Animal bones from medieval and early modern Saami settlements in Finnish Lapland

Publication of the rich medieval and early modern bone material excavated in Finnish Lapland over the past decades is long due. Bone assemblages can complete the picture of the life and livelihood of the early Saami societies presented in written sources. The data from three Saami dwelling sites and two market places, which are published here, support in many ways the written information, but show also some discrepancies between these two sources of information. The osteological data may raise more questions than they answer, but serve as an important source material for further research.