BURIAL PRACTICES IN NORTHERN SWEDEN, NORTHERN FINLAND AND THE WHITE SEA COAST BETWEEN THE 9TH AND 16TH CENTURIES AD
ADAPTATION OF PRACTICES IN A DECENTRALISED NETWORK
Nyckelord:
Burials, Late Iron Age, Middle Ages, Northern Fennoscandia, adaptation, decentralised networkAbstract
This paper presents an overview of known burials and burial practises in the region comprising of present-day northern Finland, Sweden, the Murmansk oblast and the White Sea coast in Northwest Russia during the study period, the Late Iron Age and Middle Ages (ca. 800–1600 AD). Burial sites offer a unique perspective on examining social structures and social change, as they are focused on the present of the community while still being rooted in tradition. We discuss how these burials represent the multicultural environment and the fluidity of adaptation of cultural features in the north, as well as the distinct similarities between the communities. We will also examine how the decentralised network, that the northern Fennoscandian communities formed, caused and maintained this multicultural environment during the Late Iron Age and the Middle Ages.
