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Stones in the snow: a Norse fur traders' road into Sami country

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Ingela Bergman ,
Lars Östlund ,
Olle Zackrisson  and
Lars Liedgren
Ingela Bergman
Affiliation:
The Silvermuseum of Arjeplog, S-930 90 Arjeplog, Sweden (Email: ingela.bergman@arjeplog.se)
Lars Östlund
Affiliation:
Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-90183 Umeå, Sweden
Olle Zackrisson
Affiliation:
Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-90183 Umeå, Sweden
Lars Liedgren
Affiliation:
The Silvermuseum of Arjeplog, S-930 90 Arjeplog, Sweden (Email: ingela.bergman@arjeplog.se)
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Extract

High in the mountains between Norway and Sweden, archaeological survey has brought to light a trail marked by standing stones at regular intervals and tall enough to show above the winter snows. In the absence of any cultural material, the erection of the stones was dated by the diameter of the lichen spreads upon them, and corroborated by a study of the documents and radiocarbon dates. The authors argue that this was not an indigenous trail but one constructed by a Norse chieftain probably around the ninth century AD to gain safe access to the fur-trading Sami.

Keywords

Late Iron AgeEarly Middle AgesVikingNorwayfur tradeNorseroadsSamitrails
Type
Method
Information
Antiquity , Volume 81 , Issue 312 , 1 June 2007 , pp. 397 - 408
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2007

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