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- Bennerhag, Carina, 1972-
(författare)
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Steel Making Hunter-Gatherers in Ancient Arctic Europe
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Based on findings made by Norrbotten County Museum around 2010 in the vicinity of Sangis in Arctic Sweden of advanced iron and steel production in a hunter-gatherer setting dated to the pre-Roman Iron Age (c. 200-50 BC), the aim of the present thesis is twofold. First, with a focus on know-how/established process stages, it investigates the possible wider geographical distribution of such production in the Arctic European area. The analysis is based on archaeometallurgical methods applied to materials from previously conducted and new surveys/excavations. Second, the aim is also to analyze the probable social/organizational conditions for the adaptation of iron and steel production among the ancient Arctic hunter-gatherer groups. The results are of breakthrough character, revealing an extensive spatial distribution of advanced iron and steel production at more than 40 sites in present-day northernmost Finland, Sweden, and Norway more than 2000 years ago (i.e., contemporary, and even partly prior to the Romans). The geographical spread of advanced and early iron technology which emerges through the results fundamentally challenges traditional perceptions of the emergence of ferrous metallurgy, especially when societies traditionally considered as less complex/highly mobile are addressed. Hence, iron- and steel production necessitated long-term organization/balancing with other subsistence activities in the collected rhythm of activities in the strongly seasonally influenced (climate-wise) landscape of the ancient Arctic hunter-gatherer communities. In addition to advanced knowledge, the new metal-related activities required significant supplies of raw materials (including their extraction, transportation, preparation, and storage) and thus (related) manpower. Overall, the results imply we ought to significantly broaden the perspectives of the ancient Arctic hunter-gatherer communities in terms of specialization and complex organization far beyond the traditional interpretative paradigm labeling prehistoric iron technology in the European Arctic as small-scale, dependent on imports, and underdeveloped or archaic. Also, because some parts of the process, like the necessary production of charcoal, required multi-year planning, the adaptation and investment of iron technology in the rhythm of activities in the landscape logistically bound the communities to specific locations in the landscape, thus implying reduced residential mobility, i.e., a higher degree of sedentism than previously recognized for these groups. The research process forming the basis of this thesis (conducted by a small group of archaeologists, archaeometallurgists, and historians of technology) was strongly characterized by the fact the results are completely at odds with both the larger international and Arctic European literature, implying both weak support for the interpretation of our results and perceived need for pin-pointing hidden assumptions in earlier research in order to “make room” for our results. In addition, the process was characterized by the fact that it took place in (and the ancient findings were made within) a region strongly marked by ethnopolitical forces and groups striving for identity building, where history (and particularly ancient findings) often gets to play a central role.
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- Söderholm, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Large infrastructural systems in the extreme north : learning from the build-up of water- and wastewater systems and railway electrification in northern Sweden at the turn of the 19th century
- 2009
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Infrastructural systems delivering gas, water and electricity, facilitating transports and communications as well as the gathering and treatment of sewage, have been critical in the development of modern society during the 19th and 20th centuries. They have largely contributed to economic and social welfare, but have also caused considerable environmental impacts over time. Contemporary strategies towards a more sustainable society therefore often include changes in existing infrastructural systems as well as conscious choices when it comes to the investment in new infrastructural systems. The present paper builds on the assertion that expanded knowledge on how, why and with what consequences the infrastructural systems were built up in the past, can provide us with novel perspectives on how to govern the challenges of today.In this paper we study the building-up of two infrastructural systems in the northernmost part of Sweden at the turn of the 19th century, where the harsh climate added an extra dimension to the technological challenges. The systems are: (a) the water- and wastewater system of the town of Luleå, then, the northernmost water- and wastewater system in Sweden and probably in the world; and (b) the electrification of Riksgränsbanan Railway (the Frontier Railway), the northernmost railway line in Sweden and the first major section of a state-owned railway to be electrified. The investments made by the municipality of Luleå and the Swedish State Railways (in close cooperation with a number of private companies), were both bold and radical in that relevant technologies still were in a ‘development stage'. Moreover, the harsh and cold climate due to the geographical location added an extra dimension to the technological challenges. The municipality in particular, but also the Swedish State Railways and connected private companies, lacked the necessary in-house expertise. The technological challenges were however dealt with in considerable different ways by the local and the national organization, respectively. Water- and wastewater systems had never before been constructed in the extreme north. Furthermore, considerable achievements within the bacteriology and hydrology fields did contribute to a continued significant development of the water/wastewater technology still at the turn of the 19th century. The municipality needed to rely on external expertise and its ability to get hold of new scientific knowledge and apply this in the system design. What concerns the electrification of the Riksgränsbanan Railway, it was in many ways a trailblazing project where whole new technologies had to be developed and launched on a rather troublesome railway in close cooperation between the Swedish State Railways and a number of private, mainly Swedish companies. Just as radical as the investments in the infrastructural systems were for the municipality of Luleå and the Swedish State Railways at the turn of the 19th century, modern literature claims the necessary changes of our established infrastructures to be if we want them to become sustainable. The historical lessons of the meanings of the radical changes in the former shift of technology models will give new perspectives on how to govern contemporary changes.
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- Wiklund, Roine
(författare)
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Adelsdamen som blev potatispionjär
- 2011
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Ingår i: Populär historia. - 1102-0822. ; 2011:11, s. 48-51
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)
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