Ironworking in a hunting environment
REXSAC - Resource extraction and sustainable Arctic communities
In 2009, archaeologists at the Museum of Norrbotten made unique findings of iron working in upper Norrland. These suggest that steel was produced and further processed already 2200 years ago in a society with hunting and fishing as economic base. The finds also indicate technical contacts eastward, without direct links to the south. This goes against a tenacious belief among scientists and others that hunter-gatherers in the North for long was passive recipients of iron and thus no active partners in iron working. The region's active phase in iron working history has typically been considered to have started first in the early modern period, fuelled by influences from the south. This view has for long affected archaeological and historical research which thus has treated early iron working in northern Scandinavia a subordinate research topic. The main purpose of this project, where archaeologists and historians of technology work together, is therefore to contribute to a reassessment of the dispersal of iron working in northern Europe by generating more knowledge and publish research which can question and challenge the traditional perceptions. We will gain knowledge by analyzing archaeological materials found during archaeological surveys and excavations in the region since the early 1900s, but which so far have been almost completely neglected in archaeological research. We will also carry out further archaeological excavations near the village of Vivungi, 80 km east of Kiruna.
Research funder: Vetenskapsrådet
Contact
Kristina Söderholm
Updated: