29

Fennoscandia archaeologica XXIV (2007)

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT THE SÁMI SACRIFICIAL SITEOF UKONSAARI IN LAKE INARI

Jari Okkonen

ABSTRACTThe island of Ukonsaari in Lake Inari is one of the most prominent ritual sites in northern Laplandand therefore it is in many ways important research subject in Sámi archaeology. The Laboratoryof Archaeology and Giellagas Institute at the University of Oulu in cooperation with the FinnishForest and Park Service and Sámi Museum Siida conducted fieldwork at the Ukonsaari site insummer 2006. The main objective was to carry out an intensive survey of the island but also tocollect various samples in order to gather chronological information from the site and define theprecise locations of the earlier research. The main focus of the fieldwork was on archaeologicalheritage management and in improvement of the site preservation, but the survey also yieldednew information related to reconstruction of the past ritual use of the site. The evidence ob-tained from the fieldwork, two artefacts and six 14C-datings from the animal bones, indicatesthat the ritual use of the site occurred from the 14th to the early 17th century although the silverornament discovered by Arthur Evans in 1873 points to somewhat earlier activity in Ukonsaari.

Keywords: Ritual landscape, Sieidi worship, paleo-DNA, Sámi, Finland

Jari Okkonen, Department of Art Studies and Anthropology, P.O.Box 1000, FIN-90014 University ofOulu, Finland, jari.okkonen@oulu.fi

INTRODUCTION

The island of Ukonsaari (Äijihsuálui) in theUkonselkä basin of Lake Inari is one of the mostfamous sacrificial sites in Finnish Lapland andthus a crucial object of archaeological researchwith regard to the Sámi culture. The island isabout 1.5 ha in area, with steep slopes, and is lo-cated just over 11 kilometres ENE of the villageof Inari (Fig. 1). It stands out quite distinctly fromthe other islands in the Ukonselkä basin and domi-nates the landscape by virtue of its rock faces,boulder fields and generally sparse tree cover (Fig.2).

The Archaeology Laboratory and Giellagas In-stitute at the University of Oulu, in cooperationwith the Finnish Forest and Park Service and theSámi Museum Siida, conducted fieldwork at thesite in summer 2006, with the aim of mapping it,identifying the locations of earlier investigations

on the island and taking samples for dating. Oneimportant further aspect to emerge was the analy-sis of bone samples associated with the past ritualuse of the site. The basic aim was to generate rel-evant new information for the use of those re-sponsible for the management and preservationof Ukonsaari.

EARLIER RESEARCH

The history of research focused on the island ofUkonsaari in Lake Inari is interesting in manyways, as the site has figured in the lives of numer-ous celebrated scholars. Jacob Fellman, a priestand early explorer of Lapland, wrote in his mem-oirs of his dramatic feelings on visiting a dark‘sacrificial cave’ on the island in 1825 and 1826,although it should be noted at once that there areno actual caves extending into the rock on

fa07.p65 11.12.2007, 19:143

30

Ukonsaari and that the early mentions of cavesmust refer to clefts of varying depths in the bed-rock. Fellman reported that there had been a largeheap of reindeer antlers at the mouth of the cave,some of which had decomposed, but others werestill fairly well preserved, from which he con-cluded that the sacrifices must have continuedinto Christian times, beyond the end of the 17th

century (Fellman 1906: 215, 411; T.I. Itkonen1962: 134–5).

The young Arthur Evans gave in to the temp-tation to visit Ukonsaari in September 1873, andhis short stay and spontaneous excavation ses-sion left him with a few written observations, adrawing and a find of a silver head ornament totake back with him to England. This example oflate Iron Age filigree work (Fig. 3) was stylisti-cally of eastern origin and proved to have origi-nated from the region of the Kama and Vychegdarivers in eastern Russia and to date from the latterhalf of the 13th century. It ended up in theAshmolean Museum in Oxford, from where it isat present on loan to the Sámi Museum Siida inInari (Carpelan 2003: 67, 89). Evans recountedthat he had spent only one day on the island andhad excavated a ‘votive cave’ close to the high-est point on the island. The future discoverer ofKnossos also referred to this structure as a ‘grotto’and a ‘rock shelter’, the latter being perhaps abetter description of the cleft in which the major-

ity of finds indicative of ancient rites would ap-pear to have been concentrated. Evans wrote thatthere was ‘a half-circle of reindeer horns’ outsidethe mouth of the cave, conforming to the descrip-tion of sieidi worship given by JohannesSchefferus in his Lapponia of 1673, and also thatthe floor of the cave was full of bones, some ofwhich were charred (Bradley 2000: 3–5). Theyoung Evans’ verbal description of Ukonsaariowes much to Schefferus’ drawing of a Sámi sac-rificial site in the above-mentioned work(Schefferus 1979 [1673]: 109), while he also ap-pears to have marked the site on his own sketchof the island – at a point about halfway up itsslope (Bradley 2000: 4). Evans mentioned later,in a letter to C.A. Nordman of the Finnish Anti-quarian Society in 1914, that there was a thicklayer of soot on the roof of the cave and that therewere some human bones among those scatteredon the floor (Nordman 1922: 1–2). These obser-vations, like his identifications of bear, wolf andwolverine bones, are not consistent with modernevidence, and thus at least some of his statementsshould be treated with caution.

The next scholars to concern themselves withUkonsaari were the Itkonen brothers, who carriedout archaeological and ethnological fieldwork inInari in 1910–12 (T.I. Itkonen 1962: 127–38).Their informants were similarly two brothers, bythe name of Valle, whom they asked to show them

Fig. 1. Location of the Sámi sacrifi-cial site of Ukonsaari in Inari, Finn-ish Lapland.

fa07.p65 11.12.2007, 19:144

31

the sacrificial site described by Fellman – but tono avail. They were, however, shown a cleft in thebedrock in an area on the west side of the islandmidway between the shore and the highest pointwhere there were still some reindeer antlers,charred wood and partly burned pieces of birchbark to be seen. T.I. Itkonen believed that this wasprobably the same place that Evans had exca-vated. The heap of antlers had disappeared, butthe Valle brothers were able to tell them of metalobjects that had been found there (T.I. Itkonen1962: 135–6). Another interesting piece of infor-mation was recorded by Ilmari Itkonen, thatEvans’ collecting activities had not been con-fined to Ukonsaari but that legend had it that ‘theEnglishmen’ had taken away ‘all sorts of stoneobjects’ from a house in the nearby area (I. Itkonen1910: 6).

In 1953 a small expedition that included Pro-fessors Erkki Itkonen, Jouko Hautala and MattiHako made a survey of Ukonsaari and, with theaid of a guide, visited a corridor-like crack in therock that was located due west of the mid-pointof the island. The article published by T.I. Itkonenon the observations made by this group identi-fies the site as that first described by Fellman.Although there were no longer any antlers or otherobjects connected with ritual activities to be seenthere, the writer was inclined to believe that thiscorridor-like crack in the rock had been the origi-nal sacrificial site that the Valle brothers had re-fused to take the Itkonens to at the time of the1910–12 fieldwork (T.I. Itkonen 1962: 136–7).All the same, no archaeological evidence to sup-port this claim has been uncovered at the site insubsequent investigations.

Small-scale excavations were carried out in acleft in the bedrock in the south-western part ofUkonsaari for three days in August 1968 underthe direction of Anja Sarvas, yielding a largenumber of partly fragmentary animal bones, ant-lers and teeth. Some of these were dug out frombetween stones and others from the rock shelteritself or from in front of it. The results suggestedthat this was the same place where Evans hadfound the silver ornament and which T.I. Itkonenhad still regarded as the sacrificial site in the1940s. Other holes and crevices in the bedrockof the island were also explored but did not yieldany finds (Sarvas 1971: 1–2).

THE FIELDWORK OF 2006

The purpose of the small-scale excavations car-ried out in June 2006 was to gather material fordating and examine the spatial distribution of evi-dence for ritual behaviour at the site. It was alsonecessary to trace the locations of previous workdone on the island, which meant exploration of

Fig. 2. View of the Ukonsaari sacrificial site fromthe south-east. The ancient ritual activity wouldseem to have been concentrated in the south-western part of the island – on the left of thephotograph. The summit in the centre of the is-land and the gently sloping north-eastern partsshowed no evidence of such activity.

Fig. 3. The silver head ornament with filigreework discovered by Arthur Evans in a ‘votivecave’ on Ukonsaari in 1873. The find was datedto the latter half of the 13th century and origi-nated from the area of present-day Russia.

fa07.p65 11.12.2007, 19:145

32

the clefts and cave-like depressions describedabove, either by superficial examination or fromtest pits.

Ukonsaari consists mostly of exposed bedrockand boulder fields, and the little mineral soil thatis to be found is mostly concentrated in the north-eastern part of the island. The holes in the rockand gaps between the boulders are filled with lit-ter, weathered rock fragments and soil createdthrough the decomposition of plant material.Since it was impossible to define consistentlysized quadrats in the boulder terrain, the pointschosen for examination were gaps or crevices fromwhich it was possible to extract finds of variouskinds after careful examination. Test pits wereused in particular for checking the area of the ‘sac-

rificial cave’ studied by Sarvas in 1968 and itssurroundings at the south-western end of the is-land (Figs. 4–5). Altogether 12 pits were dug inthis area (Fig. 4, numbered 1–12), mostly less than1 m2 in size and chosen on the basis of finds ofbone or antler that were visible on the surface,although two test pits were dug in the northernpart of the area at points where no finds were vis-ible. These latter proved on examination to beempty (Fig. 4, nos. 18 and 20). The steep south-eastern slope of the island was also examinedthoroughly in the course of the fieldwork.

Since there were some other promising sitesalluded to in the history of research on the islandthat warranted closer examination, six test pitswere dug in clefts in the bedrock on the north-

Fig. 4. General map of Ukonsaari showing the test pits dug in summer 2006 and the areas where pros-pecting with a metal detector was carried out.

fa07.p65 11.12.2007, 19:146

33

west-facing slope of the island, three more (nos.14, 17 and 21) in the crevice in the centre of theisland described by Fellman, and one (no. 15) atthe foot of a rock face immediately to the west ofthis. Similarly, one pit (no. 16) was dug in thedeepest cave-like cleft in the rock, that locatedin the area between the corridor-like formationand the area with finds in the south-west. A smallarea on the bedrock surface to the south of thiswhere a recent find had been documented wasalso examined (no. 19) and a further pit was dugbeside a large boulder located north-east of thehighest point on the island where modern obser-vations had been made (no. 13).

FINDS OF BONES, ANTLERS AND TEETH

The majority of the finds, lying among the dried-up leaves, litter and peat on the ground surface,in the mixture of humus and mineral soil or be-neath the stones and boulders, consisted of frag-ments of the bones, teeth and antlers of animals.In a few of the test pits in the ‘sacrificial cave’ inthe south-western part of the island the bonematerial had already been crushed to a powder.

It had been decided in advance that, with theexception of the samples for DNA analysis, thebone finds would not be collected up but wouldbe analysed in situ as far as possible and returnedto their original context in the same crevice. Thecollecting of bones from the ritual site for museumdisplays, for example, was not regarded as justi-

Fig. 5. Examining the rock shelter at the ‘sacrificial cave’ on Ukonsaari. Fieldwork in the area in sum-mer 2006 yielded animal bones, fragments of antler, teeth and two artefacts, a piece of sheet copperand a Russian coin. This is the same area where Arthur Evans found a silver ornament in 1873.

fa07.p65 11.12.2007, 19:147

34

fiable, as it was not necessary to have authenticbones from Ukonsaari for exhibition purposes.This deliberate policy was partly a response tothe problems of contamination encountered re-cently in DNA analyses of museum specimensand partly an expression of sensitivity to the na-ture of this ancient site that is so closely boundup with the local identity, leading to adoption ofthe principle that largely information was to beextracted rather than material examples of thecultural heritage.

The osteological analyses, carried out byEeva-Kristiina Harlin, at the Sámi Museum Siida(Harlin 2007), covered 693 parts or fragments ofbones, including 19 that were charred, and itproved possible to identify about half of them,i.e. 356. The largest group that could be identi-fied to species were bones of reindeer, Rangifertarandus, of which there were 67 specimens. Thetooth finds suggested that both young and oldindividuals were represented. The finds seemedto contain an overrepresentation of skulls and ant-lers, and a few of the latter carried saw-marks. Oneespecially interesting osteological group con-sisted of the bones of ovicaprids, Ovis aries/Capra hircus, of which there were 30 altogether.DNA analyses performed at the University ofOulu confirmed that three of them were definitelyfrom sheep. Again the tooth specimens pointed

to both young and old individuals and the mate-rial contained an excess of limbs, skulls and teeth,whereas joints were in a minority. There were 15specimens attributable to the black grouse orcapercaillie, Tetrao tetrix/Tetrao urogallus, in-cluding bones from the head, limbs and spine. Asexpected, the distribution of bone finds was re-stricted to the south-western part of the island(Fig. 4, test pits 1–12), with no remains to be foundelsewhere in spite of intensive efforts.

DATING OF THE BONE MATERIAL

Six specimens from among the finds from the ‘sac-rificial cave’ in the south-western part of the is-land have been dated by the 14C method so far(Fig. 6).1 Two wing bones of a capercaillie orblack grouse that had been deliberately hiddenin the dip under a large stone (Hela-1221, in testpit 7) would appear to date from cal. AD 1403–1450, and a number of reindeer teeth and twopieces of sheep or goat bone were found beneathstones in the same place. Likewise a long mam-mal bone fragment, possibly from a reindeer(Hela-1220, test pit 2) and found in the same gen-eral area as the above, beside the boards installedto make it easier to walk round the island nowa-days, was dated to the interval cal. AD 1416–1487. A piece of a reindeer skull found in

Fig. 6. 14C dates for six bone specimens obtained during the fieldwork on Ukonsaari. Laboratory num-bers are shown on the left.

fa07.p65 11.12.2007, 19:148

35

practically the same place (Hela-1219, test pit 1)could possibly be slightly younger, belonging tothe period cal. AD 1457–1635. Perhaps the mostinteresting of the osteological datings, however,concerns three specimens from the area of the ‘sac-rificial cave’ as these represent bones identifiableby DNA analysis as that of a sheep. Two of themwere discovered in the mixture of mineral soil andstones beneath the overhanging projection of therock shelter (Hela-1432 and Hela-1433, in test pit3). The third dated and identified sheep bone findis about 15 meters north from the rock shelter(Hela-1257, in test pits 9/10). This sample indi-cates that the animal had been brought for ritualslaughter some time between cal. AD 1316 and1437. The second sample (Hela-1432) can bedated to cal. AD 1480–1650 and the third (Hela-1433) to cal. AD 1420–1485.

ARTEFACTS

Two other finds were recovered during the 2006fieldwork in addition to bone specimens, bothfrom the concentration of deposits at the ‘sacrifi-cial cave’ in the south-west of the island (Fig. 7).

The first of these is a silver kopeck (test pit 2)dated to 1606–1610, the times of Vasili Shuiski(Kleschchinov & Grishin 1998), and the other asmall piece of sheet copper folded in on itself (testpit 1). A corresponding, slightly older coin,minted in the reign of Ivan the Terrible, has beenfound at Nukkumajoki in Inari (Carpelan 2003:76), and both would appear to point to a growthin Russian influence in the region in the late 16th

and early 17th centuries. The piece of sheet metalis more difficult to date, however, as fragments ofsheet copper and bronze are characteristic of Sámisites. On the other hand, there has been muchspeculation over what purpose these pieces cutfrom dishes and cooking pots might have served.Carpelan is of the opinion that copper enjoyed aparticular status with the Sámi that was derivedfrom the world of their pre-Christian religiousbeliefs, a view that is supported by the fact thatno pieces of this metal are to be found at sitesyounger that the 17th century. Another, partly re-lated explanation is that the copper fragmentswere used as forms of payment (Carpelan 2003:76–7). In any case, corresponding pieces of metalhave been found in large numbers at the site of

Fig. 7. The two artefacts unearthed during fieldwork on Ukonsaari (NM 36625: 1–2/SÁ 2251: 1–2). Left: a Russian coin (minted 1606–1610); right: a piece of sheet cop-per.

fa07.p65 11.12.2007, 19:149

36

the Nukkumajoki winter village, and the presentexample would fit well into the same chronologi-cal framework as the 14C dates. In addition tothese artefacts, some signs of charcoal and charredstones were found in the test pits dug in the areaof the south-westerly concentration of finds, andfurther examination of the ground surface and thetest pits led to the observation of large amountsof rubbish and material evidence of sacrificialpractices pursued in recent decades, in the formof recent Finnish and Norwegian coins, splintersof bottle glass, corks and beer or soft drink cans.

PROSPECTING

Use of the test pits and a metal detector confirmedthat the ancient ritual activity had been confinedto the west-facing slope in the south-western partof the island, and within this area to the immedi-ate vicinity of the main cleft in the bedrock. Itwas here that the bone, antler and tooth finds wereconcentrated, and the two artefacts were recov-ered from the same area. The most intensive areafor finds is thus located very close to the woodensteps built for visitors, being just to the north ofthese. The test pits dug in the other parts of theisland yielded either nothing at all or only coinsthat were no more than twenty years old. In addi-tion, prospecting with a metal detector was car-ried out at a total of 65 points, each comprising acircle three metres in diameter, in the central partof the north-west slope and throughout the north-eastern part of the island (Fig. 4), but the onlysignals were received from two new coins in thecorridor-like cleft in the rock (test pits 14 and 21).Otherwise the whole north-eastern part of the is-land would appear to be bereft of metallic finds.It would also seem that the recent throwing ofcoins has been concentrated in the corridor-likecleft in the centre of the island and in the deep,cave-like cleft in the south-west (test pit 16). Thegently sloping north-eastern part would appearnot to contain any material evidence of ancientrites.

INTERPRETATION

The material evidence for ritual activities onUkonsaari is confined to an area in the south-western part of the island comprising just underone are and extending about 20 metres in a north-

south direction. Although the ornament discov-ered by Evans has been taken as a sign of activityon the island beginning in the 13th century at thelatest (Carpelan 2003: 80), the radiocarbon datesobtained here for the bone samples point to aslightly later period, possibly the 14th century.Three of the dates, one from a black grouse orcapercaillie and the others from a unidentifiedmammalian bone and sheep bone fall into the 15th

century. The youngest radiocarbon dated bonesare from those of reindeer and sheep. These sam-ples are from the animals which most likely diedat the end of the 16th or beginning of the 17th cen-tury. The oldest date in the present material, for asheep bone, may be from the end of the 14th orbeginning of the 15th century. These dates arebacked up by the two artefacts unearthed in sum-mer 2006, a Russian coin from the early 17th cen-tury and a piece of sheet copper, while the headornament discovered by Evans could also be as-sociated with activity that occurred in the 14th

century, since it can be assumed to have been ofsome age by the time it ended up fulfilling a sac-rificial purpose at Ukonsaari. This explanationwould be a still more viable alternative if the findwere to date only from the second half of the 13th

century, as proposed by Carpelan (2003: 89).The role of Ukonsaari as a cult centre evidently

altered in the 17th century as a consequence of themissionary work carried out among the Sámi ofKemi Lapland that culminated in the building ofa church at Inari in 1646 (Carpelan 2003: 81–2),in conjunction with which various changes mayhave taken place in the internal social organiza-tion of the siida, or Sámi villages (Vahtola 2003:123). The island nevertheless appears to havecontinued to serve as a cult site for the use of in-dividual persons or families up to the 19th cen-tury (see I. Itkonen 1910), as also concluded byFellman on visiting it in the early part of thatcentury, and it is known that reindeer antlers weredeposited at the sacrificial site there as late as the1870s (Carpelan 2003: 80). It is to be hoped thatresearch at other sites of ritual activity in Inari willshed more light on this question and help us toform a better picture of the status of Ukonsaari onthe mental map of the ancient inhabitants of Inari.

The dominant position of the reindeer amongthe animals sacrificed is no surprise. The findsmay be associated with the hunting of wild rein-deer, or else with a way of life in which domesti-

fa07.p65 11.12.2007, 19:1410

37

cated reindeer were used as beasts of burden, de-coys or sources of milk. The proportion of sheepor goat bones among the finds, on the other hand,is surprisingly high. It is known that Ottar, wholived in an area adjacent to the Sámi in northernNorway in Viking times – the latter half of the 9th

century – himself indicated that he possessed aflock of twenty or so sheep in addition to otherdomestic animals (Simonsen 1957: 9), and thatthe economy of the Sámi on the Arctic Oceancoast in subsequent periods was not restricted tohunting and fishing but, in the area ofVarangerfjord as least, included the rearing ofsheep and goats from the 14th century onwardsand possibly earlier (Aronsson 1991: 25). Couldthe stocks of sheep in northern Finland have beenderived from those existing in northern Norway?Recent studies of the population genetics of sheepin Fennoscandia, north-west Russia and the east-ern Baltic have shown that the more than 20breeds to be found there began to diverge fromeach other at least hundreds of years ago, whichcould provide an opportunity for examining theirmutual genetic relations by mean of palaeo-DNAanalyses (Tapio 2006: 16–19, 49–51). The earlyhistory of sheep rearing and its significance forthe Sámi culture is a new field of research that hasbeen brought into existence by the fieldwork atUkonsaari.

The degree to which this work sheds light onthe nature of the ritual activities that took placeat Ukonsaari is limited by the extent of the mate-rial. Remains of reindeer are common at otherSámi cult sites, as also are coins and ornaments(Zachrisson 1984: 124–5), and the history of theoffering of symbols of wealth and prestige in sucha connection can be traced back continuously tothe Late Iron Age. These cult activities repre-sented an attempt to maintain an egalitarian idealand relieve the stratification that prevailed insociety. As religious manifestations, such sacri-fices served as a social means of buffering theinevitable pressures for cultural and economicchange imposed on society from the outside(Mulk 1995: 264). The wealth accumulating insome families as a result of trade may in this sensebe seen as an obvious handicap that could be rec-tified by a mechanism in which sacrifice – mani-festing itself to us as an irrevocable loss ofeconomic capital – serves in effect as a form ofexchange by which the family is able to acquire

social status and symbolic capital. The positionattainable through the possession of the latter mayindeed have been very much more important andinfluential in the society of that time than in later,historical times. We should also remember thateven the early sources reflect a world-view that isalready permeated by notions of capital and thepower of the state and the church.

Ukko, or Äijih in the language of the Sámi, wasthe figurehead of their religion, and Ukonsaari,or simply Ukko, as it was originally known, wasthe principal place where he was worshipped. Itwas Ukko who gave people life and protectedtheir health, and as the spirit of the clouds he wasable to guard them against evil spirits when theywent out hunting or fishing (T.I. Itkonen 1948:306–307). The counterpart to Ukko was his wifeAkka, or in Inari Akku, who elsewhere in Laplandis connected with other female deities such asMáttaráhkku. Tradition has it that the Ukko ofUkonselkä and the Akka of Kalkuvaara formed apair of corresponding deities with an assumedmarital relationship that was unique to the Inariarea (Carpelan 2003: 80).

One interesting fact as far as interpreting thepresent findings is concerned is that in the Sámitradition sacrifices of sheep are associated withthe goddess Máttaráhkku, who according toFellman received offerings of both reindeer ant-lers and ram horns. She is also known to have beengiven the meat of reindeer, sheep or birds, piecesof each of these being offered up in a tray ortrough, although on some occasions a whole ani-mal would be sacrificed to her (T.I. Itkonen 1948:309). A tale connected with the landscape to thesouth of Ukonselkä recorded at the beginning ofthe last century also suggests that Ukko was paci-fied with offerings of a whole ram at times of greatdistress (I. Itkonen 1910). We may be justified inreaching the bold conclusion that the findsyielded by the present investigations display fea-tures that could be interpreted in the light of theabove theme of a pair of deities, although morecomprehensive fieldwork and a more thoroughanalysis of the material would be called for in orderto confirm such an interpretation.

Ukonsaari is a place that is capable of impress-ing people with its topography alone. Its domi-nant position in the landscape combined with thetales associated with it have given it a hold overpeople’s imagination – at least at the local level.

fa07.p65 11.12.2007, 19:1411

38

This is a major achievement for a cultural herit-age site in Finland. It is also an archaeologicalsite that is in daily use, i.e. large numbers of visi-tors in search of new experiences are taken thereduring the tourist season and these people attachtheir own meanings to the place and make theirown interpretations of what they have seen quiteindependently of the experts. For the local peo-ple the island may represent both a tourist attrac-tion and a nostalgic source of ethnic identity andpersonal empowerment. As a potential UNESCOWorld Heritage site it would give expression notonly to the vitality of the Sámi culture but also tocertain global values entailed in the cultural her-itage (Niiniluoto 2000: 80–81). In the last resort,however, Ukonsaari is a resource that belongs tothe cultural heritage of the Sámi and the peopleof Inari, and it is they who have the responsibil-ity to preserve the site for future generations.

REFERENCESAronsson, K.-Å. 1991. Forest Reindeer Herding A.D.

1–1800. Archaeology and Environment 10. Universityof Umeå, Umeå.

Bradley, R. 2000. An Archaeology of Natural Places.Routledge, London.

Carpelan, C. 2003. Inarilaisten arkeologiset vaiheet. InV.-P. Lehtola (ed.), Inari–Aanar: Inarin historiajääkaudesta nykypäivään: 28–95. Inarin kunta, Inari.

Fellman, J. 1906. Anteckningar under min vistelse iLappmarken, första delen. Finska litteratursällskapet,Helsingfors.

Harlin, E.-K. 2007. Inari 53 Ukonsaariosteoarkeologinen analyysi. Unpublished researchreport at the topographical archive of the FinnishNational Board of Antiquities.

Itkonen, I. 1910. Muinaisjäännöksiä ja tarinoitaInarinjärven ympäristöltä. Unpublished manuscript atthe topographical archive of the Finnish NationalBoard of Antiquities.

Itkonen, T.I. 1948. Suomen lappalaiset vuoteen 1945,toinen osa. WSOY, Helsinki.

Itkonen, T.I. 1962. Kuivi, ein heiliger Ort der Lappen.In Commentationes Fenno-Ugricae in HonoremPaavo Ravila: 127–38. Suomalais-ugrilaisen seurantoimituksia 125. Finno-Ugrian Society, Helsinki.

Kleshchinov, V.N. & Grishin, I.V. 1998. Catalogue ofMedieval Coins of Russia: From Reign of Tzar IvanIV Vasiljevich till Swedish Occupation of Novgorod(1533–1617 ad). URSS, Moscow.

Mulk, I.-M. 1995. Sirkas: ett samiskt fångssamhälle iförändring Kr.f. – 1600 e.Kr. Studia ArchaeologicaUniversitatis Umensis 6. Umeå universitetet, Umeå.

Niiniluoto, I. 2000. Totuus. In P. Elo, H. Järnefelt, S.Linnanmäki & K. Melanko (eds.), Kulttuuriperinnönkauneus, hyvyys ja totuus: 64–67. Museovirasto &Opetushallitus, Helsinki.

Nordman, C.A. 1922. Silferringen från Ukonsaari iEnare. Finskt Museum 29: 1–10.

Sarvas, A. 1971. Kaivauskertomus Inari Ukonsaari1968. Unpublished excavation report at thetopographical archive of the Finnish National Boardof Antiquities.

Schefferus, J. 1979 [1673]. Lapponia, 2nd edition(translated into Finnish from Latin by T. Itkonen).Karisto, Hämeenlinna.

Simonsen, P. 1957. Ottar fra Hålogaland. Ottar 14(3):3–14

Tapio, M. 2006. Origin and Maintenance of GeneticDiversity in Northern European Sheep. ActaUniversitatis Ouluensis A 473. University of Oulu,Oulu.

Vahtola, J. 2003. Saamelaiset – Inarin kansa (1550–1660). In V.-P. Lehtola (ed.), Inari–Aanar: Inarinhistoria jääkaudesta nykypäivään: 114–38. Inarinkunta, Inari.

Zachrisson, I. 1984. De samiska metalldepåerna år1000–1350. University of Umeå,Umeå.Acknowledgements

Collaboration with local institutions, representedby the Lapland nature services of the FinnishForest and Park Service and the Sámi MuseumSiida, was of the utmost importance for this work,and we acknowledge the contributions made tothe project by Eija Ojanlatva, M.A., of the formerand Eeva-Kristiina Harlin, M.A. of the latter. Con-siderable assistance was also received fromMirette Modarress, a student on working practiceat the Sámi Museum Siida. Thanks are also dueto Yrjö Norokorpi, regional director of theLapland Nature Services department of the For-est and Park Service, and to Tarmo Jomppanen,curator of the Sàmi Museum Siida. I would simi-larly like to thank Anja and Pekka Sarvas for sig-nificant items of information on the history ofresearch into Ukonsaari and for certain numis-matic details. The DNA analyses of the sheepbones were performed by Jouni Aspi, MinnaRuokonen and Matti Heino at the Department ofBiology, University of Oulu. The project tookplace under the leadership of Professors EeroJarva and Veli-Pekka Lehtola of the Universityof Oulu.

1 All 14C-dates are calibrated using OxCal v4.0.5 withatmospheric data from Reimer et. al. (2004).

fa07.p65 11.12.2007, 19:1412