Understanding the origin of reindeer riding in Northeast Asia through animal paleopathology and collaborative archaeology
The innovation of reindeer transport has transformed human societies across Northeast Asia. Tracing the prehistory of reindeer domestication and riding, however, has proven challenging. Recent cross-species archaeozoological research has developed an expanded paleopathological toolkit, but to date,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2025.2493391 |
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| author | Morgan Windle Tumurbaatar Tuvshinjargal Chengrui Zhang Yue Li Donatas Brandišauskas Henny Piezonka Yadam Ochir Gantulga Ariunzul Ryan Kertanis William Taylor |
| author_facet | Morgan Windle Tumurbaatar Tuvshinjargal Chengrui Zhang Yue Li Donatas Brandišauskas Henny Piezonka Yadam Ochir Gantulga Ariunzul Ryan Kertanis William Taylor |
| author_sort | Morgan Windle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The innovation of reindeer transport has transformed human societies across Northeast Asia. Tracing the prehistory of reindeer domestication and riding, however, has proven challenging. Recent cross-species archaeozoological research has developed an expanded paleopathological toolkit, but to date, there are few approaches to better understand the role of mounted reindeer riding, a key aspect of ancient Northeast Asian lifeways. Here, we present new osteological insights from contemporary domestic reindeer in northern Mongolia, where mounted riding remains an important mode of transport in the traditional 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 deformation to the vertebrae, and exostoses of the lower limbs. Comparison of reindeer tack and skeletal pathology with those from domestic horses shows unique features linked to the specific modality and equipment used in reindeer riding that may help trace the origins of this important innovation in archeological contexts across prehistory. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8789ad0b82fa4c9694b3d811ba4e578e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1523-0430 1938-4246 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-8789ad0b82fa4c9694b3d811ba4e578e2025-08-20T03:45:02ZengTaylor & Francis GroupArctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research1523-04301938-42462025-12-0157110.1080/15230430.2025.2493391Understanding the origin of reindeer riding in Northeast Asia through animal paleopathology and collaborative archaeologyMorgan Windle0Tumurbaatar Tuvshinjargal1Chengrui Zhang2Yue Li3Donatas Brandišauskas4Henny Piezonka5Yadam Ochir6Gantulga Ariunzul7Ryan Kertanis8William Taylor9Cluster of Excellence ROOTS, University of Kiel, Kiel, GermanyInstitute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulan Bator, MongoliaDepartment of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USASchool of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, Xi’an, P.R. ChinaLithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius, LithuaniaInstitute for Prehistoric Archaeology, Free University Berlin, Berlin, GermanyTsagaannuur, MongoliaUlaanbaatar, MongoliaUlaanbaatar, MongoliaUniversity of Colorado Museum of Natural History, Boulder, Colorado, USAThe innovation of reindeer transport has transformed human societies across Northeast Asia. Tracing the prehistory of reindeer domestication and riding, however, has proven challenging. Recent cross-species archaeozoological research has developed an expanded paleopathological toolkit, but to date, there are few approaches to better understand the role of mounted reindeer riding, a key aspect of ancient Northeast Asian lifeways. Here, we present new osteological insights from contemporary domestic reindeer in northern Mongolia, where mounted riding remains an important mode of transport in the traditional 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 deformation to the vertebrae, and exostoses of the lower limbs. Comparison of reindeer tack and skeletal pathology with those from domestic horses shows unique features linked to the specific modality and equipment used in reindeer riding that may help trace the origins of this important innovation in archeological contexts across prehistory.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2025.2493391Reindeer ridingzooarchaeologyskeletal pathologyTsaatan communityNortheast Asia |
| spellingShingle | Morgan Windle Tumurbaatar Tuvshinjargal Chengrui Zhang Yue Li Donatas Brandišauskas Henny Piezonka Yadam Ochir Gantulga Ariunzul Ryan Kertanis William Taylor Understanding the origin of reindeer riding in Northeast Asia through animal paleopathology and collaborative archaeology Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research Reindeer riding zooarchaeology skeletal pathology Tsaatan community Northeast Asia |
| title | Understanding the origin of reindeer riding in Northeast Asia through animal paleopathology and collaborative archaeology |
| title_full | Understanding the origin of reindeer riding in Northeast Asia through animal paleopathology and collaborative archaeology |
| title_fullStr | Understanding the origin of reindeer riding in Northeast Asia through animal paleopathology and collaborative archaeology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding the origin of reindeer riding in Northeast Asia through animal paleopathology and collaborative archaeology |
| title_short | Understanding the origin of reindeer riding in Northeast Asia through animal paleopathology and collaborative archaeology |
| title_sort | understanding the origin of reindeer riding in northeast asia through animal paleopathology and collaborative archaeology |
| topic | Reindeer riding zooarchaeology skeletal pathology Tsaatan community Northeast Asia |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2025.2493391 |
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