ABSTRACT
Scandinavian/Germanic settlements during the Iron Age in Northern Sweden may very well have long existed as enclaves in a Saami settlement matrix that had its roots in the deep prehistoric past. This chapter shows the importance of Saami ritual behaviour and the question of the impact of Christianity also arises. The evidence of Saami seal hunting parallels the seasonal reindeer hunting/pastoralism patterns in the Swedish mountains. Seen on a broader scale, Lapp place-name distributions in Sweden strongly coincide with the North Bothnian coastal zone and extend as far south as the Mlar valley region. The primary focus of archaeological investigations in Saami project has been on hut complexes in coastal Norrbotten, coastal Vsterbotten, particularly in the parish of Lvnger in Skellefte Municipality, and most recently in coastal Hlsingland. Saami sacred sites were often landforms such as mountains, lakes, islands, points and peninsulas, caves, crevices, cliffs, ridges, ledges, water divides, rapids, waterfalls, springs and streams.
