Bears and Meanings among Hunter-fisher-gatherers in Northern Fennoscandia 9000–2500 BC

Bibliographic Data

ID6044210
AuthorsKnut Helskog (Tromsø research foundation, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume22
Issue2
Pages209-236
Publication date2012-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0959774312000248
OpenAlexW2061232948
LanguageEN
Citations received21

An examination of meanings associated with bears among early hunter-gatherer-fisher populations in northern Fennoscandia, based on beliefs and ritual practices in the ethnohistoric record, indicates that they were an animal attributed multiple meanings in prehistoric as well as historic times. They were clan ancestors, spirit masters and symbols of power and reincarnation such as rebirth and the change of seasons. The evidence indicates a pattern of local variation and identities rather than a uniform regional pattern, and some large-scale differences from the coastal area of Norway in the west to Karelia in the east

Archaeology · Clan · Ethnology · Genealogy · Geography · Prehistory · Reincarnation · Sociology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

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