The Burial Cairns and the Landscape in the Archipelago of Åboland, SW Finland, in the Bronze ...

317 Pages·2002·6.47 MB·English

by  Tuovinen, Tapani

THE BURIAL CAIRNS AND THE TAPANI
TUOVINEN
LANDSCAPE IN THE
ARCHIPELAGO OF ÅBOLAND, Department of Art Studies and
Anthropology,
SW FINLAND, IN THE BRONZE
University of Oulu
AGE AND THE IRON AGE
OULU 2002

TAPANI TUOVINEN
THE BURIAL CAIRNS AND THE
LANDSCAPE IN THE ARCHIPELAGO
OF ÅBOLAND, SW FINLAND, IN THE
BRONZE AGE AND THE IRON AGE
Academic Dissertation to be presented with the assent of
the Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu, for public
discussion in Auditorium GO 101, Linnanmaa, on
September 24th, 2002, at 12 noon.
OULUN YLIOPISTO, OULU 2002
Copyright © 2002
University of Oulu, 2002
Supervised by
Professor Milton Nuñez
Reviewed by
Professor Andre Costopoulos
Professor Lars Forsberg
ISBN 951-42-6802-4 (URL: http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514268024/)
ALSO AVAILABLE IN PRINTED FORMAT
Acta Univ. Oul. B 46, 2002
ISBN 951-42-6801-6
ISSN 0355-3205 (URL: http://herkules.oulu.fi/issn03553205/)
OULU UNIVERSITY PRESS
OULU 2002
Tuovinen, Tapani, The Burial Cairns and the Landscape in the Archipelago of
Åboland, SW Finland, in the Bronze Age and the Iron Age
Department of Art Studies and Anthropology, University of Oulu, P.O.Box 1000, FIN-90014
University of Oulu, Finland
Oulu, Finland
2002
Abstract
Mortuary rituals express and cope with disorder brought about by a member's death in the
community. The autonomous connection of the deceased with the community is disrupted through
mortuary rituals. In many cultures the subsequent contacts with the realm of the dead are maintained
in formalized practices, sometimes including or referring to objects or patterns that can be traced in
the archaeological record. In this study it is asked, if the Bronze Age and Iron Age burial cairns (1200
BC - AD 1000) in the SW archipelago of Finland might be interpreted as monuments establishing a
link between the landscape and the religious context of symbolic meanings, thus making it
meaningful to examine the spatial references of grave sites.
The field studies include excavations, surveys, boulder analyses, and weathering studies. The
number of cairns in the area is 444. Examination of samples of boulders suggested that the stones
were usually collected from the adjacent terrain. The Schmidt hammer technique was applied to
measure the weathering differences between basal and lateral surfaces, and possible secondary
interference.
The chronology of the archipelago cairns is based on previous studies related to general
chronological characteristics and datings of archipelago graves. Using discriminant analysis, the size
of the cairn, the convexity of the surface at the grave site, and the topography of the terrain were
identified as the variables most related to the differences between Group P, having a Bronze Age
character (147 cairns), from Group R of Iron Age character (218 cairns).
Two models representing the shorelines of 500 BC and AD 1000 were reconstructed using a
digital elevation model (DEM). Monte Carlo-testing was applied when the visible areas around grave
sites were compared to reference sets in four subareas. The grave sites in Group P were often directed
towards the land, whereas the grave sites in Group R were typically directed towards the sea. The
difference might be related to differences in subsistence strategies. The cairns represented a
conservative burial custom that belonged to local communities in maritime and northern areas, as
opposed to the southern agricultural environments.
Keywords: Archaeology, Bronze Age, Burial cairns, Finland, Graves, Iron Age, Methods,
Mortuary rituals, Sampling survey; Death, Viewshed analysis, Åboland; Archaeology

Tuovinen, Tapani, Hautarauniot ja maisema Turunmaan saaristossa pronssi- ja rau-
takaudella.
Taideaineiden ja antropologian laitos, Oulun yliopisto, PL 1000, FIN-90014 Oulun yliopisto,
Finland
Acta Univ. Oul. B 46, 2002
Oulu, Finland
Tiivistelmä
Vainajan omaehtoinen yhteys elävien yhteisöön katkeaa vasta yhteisöllisen kuolemanrituaalin
lopullisesti päätyttyä. Monissa kulttuureissa kuolemanrituaalin jälkeiset yhteydet vainajaan
kiteytyvät muodollisiksi käytännöiksi, jotka voivat tulla arkeologisesti näkyviin aineellisissa
jäännöksissä tai luonnonmaiseman paikkojen, tilojen ja elementtien suhteissa. Työssä tarkastellaan,
ovatko Turunmaan saariston pronssikauden ja rautakauden hautarauniot (1200 e.Kr. - 1000 j.Kr.)
tulkittavissa monumenteiksi, jotka yhdistivät maiseman symbolisten merkitysten uskomukselliseen
kontekstiin.
Kenttätutkimuksiin kuuluu kaivauksia, inventointi, lohkaretutkimuksia ja rapautumismittauksia.
Hautoja on 444. Lohkaretutkimukset osoittivat kivien tulleen kerätyiksi hautapaikkojen
läheisyydestä. Tapaustutkielmissa kiveyksen basaali- ja lateraalipintojen välistä rapautumiseroa ja
sekundaarisia vaurioita tutkittiin kimmovasaramittauksin.
Hautaraunioiden kronologia perustuu aikaisempiin tutkimuksiin kronologisista tunnusmerkeistä
sekä saariston ajoitettuihin hautoihin. Erotteluanalyysissa kiveyksen laajuus, hautapaikan
maanpinnan kuperuus ja hautapaikan suhde ympäröiviin huippuihin osoittautuivat muuttujiksi, jotka
selvimmin jakavat aineiston pronssikauden tyypin P-ryhmään (147 hautaa) ja rautakauden tyypin R-
ryhmään (218 hautaa).
Numeerisesta korkeusmallista laskettiin kaksi maastomallia, jotka vastaavat rannansiirtymisen
kehitysvaihetta 500 e.Kr. (P-ryhmä) ja 1000 j.Kr. (R-ryhmä). Hautapaikoilta näkyvissä olleita alueita
verrattiin satunnaisesti valittuihin verrokkipaikkoihin Monte Carlo -testauksen avulla. Merkittävin
ero oli, että P-ryhmän hautapaikat olivat tyypillisesti suuntautuneet merta ja R-ryhmän hautapaikat
maata kohti. Ero liittynee toimeentuloon latautuneisiin odotuksiin ja epävarmuuksiin. Hautarauniot
merkitsevät konservatiivista hautaustapaa, joka kuului enemmän mereisten ja pohjoisten
paikallisyhteisöjen kuin agraarisen ja eteläisen asutuksen piiriin.
Asiasanat: Archaeology, Bronze Age, Burial cairns, Finland, Graves, Iron Age, Methods,
Mortuary rituals, Sampling survey; Death, Viewshed analysis, Åboland; Archaeology

Acknowledgements
To begin with, my thanks are due to the great number of islanders with whom I have had
some very interesting discussions. If I were to give here a complete register of their
names, the list would become far too long. Therefore I don’t want to give precedence to
any one of them; instead I would like to thank them all jointly for the information I have
received and for their positive attitude towards my work.
In the Preface it becomes evident of what significance Professor Emeritus Unto Salo
(University of Turku) has been for this work, and particularly its early phases. He
deserves my special gratitude because without his support and positive attitude it would
have been hardly possible to accomplish this work. Professor Milton G. Núñez
(University of Oulu) guided the accomplishment of my assertation and provided me with
valuable ideas. I am also grateful to the leader of the research group at Åbo Akademi
University, Professor Nils G. Holm for the support I have enjoyed. My coworkers at the
Department of Comparative Religion and Folkloristics created a free and warm feeling of
togetherness. It was easy to work in such an atmosphere, and at the same time feel that
your own field of research was appreciated and relevant even if it was very much
different from the rest of the research conducted at the department. I want to thank them
all!
Ph.D. Tarja Formisto has kindly made the osteological analyses whose results I have
been able to exploit in this study. Leif Lindgren, the project planner at the Finnish Forest
and Park Service, Nagu, initiated the field work in the area of combined activities of the
Southwestern Archipelago National Park, and assisted my work in the terrain; I wish to
thank him and the rest of the staff of the National Park. I am also very grateful to all the
archaeologists, students of archaeology, and those interested in archaeology for the work
they have done during the excavations needed for this work – their names appear in
chapter 4 where the excavations are discussed. Without their contribution essential parts
of my material would be lacking.
I have had the opportunity to take lodgings at the field stations on Själö, Nagu, and
Lohm, Korpo, which are part of the Archipelago Research Institute, University of Turku.
The staff at the Laboratory of Computer Cartography, University of Turku, has kindly
provided me with access to computers and software which were indispensable for the
study. Finally, I want to thank the Humanistic Faculty at the University of Oulu for
accepting this work into the publication series of the university, and Ella och Georg
Ehrnrooths stiftelse for awarding a scholarship for the finishing touches of this work. The
translation and revision work of this study has been financially supported by a grant from
the Alfred Kordelin foundation, which is gratefully acknowledged. Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7
were translated into English by Heli Virtanen, M.A. and Maija Núñez, M.A. and the other
chapters by Erkki S. Makkonen, M.A. And, in conclusion, thank you Anja!
Lundströmska torpet, Houtskär, March, 2001
Tapani Tuovinen