Boathouses as Indicators of Ethnic Interaction?
Research on pre-modern boathouses in Norway over the past decades has principally been concerned with large boathouses reflecting social stratification within Norse communities. In northern Norway there has been a greater interest in smaller boathouses as components of the maritime
cultural landscape rather than a narrow focus on the political landscape. This article presents an investigation of variation in the form and content displayed by boathouses outside areas with predominantly Norse settlement in northern Norway, i.e. to the north and east of the Lyngen Fjord.
The study is based on boathouse excavations conducted by the authors at Spildra in Kvænangen and Flatvollen in Lyngen from northern Troms, and Skonsvika at Berlevåg in Finnmark. A detailed analysis of the excavation results reveals marked differences, both between the investigated
structures and in comparison to boathouses from Vestvågøy in the Lofoten Islands associated with Norse settlement. This variability is interpreted as a potential indicator of ethnic interaction in the study area.
Keywords: Boathouses; Ethnic interaction; Iron Age; Medieval period; Northern Norway
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 June 2011
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