The aim of the Fennoscandia Archaeologica is to encourage discussion within the discipline of archaeology and to improve the standard of archaeological research by contacts on the interdisciplinary and international levels. Fennoscandia archaeologica has been published annually since 1984 by the Archaeological Society of Finland.
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Challenges of Ancient DNA Preservation in Finland
Ancient DNA (aDNA) research has rapidly expanded our understanding of past populations, yet its success remains highly dependent on biomolecular preservation. This article presents negative sampling outcomes from 85 individuals in Finland, sampled between 2017 and 2022. These individuals represent sampling efforts that failed to yield data for human population genetic analyses, corresponding to a success rate of approximately 44%. The failed dataset includes samples from a wide temporal and geographical range, from Bronze Age contexts to post-medieval burials, and notably, some of Finland’s most iconic archaeological individuals. Our findings align with previous studies and show that the petrous part of the temporal bone and teeth consistently outperform other skeletal elements in human DNA preservation. Preservation also varied by region, and possibly also by burial environment and post-excavation storage history.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ulla Nordfors, Sanni Peltola, Jari-Matti Kuusela, Kerttu Majander, Nelli-Johanna Saari, Kati Salo, Päivi Onkamo https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Lacustrine Landscapes of the Red-ochre Cliff Paintings in Finland
The majority of prehistoric pictographs in Finland are located in the Lakeland region. Throughout millennia, shoreline changes have affected lacustrine landscapes and water routes. The main cause is the uneven rate of post-glacial land uplift, which causes land to tilt over time. This tilt has resulted in both gradual and rapid geographic changes. Tracking these changes may unveil how the people themselves regarded this temperamental landscape. We examine the pictographs as landmarks along ancient waterways. The analysis applies a new land uplift model to track shifting shorelines and their impact on rock art tradition. Digital terrain models are processed to examine the shifting of water routes, and to re-examine submerged and exposed phases of pictograph sites. The paper posits that with pictographs people may have established the locales as powerful places that agglomerated varied human and non-human agencies from within the hunter-gatherer cosmos, reflecting the perceived instability of the landscape itself.
Copyright (c) 2025 Karen Niskanen, Aki Hakonen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
KAROL – An Interdisciplinary Research Project on the Skull Collection Returned from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden to Finland
Copyright (c) 2025 Ulla Nordfors, Sanni Peltola, Ronan James O'Sullivan, Laura Arppe, Markku Oinonen, Anne-Mari Liira, Juha Ruohonen, Veli Pekka Toropainen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Marianne Skandfer, Peter Blankholm, Bryan C. Hood (eds.) Archaeological Perspectives on Hunter-Gatherer Landscapes and Resource Management in Interior North Norway. Equinox, 2024.
Copyright (c) 2025 Aki Hakonen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Using Computer Vision to Detect and Classify Archaeological Finds from Turku Market Square Excavation
Modern computer vision technologies allow for the automatic detection and classification of objects visible in digital images. Robust applications in the context of archaeological remote sensing have already been presented, both in Finland and abroad. However, using these methods to detect and classify smaller objects is still only partially explored. In this paper, I examine the potential of using a modern open-source YOLOv11 model for archaeological find detection and classification. Training material has been collected from the large-scale Turku Market Square (Kauppatori) excavation (conducted between 2018 and 2022) and includes a wide variety of find types from the Early Modern Period. The results show great potential for using automated object detection with archaeological find material. Practical applications of this method could lead to significant labor savings in processing find material from large-scale excavations.
Copyright (c) 2025 Nikolai Paukkonen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Chronology and Settlement at Bartsgårda on Åland
This article publishes a full series of 55 radiocarbon dates from the settlement and cemetery site at Bartsgårda on the Åland Islands, shedding new light on its chronology and use. During four years of investigations by the University of Helsinki field school from 2020 to 2023, small-scale excavations were conducted on different parts of the settlement area, revealing that the site, initially identified as belonging to the Nordic Late Iron Age (AD 550–1050), has a much longer occupation history extending back to the Late Bronze Age. The dates from the Late Iron Age houses are further analysed using Bayesian statistics, providing an argument for a sequential establishment of the structures, with the most intense settlement occurring between AD 750–950. Our study also provides insights into the socio-economic and cultural dynamics at Bartsgårda by discussing the nature, function, and chronology of the investigated archaeological contexts.
Copyright (c) 2025 Kristin Ilves, Kim Darmark, Meri Leppäsalko, Maria Ronkainen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
This article contributes to our understanding of Late Iron Age settlement dynamics and socio-economic developments in northern Fennoscandia by presenting the results and broader implications of archaeological excavations at Törminkangas in Oulu, a newly discovered Iron Age dwelling site near the Kalimenjoki River in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland. The excavations, centred around a rectangular stone sauna stove, yielded artifacts including a fragment of a bird-shaped bronze pendant and a quartzite ball, both suggestive of symbolic deposition practices. Radiocarbon dating and artifact typology place the site in the late Viking Age (ca. AD 950–1050). The study contextualizes Törminkangas within broader regional settlement patterns, paleogeographic changes, and environmental changes. The results support the existence of locally rooted communities on the Bothnian Bay coast during the Viking Age – possibly identified in historical sources as the Kvens – instead of seasonal exploitation carried out by southern migrants.
Copyright (c) 2025 Janne Ikäheimo https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
The Chronology of the Pyheensilta Group and Kiukainen Culture in Finland Based on Radiocarbon Datings
This study presents an analysis of radiocarbon (14C) samples to date the Middle Neolithic Pyheensilta group and the subsequent Late Neolithic Kiukainen culture on the coastlines of present-day Finland. The Pyheensilta group is dated to approximately 3200–2650 BCE, while the Kiukainen culture is dated to around 2500–1750 BCE. The chronological data indicate that these Neolithic cultures were not contemporaneous; instead, the Kiukainen culture emerged after the Pyheensilta group had disappeared. Notably, the two groups are dated 150 years apart, suggesting a period of cultural change. This study provides insight into the temporal dynamics and cultural succession in Neolithic Finland.
Copyright (c) 2025 Janne Soisalo https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
On the possible dental stigmata of the Puerto Rico aboriginal crania in Stockholm – a correction
Copyright (c) 2024 Milton Núñez, Jan Storå, Myriam Llorens-Liboy https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Copyright (c) 2024 Sanna Lipkin https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Sanna Lipkin, Taryn Bell, Tiina Väre (eds.) Archaeologies of Attachment – Emotional Attachments in the Archaeological Record. Springer, 2024.
Copyright (c) 2024 Katariina Vuori https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Improving the temporal representativity of dentin serial samples in stable isotope studies
The stable isotope composition of dental tissues allows for the exploration of childhood diet. With traditional methods, the accuracy of dating the samples to gain precise information on the schedule of dietary changes has however been rather poor. The more recent methodological advances have enhanced the dating of samples but generally require expensive, complicated technologies. Not only assigning correct developmental periods to each dentin sample but also their temporal overlapping causes problems as rather than a reflection of diets of subsequent periods, these values represent rolling averages. This short paper proposes a novel method to reduce the temporal overlapping of dentin samples in stable isotope studies utilizing stable isotope analyses of carbon and nitrogen.
Copyright (c) 2024 Tiina Väre https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
A.M. Tallgren and ethnic interpretation in archaeology
The Finnish archaeologist Aarne Michaël Tallgren is remembered for his article on archaeological theory, which he published in Finnish in 1934 and in French for the international readership in 1936. There he denied the possibility of making ethnic conclusions on the basis of archaeological material. However, Tallgren’s relationship to ethnic questions has never before been analysed as a whole. This article examines how Tallgren’s conception of ethnicity developed. He inherited the ethnic paradigm of archaeology from his teachers but was initially rather cautious in his conclusions. Up to 1920, Tallgren’s own approach to ethnic questions gradually consolidated. In contrast to the view prevailing today, it is shown that ethnic conclusions were a central part of his reasoning in the 1920s but only in relation to the question of the roots of the Finnish people. Criticism against the ethnic paradigm of archaeology was voiced both in Finland and elsewhere in Europe in the 1910s and 1920s, and in the early 1930s, Tallgren also began to doubt this approach. Becoming acquainted with the new Soviet archaeology in the late 1920s sparked Tallgren’s interest in archaeology as social history, and the political use of the ethnic view of prehistory first in Germany and soon thereafter in the Soviet Union probably eventually led him to deny any ethnic conclusions.
Copyright (c) 2024 Timo Salminen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Visibility analysis of Medieval and Early Modern period fire beacon sites in Turku Archipelago, Southwestern Finland
A defense and guarding system consisting of fire beacon networks was commonly used in Scandinavian coastal areas from the Late Iron Age until the Early Modern period. A chain-like system of signal fire stations was established in locations strategically important for defense and activated if the threat of an enemy attack concretized. Historical sources evidence that the same defense system was also utilized in the archipelago and coastline of southern Finland. Also, certain place names are considered to reflect ancient warning fire activities. Using GIS-based analyses, we examine whether these place names in the Turku archipelago can be distinguished from other locations based on their visibility and topography. In addition, we investigate how visible other potential signal fire stations and certain sailing routes are from the sites selected for the analysis, and the possibility of them having an interactive connection based on visual observation.
Copyright (c) 2024 Sanna Saunaluoma, Jere Leppänen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Spiral decorated shawls in Late Iron Age Finland
Spiral decorated shawls in Late Iron Age Finland (c. AD 800–1200) were elaborate and special garments with strong connections to identity. In prior research, richly decorated shawls from female graves have been reconstructed for ancient costumes. In this study, we trace the sensorial properties of shawls using microarchaeological methods, experimental archaeology and reconstructions. Examples from female graves, male graves and a child’s grave are included for examining the similarities and differences between spiral decoration techniques. In a broader context, we discuss the use and meanings of shawls in both life and death.
Copyright (c) 2024 Jenni Sahramaa, Mervi Pasanen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
The realities of archaeological fieldwork have been revolutionized by new digital documentation methods. Among these are various new ways to produce photorealistic and/or accurate 3D measurements, namely photogrammetry and laser scanning. They have become well known technologies but the actual frequency of their use in day-today fieldwork has not been studied before. The ‘Quality instructions on archaeological fieldwork' (Arkeologisten kenttätöiden laatuohjeet) document, published by the Finnish Heritage Agency in 2013, states that all archaeological reports have to mention the technologies and methods used. Using a collection of some 3600 digitized reports from between 2013 and 2022 I show how widespread the use of these novel methods has actually been during the decade in Finland, and what are the implications of their use. What kind of actors are the most prevalent users? Have the methods been widely adopted, or are some more traditional methods still more popular?
Copyright (c) 2024 Nikolai Paukkonen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Social and seasonal organisation of red deer hunting from the Neolithic to the Late Iron Age (c. 2000 BC to AD 1000)
This is the first paper to examine social and seasonal organization of red deer hunting using stone-set hunting blinds in Norway. The paper examines seven hunting blinds discovered in Gjesdal, western Norway. Four of the hunting blinds are unique; it was possible to date them directly with radiocarbon dating. The sites exhibit multiple construction phases, with a usage period ranging from the Neolithic to the Mid Iron Age, and we would suggest likely extending into the Late Iron Age and Middle Ages. The datings and multiple phases make it possible to discuss temporal change in the construction of the hunting blinds, which is unprecedented in a Fennoscandian context. Hunting appears to align with social trends, becoming more prominent during periods of settlement decline and increased use of outfield resources for surplus production. While hunting in the lowlands of western Norway, particularly between 0 and 900 metres above sea level, appears to have been smaller in scale compared to mass-scale hunting in Norway’s high-altitude zones and eastern regions, the high population of red deer until about 500 years ago indicates profitable hunting opportunities during specific seasons. The cluster of hunting blinds suggests organized cooperation among neighbours and families, with surplus products potentially sold and exported to local and regional markets.
Copyright (c) 2024 Kristoffer Hillesland, Marie Ødegaard https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Gavin Lucas: Archaeological Situations: Archaeological Theory from the Inside Out. Routledge, 2023
Gavin Lucas. Archaeological Situations: Archaeological Theory from the Inside Out. Routledge, 2023. ISBN 978-0-367-56545-9 (hbk), ISBN 978-0-367-56010-2 (pbk), ISBN 978-1-003-09829-4 (ebk) 208 pp. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003098294
Copyright (c) 2023 Sanna Lipkin https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Anna-Elisabeth Jensen: Freunde und Feinde. Dania Slavica. Südseeland, Lolland-Falster und Møn in der Wikingerzeit und Hochmittelalter. Aarhus University Press 2023
Anna-Elisabeth Jensen. Freunde und Feinde. Dania Slavica. Südseeland, Lolland-Falster und Møn in der Wikingerzeit und Hochmittelalter. Aarhus University Press 2023. ISBN 978-87-7219-320-5. 357 pp. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429328176
Copyright (c) 2023 Anna Wessman https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Two Microparticle Analyses of Stone Age Quartz Tools in Finland
Copyright (c) 2023 Petro Pesonen, Tuija Kirkinen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Saami language policies in Saami archaeological research – Saemien gïelekonvensjovnh saemien arkeologijen dotkemisnie
In this article, the goal is to determine what the use and non-use of Saami archaeological terms ‒ for example, for different types of burials, dwellings, sacred sites, artefacts ‒ reveal about language policies in Saami archaeological research published in Finland from 1970 to 2019. The data of the research are Saami archaeological works published in scientific publication forums such as archaeological and multidisciplinary journals and publication series. The data contains 138 Saami archaeological works. From the data, I have collected the used Saami terms by the method of content analysis. The analysis of the data reveals that 65 different Saami terms is used in 63 publications. 39 of the terms are used only in one work, and only five terms are used in more than ten works. According to analysis, there are no formal policies or norms on how Saami terms should be used in archaeological research. Iktedimmie Daennie artihkelisnie goerehtem maam saemien termi pråvhkoe jïh ov-pråvhkoe arkeologijisnie gïelekonvensjovni bïjre soptseste. Saemien arkeologijen termh, v.g. ov-messie gaelmieh, årromesijjieh, bissiesijjieh jïh artefakth, daeverh mah arkeologijen dotkemisnie gååvnese. Manne daatam – dejtie saemien arkeologijen termide – arkeologijen jïh multidaajroen publikasjovnijste, goh aejkietjaalegijstie jïh dotkemeraajrojste, tjöönghkeme mah Soemesne bæjjoehtamme jaepeste 1970 jaapan 2019. Daatesne 138 saemien arkeologijen publikasjovnh, jïh manne sisvegen goerehtimmien vuekiem nuhtjeme gosse saemien termh tjöönghkeme jïh goerehtamme. Daatan goerehtimmie vuesehte 65 ov-messie saemien termh 63 publikasjovnine nuhtjesovveme. Golmeluhkieuktsie termh ajve akte publikasjovnesne, jïh ajve vïjhte termh jienebe goh luhkie publikasjovnine. Daate goerehtimmie vuesehte ij gååvnese naan byjjes gïele- jallh termenjoelkedassh guktie saemien termh arkeologijen dotkemisnie nuhtjedh.
Copyright (c) 2024 Minerva Piha https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
This paper introduces a case study from Oslo, Norway, where two outreach programmes aimed at local children have been carried out by the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) as part of development-led archaeological investigations relating to the construction of the new Medieval Park (Middelalderparken). The first programme involved inviting younger children from four local kindergartens to site, whereas the second programme involved archaeologists visiting fourth graders at school. Both programmes had a clear pedagogical element at their core. The programmes are discussed in relation to both previous work we have done with children, and to the broader literature on archaeology, history, and education.
Copyright (c) 2023 Mark Oldham https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Combining Residue and Macroscopic Use-wear Analysis of Quartz Objects in Kraakanmäki 3 Late Neolithic Settlement Site, Western Finland
Microscopic remains of plants, hairs, blood, bone, and sinew have been detected on Stone Age implements as evidence of the ways the tools were used. Together with use-wear analysis, microresidues enable us to obtain additional information of artefact biographies. However, the preservation of residues is not a straightforward issue. Although bones, plant matter, and wood have a tendency to decompose rapidly in acidic podzol soils, the acidity favours the preservation of keratinous tissues such as hairs and feathers. Because the analysis of microresidues has not been applied on Finnish quartz artefacts, this paper presents a preliminary testing of the method in a Late Stone Age settlement site in Kraakanmäki 3, western Finland. As a result, we found microscopic remains of hairs, feathers, and plants, which enable us to speak for the careful handling of quartz and stone tools at the excavations for further analyses.
Copyright (c) 2023 Tuija Kirkinen, Tytti Juhola, Olli Eranti, Teemu Väisänen, Johanna Seppä, Vesa Laulumaa https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Finnish cairn sites are typically defined through the concepts of ‘grave’ or ‘cemetery’, their main purpose being associated with burials. However, when one examines cemetery-related contexts in Iron Age Finland, they exhibit a great deal of variation with regard to the existence of interments, how they can be identified, and how they correlate with other finds. The case study, a re-examination of Cairn 4 at Nokia Viik, excavated in 1986–1987, illustrates some of these issues. With a focus on understanding the chronology, osteology, formation, and more detailed spatial character of the cairn, it is revealed that the monument has been accumulated over several centuries and includes elements that cannot easily be explained as individual burials or even cremation remains in a collective grave context. The site’s timespan extends from the Late Roman Iron Age and the Migration Period to the Merovingian Period and the Viking Age, where especially the latter periods seem to include deposited materials not related to any actual or distinguishable funerals. One major issue addressed is how to interpret complex structures, where distinct burials are difficult to define, and human remains only occur as one component.
Copyright (c) 2023 Henrik Asplund, Jussi Moisio, Sanni Salomaa, Anne-Mari Liira, Saara-Veera Härmä, Auli Bläuer https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Human-beaver Engagements Seen Through Multiperiod Settlement Sites at Rautalampi, Hämeenniemi and Kitee, Hiidenniemi, Finland
The aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between beavers and humans in the prehistoric times. This is studied through animal bone assemblages excavated from two multi-period settlement sites in Northern Savonia and North Karelia, Finland, and is supplemented with ethnographic and folklore material. The theoretical framework uses perspectives from social zooarchaeology, relational ontology and multispecies archaeology and the research questions are answered with zooarchaeological analysis, age estimates and beaver ethology. This study shows that the hunted beavers were adults who could have established their own colonies, modified the landscape to suit their needs and had their first litter. Beavers had different ways of being, engaging and being present in a world that sometimes led to direct and indirect encounters between humans and beavers. The hunters had knowledge that based on the behaviour of beavers, and they used it to find the animals to engage with them.
Copyright (c) 2023 Emilia Jääskeläinen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Towards a Growing Interest in the Urban Archaeology of Early Modern Towns in Finland
Research in historical periods has always had a strong tradition in Finnish archaeology. Past studies and archaeological fieldwork have mostly focused on medieval times; however, in the past 20 years, investigations of early modern towns (1520–1721 AD) have taken place more often in Finland and have changed the tide. Most archaeological excavations in Finland are currently carried out owing to infrastructure and construction projects and can therefore be regarded as contract archaeology. First, this article aims to examine and provide an overview of past research in Finnish urban archaeology focused on early modern towns. Second, current research trends are discussed with an emphasis on the possibilities offered by multidisciplinary approaches. Recent research conducted in Turku serves as a case study to illustrate these developments. The article concludes by touching upon the persistent challenges faced by research, primarily stemming from the contractual nature of most archaeological investigations.
Copyright (c) 2023 Tia Niemelä https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Jonas M. Nordin: The Scandinavian Early Modern World, a Global Historical Archaeology. Routledge, London and New York 2020
Jonas M. Nordin. The Scandinavian Early Modern World, a Global Historical Archaeology. Routledge, London and New York 2020. ISBN 978-0-367-34807-6. 308 pp. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429328176
Copyright (c) 2023 Risto Nurmi https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
The Urheilupuisto House and Other Corded Ware Houses from Finland
Although numerous settlement sites of Corded Ware culture have been discovered in Finland, only a few houses have been identified. This is in stark contrast to the abundant number of pithouses of local hunter-gatherers. This paper takes a closer look at the houses associated with Corded Ware culture, first, by introducing a recently excavated Corded Ware house from southern Finland and other houses connected to Corded Ware culture from Finland and the Karelian Isthmus, Russia, and second, by outlining the various types of Corded Ware houses around the Baltic Sea. After that, the emerging picture suggesting interaction between the regional variants of Corded Ware culture as well as between Corded Ware cultures and local hunter-gatherers will be discussed. Even if the remains of Corded Ware houses are few and often quite ambiguous, it will be concluded that several types of houses have existed in the area north of the Gulf of Finland, and the contacts between cultural traditions affected settlement types and house structures in each party involved in the process.
Copyright (c) 2023 Teemu Mökkönen https://www.c-info.fi/en/what-is-c-info/
Bromarv and Luopioinen: Two Early Bronze Age Finds from Finland