Book chapter: A clockwork porridge: an archaeological analysis of everyday life in the early mining communities of Swedish Lapland in the seventeenth century

Book chapter: A clockwork porridge: an archaeological analysis of everyday life in the early mining communities of Swedish Lapland in the seventeenth century

The rise of mining enterprises in the northern part of Swedish Lapland during the seventeenth century has been viewed as an iconic example of Swedish colonial affairs in early modern Lapland. The efforts and aims of the Swedish state—not to mention the ways in which measures were executed—did indeed echo colonial ideology and apparently also partly influenced the development of a colonial atmosphere and a dichotomist view of the local, namely Sámi, population in the north. However, the northern Sámi population played a significant role in the emergence, development, and success of the early mining affairs of the north, even though relations between the Sámi and the mining companies have been considered problematic or even hostile.

In this chapter, the author aims to shed some light on the everyday life of the early mining communities, with special reference to the role of the Sámi population and the development of social relations between the people and groups involved in the early mining communities. The approach is based on an analysis of the archaeological material excavated at the first two state-founded mining communities of Silbojokk and Kvikkjokk in present-day western Norrbotten, Sweden. The excavated data from both sites comprises an extensive and versatile collection of artefacts used in everyday life and daly mining and refining works.

For this discussion, the author has chosen to concentrate on three different artefact groups in more detail: items related to food culture, items bearing ethnic markers, and items connected with industrialization. Through these case studies, they hope to be able to highlight the development of social relations between people in the context of everyday life in the mining community and to provide a more individual view than that offered by general narratives.

 

Nurmi, R. (2019). A clockwork porridge: an archaeological analysis of everyday life in the early mining communities of Swedish Lapland in the seventeenth century. In The sound of silence: Indigenous perspectives on the historical archaeology of colonialism. Äikäs, T. and Salmi, A. (eds.). Berghahn Books, New York. DOI: 10.2307/j.ctv1850hr9.8

ISBN: 978-1-78920-329-5

Photo: Barbara Willen / Pixabay

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