The meaning of sedentism and mobility in an archaeological and historic context

Sedentism is a commonly used concept in settlement pattern analysis. In a recent review of this concept Rafferty (1985) found “sedentary” to be related to both settlement permanence and site size. Both space and time are fundamental aspects of sedentism. While maintaining permanence as a central factor, this paper discusses further aspects of sedentism primarily in relation to the use and meaning of space. A case study based on archaeological and historical materials on Sami and Norwegian settlements in arctic Norway is used as an illustration. In arctic Norway prehistoric maritime settlements have often been interpreted as being either transhumant or sedentary. The prehistoric case of sedentism is then viewed in relation to the historically known differences in settlement permanence in space and time for Norwegian and Sami populations in the same area of arctic Norway. It is proposed that models of sedentism should not only be based on ecological, economic, and adaptational considerations but should also include the importance of the meaning of place in the relationship between human populations and landscape.     

“We are Reindeer People,We Come from Reindeer.” Reindeer Herding in Representations of the Sami in Russia

Abstract

Reindeer herding, a tourism emblem of the European North, is also part of a long-lasting tradition of objectification of Sami culture in Russia. Sustained in the popular imagination by Russian ethnography, the dominant order's agent for legitimization of Soviet ethnic policies, in the 1990s the tradition of exoticization and “othering” was strengthened by Western anthropological and political engagement with the indigenous debate in Russia, transposing on the Sami the imagery and ideals of the global indigenous movement. Business aspirations to utilize the persistent imagery of exotic otherness gave birth to ethnographic tourism in the Kola Peninsula, Northwest Russia, which markets indigenous culture as an attraction. In this paper, I analyze how these diverse discourses equally reify and exploit the concept of Sami reindeer herding and the effects that such representational economy has on the community.     

Norwegian and Soviet/Russian World War II Memory Policy During the Cold War and the Post-Soviet Years

Abstract

World War II has played a significant role in using “memory” in all kind of “memory politics” in Europe as well as in the USA. Using examples from Norway and the Soviet Union, later the Russian Republic, this article shows how successfully, but also how contradictorily, historical events can be used as memory politics. We will also see what “memory culture” and “memory policy” is predominant in circumpolar Norway and the Soviet Union/Russia after World War II. We are introduced to the concept of “memory agents”, the producers and directors of “memory politics”. The case is first and foremost the battle of Narvik in Norway in the spring of 1940. We also take a look at the circumpolar borderland between Norway and the Soviet Union during World War II, where the German “Gebirgsjäger” from the Narvik front regrouped and continued their assault on Soviet Union in Murmansk County from the summer of 1941. In what way were the war events useful in the post war era, and how could they directly affect Soviet–Norwegian relations during the Cold War? In addition we ask how memories contributed to the justification of different approaches to the foreign policy in both countries. Besides, the article demonstrates how the memory policy of World War II was affected after the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union in Norway and Russia, respectively.     

Asiatics and Chinamen

This article compares two clusters of polemical language. One is comprised of critical uses of the term “Asiatic” in Russian political discourse from the 1890s to the 1910s. The other is Chinese usage, in the 1920s and 1930s, of the term “Zhina,” a Japanese version of “China” which was perceived as injurious to Chinese national pride. The article traces how, in both cases, political and cultural agents criticized their own country and society by adopting an outsider’s perspective – that of the foreigner, who would classify Russia as an “Asiatic” country and call China “Zhina.” The conclusions are relevant for understanding the sources of nationalist rhetoric in modern Russia and China, with implications reaching beyond these two countries.     

A Rejection of the Aramaic Origin of the Chinese Word for Monastery

Christopher Beckwith has recently devoted two publications concerning the origin of the word for “monastery” in East Asia. The proposed Aramaic origin has met with criticism from two eminent authorities, Laurent Sagart and Alexander Vovin. While the present article is not interested in the debate per se, here renamed the “Beckwith Controversy,” it is important to discuss in more detail Beckwith’s view about the Chinese word si 寺 (monastery), its origin, and its reconstruction. It is concluded that, although very imaginative in its conclusions, Beckwith’s argument is methodologically opaque and, therefore, should be definitely abandoned in favour of more plausible solutions.     

“One Man's Foolishness Led to the Death of 14 Men”. Norwegian Reactions to Umberto Nobile and the “Italia” Disaster

In the summer of 1928, the dirigible “Italia” with the Italian navigator and constructor Umberto Nobile and his crew crashed in the polar ice north of Spitzbergen. The accident triggered not only the then most extensive rescue operation ever, it also resulted in a national grievance in Norway, when the national hero Roald Amundsen vanished in the sea on his way from Norway to Spitzbergen. Amundsen was flying north to help to find his old companion. With his disappearance the Norwegian attitude towards Nobile and his fellow Italians turned from bad to worse. This unkind attitude was also strengthened when Nobile came out of the ice safe and sound after 1 month. One Norwegian paper called Nobile “a goldgallooned fascist fool”, whose “insane venture had caused the whole tragedy” (Friheten 8 June 1928). Now Nobile was in safety, while Amundsen was gone forever. When the Italian shipwrecked men came to the coastal town of Narvik in Norway to dock for the waiting train to Italy, the locals met them with hostility. Why had the usually friendly and calm Norwegians suddenly become so hostile and unkind?     

Framing the High North: Public Discourses in Norway after 2000

Abstract

The article presents an overview of the main public debates in Norway that can be said to have framed and defined the High North since the turn of the Millennium. It is based on a qualitative study of over 3000 articles published in four Norwegian newspapers issued between 2000 and 2006. Our discussion is structured around three overarching, interconnected narratives that we think capture the essence of the Norwegian public discourses on the High North between 2000 and 2006. These are “Fragments from the 1990s”; “The great narrative of the High North”; and “Mixing cold water with hot blood”. The first half of the 2000s is characterised by an almost total absence of the High North as a discursive and politically coherent concept. From 2004, however, usage grew fivefold, alongside an extensive, dynamic discursive mobilisation. When the Russians decided in 2006 to shelve the Shtokman project and critical voices were heard condemning Norway's environmental performance in northwest Russia, public opinion swung back again. A feeling of cold reality replaced the sense of optimism towards the energy potential of the north, and an exercise in collective soul-searching commenced – similar to that of the early years of the decade. We believe the type of discursive change we document in this article constitutes policy trends in connection both with the High North and with other sectors where policy is subject to intense public debate and appraisal. We hope that discourse analysis has enabled us to investigate and share how Norwegian public discourses on the High North are socially produced, framed and maintained but at the same time are always in flux and open to “new” directions which should be possible – at least in theory – to trace by going back in time.     

Recent Norwegian archaeological publications

The part of the Helg?y Project presented here deals with the Norwegian and Sami populations in Helg?y from their supposed immigration to the Region about 13/1400 AD to approximately 1700. Some findings and the methods developed by the project to establish them will be presented, the question of how to distinguish Sami from Norwegian settlements in historical and pre‐historical times being central in the study of North Norway.     

Who identifies with the “Russian World”? Geopolitical attitudes in southeastern Ukraine,Crimea, Abkhazia,South Ossetia,and Transnistria

Abstract

The concept of the Russian world (Russkii mir) re-entered geopolitical discourse after the end of the Soviet Union. Though it has long historical roots, the practical definition and geopolitical framing of the term has been debated and refined in Russian political and cultural circles during the years of the Putin presidency. Having both linguistic-cultural and geopolitical meanings, the concept of the Russian world remains controversial, and outside Russia it is often associated with Russian foreign policy actions. Examination of official texts from Vladimir Putin and articles from three Russian newspapers indicate complicated and multifaceted views of the significance and usage of the Russkii mir concept. Surveys in December 2014 in five sites on the fringes of Russia – in southeastern Ukraine, Crimea, and three Russian-supported de facto states (Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria) – show significant differences between the Ukrainian sample points and the other locations about whether respondents believe that they live in the Russian world. In Ukraine, nationality (Russian vs. Ukrainian) is aligned with the answers, while overall, attitudes toward Russian foreign policy, level of trust in the Russian president, trust of Vladimir Putin, and liking Russians are positively related to beliefs about living in the Russian world. In Ukraine, the negative reactions to geopolitical speech acts and suspicions about Russian government actions overlap with and confuse historical linguistic-cultural linkages with Russia, but in the other settings, close security and economic ties reinforce a sense of being in the Russian “world.”     

The neighbor as mirror: Representations of the Korean March First Movement in modern Chinese discourses of nationalism

Abstract

The outbreak of the Korean March First Movement in 1919 was followed by intensive reporting and commentary in Chinese media, presenting striking images of the brutality of the Japanese colonizers, the resolve for independence among the Korean people, and the concept of national self-determination. The March First Movement provided the Chinese people with a vivid example of the transformation of the abstract concept of “universal principles” into the practice of “national self-determination,” and strengthened consciousness of “national independence” among the Chinese people. Over the ensuing two or three decades, the “March First Movement” gradually seeped into the Chinese nationalist movement and discourses on national liberation, playing the role of “the neighbor as mirror,” and continuing to provide both positive inspiration and negative reference points for the Chinese people following the path of national independence. This linkage and interaction between “weak nations” aids in understanding the modern Chinese nationalist movement, as well as the mechanisms for development of the national independence movements among colonized peoples which swept across the globe in the early 20th century.     

The dissolution of ancient Kvenland and the transformation of the Kvens as an ethnic group of people. On changing ethnic categorizations in communicative and collective memories

ABSTRACT

The aim is to trace how the ethnonym Kven and the interrelated imagination of Kvenland changed over time in Nordic political discourse from the Viking Age to the mid-eighteenth century. In the negotiations over fixed borders between Sweden, Denmark and Russia, recognition of ethnic groups played an important political role in legitimating the territorial claims of the states. It brought the history of ethnic groups to the table and in the process made visible ethnonyms and names for provinces used previously. The continuity of the ethnonyms is investigated as a chronological chain of communicative and collective memory. The ethnonym and the territory of Kvenland were used by the Norwegians to maintain an ethnic boundary with the Finnish speakers in the upper Bothnian area. The names Kven and Kvenland were never used in Sweden. The investigation shows that the Kvens constituted a group of Finnish speaking people existing in continuity from the Viking Age. Their core territory was situated in the upper Gulf of Bothnia area. When this was integrated into the Swedish kingdom the inhabitants were designated Finns by the Swedes. The Finnish speakers in Tornedalen, thus, kept their linguistic and cultural continuity but lost their western Scandinavian ethnonym Kven.     

The Russia of the Tsar and North Norway. "The Russian Danger" Revisited

The fear of Russia in Norway goes back far beyond the Russian Revolution. It played an important role in Norwegian Swedish foreign policies towards Russia from the 1830s and up to 1905 (and in Norwegian conceptions of threat between 1905 and 1917 as well, although the threat seems to have been more down-played in that period) (Nielsen 1994 95). In particular, there has been a fear of a possible attack on North-Norway. Roald Berg, in his recently published work entitled Norsk forsvarshistorie 1814-1905 (The History of the Norwegian Defence 1814 1905) presents evidence that the conception of a Russian danger was an issue in Norwegian military considerations as far back as in the 1820s and 1830s. According to Berg, it is evident that this idea was central in Norwegian military-strategic thought in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century (Berg 2001: 112 115, 307-308). My purpose in this paper is to try to establish whether there was reason for this fear, that is, if there were any plans among the Russian authorities to conquer Norwegian territory in the period between the Eidsvoll Assembly and the storming of the Winter Palace (1814 1917).     

考古学本质刍议——一个田野考古者的思考碎片

田野考古从地底下发掘出各类遗物,这些遗物指代了某种历史,是毫无异议的,但它如何进入历史学的语言范畴?在现代考古学诞生以前,神话传说和历史事件,是古物意义价值的主要载体,实际上,两者之间互证,至今依然是考古学终极价值的重要体现。新考古学、后过程考古学时代,应用科技手段、设计理论模式,试图重建一段更加鲜活的历史。种种努力,似乎总是在挣脱考古对象作为一种"实物"的遗存属性。实际上,从汤姆森提出石器、铜器、铁器"三期说"开始,历史已经被符号化、象征化了,而这正是考古学述史语言的本质特征,体现一种新历史学的精神,而这种新历史学的符号化的象征元素,正是考古遗存的实物属性。     

“The third man” — David's heroes in 2 Sam 23,8–39

Abstract

The basic meaning of the word is “three”, “third”. Besides this, the word also possesses two specialized meanings, namely “chariot soldier” and “officer of high rank”. The evident discrepancy between these two meanings has occasioned considerable interest among scholars (e.g, Thenius, Elliger, Hertzberg, Margalith, Mastin, Na'aman, Schley).

In the contribution at hand it has been shown that the was a trained soldier who did not belong to the standard crew of a war chariot However, it was possible to assign him temporarily to the chariots in order to raise their effectiveness. The warriors in question could also be transported in chariots as third men, in addition to the standard crew of two. It is from this practice that the term “third man”, originated. It was also from this military élite that the king picked his chiefs and adjutants. Gradually the word came to mean not only a specially trained soldier, but also the king's adjutant. The meaning “shield bearer”, which has often been suggested for has nothing to support it.     

THE SETTLEMENT OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA DURING THE ROMANOV PERIOD (1613-1917)

This paper compares and contrasts Russian frontier experiences on the northern and southern parts of the European plain during the Romanov era (1613-1917). Both were “open” frontiers, in Turner's sense of a frontier as the “hither edge of free land,” but their environments and the settlement processes which affected them were very different. It is suggested that the character of a frontier society is decisively influenced by the process whereby settlers must adapt to their new environment, the features which attract them to that environment, and the character of the pre-existing inhabitants. The northern frontier formed part of what Meinig has called a “boreal riverine empire” with a harsh environment, to which paradoxically the Russians found it relatively easy to adapt, the great attraction of fur-bearing animals and reasonably benign relations with native peoples. By contrast, the southern frontier was a “frontier of exclusion,” following Lattimore's phrase, with hostile indigenes, a natural environment demanding special methods of adaptation, but with many more attractions than the north. Such contrasts gave rise to considerable differences in the settlement process, in the character of land allocation and in the type of society evolving subsequently, with long-term consequences for emerging human landscapes.     

长沙汉墓随葬动物形象的“器物观念”

本文探讨了长沙汉墓随葬品不同"动物"形象所蕴含的不同的人文观念,借用美术考古学家的"器物观念"概念,分析不同"动物"形象背后隐含的古人精神世界。笔者将"动物"形象分为现实动物形象、神话"动物"形象和"动物"组合形象三类,分析其所依次表现出的"事死如事生"的世俗观念、以龙凤为主的神话观念和"天地相协"的理想观念。     

State Discourses of Indigenous “Inclusion”: Identity and Representation in the Arctic

Arctic decision‐making processes are often praised for including Indigenous peoples. Yet, state practices of “inclusion” may also inadvertently delimit what can be meaningfully said from a stage already set for a highly specific role as “Arctic voices”. This paper draws on reflections offered by Norwegian and Icelandic state personnel on the meanings of Arctic statehood and identity, showing how often well‐meaning attempts to “include” may serve the includer more than the included—indeed, may serve to uphold the same power structures they seemingly seek to improve. In so doing, the paper contributes both to understandings of Arctic statecraft and to work seeking the “peopling” of geopolitical concepts such as the state. By focusing on the operation of dominant discourses, the paper argues that current prescribed performances of “inclusion” are not enough in a region marked by histories of dispossession, assimilation, and colonisation.     

Svalbard‐centre and periphery

From an ethnological point of view, the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard above all constitutes a meeting place of many different ethnic groups and cultures: From time to time its natural resources have been utilized by entrepreneurs of several nationalities, with the aid of multi‐ethnic crews and parties and with varying resources in mind. Thus, the Dutch and English whaling, from about 1600, was to a large extent based on the skills of Basque harpooners. Russian parties wintering on Svalbard had their homelands in the “Pomor” villages on the shores of the White Sea, where Russians, Karelians, Saami and other ethnic groups were repre ‐sented. The Norwegian exploiters came from similar multi‐ethnic communities.

In outlining two perspectives of Svalbard cultural research I want to start out by referring to an 18th century Russian settlement, situated at the inlet called Trygghamna, or “Safe Harbour”, on the north side of the Ice Fiord. This settlement was excavated in 1960, under the guidance, of the late professor Helmer Tegengren of Åbo Akademi University in Åbo (Turku), Finland. Being a member of his team I had the opportunity of making observations of my own, but on this occasion my point of departure is based on the results of this excavation put forth by Tegengren in 1962. Tegengren had intended to summarize the results of his three expeditions to Svalbard, but unfortunately never had strength enough to carry out this work before his sudden death in 1974.     

PALEOGEOGRAPHY,TOPONYMY AND ETHNOGENESIS

An attempt is made by a Lithuanian physical geographer to combine the findings of paleogeography and place-name studies in shedding light on the time and place of the original settlement of the Indo-European peoples. The author also suggests that plausible elements in folk legend are susceptible to paleogeographic analysis, and he illustrates the point by relating Lithuanian folk legends about the origin of lakes to known thermokarstic processes giving rise to cave-in lakes. On the basis of a paleogeographic analysis of Lithuanian place names resembling the name Dunojus (Danube), the author suggests that the name of the Danube River is derived from an Indo-European root word such as duna, signifying an inlet or estuary of Late Pleistocene waterbodies with a sandy, dunelike shoreline. The vocabulary of Indo-European languages relating to features in the natural environment is used in establishing the time and location of the settlement of Indo-European peoples. On the basis of correspondences for tree names in the various Indo-European languages, the author concludes that the original Indo-European proto-ethnos sought refuge in the Pomeranian substage of the Late Pleistocene (about 20,000 years ago) in the mountain caves of central Europe. With the retreat of the ice sheet, the original Indo-Europeans began to migrate northward, and it was in the new areas of settlement in the plains of northern Europe that the Germanic, Slavic and Baltic branches of the Indo-Europeans were formed.     

川陕古道两“韩溪”考辨

梳理和考辨入蜀古道“金牛道”上和“米仓道”上的两个以“萧何追韩信至此”而得名的“韩溪”,论证“米仓道”上的“韩溪”得名于萧韩故事更接近史实。