Animal scapulae are widely incorporated into Indigenous lifeways across the Circumpolar North, especially as hide working tools, fish knives, and divination devices. This is particularly the case for the Iamal Peninsula of Arctic Siberia, where reindeer scapula tools are among the most abundant groups of implements found during archaeological excavations of two Iron Age sites, namely Iarte VI and Ust’-Polui. This presentation addresses the histories of the reindeer scapulae based on the materials from these two sites. The Iarte VI settlement contained almost 290 scapula tools that appear to have been used for softening and straightening reindeer skin straps for ropes and lassos. Excavation at Ust’-Polui produced over 250 fish knives made from this skeletal element. We will explore how this one particular skeletal element was separated from the other parts of the animal body, which scapulae were chosen for tool production, how they were transformed into objects of interest and use, and how they ultimately became important links in the chains of people-reindeer relationships in this region. We further discuss how reindeer scapulae are embedded into perceptions of wild and domestic reindeer and involved in a variety of social and material practices in this region.

This presentation introduces a wide range of animal images found at the Ust’-Polui site in the Iamal region of Arctic Siberia.  Excavations at this site have produced a broad assortment of organic materials that have been particularly well preserved in the permafrost areas of the site’s cultural deposits. Ust’-Polui is a well-known archaeological location in north-western Siberia that had been used for community gatherings and sacral activities by Indigenous populations living in the Lower Ob River area from the third century BCE to the second century CE. The Ust’-Polui animal imagery includes approximately 140 objects of metal, antler, birch bark, wood, and stone. The animal images were carved on handles of spoons, knives, and awls and were depicted on combs, a variety of metal pendants, and other objects. The majority depict birds, especially waterfowl, but also raptors and owls. Waterfowl are often depicted as floating in water; raptors are depicted in profile and often as eating the heads of artiodactyls. Most of the mammals depicted are reindeer with a few having open mouths and protruding tongues. Other items contain images of possible mustelids, beavers, and bears.

The use and husbandry of reindeer in Fennoscadia has been an area of increasing interest in zooarchaeology, especially in both Arctic and Human-Animal Studies. The historical record and recent research has shown that mixed subsistence existence was practiced by the Sámi peoples from at least the 14th century. The reindeer in these communities included a combination of herded, hunted, and working reindeer. Research of phalangeal entheseal changes (ECs) has shown definable differences between wild forest reindeer (R.t. fennicus) and domestic barren ground reindeer (R.t. tarandus). Analysis of pathological changes and long bone ECs has revealed skeletal changes typical to working reindeer. In this paper, we analyze phalangeal ECs of reindeer from three Sámi sites, Juikenttä, Nukkumajoki, and Autiokenttä, located in Finland. Research into pathology and ECs of reindeer long bones from these sites is consistent with a pattern of a mixture of herded, working, and wild animals. The movements of the reindeer hooves give further evidence to both animal lives and human husbandry, and we have therefore undertaken a comparative analysis of modern phalangeal ECs with all three sites. This work helps to provide archaeological evidence for Sámi subsistence patterns as well as human-animal relationships of the past.

While Thule Inuit exploitation of Ringed seal and caribou is well documented, their use of Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) remains understudied. This paper combines evidence from ethnohistory, ethnography, and zooarchaeology to better understand Arctic fox use in a dwelling at the ca. 1550 AD site of Arviq (OkRn-1), Banks Island, Northwest Territories. While cutmark analysis from Arviq supports exploitation of fox for pelts, it also suggests at least some foxes were used for food. This interpretation is supported by epiphyseal fusion evidence indicating some fox harvesting occurred in the late summer and/or fall, when Arctic foxes would still have had summer coats, which were not used in clothing. Additionally, human-fox relationships at the site had a symbolic or spiritual element, suggested by a cluster of fox skulls in a shallow pit within the dwelling. Comparison with the earlier site of Nelson River (OhRh-1) indicates Arctic fox have played an important role in Inuit subsistence on Banks Island throughout its occupational history, a practice that continued into the recent past. Fox may have been a key resource for mitigating periodic food shortages in the Amundsen Gulf region, which does not have the same resource richness as surrounding Arctic regions

Since time immemorial, Beaver people have lived in the Peace region of northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. The Peace region is located in an ecological transition zone where northern and southern populations of wood and plains bison intermingled until the near-extinction of bison in the late 19^th century. Archaeologists are well aware that communal bison hunting was widespread on the Great Plains, particularly in the northern Plains (southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Montana), for thousands of years. In contrast, a recent review of buffalo jumps, pounds, and arroyo traps included a total of zero sites in the Peace region, and there is a perception among some scholars that such sites do not extend that far north. However, Beaver oral histories clearly indicate that communal bison hunting was a societal norm, which implies that communal hunting strategies were utilized in Beaver territory. We describe a project in its initial stages that seeks to investigate communal bison hunting in Beaver territory using archival, ethnohistorical, oral historical, ecological, and field-based approaches.