Rautakautista asutusta etsimässä - Askolan asutushistoriaa paikannimistön valossa

• Johanna Halonen

Abstrakti

Place names and the history of settlement at Askola (englanti)

3/2000 (104)

Johanna Halonen ([e-mail])

PLACE NAMES AND THE HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT AT ASKOLA

Despite the paucity of supporting archaeological evidence in the parish of Askola, there may have been some early Finnish-speaking settlement in the Porvoonjoki valley. This is indicated by many of the place names. The names suggest that there was an iron age settlement in Askola, in the vicinity of Askola village and the Nalkkila and Onkimaa areas, which featured sacred sacrificial groves, a rudimentary court and some type of fortification.

The settlement in the area has been thought to originate from the Hme region, but the place names indicate that the population also came from South-West Finland and from Karelia. The flow of settlers from South-West Finland appears to have been substantial and from a time before the actual wave of settlement from Hme. The Karelians may have come as individual settlers, but this, too, could prove to be beyond doubt. However, it may be that the Hme settlers have to be regarded as the areas primary settlers. The dialects of the area also reflect the migration.