Engraved Trees Map the Way to Preserving Sámi Culture
taylorvich writes:
https://phys.org/news/2024-11-engraved-trees-smi-culture.html
Archaeologists analyzed trees engraved by the Indigenous Sami of Arctic Europe, revealing the significance of these rare remnants of Sami culture and the importance of preserving them from ongoing deforestation.
The Sami are the Indigenous people of Sapmi, a region in northern Europe that encompasses northern Fennoscandia and north-west Russia.
They followed an animistic religion, but a concentrated effort by the Scandinavian Church in the 17th century AD led to the destruction of religious artifacts and a decline in the Sami oral tradition, meaning their culture and history is under threat.
However, one important aspect of the Sami culture managed to survive this repression. Some trees throughout Sapmi were incised with markings holding social and religious significance.
"Unlike most other sacred objects, standing trees are not easy to collect and they have generally eluded the ambitions of the Church to erase the traces of the Indigenous religion," states co-author of the research, Dr. Ingela Bergman from INSARC/Silvermuseet.
...
They identified hundreds of Scots pine trees in the northern boreal forests of Fennoscandia, predominantly in national parks, engraved with X-marks and geometric patterns.According to the ethnographic research, trees were seen by the Sami as mediators between people and deities. They also had pragmatic uses, acting as boundary markers and navigational aids in the harsh, seasonal landscape of the northern boreal forests.
Journal Reference: Ingela Bergman et al, X-marked trees: carriers of Indigenous Sami traditions, Antiquity (2024). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2024.184
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