Towards a self‐reflecting archaeology: Vágar,Vågan and Reidar

Sámi sacrificial sites that have been investigated in Lapland, northern Sweden, all show an increase in deposited metal objects, for example arrowheads, coins and pendants, in late Iron Age and early Medieval times (ca. 700 ‐ 1400 A.D.). The origins of these artefacts suggest there was an active gift exchange taking place between the Sámi hunters and Finno‐Ugrian settlers to the east, in the context of the fur trade. The presence of wealth objects in sacrificial sites is interpreted as a form of “potlatch”, i.e. the result of decisions by local groups (sijdda) to preserve social stability by removing from the society the possibility for an accumulation of wealth and prestige. This interpretation is consistent with the archaeological evidence of settlement patterns, seasonal mobility and a lack of social hierarchy in the interior of northern Sweden. Rituals at sacrificial sites thus helped to maintain a Sámi hunting society that was based on religious principles of animal ceremonialism, social principles of general reciprocity, and an economy centred on cooperative activities, despite the potential of the fur trade to disrupt this society, for example by enhancing the prestige of successful individuals. In this way the egalitarian character of the Sámi sijdda was maintained right up until the transition to reindeer pastoralism in the 16th‐nth centuries.     

Fra samisk ≪overhøyhet≫ til norsk i Tromsen len på 14/1500‐tallet

Det er ei kjent sak at samene i Nord‐Norge i ny ere tid har vært diskriminert og utsatt for assimilering, språklig og kulturelt. Det har også vært vanlig å tilbakeføre denne tilstand til meget eldre tider, som vikingtid og middelalder.

I denne artikkel forsøker forfatteren på basis av lokalt kildemateriale fra ca. 1600 å vise at sjøsamene i Nord‐Troms i sein‐middelalderen kanskje stod i ei meget friere stilling i forhold til sine norske naboer, enn vi vanligvis har tenkt oss.     

Comments on Gro B. Jerpåsen: ‘Application of Visual Archaeological Analysis: Some Results’

Owing to their large number, gold bracteates should be well suited to form the framework of a style chronology for the Migration Period which is not based on typological development. Where copies from the same die appear in different finds they indicate contemporaneity. The relative time of production of the associated objects in the finds may be judged from the wear on the loops and rims of the bracteates. On the basis of this a sort of stratigraphy may be established in relation to which other objects such as relief brooches may also be placed.

The development of style should then be investigated through an analysis of the motives down to the smallest detail as well as an evaluation of their stylistic content. In both cases precise definitions should be applied. In the process of this work one may distinguish different workshops on the basis of consistent similarities, such as mirror image dies or specific rare details.     

Masculinities and diet: An analysis of skeletal material from the dominican priory in Medieval Västerås,Sweden

Diet and consumption patterns are closely associated with social constructions, and can be used to express identity. In medieval Northern Europe, the consumption of meat seems to have been linked to strength and virility, which are important to the creation of elite lay masculinity. At the same time, religious masculinity required fasting due to the Christian Church’s prescribed abstinence from the meat of four-footed animals during fasting periods. Medieval masculinities expressed by diet will be discussed here in the light of the results of an analysis of stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur in samples gathered from 16 males and six females buried by the Dominican priory in Västerås, Sweden. The results indicate that a diet rich in freshwater fish was generally followed, with no significant differences depending on age, gender, socioeconomic or religious status.     

Catharina Raudvere,Anders Andrén and Kristina Jennbert: Myter om det nordiska. Mellan romantik och politik . Vägar till Midgård I. Nordic Academic Press,Lund, 2001. 191 pp. ISSN 1650-5905, ISBN 91-89116-19-4

A method of grouping early post‐glacial settlements is described. This is based upon Quaternary geological, archaeological and statistical methods. Hakes were measured from settlements dated ‐with a high degree of certainty through the agency of the natural sciences, and the results obtained were treated statistically.