Land distribution and power structures 1000 - 1800 AD.

The origins of the Sámi homelands

The aim of the project is to fill the knowledge gap by investigating how land and resources were distributed in older Sami communities in the Swedish part of Sábme. The project starts with the social changes that took place around 1000 AD and follows the development until the beginning of the 19th century.

Johan Gedda's map of the Umeå Lapland from 1671 shows a grid of the demarcated areas known as the Lapland tax land. The boundaries were drawn in straight lines and indicated the areas of land available to different families and households. The same form of land distribution also applied in other parts of the Sámi settlement area, Sábme. The oldest information on tax lands is found in sources from the 17th century and they have formed the basis of previous research. However, tax lands have not been studied from the opposite, prehistoric perspective.

Underpinning the study is the view of landscapes as arenas where social relations and economic strategies are played out. A landscape can be seen as the product of human action and as a mediator of a society's values. Social and economic structures have left traces in the landscape, as have religious beliefs and power structures. The project combines the sciences of archaeology and forest history to read the different kinds of traces left in the Sami cultural landscapes in earlier times. Archaeological remains, such as settlements, trapping and storage facilities, sacred sites and reindeer ramparts are added to forest history traces in the form of, among other things, age structure and fire history, bark pits and boundary markings, as a basis for analyzing settlement and utilization patterns, strategic resources and seasonal variation.

The Sami forms of land distribution are compared with the administrative structure introduced by the Swedish Crown and by the Church in the 16th century and which appears in 17th century sources, including Johan Gedda's map. What forms of resource and land distribution characterized Sami communities at the time of their encounter with the Swedish taxation system? Why and in what way had the Sami land distribution system developed? To what extent was the Swedish taxation system adapted to Sami conditions and vice versa? The research results add new knowledge about how Sami landscape use was organized in the period preceding the written sources and contribute to informed discussions on social, economic and ecological sustainability in Arctic environments. The project provides a sound basis for integrated cultural and nature conservation efforts in Arctic landscapes.

The project is funded by the Swedish Research Council and will be implemented during the period 2022 - 2024

Project leader:
Associate Professor Ingela Bergman, Archaeology, INSARC, the Silvermuseet in Arjeplog
Participating researchers:
Professor Lars Östlund, forest history, SLU in Umeå.
Dr. Markus Fjellström, Archaeology, INSARC, Stockholm University and Oulu University