Reindeer from Sámi offering sites document the replacement of wild reindeer genetic lineages by domestic ones in Northern Finland starting from 1400 to 1600 AD
Heino, Matti T.; Salmi, Anna-Kaisa; Äikäs, Tiina; Mannermaa, Kristiina; Kirkinen, Tuija; Sablin, Mikhail; Ruokonen, Minna; Núñez, Milton; Okkonen, Jari; Dalén, Love; Aspi, Jouni (2020-12-24)
Matti T. Heino, Anna-Kaisa Salmi, Tiina Äikäs, Kristiina Mannermaa, Tuija Kirkinen, Mikhail Sablin, Minna Ruokonen, Milton Núñez, Jari Okkonen, Love Dalén, Jouni Aspi, Reindeer from Sámi offering sites document the replacement of wild reindeer genetic lineages by domestic ones in Northern Finland starting from 1400 to 1600 AD, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Volume 35, 2021, 102691, ISSN 2352-409X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102691
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe202101081368
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
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.
Kokoelmat
- Avoin saatavuus [31657]