material.

Four coffins dating from the period between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries from Keminmaa in northern Ostrobothnian Finland were examined using computed-tomography (CT) scanning, a methodology with research applications for exploring human remains, coffins, and funerary textiles. The age and, in two cases, sex of the remains were estimated, and both historical sources and archaeological material suggest that socialization through gender was apparent in this collection. This article explores both the material testimony of care, dedication, and innocence of newborn and infant burials, as well as the socialization process and role of women adolescents in providing children’s funerary materials.

Objective This paper explores the potential of analyzing pathological lesions and entheseal changes in the identification of working reindeer. Methods The skeletons of 26 modern working reindeer from Siberia and Northern Finland are analyzed for pathological lesions and entheseal changes. Results Working results in elevated frequencies of pathological lesions, specifically joint disease in cervical and thoracic vertebrae, humeri, os coxae and proximal phalanges. Entheseal scores indicate the intensified use of shoulder flexors and extensors, and possibly elbow, hip and knee flexors and extensors in working reindeer. Conclusion Patterns of skeletal changes can be used in the identification of working reindeer from the past. Significance This study provides first evidence that pathological lesions and entheseal changes can be used to assess draught and cargo use of reindeer. Therefore, the methods presented in this study provide an opportunity to scrutinize past reindeer herding practices, reindeer domestication and human-reindeer cooperation. Limitations Methods need to be applied with caution due to the multifactorial etiologies of pathological lesions and entheseal changes. Suggestions for future research We suggest that in future studies, these methods are applied to archaeological material accompanied by osteometric and contextual analyses.

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.

Draught use and being ridden often result in typical pathological patterns in animal skeletons. Moreover, physical activity patterns may be reflected in bone biomechanical properties and entheseal changes at muscle attachment sites. This paper presents the pathologies and entheseal changes observed in four draught and/or racing reindeer skeletons against information on their life histories and discusses the probability of linking the observed changes to their use. The results of this study are a useful point of comparison to researchers working on reindeer and other species of draught animals. However, our results also emphasize that entheseal changes and many pathologies have multifactorial etiologies and that interpretation of skeletal change patterns is not straightforward, even when there is information on the life history of the animal and its complete skeleton can be examined.

This chapter focuses on Scandinavia, Finland, and adjacent regions of Northwest Russia (Karelia and the Kola Peninsula). Urbanization commenced relatively late in Scandinavia and Finland. The chapt ...

We evaluate whether entheseal changes (EC) can be used to reconstruct activity among reindeer to study its domestication. Humans influence reindeer activity patterns through corralling, which renders them less mo- bile than free-ranging reindeer and through use as draught animals, which can result in overuse of certain muscles. There is also variation within free-ranging reindeer in baseline activity levels due to environmental factors. Other sources of variation at entheses include age, sex, pathology, size, and genetic disposition. Here we examine if there are differences in the entheses between zoo versus free-ranging reindeer. We re- corded the entheses of reindeer long bones using a modified EC scoring system. Weight effects were accounted for by performing analyses separately for specimens under and over 95 kg, but unfortunately age information was lacking. We found that several flexor muscle insertion sites in the ulna were more devel- oped among free-ranging reindeer. This difference is likely due to feeding behaviour. The free-ranging ani- mals were digging for lichen from under the snow whereas the zoo reindeer were fed by their keepers. This difference in entheses, however, was found to be significant only among the heavier reindeer. Among the zoo reindeer, the insertion for Subscapularis muscle was more developed, possibly due to increased time spent immobile with the shoulder-bracing muscle apparatus activated. This difference was significant among the heavier deer and nearly statistically significant among the lighter weight reindeer. Domesticated Siberian draught reindeer fell between zoo and free-ranging reindeer in several tibial entheses. According to these re- sults, some forelimb entheses may be useful to study differences in mobility and feeding patterns between groups of reindeer. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mechanical loading of muscle action is concentrated at muscle attachment sites; thus there may be a potential for site-specific variation in cortical bone thickness. Humeri from an early 20th-century Finnish (Helsinki) and two medieval English (Newcastle, Blackgate and York, Barbican) populations were subjected to pQCT scanning to calculate site-specific cross-sectional cortical bone area (CA) for four locations and to measure cortical thickness at muscle attachment sites and non-attachment sites. We found that CA at 80% of humerus length was significantly reduced compared to more distal cross-sections, which can be due to reduced stresses at the proximal shaft. The principal direction of loading at 80% humerus length was towards mediolateral plane, likely due to fixing the humerus close to the torso. At 35% the main direction of loading was towards anteroposterior plane, reflecting elbow flexing forces. The principal direction of loading varied between populations, sides and sexes at 50% humerus length due to preference between elbow and shoulder joint; thus this location might be useful when trying to infer differences in activity. These changes are likely due to overall shaft adaptation to forces acting at the humerus. In addition, we found a potential for site-specific variation in cortical thickness; cortical bone at muscle attachment sites was significantly thicker compared to non-attachment sites. Lastly, CA at 35% of humerus length and cortical thickness at non-attachment sites decreased with age. These results underline the importance of muscle loading for bone mass preservation as well as indicate that a site-specific variation of bone mass is possible.

Techniques that are currently available for estimating stature and body mass from European skeletal remains are all subject to various limitations. Here, we develop new prediction equations based on large skeletal samples representing much of the continent and temporal periods ranging from the Mesolithic to the 20th century. Anatomical reconstruction of stature is carried out for 501 individuals, and body mass is calculated from estimated stature and biiliac breadth in 1,145 individuals. These data are used to derive stature estimation formulae based on long bone lengths and body mass estimation formulae based on femoral head breadth. Prediction accuracy is superior to that of previously available methods. No systematic geographic or temporal variation in prediction errors is apparent, except in tibial estimation of stature, where northern and southern European formulae are necessary because of the presence of relatively longer tibiae in southern samples. Thus, these equations should bebroadly applicable to European Holocene skeletal samples.