Day 39a: Vestre Jakobselv to Utsjoki

MAY 12 - This is one of those times when the pre-planned agenda doesn’t fit well with desired results. I scheduled only a few days for Finnmark, because of (1) relative expense, and (2) extreme cold and wet. But it was such a fascinating place that I felt we could have dealt with both issues for a few days more. There is a lot to do here, and everywhere we went was a spectacular scenery and a sense of raw power in the landscape. Looking out at the Barents Sea felt like standing at the edge of the solar system.

That aside, we leave Finnmark, retracing our entry through Tana bru and back to the border at Utsjoki. Today the sky clears so we return to the Mortensnes Cultural Heritage Site to look at the bits we didn’t get to on Day 37.

Can actually see the opposite coast well today, looking south to the bit of Norway that borders Russia.

This circular area with raised wall (and smaller raised wall inside) is a sacrificial site, They were presumably used to bring favor to hunting or fishing parties, and are located near burial sites.

One of the many burial sites, a small squarish or round depression in which bodies were placed, wrapped in birch bark and wrapped in sinews. In excavating these, tools and shells were found, presumably left to accompany the dead to the afterlife. A few bronze items were also found, assumed to be imported from Russia (hence younger than the Stone Age structures up the hill). The age range of these tombs is estimated to be from 1000 BCE to 1500 CE.

Norway (Troms og Finnmark)Finland I