The Search for a Past. The Prehistory of the Indigenous Sami in Northern Coastal Sweden.

Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This project proposes interdisciplinary research on the origins of the Sami people, their culture, language and prehistory. The research explores the question of whether Sami people, currently perceived as a comparatively recent migration of nomadic people, have a long-term presence and cultural development in Scandinavia. The team of American, Swedish and Sami researchers will use archaeology, historical research, linguistics and place name analyses to provide insight into the social, economic and possibly cultural identity development of the Sami in this region.