The origin of Sámi taxation lands: Land allocation, cultural resilience and external powers 1000-1800 AD.

The project aims to gain new knowledge about the origin and early development of the designated resource areas known as the Sámi taxation lands (sw. lappskatteland), used by the Sámi of northern Sweden.

Previous analyses have applied a historical approach with a de facto established administrative institute as the point of departure, thereby leaving out the prehistoric prologue.

In this project, covering the period AD 1000 – 1700, the approach is the reverse, starting with the prologue and ending with the situation known from historical records.

The intention is to decipher past Sámi land use strategies prior to encounters with the administrative system of the Swedish Crown and the Church and to examine the extent to which the external administrative structures conformed to Sámi land use strategies and vice versa.

The project applies an interdisciplinary approach based on archaeology in combination with historical and forest historical studies and research includes field investigations, 14C- and dendrochronological datings as well as osteological - and stable isotope analyses.

The landscape-oriented research design provides new insights into the relationship between land use, anthropogenic impact and resource sustainability from a long-term perspective. Results will contribute to the development of conservation methods in arctic cultural landscapes.