The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North
Reindeer are the only domestic cervid and have formed the cosmologies and practical daily lives of numerous peoples in the Northern Hemisphere for thousands of years. The questions of when, how, and where reindeer domestication originated and how it developed remain one of the scientific enigmas of...
Published in: | Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences |
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Language: | English |
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2023
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Online Access: | https://research.ulapland.fi/fi/publications/aa00116f-2403-4c21-ae8b-475b19627530 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01696-y https://lacris.ulapland.fi/ws/files/36828193/The_osteometric_indentification_of_castrated_reindeer.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143641716&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85143641716&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
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ftulaplandcdispu:oai:lacris.ulapland.fi:publications/aa00116f-2403-4c21-ae8b-475b19627530 2024-02-04T09:58:29+01:00 The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North Berg, Mathilde van den Wallen, Henri Salmi, Anna-Kaisa 2023-01 application/pdf https://research.ulapland.fi/fi/publications/aa00116f-2403-4c21-ae8b-475b19627530 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01696-y https://lacris.ulapland.fi/ws/files/36828193/The_osteometric_indentification_of_castrated_reindeer.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143641716&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85143641716&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng https://research.ulapland.fi/fi/publications/aa00116f-2403-4c21-ae8b-475b19627530 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Berg , M V D , Wallen , H & Salmi , A-K 2023 , ' The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North ' , Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences , vol. 15 , no. 1 , 3 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01696-y Arctic Cervidae Domestication Human-reindeer relationships Reindeer herding Zooarchaeology /dk/atira/pure/person/fieldofscience2010/6/15 name=History and archaeology article 2023 ftulaplandcdispu https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01696-y 2024-01-11T00:03:44Z Reindeer are the only domestic cervid and have formed the cosmologies and practical daily lives of numerous peoples in the Northern Hemisphere for thousands of years. The questions of when, how, and where reindeer domestication originated and how it developed remain one of the scientific enigmas of our time. The practice of reindeer castration is an essential feature of all communities practicing reindeer herding today. It has probably been one of the most important interventions in the reindeer’s life cycle and biology that marked the start of domesticating human-reindeer relationships long ago. Castration is and has been essential for reindeer taming, control, training, herd management, and ritual practices. Unsuitably, to this present day, there are no methods zooarchaeologists can employ to distinguish a reindeer gelding from a reindeer bull in the archaeological record. In this current paper, we outline a new method that presents the possibility of differentiating between full males, castrated males, and females based on osteometric features. We measured the leg bones and pelvis of the complete or partial skeletons of 97 adult modern domestic reindeer individuals to determine the precise effects castration has on skeletal size and morphology. We explored our osteometric dataset with different statistical methods. We found a clear separation of the two male groups in the radioulna, humerus, and femur but in the tibia and metapodials to a lesser extent. Osteometric depth and width were generally more affected than the longitudinal axis. Females were easily distinguishable from castrates and full males based on nearly every bone measurement. Our analysis shows that reindeer castration can be proven through osteometric analysis. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Rangifer Rangifer tarandus LaCRIS - University of Lapland Current Research System Arctic Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 15 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
LaCRIS - University of Lapland Current Research System |
op_collection_id |
ftulaplandcdispu |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic Cervidae Domestication Human-reindeer relationships Reindeer herding Zooarchaeology /dk/atira/pure/person/fieldofscience2010/6/15 name=History and archaeology |
spellingShingle |
Arctic Cervidae Domestication Human-reindeer relationships Reindeer herding Zooarchaeology /dk/atira/pure/person/fieldofscience2010/6/15 name=History and archaeology Berg, Mathilde van den Wallen, Henri Salmi, Anna-Kaisa The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North |
topic_facet |
Arctic Cervidae Domestication Human-reindeer relationships Reindeer herding Zooarchaeology /dk/atira/pure/person/fieldofscience2010/6/15 name=History and archaeology |
description |
Reindeer are the only domestic cervid and have formed the cosmologies and practical daily lives of numerous peoples in the Northern Hemisphere for thousands of years. The questions of when, how, and where reindeer domestication originated and how it developed remain one of the scientific enigmas of our time. The practice of reindeer castration is an essential feature of all communities practicing reindeer herding today. It has probably been one of the most important interventions in the reindeer’s life cycle and biology that marked the start of domesticating human-reindeer relationships long ago. Castration is and has been essential for reindeer taming, control, training, herd management, and ritual practices. Unsuitably, to this present day, there are no methods zooarchaeologists can employ to distinguish a reindeer gelding from a reindeer bull in the archaeological record. In this current paper, we outline a new method that presents the possibility of differentiating between full males, castrated males, and females based on osteometric features. We measured the leg bones and pelvis of the complete or partial skeletons of 97 adult modern domestic reindeer individuals to determine the precise effects castration has on skeletal size and morphology. We explored our osteometric dataset with different statistical methods. We found a clear separation of the two male groups in the radioulna, humerus, and femur but in the tibia and metapodials to a lesser extent. Osteometric depth and width were generally more affected than the longitudinal axis. Females were easily distinguishable from castrates and full males based on nearly every bone measurement. Our analysis shows that reindeer castration can be proven through osteometric analysis. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Berg, Mathilde van den Wallen, Henri Salmi, Anna-Kaisa |
author_facet |
Berg, Mathilde van den Wallen, Henri Salmi, Anna-Kaisa |
author_sort |
Berg, Mathilde van den |
title |
The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North |
title_short |
The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North |
title_full |
The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North |
title_fullStr |
The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North |
title_full_unstemmed |
The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North |
title_sort |
osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the north |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://research.ulapland.fi/fi/publications/aa00116f-2403-4c21-ae8b-475b19627530 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01696-y https://lacris.ulapland.fi/ws/files/36828193/The_osteometric_indentification_of_castrated_reindeer.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143641716&partnerID=8YFLogxK http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85143641716&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Berg , M V D , Wallen , H & Salmi , A-K 2023 , ' The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North ' , Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences , vol. 15 , no. 1 , 3 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01696-y |
op_relation |
https://research.ulapland.fi/fi/publications/aa00116f-2403-4c21-ae8b-475b19627530 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01696-y |
container_title |
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1789962938501562368 |