Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Zooarchaeological and stable isotope evidence of Sámi reindeer offerings
Stockholm University, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies.
Show others and affiliations
Number of Authors: 62020 (English)In: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, ISSN 2352-409X, E-ISSN 2352-4103, Vol. 29, article id 102129Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This paper presents new osteometric and stable isotope evidence of Sami reindeer offerings. Previous archaeological studies have shown that reindeer domestication and intensification of reindeer herding transformed Sami indigenous religion. However, because of the methodological challenges in the identification of wild and domesticated reindeer in the archaeological record, the exact nature of the relationship between people and offered reindeer has remained elusive. To address this problem, we analyze zooarchaeological and stable isotope data from thirteen Sami offering sites situated in Finland and Sweden and dating to c. 1200-1700 CE. We employ zooarchaeological analysis of age, sex and size and explore the possibilities of these analyses to identify domestication and other characteristics of reindeer selected for offering. Analyses of stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur are utilized to identify human influence on reindeer feeding patterns and mobility. Our results show that many kinds of reindeer with different engagements with people were offered. The results confirm that people had different motives for giving offerings and that a simple dichotomy of wild/domesticated does not adequately reflect the range of relationships the Sami had with reindeer.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2020. Vol. 29, article id 102129
Keywords [en]
Stable isotope analysis, Animal domestication, Reindeer, Zooarchaeology, Scandinavia, Archaeology of religion
National Category
History and Archaeology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-181981DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102129ISI: 000522788600073OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-181981DiVA, id: diva2:1432893
Available from: 2020-05-28 Created: 2020-05-28 Last updated: 2022-03-23Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full text

Authority records

Fjellström, MarkusLidén, Kerstin

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Fjellström, MarkusLidén, Kerstin
By organisation
Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies
In the same journal
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
History and Archaeology

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 116 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf