Gråträsk is a village in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. It is located in the western part of
Piteå kommun
Piteå (; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Piteå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. Piteå is Sweden's 58th largest city, with a population of 23,326.
Geography
Piteå is located at the mouth of the Pite River ...
in the south of
Norrbotten
Norrbotten (), sometimes called North Bothnia, is a Swedish province (''landskap'') in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland.
Administration
The traditional provinces of Swede ...
close to the
Lappmarksgränsen, at an
isthmus
An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...
between the lakes
Gråträsket (415 square yards) to the east and
Pjesker (410 square yards) to the west. At the southernmost point there is a small lake, Vitsjön. At Notviken of Gråträsket is a bath place with a pier. The village is along the
Military Road
A military road is a type of road built by an armed force
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and ma ...
.
History
The indigenous
Sámi people
The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are the traditionally Sámi languages, Sámi-speaking indigenous people inhabiting the region of Sápmi, which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Kola Peninsula ...
were first on the scene, taking advantage of the area's resources: good fishing and hunting grounds, and forests suitable for
reindeer
The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...
herding.
The village itself dates back to the late
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
,
[ and first appeared in taxation records in 1543; two farmers were living here in 1570–1571, three in 1607, and four by 1667, making it one of the oldest agricultural settlements in the region.][ Swedish trade with the Lapland region in the 15th century and later being on the route used to transport silver ore from the Nasa silver mine on Nasa Mountain helped the village flourish.][ A church was erected in 1645.][
In 1897, a significant archaeological find was made near the village, either a Sami sacrificial site or a cache of objects stolen from a sacrificial site,][ objects dating from 700 to 1300, including "coins, pendants, finger rings, arm rings, buckles, bronze spirals, pearls and a roughly made drum hammer".][
]
References
External links
Information about the Gråträsk kapell (church)
in Swedish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gratrask
Populated places in Piteå Municipality
Archaeological sites in Sweden