Mystery of Finnish Stone Age cemetery solved
For more than 50 years, archaeologists have been puzzling over a find in Finnish Lapland: excavations indicate that it is a prehistoric cemetery - but there are no bones to be found in the supposed graves. Researchers have now presented a possible explanation.
In 1959, workers excavating sand in the forests of northern Finland came across stone artifacts, which they reported to the authorities in Helsinki. But for decades, the find from Tainiaro in the Finnish part of Lapland remained a mystery. It was not until the 1980s and 1990s that excavations were carried out in Tainiaro near the village of Simo. The material found caused some confusion among archaeologists. The results remained unfinished and unpublished.
Until now, it was uncertain whether there really was a cemetery on the site in Tainiaro: Although there were no bone finds, dozens of pits from the fifth millennium BC were tentatively interpreted as graves. Could Tainiaro, which lies just 80 kilometers below the Arctic Circle, be the largest Stone Age cemetery in Finland?
Now a team led by archaeologist Aki Hakonen from the University of Oulu in Finland is investigating the mystery surrounding Tainiaro. The researchers want to prove that the site was once a huge cemetery - believe they know where the bodies have disappeared to.
Excavations: In search of bones
First, the archaeologists compared existing and newly excavated graves with other known Stone Age burial sites in Finland. They found that the supposed graves in Tainiaro matched those used for burial at contemporary sites in terms of shape, size and contents.
The archaeological team identified a total of around 200 possible graves, none of which were visible from the surface. The most common were those about two meters long and up to one meter wide with rounded corners.
Most of the graves showed traces of burning and small streaks of red ochre - a natural pigment often found in Stone Age graves. According to the archaeologists, this could have been used to mark the graves or to dye the clothing or hair of the buried. In addition, thousands of stone artifacts, pottery and occasionally burnt animal bones were found all over the site.
Acidic soil responsible for bone loss
"In Finland and most of northern Fennoscandia, there are virtually no limestone deposits," Hakonen told Metro.co. uk, categorizing the absence of bones in the graves. "Therefore, the soil tends to be very acidic. In a thousand years or so, organic material, including bone and wood, decomposes so much that it loses all structure and often becomes just a sticky mass." The archaeologist goes on to explain: "In 2000 years, it becomes mere shadows in the ground, visible only as dark patterns. In 6500 years, as seems to be the case with Tainiaro, there is practically nothing left of the bodies."
Hakonen's research is evidence that the Tainiaro site is a large Stone Age cemetery from the fifth millennium BC. If this theory is confirmed, it would be one of the largest such sites known from this period in northern Europe. The researchers also found evidence, such as the numerous traces of burning and the production of characteristic stone objects, which could indicate that the site was inhabited. Nevertheless, many questions about Tainiaro remain unanswered.
Unanswered questions call for further excavations
The idea that a large cemetery apparently existed near the Arctic Circle is prompting archaeologists to rethink their knowledge of the far north and its position on the edge of world prehistory. Hakonen's team's research is therefore far from over.
"There is still a lot of work to be done to gain a comprehensive understanding of what types of artifacts were placed in these graves," he said. The archaeologist would like to carry out further excavations to deepen his team's initial findings. According to Hakonen, further excavations could bring much more to light than the previous ones.
"The research in Tainiaro shows that there were obviously also large cemeteries near the Arctic Circle," summarizes the archaeologist. "In the future, all research on this era in the north will have to be re-evaluated to a certain extent."
Read also:
- Snow chaos further restricts Bavaria
- Unanimous decision: faster wolf culls possible
- The year of climate records: extreme is the new normal
- Snow and ice paralyze southern Germany
- The mystery surrounding the alleged Stone Age cemetery in Tainiaro, Finland, has attracted international interest in archaeological science.
- The acidic soil in Finland and most of northern Fennoscandia, as explained by archaeologist Aki Hakonen, could be a historical factor responsible for the absence of bones in the supposed graves during the Stone Age excavation.
- The Tainiaro site, if confirmed as a large Stone Age cemetery, would provide significant insights into the archaeology of Finland and northern Europe during the fifth millennium BC.
- The results of the ongoing research in Tainiaro could potentially revolutionize our understanding of the Stone Age cemeteries in the Arctic Circle, providing new perspectives and knowledge in the field of archaeology and historical science.
Source: www.ntv.de
