Thomas Wallerström
Emeritus-professor, b. 1950, historical archaeology; Educated at the University of Lund, Sweden: BA (1974), PhD Medieval Archaeology (1995).
Worked as a field-archaeologist at various institutions 1973-1979; Curator (archaeology) at the Norrbotten museum, Luleå, Sweden, 1979-1996; Post-doc at the Dpt of Archaeology (1996-2002), lecturer and researcher (2002-2005), Lund University, Sweden; Associate professor, Dpt of Archaeology, Tromsoe University, Norway, 2006; Professor of Historical Archaeology, Department of Historical Studies, NTNU, Norway, (2007-2017), professor emeritus 2017- Main research interests: issues on cultural change in the north of Scandinavia, c. 1000-1600.
Worked as a field-archaeologist at various institutions 1973-1979; Curator (archaeology) at the Norrbotten museum, Luleå, Sweden, 1979-1996; Post-doc at the Dpt of Archaeology (1996-2002), lecturer and researcher (2002-2005), Lund University, Sweden; Associate professor, Dpt of Archaeology, Tromsoe University, Norway, 2006; Professor of Historical Archaeology, Department of Historical Studies, NTNU, Norway, (2007-2017), professor emeritus 2017- Main research interests: issues on cultural change in the north of Scandinavia, c. 1000-1600.
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Papers by Thomas Wallerström
The geographerVäinöTanner (l88l-1948) believed that, prior to state formation, all hunter-gatherer §aami in Fennoscandia had this seemingly pre-state institution, and that it was preserved among the Skolt Saami because they lived so far from the centres of state power. His theory {Tanner 1929) has been widely accepted as a model, or analogy, in archaeological and cultural-historical research.
This article summarises my critical study of the'Winter CampTheory' (Wallerström 2017). ln this study, I challenge the theory on empirical grounds using archaeology, vegetation hisrtory, and the analysis of written sources. Furthermore,l contend that the theory is based on a weak empirical basis, a vague methodology, and an obsolete cultural-theoretical framework. Certain l7th-century maps of the region do not depict a pre-colonial Saami cultural geography as the theory suggests, but rather the places where the recently taxed Saami had their settlements.
'The East Saami analogy' is consequently no longer a source of self-evident knowledge, as many researchers have previously assumed.
Books by Thomas Wallerström
The geographerVäinöTanner (l88l-1948) believed that, prior to state formation, all hunter-gatherer §aami in Fennoscandia had this seemingly pre-state institution, and that it was preserved among the Skolt Saami because they lived so far from the centres of state power. His theory {Tanner 1929) has been widely accepted as a model, or analogy, in archaeological and cultural-historical research.
This article summarises my critical study of the'Winter CampTheory' (Wallerström 2017). ln this study, I challenge the theory on empirical grounds using archaeology, vegetation hisrtory, and the analysis of written sources. Furthermore,l contend that the theory is based on a weak empirical basis, a vague methodology, and an obsolete cultural-theoretical framework. Certain l7th-century maps of the region do not depict a pre-colonial Saami cultural geography as the theory suggests, but rather the places where the recently taxed Saami had their settlements.
'The East Saami analogy' is consequently no longer a source of self-evident knowledge, as many researchers have previously assumed.