Fennoscandia archaeologica XXII (2005)
Articles
- Marianne Skandfer, Early, northern Comb Ware in Finnmark: The concept of Säräisniemi 1 reconsidered PDF
- Reijo Solantie, Aspects of some prehistoric cultures in relation to climate in southwestern Finland PDF
- Eeva Raike and Sirkka-Liisa Seppälä, Naarankalmanmäki An Iron Age Complex in Lempäälä, southern Finland PDF
Discussion
- Paul Pettitt and Markku Niskanen, Neanderthals in Susiluola cave, Finland, during the last interglacial period? PDF
Book review
- Hannu Takala: The Ristola Site in Lahti and the Earliest Postglacial Settlement of South Finland. By Lars Larsson. PDF
Abstracts:
Marianne Skandfer
EARLY, NORTHERN COMB WARE IN FINNMARK: THE CONCEPT OF SÄRÄISNIEMI 1 RECONSIDERED
Abstract
Archaeological typologies are almost always based only on parts of a total material. In the search for distinct features the uncommon or unique tends to get too much attention: often the uncommon comes to define a particular ‘type’. Analyses of variation in Early Comb Ware from Finnmark (ENCW) has brought forward new knowledge about actual morphological variation in a large ceramic material, but also a better understanding of how this variation is geographically distributed between sites and regions. The observation of regionally dependent variations makes it necessary to reflect on the nature of archaeological types in general and regional variations in the ENCW material challenges the idea of Säräisniemi 1 as a distinct ‘type’. Last but not least, the documented morphological variation constitutes a new starting point for making interpretations about the socio-cultural context for the earliest pottery technology in northern Fennoscandia.
Keywords: Early Comb Ware, Säräisniemi 1 Ware (Sär 1), variation analysis, technological choice, Varanger area, northern Fennoscandia.
Reijo Solantie
ASPECTS OF SOME PREHISTORIC CULTURES IN RELATION TO CLIMATE IN SOUTHWESTERN FINLAND
Abstract
The cooling of the Finnish climate since 2800 BC after the Holocene optimum may have caused the retreat southwestwards of the Corded Ware and subsequent west-Finnish cultures, so that 3000 years later their settlement was to be found only on the southwestern coast. Indications of the cooling main of winters in just this period are given by the study of lake sediments cited and by the movement of the limit of occurrence of spruce. At each stage of retreat, the ’cold limit’ of settlement lay along the isopleths of the duration of permanent snow cover in the present climate. The problem for those cultures was the collecting of winter hay fodder for cattle without metal tools. The retreat was slower at the beginning of the Bronze Age, perhaps due to the introduction of flint-edged sickles. Assuming that each limit of the settlement during the retreat corresponded to the change of climate that also continued during the Bronze Age, it was found that the mean winter temperature fell by 4 to 5 °C. This temperature fall in Finland involves a contribution caused by the appreciable decrease in the volume and mean depth of the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia due to land uplift.
Keywords: Ancient Fennoscandian cultures, Holocene climate, Trapa natans, spreading of Norway spruce, Litorina Sea and climate, traveling and climate
Eeva Raike and Sirkka-Liisa Seppälä
NAARANKALMANMÄKI An Iron Age Complex in Lempäälä, Southern Finland
Abstract
The paper deals with the functional, chronological, and spatial aspects of an Iron Age settlement and cemetery complex excavated in 1995–1999. The chief questions of the cemetery analysis pertain to the definition and interpretation of the burials and the concomitant ritual structures. In the settlement analysis, the structural features, function, and spatial arrangement of the building are explored. The discussion examines the relationship between the house and the burials, as well as the position of alive and dead children in the everyday life of Iron Age society.
Keywords: Iron Age, child and female burials, building remains, macrosubfossils, ritual archaeology
Paul Pettitt and Markku Niskanen
NEANDERTHALS IN SUSILUOLA CAVE, FINLAND, DURING THE LAST INTERGLACIAL PERIOD?
Abstract
Here, we evaluate arguments that excavations in Susiluola Cave in Finland at 62º18’10” N have provided evidence that Neanderthals inhabited Finland during the Last Interglacial (OIS 5 sensu lato) period. We argue that the lithic ‘artefacts’ recovered from Susiluola Cave Layer IV 2 are natural inclusions that could well have been transported into the palaeosol from elsewhere, none of them is unquestionably manmade and that the scattered burnt stones in Layer IV 2, which were claimed to indicate the presence of human campfires, could well have resulted from natural fire. Although we conclude that Susiluola excavations have not provided convincing evidence that the Neanderthals inhabited Finland during the Last Interglacial period we acknowledge that Schulz et al. (2002) have done all of us a service by publishing findings from Susiluola Cave in such a clear manner that facilitate formal exchanges of views regarding the evidence.
Keywords: Neanderthals, Susiluola Cave, Mousterian, Last Interglacial