History of the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in the eastern Baltic region and its implications for the origin and immigration routes of the recent northern European wild reindeer populations PIRKKO UKKONEN, LEMBI LO ˜ UGAS, ILGA ZAGORSKA, LIGITA LUKS ˇ EVICA, ERVINS LUKS ˇ EVICS, LINAS DAUGNORA AND HO ¨ GNE JUNGNER BOREAS Ukkonen, P., Lo ˜ugas, L., Zagorska, I., Luks ˇevica, L., Luks ˇevics, E., Daugnora, L. & Jungner, H. 2006 (May): History of the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in the eastern Baltic region and its implications for the origin and immigration routes of the recent northern European wild reindeer populations. Boreas , Vol. 35, pp. 222  /230. Oslo. ISSN 0300-9483. A total of 45 subfossil reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) antlers and bones  / artefacts excluded / have been found over the years in the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The relatively high number of specimens suggests a stable residence of the species in the eastern Baltic region. For the first time, 12 of these finds were radiocarbon-dated. The ages of the samples range between 12 085 and 9970 14 C yr BP (14 180 /11 280 cal. yr BP), and cover the Lateglacial and early Holocene, a time period during which climatic conditions shifted from periglacial to temperate. The dates suggest a rapid colonization of the area during the deglaciation period and a local extinction around the Pleistocene /Holocene boundary. The results of the study do not support the theory that the recent wild reindeer populations of northern Europe had their origin in the Late Weichselian reindeer populations of the eastern Baltic region. Pirkko Ukkonen (e-mail: pirkko.ukkonen@ark.lu.se), Department of Geology, P.O. Box 64, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. Present address: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Historical Osteology, Lund University, P.O. Box 117, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden; Lembi Lo ˜ugas (e-mail: lembi14@mail.ee), Institute of History, Ru ¨u ¨tli 6, EE-10130 Tallinn, Estonia; Ilga Zagorska (e-mail: izagorska@yahoo.com), Institute of History of Latvia, Akademijas Sg. 1, LV-1050 Riga, Latvia; Ligita Luks ˇevica (e-mail: ligita.luksevica@dabasmuzejs.gov.lv), Latvian Museum of Natural History, K. Barona Street 4, LV-1050 Riga, Latvia; Ervins Luks ˇevics (e-mail: erluks@lanet.lv), Institute of Geology, University of Latvia, Rainis Boulevard 19, LV-1586 Riga, Latvia; Linas Daugnora (e-mail: daugnora@lva.lt), Osteological Laboratory, Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Lithuanian Veterinary Academy, Tilz ˇes Street 18, LT-47181 Kaunas, Lithuania; Ho ¨ gne Jungner (e-mail: hogne.jungner@helsinki.fi), Dating Laboratory, P.O. Box 64, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland; received 12th November 2004, accepted 25th October 2005. There are four main theories about the origin and immigration routes of the extant wild reindeer (Rangi- fer tarandus) populations or, more precisely, of its mountain or tundra ecotype Rangifer tarandus tarandus in Fennoscandia (Aaris-Sørensen 2000). One possible route from Central Europe through Denmark and southern Sweden, over the Na ¨rke Sound and further into Norway and northwards has been discussed by several authors (Ekman & Iregren 1983; Lepiksaar 1986; Aaris-Sørensen 1992; Bjo ¨rck et al. 1996; Liljeg- ren & Ekstro ¨m 1996), but the question has still not been solved. An alternative immigration model has been proposed by Hakala (1997) and by Rankama & Ukkonen (2001) suggesting an immigration route across the North Sea Land and along the Norwegian west coast. An immigration route from the east along the northern coast of the Kola Peninsula to northern Finland and Norway may also be a possibility, but has not been widely discussed in the literature (cf. Hakala 1997; Rankama & Ukkonen 2001). The fourth model is based on an assumption that the reindeer migrated northeast from Central Europe to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and onward to southern Finland from the southeast along the Karel- ian isthmus. According to this theory, reindeer herds retreated to the north as the postglacial climate became warmer and the environment in southern Finland became unsuitable for the species (Pulliainen & Leino- nen 1990; Aaris-Sørensen 2000). This theory, along with that of early reindeer hunters, has persisted especially in the Finnish archaeology, in spite of a lack of evidence supporting this view (Rankama & Ukkonen 2001). Crucial for this theory are subfossil finds along the proposed immigration route, and their age. Reindeer finds are known from all Baltic countries, but the finds have never been radiocarbon-dated. In his important study on the history of the mammalian fauna in Fennoscandia and Baltic countries, Lepiksaar (1986) doubted the probability of the retreat of the reindeer from the Baltic countries to the north due to the rapid spread of forest, and urged a revision of the subfossil ungulate finds based on reliable radiocarbon dates. The eastern Baltic region is especially interesting also from a general faunal history point of view, because of its DOI 10.1080/03009480600578065 # 2006 Taylor & Francis