Multi-species entanglements and stable isotope signals (δ13C and δ15N) in modern reindeer herding communities of boreal northeast Asia

Abstract

Prevailing anthropocentric frameworks of animal husbandry in archaeological research are increasingly critiqued for their inability to capture the full spectrum of human-non-human systems. In west Siberia and northern Mongolia, reindeer herding communities practise an entwined multi-species lifeways with the subarctic boreal and forest ecosystems-but these practices lack secure archaeological chronologies and time depth in northeast Asia. Traces of reindeer herding and reindeer remains themselves are often under-represented in the depositional record, requiring alternative avenues for tracing the archaeology of reindeer herding. Here, we explore the potential of documenting these complex dynamics archaeologically through a proof-of-concept analysis of stable isotopic carbon and nitrogen in faunal bone collagen, which can represent a possible nexus of multi-species practices. In doing so, we seek to expand investigative potentials into both human and non-human community members, providing valuable, nuanced insights into past practices, hunter-herder interactions and domestication dynamics.This article is part of the theme issue 'Unravelling domestication: multi-disciplinary perspectives on human and non-human relationships in the past, present and future'.

Keywords: Indigenous Knowledge; North Asia; dietary isotopes; multi-species; reindeer domestication.

Figure 1.

Location of study areas (Sel’kup community in west Siberia = red; Khanty = light orange; Tsaatan community in Khövsgöl, Mongolia = blue). Location of comparative studies from Fennoscandia, southwestern Siberia and Cis-Baikal Siberia, and the Yamal Peninsula (from studies [,–116]).

Figure 2.

Examples of reindeer feeding across the study areas. (A) Fish feeding in troughs near reindeer house architectures among Sel’kup communities, and (B) lichen gathering and feeding to deer among Tsaatan. Photos by M. Windle.

Figure 3.

Carbon and nitrogen isotopic values from Sel’kup and Khanty communities, West Siberia and Tsaatan communities, northwest Mongolia.

Figure 4.

Summary graph showing the mean and standard deviation of δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values from west Siberia* and Mongolia* and from Fennoscandia, southwest Siberia, Cis-Baikal Siberia, and the Yamal Peninsula, Siberia datasets (using data from studies [,–116]). *Original data.

Figure 5.

Tanglegram of described reindeer herding multi-species practices (red = est Siberia, blue = Mongolia).