| 1. |
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Arctic Anthropology
- 2015
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Proceedings (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- While researchers within Sámi archaeology have dealt with issues closely related to postcolonial theory and critique since the 1970s onwards, this has rarely been done with explicit mention or coherent use of this theoretical complex. This somewhat paradoxical situation was addressed in a session at the 14th conference of the Nordic Theoretical Archaeology Group at Stockholm University in April 2014, an initiative that eventually resulted in the present collection of articles. In this introduction we briefly present the historiographical and discursive background for the debates that are outlined in the following contributions.
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| 2. |
- Salmi, Anna-Kaisa, et al.
(författare)
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Animal offerings at the Sámi offering site of Unna Saiva : changing religious practices and human-animal relationships
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0278-4165 .- 1090-2686. ; 40, s. 10-22
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Unna Saiva is a Sámi offering site situated in Gällivare in Northern Sweden. The site was excavated in the early 20th century. It yielded a large number of finds, including objects of silver, pewter and other metals, coins, and animal bones. The metal objects and coins date mainly to the late 10th century and 11th century AD, whereas the animal bone finds date from the 6th to the 17th centuries AD. Zooarchaeological analysis, radiocarbon datings of animal bones and stable isotope analyses conducted in this study reveal new information about religious ritual, religious change, and human–animal relationships among the Sámi. We argue that there was a change in the offering tradition, intertwining with changes in the subsistence economy and especially reindeer domestication. Our results indicate that reindeer domestication, acknowledged to have had a major impact on social organization and economy, was also a major factor in the transformation of Sámi indigenous religion. However, the underlying nature of the offering tradition remained consistent although the focal species of economic and religious interest changed.
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| 3. |
- Salmi, Anna-Kaisa, et al.
(författare)
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Tradition and transformation in Sámi animal-offering practices
- 2018
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Ingår i: Antiquity. - : Antiquity Publications. - 0003-598X .- 1745-1744. ; 92:362, s. 472-489
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Archaeological evidence for ritual animal offerings is key to understanding the formation and evolution of indigenous Sámi identity in Northern Fennoscandia from the Iron Age to the seventeenth century AD. An examination of such evidence can illuminate how major changes, such as the shift from hunting to reindeer pastoralism, colonialism by emerging state powers and Christianisation, were mediated by the Sámi at the local level. To explore the chronology of, and local variations in, Sámi animal-offering tradition, we provide a synthesis of archaeozoological data and radiocarbon dates from 17 offering sites across Norway, Sweden and Finland. Analysis reveals new patterns in the history of Sámi religious ritual and the expression of Sámi identity.
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| 4. |
- Salmi, Anna-Kaisa, et al.
(författare)
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Zooarchaeological and stable isotope evidence of Sámi reindeer offerings
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Archaeological Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-409X .- 2352-4103. ; 29
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents new osteometric and stable isotope evidence of Sami reindeer offerings. Previous archaeological studies have shown that reindeer domestication and intensification of reindeer herding transformed Sami indigenous religion. However, because of the methodological challenges in the identification of wild and domesticated reindeer in the archaeological record, the exact nature of the relationship between people and offered reindeer has remained elusive. To address this problem, we analyze zooarchaeological and stable isotope data from thirteen Sami offering sites situated in Finland and Sweden and dating to c. 1200-1700 CE. We employ zooarchaeological analysis of age, sex and size and explore the possibilities of these analyses to identify domestication and other characteristics of reindeer selected for offering. Analyses of stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur are utilized to identify human influence on reindeer feeding patterns and mobility. Our results show that many kinds of reindeer with different engagements with people were offered. The results confirm that people had different motives for giving offerings and that a simple dichotomy of wild/domesticated does not adequately reflect the range of relationships the Sami had with reindeer.
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| 5. |
- Spangen, Marte, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Sámi Archaeology and Postcolonial Theory - An Introduction
- 2015
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Ingår i: Arctic Anthropology. - : University of Wisconsin Press. - 0066-6939 .- 1933-8139. ; 52:2, s. 1-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- While researchers within Sámi archaeology have dealt with issues closely related to postcolonial theory and critique since the 1970s onwards, this has rarely been done with explicit mention or coherent use of this theoretical complex. This somewhat paradoxical situation was addressed in a session at the 14th conference of the Nordic Theoretical Archaeology Group at Stockholm University in April 2014, an initiative that eventually resulted in the present collection of articles. In this introduction we briefly present the historiographical and discursive background for the debates that are outlined in the following contributions.
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| 6. |
- Äikäs, Tiina, et al.
(författare)
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New Users and Changing Traditions—(Re)Defining Sami Offering Sites
- 2016
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Ingår i: European Journal of Archaeology. - 1461-9571 .- 1741-2722. ; 19:1, s. 95-121
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sami are indigenous people of Northern Fennoscandia. Some Sami offering sites have been used for over a thousand years. During this time, the offering traditions have changed and various people have started using the places based on different motivations. Present day archaeological finds give evidence of both continuing traditions and new meanings attached to these sites, as well as to sites that were probably not originally used for rituals in the Sami ethnic religion. In some cases, the authenticity of the place seems to lie in the stories and current beliefs more than in a historical continuity or any specifically sacred aspects of the topography or nature it is situated in. Today's new users include, for example, local (Sami) people, tourists, and neo-pagans. This paper discusses what informs these users, what identifies certain locations as offering sites, and what current users believe their relationship to these places should be. What roles do scholarly traditions, heritage tourism, and internal culture have in (re)defining Sami offering sites and similarly what roles do ‘appropriate’ rituals have in ascribing meaning to particular places? How do we mediate wishes for multivocality with our professional opinions when it comes to defining sacredness?
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