Archaeological and lexical perspectives on South Saami indigenous religion

Abstract

<p>In the article, a multidisciplinary method for studying past religions is introduced and applied to indigenous<br />South Saami religion. The etymologies of the religious lexicon and the archaeological sacred<br />remains of the South Saami area are systematically examined and the results of the two disciplines<br />are correlated according to the theoretical model for the correlation of archaeological and lexical<br />data. Special attention is paid to studying how archaeological material reflects the phenomena seen in<br />the vocabulary. The lexical and archaeological data are collected from various dictionaries, historical<br />descriptions, etymological and archaeological research, and archaeological fieldwork reports.<br />Correlations between archaeological and lexical data are seen in the offering tradition, burial<br />traditions, and matters relating to death. The bear cult is highly visible in both materials, but the age<br />of the bear cult seems suspiciously young in the archaeological and lexical material. Sometimes, as<br />in connection with the shaman institution, lexical and archaeological materials do not reveal much<br />about the origin or dating of religious phenomena. Non-material concepts such as deity names are<br />not visible in archaeological data. A very tentative correlation is drawn between the faunal osteological<br />material at offering sites or scree graves and the saajve animal tradition. Such a correlation will,<br />however, need more research to be verified.<br /></p>