Journal of Nordic Archaeological Science 15, pp. 25–38 (2005) Humanizing of north Ostrobotnian landscapes during the 4th and 3rd millennia Milton Núñez*1 & Jari Okkonen1 *Corresponding author ([email protected]) 1Archaeology Laboratory, PB1000, FIN-90014 University of Oulu, Finland This paper deals with social and cultural developments in North Ostrobotnia during the 4th and 3rd millennia . It links a series of features, both previ- ously known and newly observed, that have been hitherto studied and consid- ered separately. Here they are regarded not only as being contemporaneous and related to each other, but also as an integral part of a trend of increasing social complexity that took place in North Ostrobotnia in the 4th and 3rd mil- lennia (cal). The effect of these developments to North Ostrobotnian land- scapes is also discussed. Keywords: asbestos pottery, cairns, maritime hunters, megastructures, semi- subterranean house clusters, social complexity Environmental and cultural setting Although Finland lies between the 60th and 70th paral- lels (Fig. 1), the maritime influence of 3500 km of coast- line makes its climate milder than what would be ex- pected from such latitudes. Ostrobotnia falls within the taiga or boreal coniferous zone. The taiga holds ad- equate though seasonally distributed resources, but in coastal Ostrobotnia productivity would be even higher due to the maritime resources. Local environments have changed considerably through the past 10000 years, and a powerful force shaping Ostrobotnian landscape has been the isostatic rebound. Right after deglaciation, around 8000–7500 cal , the local shore regression reached rates of 10 m/century. Although the uplift rate has been slowing down since then, Ostrobotnia still rises at the impressive rate of 80–90 cm per century. In coastal areas the uplift causes the displacement of the shoreline with a substantial increase of dry land surface and, moreover, the never-ending environmental se- quences of seabottom-skerry-island-peninsula-hill or sea-bay-lake-bog; in other words, the gradual and con- tinuous transformation of coastal environments to in- Figure 1. Finland with North Ostrobothnia and the other land ones. These processes have been particularly dra- administrative districts mentioned in Table 1 and neigh- matic in Ostrobotnia due to the extremely flat terrain. bouring countries of Norway (N), Russia (R), Sweden (S). There is a clear association of prehistoric dwelling the other hand, it provides a general view of the major sites and finds with the shifting shoreline; and even to- processes, both environmental and cultural, that took day urban centres on the Ostrobotnian coast must place in the last 10000 years. The scheme could be la- cope with the problems of increasingly shallow har- belled as environmental-deterministic, but it is hard to bours. Needless to say, the development of settlement overlook the role of the environment in the study area. and culture has been greatly influenced by these and other environmental factors. We include below a sum- mary of Ostrobotnia’s cultural development during North Ostrobotnia 4000–2000 cal the last 10000 years, where five cultural phases are seen Around the time that farmers were erecting megalithic as part of local time-transgressive episodes within tombs in southern Scandinavia, a series interesting de- 1200 km long Finland. The scheme may not be ex- velopments seem to take place among the maritime haustive. but it is brief and adequate enough for the hunters of North Ostrobotnia. The 4th millennium present paper. For a more thorough description of marks the beginning of a process of regional differen- Finnish Prehistory see Edgren (1992) or Huurre tiation and specialization that in North Ostrobotnia is (1995). characterized by: 1. Pioneer phase (8000–6500 cal ). A period of en- 1. Abundance of exotic materials, some from hun- vironmental instability when survival strategies are dreds of kilometres away. continuously modified in tact with profound dy- 2. New wares characterized by large asbestos-tempered namic environmental changes: final deglaciation, vessels (some over 100 litres). spreading and changing fauna and flora, powerful 3. Clusters of semisubterranean houses in village-like land uplift, rapid shore regression, isolation of the arrangement often at rivermouth sites. major lake systems, major tilting-induced hydro- 4. Erection of cairns, most likely connected with burial logical changes. practices. 2. Adaptation phase (6500–3500 cal ). Environ- 5. Large stone enclosures (megastructures) commonly mental conditions become more stable and favour- known as jättekyrkor or jätinkirkot. able (slower uplift and shore regression, influx of salt and resource-rich marine conditions in the A great deal of the artefact material and sites men- coast, Hypsithermal climates) allowing more stable tioned below comes from recent research at both old settlement patterns and eventually the adoption of and newly discovered sites by the Ii river and North pottery by 5000 cal . Ostrobotnia in general. 3. Specialization phase (3500–2000 cal ). The adaptive process continues, leading to regional spe- cialization and differentiation throughout the Exotic goods country. In North Ostrobotnia this is manifested by Among the exotic goods we find Norwegian red slate, signs of increased social complexity. Baltic amber, Russian flint and, possibly, copper from 4. Declining phase (2000 cal – 100). An appar- the Onega or Ural regions (Fig. 2). The flint material is ent decline in social complexity ensues around of the kind commonly referred to as “Russian” by 2000 cal . Metallurgy is introduced and, despite Finnish archaeologists, and certain flint artefacts experimentation with farming in some parts of the found at Yli-II are unmistakably of Russian type. country, subsistence continues to be based primar- However, there are no real grounds to give a Russian ily on hunting and fishing. source to all the flints found in Finland merely on the 5. Transformation phase ( 100–1800). Major, ap- basis of their looks. In point of fact, some of the “Rus- parently irreversible, changes in lifeways take place sian” flint found in Finland seems undistinguishable as a consequence of the spread of agrarian economy, to the naked eye from that called by Latvian archaeolo- leading to the destruction of local wildlife habitats gists “Polish” flint. Furthermore, preliminary analyses and game and the adoption of farming, herding conducted by Prof. A. Costopoulos (personal commu- and/or “fur-trade” economies by local hunter-gath- nication) at McGill suggest that the provenience of the erers. flints found in Finland may be more complex than Admittedly, this ignores some aspects of Finnish Pre- generally assumed. history and makes no reference to the conventional ar- The most illuminating finds are the ambers. Well tefact-based and “imported” 1 cultural stages, but then over 200 whole or fragmentary amber pieces have been again that is precisely what we are trying to avoid. On retrieved from the sites at Yli-Ii, some 50 km north of Oulu. About one hundred of these can be identified as what was the reason? One possibility is the advanta- distinct artefact forms: over 50 V-perforated buttons geous location at the mouth of the Ii river, which in and over 40 perforated pendants. The ultimate source terms of trade and connections would have been ideal of these objects can be placed in East Baltic area on ty- for linking sea routes operating along the Botnian coast pological grounds. An interesting feature is that the with other water routes to Russia and the White Sea great majority of Yli-Ii ambers were found at various (Fig. 2). However, since the Ii river was not the only one points within the cultural layers of dwelling sites, not connecting the Ostrobotnian coast with the White Sea in the form of prestige grave goods as most amber finds and Northwest Russia we may expect that similar situa- from the rest of Finland. Many pendants are broken at tions may have developed at the mouths of other major the perforation, suggesting that they may have fallen North Ostrobotnian rivers as well. and became lost. The general impression given from Based on all this, one could picture the 4th–3rd mil- by Yli-Ii finds is that, despite its exotic nature, amber lennium Yli-Iians and, possibly, peoples living at the was fairly common in the district 5000 years ago. mouths of other major North Ostrobotnian rivers as This society was no stranger to amber despite the the successful keepers of a rewarding long-distance long distance to its source. Amber does not seem to be a trade. This would have made flint and amber more precious rare material meant for a few privileged persons common in Ostrobotnia district and led to the rich to own, display and take to their graves. Its abundance deposition observed at the Yli-Ii sites. There is still the and mode of occurrence at Yli-Ii does not point to re- question of which local goods were being exchanged stricted possession by an elite, but rather that amber was for amber and other exotic goods. Furs? Feathers? Dry available to most, if not all, society members. Obviously fish? Seal train oil? Slaves? No one really knows at this this was due to a local surplus of the rare material, but point. Figure 2. Ostrobotnia and exotic good sources: (1) Study area; (2) Danish and East Baltic amber; (3) Russian and Scandinavian flint; (4) North Norwegian red slate; (5) Onega and Ural native copper deposits. After Huurre 1995. tainly would have been advantageous in cooking with Asbestos wares hot stones. However, it is not clear whether asbestos Pottery in the form of Comb ware vessels spread into temper would have made vessels significantly better Mesolithic Finland during the second half of the 6th heat holders than those without it. Furthermore, the millennium . The function of pottery among taiga walls of Pöljä type vessels are much thinner than in foragers is uncertain, but it is generally thought that non-asbestos pottery, which would tend to have the Finnish pots were primarily used for storage of solid opposite effect.