Death, Destruction and Commemoration: Tracing ritual activities in Finnish Late Iron Age cemeteries (AD 550-1150)

The thesis is connected with death, memory and ancestor commemoration during the Merovingian Period, the Viking Age and the beginning of the Crusade Period (AD 550-1150) in Finland. During this time, cremation was the dominant burial rite. It was not until the end of the Viking Age that inhumation became more common but both cremations and inhumations are performed even at the same sites throughout the time. Three different burial types 1) cremation cemeteries below level ground, 2) inhumation burials and 3) water burials are discussed in five articles. I consider these burial forms from three different viewpoints; collectivity-individuality, visibility-invisibility and cremation-inhumation. The thesis also discusses the topics of memory, memorialisation and monument re-use, which have been neglected subjects in Finnish archaeology until now. Both cremation cemeteries below level ground and inhumation burials have been re-used during their time of usage, and on most occasions are situated in a landscape that is overlaid by other monuments as well. The main questions of the thesis are: What kinds of ritual behaviour can we detect in the burials during the period (AD 550-1150)? How did people perceive the moraine hills that functioned as burial places? What kind of re-use can be detected in the Iron Age cemeteries? Why have ancient sites and artefacts been re-used? This thesis shows that it is possible to claim that both artefact and site re-use is a much more widespread phenomenon than has previously been thought in Finnish archaeology. It is also a conscious and deliberate behaviour that can be related to an ancestor cult and commemoration of the dead. The funerary rituals during this time period show great variation and complex, both regionally and nationally. Not only have the dead been buried using elaborate rituals, they have also been mourned and commemorated in intricate ways that proves that death was not an end product, but the start of something new

Metal-detecting data as citizen science archaeology

Avocational metal-detecting in Finland has produced a mass of new and important archaeological data over the past ten years, and responsible metal-detectorists act as citizen science archaeologists. Important steps have been made in producing digital archaeological data services aimed at both professionals and the public, including the Ilppari online finds reporting service and the FindSampo citizen science data service and semantic online heritage portal. But with this development work we have also seen that more attention needs to be put on data quality, data structure, database design, and on development work of digital services in order for them to influence a higher user potential. In our paper we argue, through select case studies, that appropriately recorded metal-detected finds possess tremendous possibilities for advancing archaeological understanding of the past. This data can be used for creating new spatial analysis, for identifying previously unrecorded and therefore vulnerable archaeological sites, and for identifying new potential research areas.Peer reviewe

Death, Destruction and Commemoration : Tracing ritual activities in Finnish Late Iron Age cemeteries (AD 550-1150)

The thesis is connected with death, memory and ancestor commemoration during the Merovingian Period, the Viking Age and the beginning of the Crusade Period (AD 550-1150) in Finland. During this time, cremation was the dominant burial rite. It was not until the end of the Viking Age that inhumation became more common but both cremations and inhumations are performed even at the same sites throughout the time. Three different burial types 1) cremation cemeteries below level ground, 2) inhumation burials and 3) water burials are discussed in five articles. I consider these burial forms from three different viewpoints; collectivity-individuality, visibility-invisibility and cremation-inhumation. The thesis also discusses the topics of memory, memorialisation and monument re-use, which have been neglected subjects in Finnish archaeology until now. Both cremation cemeteries below level ground and inhumation burials have been re-used during their time of usage, and on most occasions are situated in a landscape that is overlaid by other monuments as well. The main questions of the thesis are: What kinds of ritual behaviour can we detect in the burials during the period (AD 550-1150)? How did people perceive the moraine hills that functioned as burial places? What kind of re-use can be detected in the Iron Age cemeteries? Why have ancient sites and artefacts been re-used? This thesis shows that it is possible to claim that both artefact and site re-use is a much more widespread phenomenon than has previously been thought in Finnish archaeology. It is also a conscious and deliberate behaviour that can be related to an ancestor cult and commemoration of the dead. The funerary rituals during this time period show great variation and complex, both regionally and nationally. Not only have the dead been buried using elaborate rituals, they have also been mourned and commemorated in intricate ways that proves that death was not an end product, but the start of something new.Väitöskirja käsittelee hautarituaaleja nuoremmalla rautakaudella (n. 550 1150 jKr.) viiden artikkelin ja laajan yhteenveto artikkelin pohjalta. Sen pääpaino on polttokenttäkalmistojen tutkimuksessa, kalmistotyyppi joka on pääosin vieras Suomen ulkopuolella ja täälläkin usein laiminlyöty, mutta kirjassa käsitellään myös muita hautaustapoja, kuten esimerkiksi veteen hautaamista Pohjanmaalla. Kuolemaa ja siihen liittyviä rituaaleja on tutkittu tähän asti hyvin vähän Suomen arkeologiassa. Siksi väitöskirjassa suhtaudutaan kriittisesti aiempiin tulkintoihin ja siinä pyritään muuttamaan nykyisin vielä vallalla olevia vanhentuneita käsityksiä kuolemasta ja hautaamisesta. Väitöskirjan pääpaino ei ole perinteisen hautalöytöjen läpikäymisessä vaan kalmistojen laajemmassa ymmärtämisessä ja tulkinnassa mm. Eurooppalaisen maisema- ja muistiteorioiden avulla. Kirjassa tuodaan esille, että rautakauden ihminen on ollut tarkka hautapaikan valinnassa. Polttokenttäkalmistot sijaitsevat vielä tänään näkyvillä paikoilla maisemassa, usein moreenikumpareilla. Näitä paikkoja ei ole käytetty ainoastaan hautaamiseen vaan siellä on käyty myös uhraamassa, muistelemassa vainajia ja esi-isiä sekä polteltu uhritulia. Samoja kalmistokumpuja on käytetty satoja vuosia tai jopa tuhat vuotta. Vaikuttaa siis siltä, että jatkuvuus ja tietynlainen konservatiivisuus on ollut tärkeätä rautakauden ihmisille eikä hautapaikkaa ole haluttu muuttaa edes silloin kuin hautaustapa on muuttunut polttohautauksesta ruumishautaukseen. Myös esi-isien haudat on selvästi pidetty tärkeinä. Kiinnostus esi-isien käyttämiin esineisiin näkyy myös hautarituaaleissa. Suomesta on monta esimerkkiä siitä, että hautoihin on laitettu satoja vuosia vanhoja esineitä, jotka ovat aivan selvästi peräisin haudoista. Rautakauden ihminen on selvästi ollut kiinnostunut omasta historiastaan ja siksi myös kajonnut esi-isien hautoihin. Vanhojen esineiden käytössä on lisäksi ollut maagisia piirteitä, niissä uskottiin olevan voimia, jotka siirtyivät esineen omistajalle. Samalla vanhan esineen omiminen itselleen on tuonut jatkuvuutta ja arvovaltaa. Hautaaminen ja siihen liittyvät rituaalit ovat olleet huomattavasti monimutkaisempia kuin aiempi suomalainen tutkimus on tuonut esille. Väitöskirja tarjoaa uusia tulkintamalleja monelle rautakauden hautatyypille ja purkaa myös vanhoja myyttejä kalmistoista. Levänluhdan vesikalmisto Isossakyrössä on tästä hyvä esimerkki. Aiempi tutkimus on selittänyt tämän ainutlaatuisen paikan salaperäisenä suokalmistona johon olisi haudattu kulkutautiin kuolleita vainajia ja jopa uhripaikkana, mutta aineiston uusi läpikäyminen osoitti, että paikka on todellisuudessa ollut järvi tai lampi rautakaudella eikä vainajatkaan ole haudattu yhtäaikaisesti vaan useamman vuosisadan kuluessa

The Durga Puja pop-up exhibition at the National Museum of Finland: Studying, Designing and Hosting an Exhibition as University Education-Museum Collaboration

Peer reviewe

COMPRENDIENDO LA DETECCIÓN DE METALES Y LA ARQUEOLOGÍA EN FINLANDIA

The use of the metal detector in archaeology, and the relationships between metal detecting enthusiasts and archaeologists, has been long discussed and analysed in different contexts. The tool itself is acknowledged to be a useful prospecting device for use in archaeological fieldwork, and yet it has often attracted controversy in academic and professional archaeologi- cal circles due to its popularity with artefact-hunting hobbyists. In this paper, we discuss the emerging trends of metal detector use in Finland. This includes what is known about the hobbyist metal detector enthusiasts and their motivations, the extent of collaboration (or clashes) with archaeologists, and the current and potential use of metal detectors within archaeological fieldwork."El uso de detectores de metales en arqueología, y la relación entre los aficionados a la detección de metales y los arqueólogos, ha sido ampliamente discutida y analizada en diferentes contextos. Se reconoce la utilidad de la propia herramienta como útil instrumento para la prospección en el trabajo de campo arqueológico, sin  embargo,  a  menudo  ha  atraído  contro- versia en círculos académicos y de arqueólogos profesionales debido a su popularidad con entusiastas de la búsqueda de objetos [arqueológicos].En este artículo, tratamos las emergentes tendencias en el uso de aparatos detectores de metales en Finlandia. Esto incluye qué se conoce sobre los usuarios no profesionales de los aparatos detectores de metales y sus motivaciones, el grado de colaboración (o conflictos) con los arqueólogos, y el actual y potencial uso de los detectores de metales dentro del trabajo de"campo arqueológico.