Ethnicity of Scandinavian populations from 1050-1500 A.D.

In a skeletal material of five individuals from a non-christian cemetery in Middle Sweden (Vivallen) non-metric traits in skulls and mandibles were studied. Burial gifts and burial customs indicate Saamisch/Lappish origin of these individuals. Their affinities are explored here by comparing the traits with data on crania of Saamish populations from Northern Norway as well a with data of Nordic populations from Middle Sweden and Middle Norway. The Nordic populations from Sweden and Norway are dated to the Medieval period and the Saamish population is post-Medieval. The individuals of the Vivallen burial ground were found to exhibit Saamish as well as Nordic traits. These anthropological investigations together with odontological and palaeopathological studies constitute parts of the South-Saami project, in which also archaeologists from Sweden and Norway participate.