Bear bones at Saami offering sites

Abstract

Saami traditions related to bear hunting and bear burials are quite well known, both from written and archaeological sources. However, the Saami also included bears in their repeated rituals at offering sites, which has been less explored. In this article, we present the archaeological sources for this offering tradition. Further, we discuss the chronology and geography as well as the content and context of such archaeological finds. As with bear burials, the deposition of bear bones at offering sites has not been a uniform tradition in all Saami communities, which gives an interesting insight into how rituals can both bind a community together and create boundaries with other groups.