The Inland Sámi Societies of Northern Fennoscandia during the Late Iron Age and Early Medieval Period: An Archaeological Approach

This article explores the archaeological features of the inland Sámi societies of northern Fennoscandia in the Late Iron Age and early medieval period (ca. 700‒1300 CE). The traces of Late Iron Age and the early medieval dwelling sites of inland northern Fennoscandia are primarily rectangular hearths. The distribution area of the rectangular hearths is wide, from southern Norway and central Sweden to north-eastern Finland and Norway. A dwelling site most often comprises a row of hearths. The change in location of the dwelling sites occurred in approximately 700 CE, when sites began to be located near bogs, small lakes, and small rivers, in a completely different environment than earlier. The rectangular hearths are generally located in pine forests or birch forests. The bone material connected to the rectangular hearths primarily indicates wild reindeer hunting or reindeer herding. Good contact networks and long-distance travel could maintain the similarities of the societies in different sections of the area

Inari Nukkumajoki 5, the Excavated History of a Sámi Winter Village

The excavation at Inari Nukkumajoki 5 was carried out in 2007 as part of the fieldwork of the project Home, Hearth and Household in the Circumpolar North (HHH). The main results of the excavation supported the earlier results of fieldwork at Nukkumajoki 2 in 1978–1985. The settlement is dated to the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century. The main exploited animal at the site was reindeer that had been hunted but also domesticated on a minor scale. This study introduces an alternative interpretation to the discussion on the motivation of locations and the character of the sites at Nukkumajoki

Sven-Donald Hedman, Archaeologist and Friend

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Excavations at the Juoksemajärvi Westend Stone Age dwelling site in 2002

The first dwelling depression in the Karelian Isthmus was excavated in June 2002 jointly by Finnish and Russian researchers at the Juoksemajärvi Westend (Bol'šoe Zavetnoe 4) Stone Age dwelling site, in Räisälä municipality. There are altogether eight certain and two possible dwelling depressions known at the site; however, part of the site has been destroyed by a sandpit and thus originally there might have been even more depressions at the site. Excavations showed that the site had been used in various periods during the prehistory. The earliest occupation dates back to the Mesolithic Stone Age, which is attested by the find material and one radiocarbon date. The studied dwelling depression might date to the Early Combed Ware period but also Late Neolithic dating is possible based on finds and radiocarbon dates. Other parts of the site have also been inhabited during the Typical Combed Ware period . The nature of the site points to a relative residential sedentarity in all settlement phases and the site has been possibly used year-round