Archaeological and lexical perspectives on South Saami indigenous religion

• Main Author: Minerva Piha
• Other Authors: suomen kieli ja suomalais-ugrilainen kielentutkimus, Department of Finnish and Finno-Ugric Languages, 2602110
• Language: English
• Published: Suomen arkeologinen seura 2022
• Subjects: saami
• Online Access: https://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/155850; http://www.sarks.fi/masf/masf_8/masf_8.html

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