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Conclusion: Resource Management and Landscape Use in a Long-Term Perspective

Archaeological Perspectives on Hunter-Gatherer Landscapes and Resource Management in Interior North Norway - Marianne Skandfer

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Returns to the questions that were broached in the introduction, issues that the LARM project (Landscape and Resource Management – see Chapter 1, this volume) took as its point of departure: (1) When during the early postglacial period was the interior colonized by Early Stone Age (ESA/Mesolithic) peoples and to what extent was it used during the early-mid Holocene? (2) How was inland settlement organized during the Late Stone Age (LSA) and Early Metal Age (EMA) (ca. 5000–1 BC), and were there separate inland versus coastal territorial groups? (3) Was there local iron production in the EMA? (4) When was Sámi ethnic/social identity established, and why? (5) Is the ‘Void’ period of the first millennium AD a culture-historical reality or a consequence of shortcomings in archaeological survey methods and priorities? (6) When did the transition from reindeer hunting to herding occur? (7) How relevant is Sámi history and ethnography as a source for analogies in interpretations of northern Fennoscandian prehistory? We can provide better-informed answers to some of these questions, but not all. Regarding the local production of iron during the EMA we have not moved the question any further. With respect to the establishment of Sámi identity, this question is complex and requires a supraregional perspective, because identity formation was part of a broad-scale networking process. Thus, we will not take this issue further here. The remaining questions, however, can be more usefully addressed by the data that have been assembled. These questions are formulated in chronological order, so we can address them sequentially.

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