Sami society during the late Iron Age and Early Medieval Period

In previous research the Eastern Sami settlement pattern with permanent winter settlements has been provided a model for interpreting the organisation of Sami society in the past. The so called Stállo settlements dated to the time around AD 1000 in the Scandinavian Alpine area have been very much debated. There are also proposals that they can fit in to the Eastern Sami model of social organisation. In earlier research some related these Stallo settlements to Norse Vikings. However the dominating view has been that they represent a type of Sami settlement. The discussion in recent decades have been whether these settlements are remains of camp sites of wild reindeer hunters or represent an early phase of reindeer herding and pastoralism with settlement, even during winter time. However all these interpretations have very weak support from archaeological investigation results? New palaeoecological and archaeological analysis combined with climatic data give no support to these earlier interpretations of land use in the period of Stállo settlements. However, a critical reconsideration of the settlement pattern of this period with the help of multidisciplinary approach can throw new light on Sami social organisation and interaction with other societies during the late Iron Age and Early Medieval Period.