Military supply, everyday demand, and reindeer:zooarchaeology of Nazi German Second World War military presence in Finnish Lapland, Northernmost Europe

• Main Authors: Seitsonen, O. (Oula), Broderick, L. G. (Lee G.), Banks, I. (Iain), Olafson Lundemo, M. (Mari), Seitsonen, S. (Sanna), Herva, V.-P. (Vesa-Pekka)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley & Sons 2022
• Subjects: Finland; Lapland; Nazi Germany reindeer; Second World War; Sámi; military supply; zooarchaeology; Arctic; Arctic Ocean
• Online Access: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi-fe2021091646377

Abstract During the Second World War, in 1941–1944, Nazi German troops held the frontal responsibility of the Arctic front in Finnish Lapland. In this paper, we present the first zooarchaeological study of the wartime faunal remains from German military camps in Lapland. This illustrates the supply situation of both the German soldiers and their multinational prisoners. The official military supply was substantially supplemented with local food sources, namely, with the local semi-domesticated reindeer that dominates the bone assemblage. Bones of cattle, ovicaprines, and pig occur in lower numbers and appear to represent the German long-distance supply chain stretching from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Ocean. The remains of reindeer and wild species remind of the close interactions with locals and of the prisoners’ hunting activities to supplement their meager diet. Even if the reindeer bones dominate both the soldiers’ and prisoners’ faunal assemblages, there are notable differences in the body parts, with bones from meatier portions always found in the soldiers’ food waste. Besides highlighting a tension between the military supply and everyday demands, the faunal remains can draw attention to wider anthropological questions that reach beyond the information available in historical documents, such as adaptations into an alien northern environment. This emphasizes the importance of zooarchaeological analyses of recent past faunal materials from superficially familiar contexts.