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An Industrial Revolution in an Indigenous Landscape : The Copper Extraction of the Early Modern Torne River Valley in its Global Context

Monié Nordin, Jonas LU orcid and Ojala, Carl-Gösta (2020) In Fennoscandia Archaeologica 37. p.61-81
Abstract
During a period of 40 years in the second half of the 17th century, a process of industrialization was initialized in the northern part of the Torne River valley, northern Sweden. The industrialization was the result of global demand for copper and brass, but its practice was a local and regional encounter between different groups of people with a manifold of identities, languages, economic, and social backgrounds. The modern industrial production units, some 100–150 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, created spaces which functioned as contact zones for Indigenous Sámi and Finnish inhabitants, Swedish and Dutch workers. Local knowledge was pivotal for the establish-ment of the industries. The making of local spaces,... (More)
During a period of 40 years in the second half of the 17th century, a process of industrialization was initialized in the northern part of the Torne River valley, northern Sweden. The industrialization was the result of global demand for copper and brass, but its practice was a local and regional encounter between different groups of people with a manifold of identities, languages, economic, and social backgrounds. The modern industrial production units, some 100–150 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, created spaces which functioned as contact zones for Indigenous Sámi and Finnish inhabitants, Swedish and Dutch workers. Local knowledge was pivotal for the establish-ment of the industries. The making of local spaces, closely connected with international networks of people, capital, and knowledge, affected the social and spatial everyday practices at the works and in the surrounding lands. This paper is based on field surveys conducted at five mining and metal works sites in the Torne River valley and a set of maps and drawings from 1660, depicting the structure of the mines and metal works in a Sámi-Finnish landscape. The results are dis-cussed in a global historical archaeological context, connecting the metal extraction of Northern Scandinavia with global hunger for brass and copper. (Less)
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author
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publishing date
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Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
industrialization, Torne River valley, Sámi, Finnish, copper mining, modernity
in
Fennoscandia Archaeologica
volume
37
pages
21 pages
publisher
Suomen Arkeologinen Seura
ISSN
0781-7126
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
959493ec-2588-40d5-bbb6-e7e23c7f74a3
alternative location
https://journal.fi/fennoscandiaarchaeologica/article/view/126578
date added to LUP
2026-01-06 13:54:17
date last changed
2026-01-08 16:22:37
@article{959493ec-2588-40d5-bbb6-e7e23c7f74a3,
  abstract     = {{During a period of 40 years in the second half of the 17th century, a process of industrialization was initialized  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Torne  River  valley,  northern  Sweden.  The  industrialization  was the result of global demand for copper and brass, but its practice was a local and regional encounter between different groups of people with a manifold of identities, languages, economic, and social backgrounds. The modern industrial production units, some 100–150 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, created spaces which functioned as contact zones for Indigenous Sámi and Finnish inhabitants, Swedish and Dutch workers. Local knowledge was pivotal for the establish-ment of the industries. The making of local spaces, closely connected with international networks of people, capital, and knowledge, affected the social and spatial everyday practices at the works and in the surrounding lands. This paper is based on field surveys conducted at five mining and metal works sites in the Torne River valley and a set of maps and drawings from 1660, depicting the  structure  of  the  mines  and  metal  works  in  a  Sámi-Finnish  landscape.  The  results  are  dis-cussed in a global historical archaeological context, connecting the metal extraction of Northern Scandinavia with global hunger for brass and copper.}},
  author       = {{Monié Nordin, Jonas and Ojala, Carl-Gösta}},
  issn         = {{0781-7126}},
  keywords     = {{industrialization; Torne River valley; Sámi; Finnish; copper mining; modernity}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{61--81}},
  publisher    = {{Suomen Arkeologinen Seura}},
  series       = {{Fennoscandia Archaeologica}},
  title        = {{An Industrial Revolution in an Indigenous Landscape : The Copper Extraction of the Early Modern Torne River Valley in its Global Context}},
  url          = {{https://journal.fi/fennoscandiaarchaeologica/article/view/126578}},
  volume       = {{37}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}