Reindeer herding probably developed during the Late Iron Age onwards and is still an important part of the subsistence and culture of many peoples in northern Eurasia. However, despite the importance of this husbandry in the history of these Arctic people, the period and place of the origin as well as the spread of domestic reindeer is still highly debated. Besides the existence of different breeding methods in these territories, identifying domesticated individuals in the archaeological record is complicated because reindeers are considered to still be in the early phases of the domestication process. Indeed, the traditional morphological markers used in zooarchaeology to decipher the domestication syndrome are hardly perceptible in these early stages. In this work, we propose solutions for identifying domestic reindeer bones using 3D geometric morphometrics on isolated elements from the long bones of the forelimb (i.e. humerus, radio-ulna and metacarpal). These bones are important to understand both the feeding behaviour and the mobility of reindeer, and the potential effect of load-carrying or draught in the case of domestic reindeer. We analysed 123 modern specimens from Fennoscandia, including the two interbreeding subspecies currently present in these territories: mountain reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and forest reindeer (R.t. fennicus); and where the sex and the lifestyle were known (i.e. free-ranging, racing or draught and captive individuals). A good level of discrimination between the size and shape variables of the bones of the forelimb was found among both subspecies and sexes. Moreover, individuals bred in captivity had smaller bone elements and a thinner and more slender morphology than free-ranging individuals. This demonstrates that the long bones of the forelimb can provide information on changes in feeding and locomotor behaviour prompted by the domestication process, like control and/or reduction of mobility and food of individual reindeer by humans. This also demonstrates that analysis in 3D geometric morphometrics is useful in detecting reindeer incipient domestication markers. Our results can be used by archaeologists to trace the early stages of domestication from fossil reindeer remains, and aid in reconstructing the socio-economic changes of past Arctic populations over time.

中文翻译：

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在考古记录中识别驯鹿驯化的早期阶段：来自芬诺斯坎迪亚的现代种群前肢骨骼的3D形态研究。

驯鹿放牧很可能是在铁器时代晚期开始的，仍然是欧亚大陆北部许多民族生存和文化的重要组成部分。然而，尽管这种饲养在这些北极人的历史上很重要，但驯鹿的起源时期和产地以及驯鹿的传播仍受到高度争议。除了在这些地区存在不同的繁殖方法外，在考古记录中确定被驯化的个体也很复杂，因为人们认为驯鹿仍处于驯化过程的早期阶段。确实，在这些早期阶段，很难用动物考古学中的传统形态学标记来解读驯化综合症。在这项工作中 我们提出了使用前肢长骨（即肱骨，radio尺骨和掌骨）的孤立元素上的3D几何形态学来识别驯鹿骨骼的解决方案。这些骨骼对于了解驯鹿的进食行为和活动能力以及家养驯鹿的负重或吃水的潜在影响非常重要。我们分析了Fennoscandia的123个现代标本，包括目前在这些地区存在的两个杂交亚种：山地驯鹿（Rangifer tarandus tarandus）和森林驯鹿（Rt fennicus）; 以及知道性别和生活方式的地方（即自由放养，赛车或吃水和圈养的人）。在亚种和性别之间，前肢骨骼的大小和形状变量之间存在良好的区分度。此外，与自由放养的个体相比，被圈养的个体的骨元素更小，形态更细，更苗条。这表明前肢的长骨可以提供有关驯化过程引起的进食和运动行为变化的信息，例如人类控制和/或降低个体驯鹿的活动性和食物。这也表明，在3D几何形态计量学中进行分析可用于检测驯鹿早期驯化标记。