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We used historical DNA samples to examine the history of a native horse breed, the Finnhorse. Samples were collected from private collections, museums, schools and excavations, representing the times prior to, during, and after the foundation of the breed; from the end of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century. We sequenced a fragment of mitochondrial DNA from these historical samples to study the history and evolution of maternal lineages of horses back to the early days of the breed, compared the mitochondrial DNA sequence diversity of different historical periods and modern day Finnhorses, estimated the effective population sizes, and searched for both temporal and geographic population genetic structure. We observed high maternal haplotype and nucleotide diversity at the time during the foundation of the breed, and a decrease in both measures during 1931-1970. In addition, we observed losses of some haplotypes present in the early stages of the breed. There was only slight evidence of geographical or temporal population structure. This study is, to our knowledge, the first to use such temporal sampling to reveal the history of a specific animal breed.

Microscopic animal and plant fibres detected in archaeological contexts are a valuable source of information regarding textile production, use-histories of artefacts and in studying mortuary practices. At the same time, recent research on microplastic pollution has revealed the ability of fibres to move even long distances and accumulate in various terrestrial and aquatic contexts. In this paper we discuss the accumulation of 100–1000-µm-long animal hairs, bird feather barbules and textile fibres at Kvarnbo Hall, a Nordic Late Iron Age high-status settlement site in the Åland Archipelago, Finland. The hairs and barbules detected in soil samples reveal important information on the use of furs and downy feathers at the site. However, our study reveals that the microparticles sampled in the 6th–11th-century contexts represent not only the prehistoric phase of the site but can also be ascribed to the later land-use history of the area. We also speculate that long-distance air-borne particles might be one possible contamination source of fibres. Microscopic animal and plant fibres detected in archaeological contexts are a valuable source of information regarding textile production, use-histories of artefacts and in studying mortuary practices. At the same time, recent research on microplastic pollution has revealed the ability of fibres to move even long distances and accumulate in various terrestrial and aquatic contexts. In this paper we discuss the accumulation of 100-1000 mu m-long animal hairs, bird feather barbules and textile fibres at Kvarnbo Hall, a Nordic Late Iron Age high-status settlement site in the angstrom land Archipelago, Finland. The hairs and barbules detected in soil samples reveal important information on the use of furs and downy feathers at the site. However, our study reveals that the microparticles sampled in the 6th-11th-century contexts represent not only the prehistoric phase of the site but can also be ascribed to the later land-use history of the area. We also speculate that long-distance air-borne particles might be one possible contamination source of fibres.

Archaeological evidence of the use of animal hides in burials have recently become known in the Late Iron Age and the Middle Ages (800—1300 AD) in Finland and Karelia (Russia). The purpose of the article is to interpret the ritual of wrapping the dead in hides of Eurasian elk and reindeer. For the first time, the authors use a combination of innovative methods of archaeozoological analysis to study the remains of fur, and the method of ethnoarchaeological reconstruction to study the burial rite. Wrapping bodies in hides of wild animals is a widespread long-term tradition, which was practiced in Northern Europe by the Stone Age hunters. This funerary rite was supposed to ensure the “transformation” of a person into an ancestor animal. Reminiscences of hunting religious beliefs were preserved in the ideology of Northern Europe after the transition to agriculture.

The use of feathers in ritual costumes and everyday clothing is well described in ethnographic sources throughout the world. From the same sources we know that bird wings and feathers were loaded with meaning in traditional societies worldwide. However, direct archaeological evidence of prehistoric use of feathers is still extremely scarce. Hence, feathers belong to the ‘missing majority’: items that are absent from the archaeological record but which we can assume to have been of importance. Here we present microscopic analysis of soil samples from hunter-gatherer burial contexts which reveal the first direct evidence of the use of feathers in the Mesolithic period of north-eastern Europe.

Asiantuntijoiden ja tutkimuksesta kiinnostuneiden yhteisöjen toteuttamat tutkimusprojektit ovat suositumpia kuin koskaan aikaisemmin. Tutkijoita haastava kansalaistiede on herättänyt myös säätiöt toimimaan. Ne ovat ottaneet aktiivisen roolin kansalaistiedettä hyödyntävien hankkeiden rahoittajina ja edesauttavat näin tieteen avoimuuden toteutumista.

Everyday objects manufactured from raw materials of animal origin, such as skin, hair and bone, are innumerable in cultural historical museums and private collections. Besides their value as memoirs of past techniques, livelihoods and communities, they are a unique source for studying past animal populations by means of molecular analysis.Here, we deal with horse mane and tail hair, a type of predecessor of modern synthetic material utilized, for example, for brushes, strings, tennis rackets, ropes, textiles, dolls' hair, rocking horses, and filling. By investigating the presence and quality of DNA in horsehair, we have studied the origins of the Finnhorse, the only native horse breed in Finland. Degradation of DNA in old samples is an issue that needs to be considered when selecting material for DNA analysis. For assessing the usability of historical artefacts for DNA-based studies, we study how DNA is preserved in horsehair and how well DNA can be isolated from 50 to 150-year-old artefacts, raw material bundles and archaeological finds. We investigate how the properties of hair and sample storage conditions affect the concentration of DNA extracts and success in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).Our analysis showed that historical hair shafts, stored in various environments and used for multiple purposes, are of sufficient quantity and quality for amplification by PCR. Therefore, their value for the research of past animal populations should be noticed when curating cultural historical collections. We also provide advice for the storage conditions for hair samples.

The Late Neolithic Corded Ware Culture (c. 2800–2300 BC) of Northern Europe is characterised by specific sets of grave goods and mortuary practices, but the organic components of these grave sets are poorly represented in the archaeological record. New microscopic analyses of soil samples collected during the 1930s from the Perttulanmäki grave in western Finland have, however, revealed preserved Neolithic animal hairs. Despite mineralisation, the species of animal has been successfully identified and offers the oldest evidence for domestic goat in Neolithic Finland, indicating a pastoral herding economy. The mortuary context of the goat hair also suggests that animals played a significant role in the Corded Ware belief system. The Late Neolithic Corded Ware Culture (c. 2800-2300 BC) of Northern Europe is characterised by specific sets of grave goods and mortuary practices, but the organic components of these grave sets are poorly represented in the archaeological record. New microscopic analyses of soil samples collected during the 1930s from the Perttulanmaki grave in western Finland have, however, revealed preserved Neolithic animal hairs. Despite mineralisation, the species of animal has been successfully identified and offers the oldest evidence for domestic goat in Neolithic Finland, indicating a pastoral herding economy. The mortuary context of the goat hair also suggests that animals played a significant role in the Corded Ware belief system.

Reindeer herding emerged among the indigenous Sámi of Northern Fennoscandia between ca. 800 and 1500 CE. While the details of the reindeer domestication process are still actively debated, it has been hypothesized that the transition to reindeer herding affected Sámi ritual practice, especially animal offerings given at various sacred sites. To explore this hypothesis, we analyzed DNA from reindeer bone samples dating to ca. 1200–1700 CE from Sámi offering sites located in present-day Northern Finland as well as from samples originating from ancient dwelling site in Southern Finland and Kola Peninsula, Russia. The results show that haplotypes related to wild Finnish forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus) began to be replaced by haplotypes common in modern domesticated reindeer in the faunal assemblages from offering sites starting between 1400 and 1600 CE. The results suggest that, although the role of reindeer herding in the economy of the Sámi communities varied greatly, the transition to reindeer herding may have affected ritual practices, testifying to a shared way of reciprocating with the land and animals.

Our understanding of subsistence strategies, resources and lifeways of Finnish Iron Age populations remains incomplete despite archaeological, osteological, macrobotanical, and palynological investigations. This is due in part to poor preservation of organic macroremains in the acidic boreal sediments. To address this problem, here we present the first data from microscopic remains preserved in prehistoric dental calculus from Finland. We extracted and analysed both plant and animal microremains from human calculus and burial site sediment samples, originating from Luistari cemetery in southwestern Finland (samples from c. 600-1200 calAD). We recovered phytoliths, parasites, fibers and feathers. While in Finland few previous archaeological studies have investigated phytoliths, our study confirms the importance of these microremains for interpretating dietary patterns. It is also the first time that intestinal parasites have been reported in Finland. Our study demonstrates that, especially when working with acidic sediments typical for boreal environments, microremain studies can considerably increase the information value of archaeological samples, and that dental calculus and phytolith analysis are important new methods in the research of prehistorical lifestyles. This combined microremain analysis should be more broadly applied in contexts where other dietary records do not remain. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.