Reindeer corrals 4700–4200 BC: Myth or reality?

Reindeer have always been one of the important subsistence resources in northernmost Europe. Driving domestic animals into corrals to separate, distribute, and slaughter them according to ownership, is a continuation of a prehistoric practise that was linked to hunting and possibly, to acquire reindeer as decoys and for transportation. The only evidence of such prehistoric constructions and practice in northernmost Europe is nine figures of corrals and drive lanes in the rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway. These figures are a part of communication between humans, and humans and non-humans, within an understanding of what was needed for procuring reindeer that probably was somewhat different from today. Some of the figures associated with the corrals are not connected with driving and killing reindeer seen from a modern context, but their association indicates connections once existed, if not in driving and killing, then in narratives, myths and rituals.