Mathilde Van Den Berg
Biographic Data
| ID | 3584861 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mathilde Van Den Berg |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mathilde Van Den |
| FAMILY NAME | Berg |
| SIGNATURE | VAN DEN BERG M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oulu |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8087-7552 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 18 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Osteometric distinctions between domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus), wild mountain reindeer (R.t.t.), wild forest reindeer (R.t. fennicus), and the identification of castrated reindeer bon…
The types of reindeer hunting, keeping, and herding in Fennoscandia have seen different periods of transformations and have found unique side by side expressions through time. To refine zooarchaeological analysis and scrutinize reindeer domestication and other past ancient human-reindeer relationships in the North, we propose methods for identifying sex, castration status, and ecotype/variety from complete and fragmented reindeer bones. This stud…
Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) castration in Fennoscandia
Traditional Knowledge holders share how reindeer castration is used for food security and herd management and resilience. • Castration also gives control over reindeer temperament and is crucial for securing fit working animals in winter. • The effect of castration on bone and antler is promising for the identification of ancient castrated reindeer remains. • Reindeer castration is a method used in the holistic care for the hybrid community, char…
The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North
Reindeer are the only domestic cervid and have formed the cosmologies and practical daily lives of numerous peoples in the Northern Hemisphere for thousands of years. The questions of when, how, and where reindeer domestication originated and how it developed remain one of the scientific enigmas of our time. The practice of reindeer castration is an essential feature of all communities practicing reindeer herding today. It has probably been one o…
A borderland on the edge of materiality
In past decades landscapes have become recognized as essentially liminal systems: there has been an increased appreciation for the embeddedness of lived experiences of places in four-dimensional space-time and the landscape’s connections with perceptions, stories, the material and immaterial pasts, as well as the material and immaterial present and future. Kilpisjärvi is such a place where immaterial pasts, presents, and futures consolidate into …
Human–environment interactions at a short-lived Arctic mine and the long-term response of the local tundra vegetation
Arctic mining has a bad reputation because the extractive industry is often responsible for a suite of environmental problems. Yet, few studies explore the gap between untouched tundra and messy megaproject from a historical perspective. Our paper focuses on Advent City as a case study of the emergence of coal mining in Svalbard (Norway) coupled with the onset of mining-related environmental change. After short but intensive human activity (1904–…
Cross-sectional properties of reindeer long bones and metapodials allow identification of activity patterns
Habitual loading patterns of domesticated animals may differ due to human influence from their wild counterparts. In the early stages of human-reindeer interaction, cargo and draft use was likely important, as well as corralling tame reindeer. This may result to changes in loading as increased (working) or decreased (captive) loading, as well as foraging patterns (digging for lichen from under the snow versus fed working and/or captive reindeer).…
Judging a reindeer by its teeth
Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) have shaped the cultures and provided livelihood to peoples of the Northern Hemisphere for thousands of years. They are still the socio-economic cornerstone of many northern cultures. Insight into reindeer mortality patterns is important for understanding past human-reindeer interactions and reindeer population fluctuations in relation to climatic and environmental change. Beyond archaeology, assessing the age structu…
Earliest archaeological evidence for domesticated reindeer economy among the Sámi of Northeastern Fennoscandia AD 1300 onwards
The domestication of the reindeer among the Sámi of Northern Fennoscandia is a pressing question for the archaeology of the area and has wider relevance to animal domestication studies globally. Despite considerable research activity, many details of reindeer domestication and early reindeer management remain unclear. This paper explores the use of draught reindeer in early Sámi reindeer herding and the implications for understanding reindeer dom…
Archeologie in musea
A Sami past. The Sami are still struggling for general acceptance of their identity and cultural expression. They are the indigenous population of Fennoscandia, and although now mostly associated with reindeer herding, historically their subsistence was based mostly on fishing, hunting, agriculture, animal husbandry, and only small-scale reindeer herding. In this paper it is probed how contemporary majority and Sami museums convey information abo…
Earliest archaeological evidence for domesticated reindeer economy among the Sámi of Northeastern Fennoscandia AD 1300 onwards
The domestication of the reindeer among the Sámi of Northern Fennoscandia is a pressing question for the archaeology of the area and has wider relevance to animal domestication studies globally. Despite considerable research activity, many details of reindeer domestication and early reindeer management remain unclear. This paper explores the use of draught reindeer in early Sámi reindeer herding and the implications for understanding reindeer dom…
Cross-sectional properties of reindeer long bones and metapodials allow identification of activity patterns
Habitual loading patterns of domesticated animals may differ due to human influence from their wild counterparts. In the early stages of human-reindeer interaction, cargo and draft use was likely important, as well as corralling tame reindeer. This may result to changes in loading as increased (working) or decreased (captive) loading, as well as foraging patterns (digging for lichen from under the snow versus fed working and/or captive reindeer).…
The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North
Reindeer are the only domestic cervid and have formed the cosmologies and practical daily lives of numerous peoples in the Northern Hemisphere for thousands of years. The questions of when, how, and where reindeer domestication originated and how it developed remain one of the scientific enigmas of our time. The practice of reindeer castration is an essential feature of all communities practicing reindeer herding today. It has probably been one o…
Human–environment interactions at a short-lived Arctic mine and the long-term response of the local tundra vegetation
Arctic mining has a bad reputation because the extractive industry is often responsible for a suite of environmental problems. Yet, few studies explore the gap between untouched tundra and messy megaproject from a historical perspective. Our paper focuses on Advent City as a case study of the emergence of coal mining in Svalbard (Norway) coupled with the onset of mining-related environmental change. After short but intensive human activity (1904–…
Judging a reindeer by its teeth
Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) have shaped the cultures and provided livelihood to peoples of the Northern Hemisphere for thousands of years. They are still the socio-economic cornerstone of many northern cultures. Insight into reindeer mortality patterns is important for understanding past human-reindeer interactions and reindeer population fluctuations in relation to climatic and environmental change. Beyond archaeology, assessing the age structu…
Archeologie in musea
A Sami past. The Sami are still struggling for general acceptance of their identity and cultural expression. They are the indigenous population of Fennoscandia, and although now mostly associated with reindeer herding, historically their subsistence was based mostly on fishing, hunting, agriculture, animal husbandry, and only small-scale reindeer herding. In this paper it is probed how contemporary majority and Sami museums convey information abo…
A borderland on the edge of materiality
In past decades landscapes have become recognized as essentially liminal systems: there has been an increased appreciation for the embeddedness of lived experiences of places in four-dimensional space-time and the landscape’s connections with perceptions, stories, the material and immaterial pasts, as well as the material and immaterial present and future. Kilpisjärvi is such a place where immaterial pasts, presents, and futures consolidate into …
Human–environment interactions at a short-lived Arctic mine and the long-term response of the local tundra vegetation
Arctic mining has a bad reputation because the extractive industry is often responsible for a suite of environmental problems. Yet, few studies explore the gap between untouched tundra and messy megaproject from a historical perspective. Our paper focuses on Advent City as a case study of the emergence of coal mining in Svalbard (Norway) coupled with the onset of mining-related environmental change. After short but intensive human activity (1904–…
Cross-sectional properties of reindeer long bones and metapodials allow identification of activity patterns
Habitual loading patterns of domesticated animals may differ due to human influence from their wild counterparts. In the early stages of human-reindeer interaction, cargo and draft use was likely important, as well as corralling tame reindeer. This may result to changes in loading as increased (working) or decreased (captive) loading, as well as foraging patterns (digging for lichen from under the snow versus fed working and/or captive reindeer).…
Judging a reindeer by its teeth
Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) have shaped the cultures and provided livelihood to peoples of the Northern Hemisphere for thousands of years. They are still the socio-economic cornerstone of many northern cultures. Insight into reindeer mortality patterns is important for understanding past human-reindeer interactions and reindeer population fluctuations in relation to climatic and environmental change. Beyond archaeology, assessing the age structu…
Earliest archaeological evidence for domesticated reindeer economy among the Sámi of Northeastern Fennoscandia AD 1300 onwards
The domestication of the reindeer among the Sámi of Northern Fennoscandia is a pressing question for the archaeology of the area and has wider relevance to animal domestication studies globally. Despite considerable research activity, many details of reindeer domestication and early reindeer management remain unclear. This paper explores the use of draught reindeer in early Sámi reindeer herding and the implications for understanding reindeer dom…
The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North
Reindeer are the only domestic cervid and have formed the cosmologies and practical daily lives of numerous peoples in the Northern Hemisphere for thousands of years. The questions of when, how, and where reindeer domestication originated and how it developed remain one of the scientific enigmas of our time. The practice of reindeer castration is an essential feature of all communities practicing reindeer herding today. It has probably been one o…
Osteometric distinctions between domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus), wild mountain reindeer (R.t.t.), wild forest reindeer (R.t. fennicus), and the identification of castrated reindeer bon…
The types of reindeer hunting, keeping, and herding in Fennoscandia have seen different periods of transformations and have found unique side by side expressions through time. To refine zooarchaeological analysis and scrutinize reindeer domestication and other past ancient human-reindeer relationships in the North, we propose methods for identifying sex, castration status, and ecotype/variety from complete and fragmented reindeer bones. This stud…
Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) castration in Fennoscandia
Traditional Knowledge holders share how reindeer castration is used for food security and herd management and resilience. • Castration also gives control over reindeer temperament and is crucial for securing fit working animals in winter. • The effect of castration on bone and antler is promising for the identification of ancient castrated reindeer remains. • Reindeer castration is a method used in the holistic care for the hybrid community, char…
Indigenous Studies and Ecology (9 works) · Geography (8 works) · Ecology (7 works) · Archaeology (6 works) · Biology (6 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (4 works) · Domestication (4 works) · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation (4 works) · History (3 works) · Zoology (3 works)