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The hunting of marine mammals as a source of subsistence, trade, and commercial revenue has formed an important part of human cultures across the North Atlantic. One important prey species has been the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus), sought after for meat, skin, blubber, ivory, and bone. Unfortunately, biological studies of current walrus populations and studies across the humanities and social sciences into past use and hunting of walruses, have been poorly integrated. Disciplinary boundaries have left a gap in understanding the reciprocal effects of human-walrus interactions. Emerging interdisciplinary methods offer new opportunities to write the historical ecology of Atlantic walruses. The integration of methods such as ancient DNA, isotopes, past population modelling, zooarchaeological assemblages, and ethnographic interviews can now be used to answer previously intractable questions. For example, how has walrus hunting shaped and been influenced by changes in human settlement and trade, what have been the cumulative impacts on walrus populations, the extent of anthropogenic selective pressures or the effect of changing hunting regimes on particular populations of walruses? New, collaborative research approaches applied to the wealth of Arctic archaeological faunal remains already housed in museum collections offer a unique chance to explore the past dynamics of human-animal interactions.

Traditionally, this understanding of our interactions with the natural world has been studied from an academic perspective within the confines of distinct disciplines. There is a growing need, and appreciation for, a more integrated, interdisciplinary approach as we learn more about the complexities and connections inherent in our world and cultures. This thesis bridges the divide between archaeology and biology by using ancient DNA to reveal new insights into human-walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) interactions. The main aims were to characterise past genetic structure within Atlantic walruses to understand the fate of extinct populations (chapter five), generate a series of baselines for future comparison with modern genetic data that are sensitive to time and space (chapter six) and to identify how broad climatic conditions may have shaped the evolution of walruses (chapter six). These aims were generated after identifying key knowledge gaps across and between disciplines within the existing academic literature (chapter one and two). Additionally, on a more technical note, this thesis also aimed to identify predictors of DNA preservation to inform sample selection prior to destructive analyses (chapter three) and to develop a methodology for the sex identification of ancient pinniped remains (chapter four).

The Atlantic Walrus: Multidisciplinary insights into human-animal interactions addresses the key dimensions of long-term human walrus interactions across the Atlantic Arctic and subarctic regions, over the past millennia. This book brings together research from across the social and natural sciences to explore walrus biology, human culture, environmental conditions and their reciprocal effects. Together, 13 chapters of this book reconstruct the early evolution of walruses, walrus biology, the cultural significance and ecological impact of prehistoric and indigenous hunting practices, as well as the effects of commercial hunting and international trade. This book also examines historic and ongoing management strategies and, the importance of new research methodologies in revealing hitherto unknown details of the past, and concludes by discussing the future for Atlantic walruses in the face of climate change and increased human activities in the Arctic.This volume is an ideal resource for those who are seeking to understand an iconic Arctic species and its long and complex relationship with humans. This includes individuals and researchers with a personal or professional connection to walruses or the Arctic, as well as marine biologists, zoologists, conservationists, paleontologists, archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, indigenous communities, natural resource managers and government agencies.Key FeaturesProvides succinct overviews of the biology of the Atlantic Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) as well as human cultures within the North Atlantic Arctic and the surrounding region by consolidating research which until now has been scattered across fields and academic publicationsEditorial team of inter-disciplinary researchers ensuring the breadth, depth and integration of material covered throughout the volumeThirteen chapters, each authored by leading international researchers and experts on the Atlantic WalrusConsiders the inter-relatedness and complexity of species biology, ecological change, human culture, and anthropogenic pressures onto the Atlantic Walrus, all while remaining accessible to readers from different disciplines or a more generalist audienceDraws upon the latest methods in marine mammal and archaeological researchAssesses historical management of the species, while also considering current and future conservation efforts in light of human activities and climate changeText supported by striking and insightful new maps and scientific illustrations, ideal for teaching and outreach (Less)

In recent years, nonhuman ancient DNA studies have begun to focus on larger sample sizes and whole genomes, offering the potential to reveal exciting and hitherto unknown answers to ongoing biological and archaeological questions. However, one major limitation to such studies is the substantial financial and time investments still required during sample screening, due to uncertainty regarding successful sample selection. This study investigates the effect of a wide range of sample properties including latitude, sample age, skeletal element, collagen preservation, and context on endogenous content and DNA damage profiles for 317 ancient and historic pinniped samples collected from across the North Atlantic and surrounding regions. Using generalised linear and mixed‐effect models, we found that a range of factors affected DNA preservation within each of the species under consideration. The most important findings were that endogenous content varied significantly within species according to context, the type of skeletal element, the collagen content and collection year. There also appears to be an effect of the sample's geographic origin, with samples from the Arctic generally showing higher endogenous content and lower damage rates. Both latitude and sample age were found to have significant relationships with damage levels, but only for walrus samples. Sex, ontogenetic age and extraction material preparation were not found to have any significant relationship with DNA preservation. Overall, skeletal element and sample context were found to be the most influential factors and should therefore be considered when selecting samples for large‐scale ancient genome studies.

Determining the male and female representation in zooarchaeological material from hunted animal species is essential, to fully investigate the effects and means of prehistoric hunting practices, and may further provide valuable biological information on past animal life-history, behaviour and demography. However, the fragmented nature of the zooarchaeological record and a lack of clear diagnostic skeletal markers, often prevents such inference. Here, we test the usability of the dog nuclear genome (CanFam3.1) for sex identification of pinnipeds. First, a contemporary sample set (n=72) of ringed seals (Pusa hispida), with known sex was used to test the genetic sex identification method. By quantifying the proportion of X chromosome reads, as the chrX/chr1 ratio, the ratios clustered in two clearly distinguishable sex groups. Of the 72 individuals, 69 were identified to the accurate sex, which proves a high reliability of the genetic method. Second, random down sampling of a subset of the ringed seal samples to different read number, suggests at least 5000 DNA sequence reads mapped to the reference genome as the lower limit for which this method is applicable. Finally, applying this standard, sex identification was successfully carried out on a broad set of ancient pinniped samples, including walruses (Odobenus rosmarus), grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus), which all showed clearly distinct male and female chrX/chr1 ratio groups.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)., There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the impacts of human arrival in new “pristine” environments, including terrestrial habitat alterations and species extinctions. However, the effects of marine resource utilization prior to industrialized whaling, sealing, and fishing have largely remained understudied. The expansion of the Norse across the North Atlantic offers a rare opportunity to study the effects of human arrival and early exploitation of marine resources. Today, there is no local population of walruses on Iceland, however, skeletal remains, place names, and written sources suggest that walruses existed, and were hunted by the Norse during the Settlement and Commonwealth periods (870– 1262 AD). This study investigates the timing, geographic distribution, and genetic identity of walruses in Iceland by combining historical information, place names, radiocarbon dating, and genomic analyses. The results support a genetically distinct, local population of walruses that went extinct shortly after Norse settlement. The high value of walrus products such as ivory on international markets likely led to intense hunting pressure, which—potentially exacerbated by a warming climate and volcanism—resulted in the extinction of walrus on Iceland. We show that commercial hunting, economic incentives, and trade networks as early as the Viking Age were of sufficient scale and intensity to result in significant, irreversible ecological impacts on the marine environment. This is to one of the earliest examples of local extinction of a marine species following human arrival, during the very beginning of commercial marine exploitation., A note of acknowledgment to Tom Gilbert for continuous support, Jose Alfredo Samaniego for bioinformatic guidance, Liselotte W. Andersen and Erik Born for access to mtDNA control region data, as well as Bastiaan Star and Sanne Boessenkool for access to published mitochondrial genomes. Thanks also to Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen, Arn y Sveinbjo¨rnsdottir, Jan Heinemeier, Martin Appelt, Paul Szpak, Leslie Howse, Sigmundur Einarsson, Þorvaldur Bjo¨rnsson, and Þorvaldur Þorðarson for coordinating various sample procurement and assistance with references. Acknowledgment to all institutions and private collectors, especially Guðmundur G. Þorarinsson, Sigfus Bjarnason, Sımon and Svava, and Orn Erlendsson, who provided speci- € mens and kindly permitted destructive analysis for dating and genetic laboratory work. In addition, thanks to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, National Museum of Iceland, Natural History Museum of Denmark, National Museum of Denmark, Canadian Museum of History, Nunavut Department of Culture and Heritage and Canadian Museum of Nature for providing samples and access to data. Newly generated CR haplotypes and mitochondrial genomes have been deposited with GenBank (accessions: MK 671108-49). All other data are available in the Supplementary Material online. This work was supported by the European Union’s EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 under Marie Curie Actions (Grant Agreement No 676154; ArchSci2020) to (M.T.O., P.J., X.K.); and the National Science Foundation, USA (standard grant award no. 1503714), under the program Arctic Social Sciences to (S.P., H.J.M.).