| Summary: | Reindeer was a major component of the subsistence strategies of human groups in northwest Europe during the last glaciation. Archaeological models of the subsistence strategies and related settlement patterns of those human groups are dependent upon assumptions about the nature of Devensian faunas, and, in particular, about the nature of reindeer behaviour. Previous attempts to reconstruct reindeer behaviour patterns have been based on direct comparison between the behaviour of modern reindeer populations and that of their prehistoric counterparts. Studies of modern species have indicated that many aspects of behaviour are not fixed, however, but are adaptive to environmental conditions. Changes in those conditions will result in corresponding alterations in patterns of behaviour. The Devensian environments of Britain and northwest Europe are not comparable with any of the habitats of modern day reindeer populations. In order to build up a model of reindeer behavioural ecology which can be applied to Devensian environments, a detailed study is presented of the environmental factors which affect patterns of reindeer behaviour throughout their natural range and in all their known habitats . In order to apply this model to the last glacial period in Britain, the seasonal distribution patterns of Devensian reindeer are analysed and the nature of Devensian environmental conditions are investigated. Existing zoo-archaeological techniques for the identification of seasonality are employed in the analysis of 28 Devensian faunal collections from both archaeological and geological sites. One previously unsubstantiated method of determining seasonality from shed reindeer antlers is tested against a modern sample and is found to be reliable. A new method of identifying seasonality in samples of juvenile reindeer bones is also developed and employed where possible. Analysis of biological, lithological and geomorphological data, compiled from a wide variety of sources, enables the reconstruction of environmental conditions ...
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