Understanding Reindeer Riding in the Archaeological Record of Northeast Asia through Ethnoarchaeology

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Exploring Long-Term Pastoral Dynamics: Methods, Theories, Stories" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Although the innovation of reindeer transport transformed societies across Northeast Asia, tracing the prehistory of reindeer domestication and riding has proven particularly challenging. Recent cross-species archaeozoological research has built an expanded paleopathological toolkit, but to date there are few mechanisms to understand the role of mounted reindeer riding in the deep past. Here, we present osteological insights from domestic reindeer in northern Mongolia, where mounted riding remains an important mode of transport in pastoral lifeways of the Tsaatan community. Our study of modern skeletal material suggests that reindeer riding produces recognizable alterations to the skeleton, including left-biased asymmetry, pathological changes and deformation to the thoracic and cervical vertebrae, and exostoses of the lower limbs. Comparison of reindeer tack and skeletal pathology with those from domestic horses shows key differences that may reflect the unique modality and equipment used in of reindeer riding, and help trace the origins of this important innovation in archaeological contexts across prehistory.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Exploring Long-Term Pastoral Dynamics: Methods, Theories, Stories

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38826.0