Northern Archaeology and Cosmology

In its analysis of the archaeologies and histories of the northern fringe of Europe, this book provides a focus on animistic-shamanistic cosmologies and the associated human-environment relations from the Neolithic to modern times. The North has fascinated Europeans throughout history, as an enchanted world of natural and supernatural marvels: a land of light and dark, of northern lights and the midnight sun, of witches and magic and of riches ranging from amber to oil. Northern lands conflate fantasies and realities. Rich archaeological, historical, ethnographic and folkloric materials combine in this book with cutting-edge theoretical perspectives drawn from relational ontologies and epistemologies, producing a fresh approach to the prehistory and history of a region that is pivotal to understanding Europe-wide processes, such as Neolithization and modernization. This book examines the mythical and actual northern worlds, with northern relational modes of perceiving and engaging with the world on the one hand and the 'place' of the North in European culture on the other. This book is an indispensable read for scholars of archaeology, anthropology, cultural studies and folklore in northern Europe, as well as researchers interested in how the North is intertwined with developments in the broader European and Eurasian world. It provides a deep-time understanding of globally topical issues and conflicting interests, as expressed by debates and controversies around Arctic resources, nature preservation and indigenous rights.

Vesa-Pekka Herva is a professor of archaeology at the University of Oulu, Finland. He has studied various aspects of material culture, human-environment relations, cosmology and heritage in north-eastern Europe from the Neolithic to modern times. Antti Lahelma is a senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Helsinki, Finland. His core expertise lies in the study of prehistoric identity, cultural production and worldview, particularly in the northern circumpolar area.

Chapter 1: Introduction: Northern Exposure The North and the world Relationality, spirituality and the richness of reality Spirituality and magic in the northern world Knowing the world Relationality and the northern world Time, temporality and the longue durée Defining the North A brief outline of the Fennoscandian past The structure of the book PART I: LAND Chapter 2: Stone-worlds A race to the Arctic The world inside the rock Crystal cavities and other marvels of the Underworld Cavities and recent folklore in the North Early modern northern mining as dreamwork Disciplining and ordering of the North Mining and magic Dreams of Lapland's gold The enduring allure of minerals and the Underworld Chapter 3: Houses, Land and Soil Dwellings, people and the cosmos in the North The introduction of the house Pottery, semi-subterranean houses and cultural transformation Early pottery, cultivation and place making Houses and the changing relationship with the underworld Clay work as a means of restructuring human-environment relations Living in an inspirited world The inspirited house Chapter 4: Forests and Hunting The forest in northern landscapes and mindscapes Engaging with trees Humans and animals in the north Seducing the prey Elk-headed staffs - symbols of Stone Age clans? Sceptres of the shaman? The Bear - the 'Golden King of the Forest' PART II: SEA Chapter 5: Coastal landscapes and the sea Living with the sea The two mediterraneans Engaging with changing coastal environments The temporality of Baltic coastal landscapes Cairns in northern coastal landscapes Otherworldly islands Coastal mazes in the North Chapter 6: Boats and waterways The mystery object from a Lapland bog Water and the Otherworld in a northern context Travelling as a spirit fish Blue elks and flying boats Solar boats in razors and rock art Boats for the dead Chapter 7: River mouths and central places The real and mythical rivers River mouths as liminal spaces and central places Mythical kingdoms in later prehistory The 'trader kingdom' of the birkarls Market places PART III: SKY Chapter 8: Birds and cosmology Migratory birds and changing seasons Birds as persons Birds as guides and soul-birds Cranes and dwarfs Devil's swans Solar swans? Chapter 9: The sun, light and fire People of the Sun Amber and Apollo Worshipping the northern sun The marriage of fire and earth Fire and the hearth in northern cultures Fire and transformation Strange lights in the Northern Sky Chapter 10: Epilogue A world full of life The North and the South