This new paper by David Anderson and collaborators reviews archaeological and palaeoecological evidence for the nature of occupation by humans (Nenets) and both wild and semi-domesticated reindeer at a low arctic tundra site on the Yamal Peninsula.
Yarte-6 on the Yuribei River is probably the most important Late Holocene archaeological site in West Siberia, which lies along the time continuum during the transition from hunting to herding reindeer. Yarte-6 is situated on a prominent headland overlooking the river valley and two large lakes. Although disused since the Middle Ages, the former camp site is covered by a lush grassy meadow, easily distinguished from the prevailing dwarf-shrub heath tundra vegetation.
When reindeer graze at modern Yamal tundra Nenets camps, their combined grazing and trampling creates a radial pattern. This has the effect of either killing or stunting the growth of shrubs within the grass/herb-rich area, while confining the growth of taller shrubs to the low-lying ravines encircling the site – which, as we will see, may have been an important feature for wild reindeer hunters. At low densities, Rangifer do not have a marked effect on either erect shrubs or ground-level vegetation. However, at higher densities, the negative impacts of more intensive grazing and trampling can become clear within as little as six years. While herbivores can help to preserve meadows by grazing the shrubs, their grazing is not essential when the graminoid-herb cover is so dense – as it is at Yarte-6 – that it prevents the germination of shrub seedlings. The establishment and long-term persistence of this grassy feature amongst well-grazed shrubs does indicate, however, that the activities of people and Rangifer had once been intense.
The question of what that shrub cover might have been like 1000 years ago is a key factor in interpreting past livelihoods. The Yarte promontory has few shrubs today, and indeed it would be hard to imagine how the existing willow copses could conceal a campsite or hide a hunter. However, the palynological evidence suggests that the shrub cover was thicker in the centuries after 800AD. During slightly warmer periods, willows grow taller and copses become more dense, as exemplified by the contemporary “shrubification” of Yamal, which is associated with the 21st-century warmer temperatures. The growth of shrubs during warm periods in the past might also have been encouraged by deeper snow cover, which also seems to be associated with warmer periods.
Reference: Anderson DG, Harrault L, Milek KB, Forbes BC, Kuoppamaa M, Plekhanov AV (2019) Animal domestication in the high Arctic: Hunting and holding reindeer on the I͡Amal peninsula, northwest Siberia. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 55: 101079
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2019.101079
Picture: The Yarte promontory in Yamal (photo: Bruce Forbes, University of Lapland)