X-marked trees: carriers of Indigenous Sámi traditions

Abstract

Cultural landscapes affiliated with the Indigenous Sámi of the northern boreal forests are laden with cognitive elements of social and religious significance. Here, the authors focus on trees bearing incised markings and use an archaeological and ethnohistoric interpretive framework to explore the significance of such trees in Sámi landscapes. Intensive forestry is destroying culturally modified trees at an alarming rate, and their significance as the bearers of culture and history is being stripped from forest landscapes. As a step towards understanding their importance, this work makes a plea for the documentation, interpretation and protection of the remaining trees.