Animal domestication is a profound change for human societies, economies, and worldviews. The shifting definitions of animal domestication reflect its varying and process-like nature. Reindeer is one of the species whose domestication is not easily pinned down using standard definitions and research methodologies of animal domestication. In recent years, advances in archaeological methodology and the conceptual understanding of animal domestication have opened new avenues for research on this topic. This review summarizes recent research on the archaeology of reindeer domestication among the Indigenous Sámi of northern Fennoscandia. It compiles a chronological framework of reindeer domestication with an emphasis on the development of reindeer-herding practices and human–reindeer relationships. I argue that while a major transition to reindeer herding occurred among the Sámi from the 15th century onward, small-scale reindeer herding characterized by interspecies sociality, cooperation, and care developed earlier during the Late Iron Age, with regional variations in the timing and details of the events. By focusing on reindeer-herding practices and the human–reindeer relationships embedded in them, I also argue that reindeer domestication, and animal domestication in general, is a relationship constructed and constantly renegotiated in everyday interactions with the animals.

动物驯化对人类社会、经济和世界观来说是一场深刻的变化。动物驯化定义的不断变化反映了其变化性和过程性的本质。驯鹿是不容易用动物驯化的标准定义和研究方法来确定其驯化的物种之一。近年来，考古方法的进步和对动物驯化概念的理解为这一主题的研究开辟了新的途径。这篇综述总结了芬诺斯坎迪亚北部土著萨米人驯鹿驯化的考古学最新研究。它编制了驯鹿驯化的时间框架，重点关注驯鹿放牧实践和人类与驯鹿关系的发展。我认为，虽然萨米人从 15 世纪开始就发生了向驯鹿放牧的重大转变，但以种间社交、合作和照顾为特征的小规模驯鹿放牧在铁器时代晚期就已经发展起来，但时间和细节上存在地区差异。的事件。通过关注驯鹿放牧实践以及其中所蕴含的人与驯鹿关系，我还认为驯鹿驯化和一般的动物驯化是在与动物的日常互动中构建并不断重新协商的关系。