The Finnish Archipelago Coast from AD 500 to 1550 – a Zone of Interaction
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The Finnish Archipelago Coast from AD 500 to 1550 – a Zone of Interaction Tapani Tuovinen [email protected], [email protected] Abstract New archaeological, historical, paleoecological and onomastic evidence indicates Iron Age settle- ment on the archipelago coast of Uusimaa, a region which traditionally has been perceived as deso- lated during the Iron Age. This view, which has pertained to large parts of the archipelago coast, can be traced back to the early period of field archaeology, when an initial conception of the archipelago as an unsettled and insignificant territory took form. Over time, the idea has been rendered possible by the unbalance between the archaeological evidence and the written sources, the predominant trend of archaeology towards the mainland (the terrestrical paradigm), and the history culture of wilderness. Wilderness was an important platform for the nationalistic constructions of early Finnishness. The thesis about the Iron Age archipelago as an untouched no-man’s land was a history politically convenient tacit agreement between the Finnish- and the Swedish-minded scholars. It can be seen as a part of the post-war demand for a common view of history. A geographical model of the present-day archaeological, historical and palaeoecological evi- dence of the archipelago coast is suggested. Keywords: Finland, Iron Age, Middle Ages, archipelago, settlement studies, nationalism, history, culture, wilderness, borderlands. 1. The coastal Uusimaa revisited er the country had inhabitants at all during the Bronze Age (Aspelin 1875: 58). This drastic The early Finnish settlement archaeologists of- interpretation developed into a long-term re- ten treated the question of whether the country search tradition that contains the idea of easily was settled at all during the prehistory: were perishable human communities and abandoned people in some sense active there, or was the regions. According to a pertinent description by country in an entirely natural state? In 1875, Karin Viklund, the ”prehistoric time was regard- J.R. Aspelin gathered all known Bronze Age ed (...) as consisting of empty waiting-rooms which metal artefacts found in Finland into his disser- were suddenly filled with people, just as suddenly to tation Elements of Finno-Ugric Archaeology. be empty, giving room for new people to come in, The museum collections only held about ten ar- often having a new culture and a new language” tefacts. Aspelin thought it was uncertain wheth- (Viklund 2002: 122). Maritime Landscape in Change THE FINNISH ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, ISKOS 19, 2011 THE FINNISH ARCHIPELAGO COAST FROM AD 500 TO 1550 – A ZONE OF INTERACTION After the number of finds and datings that term archipelago coast (Granö et al. 1999; Fri- have accumulated for more than a hundred sén et al. 2005). years, it is doubtful that anyone could seriously In this specific mosaic of land and water, suggest that any of the prehistoric periods would one can expect that people adopt a subsistence have comprised of a lack of settlement in the strategy that made use of the special character- area of Finland. But one can still encounter the istics of the nature. Through ethnographies we “waiting-rooms”, though in a different shape, are familiar with the economic system, where in texts dealing with settlement prehistory on islanders made use of the archipelago accord- a regional level, often within a municipality or ing to seasons in cultivation, animal husband- other administrative unit. Even in the present ry, fishing, seal hunting, fowling and foraging situation of field archaeology, we are in many (Ahlbäck 1955; Storå 1985; cf. Núñez 1995). situations faced with a paucity of finds, but the This adaptation is generally known as multiple distribution map has now been zoomed much subsistence strategies (Fi. monitoimitalous, Sw. closer than during Aspelin’s era. The problem is mångsyssleri, Tuomi-Nikula 1982: 44; Storå that as the points on any archaeological distri- 1982). So far, very little archaeological research bution map have been more densely distributed has been done on the long-term development of than before, the empty “waiting-rooms” are multiple subsistence strategies. However, the now searched for in smaller gaps between the excavations in Gunnarsängen, Hanko, during points and shorter time spans between the finds. the 21st century have now brought out evidence This approach ultimately leads to an increas- on the relationships between agriculture, fish- ing number of “waiting-rooms” that are emp- ing and hunting during the late Iron Age and tied and filled more and more frequently until early medieval period (Jansson et al. 2010; see the point of absurdity finally will be reached. also Núñez 1995). The simplistic traditional approach seems to be Likewise, one could expect archaeological based on assumptions that can be found in the evidence on a roughly similar Iron Age set- history of research. These assumptions have to tlement and exploitation of natural resources be highlighted and discussed. In order to more throughout the Finnish archipelago coast, deeply understand the preconditions, events, since is has a roughly uniform nature. Due to contacts and circumstances associated with set- the scantiness of archaeological finds from the tlement, the focus of research has to be directed Iron Age, Uusimaa was for a lengthy period of to the regional and local level, that goes into time regarded as unsettled. With reference to the field-archaeological evidence of the settle- medieval written sources, it has been thought, ment, pollen stratigraphy, local communities, that Iron Age Uusimaa would have been en- networks, and spatial patterns. This has been tirely or almost entirely unsettled between the one of the aims of the project Western Uusimaa coast of the Gulf of Finland and the inland lake during the late Iron Age and Medieval Period district of Häme. This zone was exploited by (500–1550 AD). Tavastians, people from Finland Proper and Characteristic of the maritime living condi- Estonians for long-distance utilization (see ar- tions of the early dwellers along the coast and ticle by Georg Haggrén in this volume). This archipelago of Western Uusimaa were the same continued until and even after the colonisation stratified brackish water, strong seasonal alter- of Uusimaa by people from Sweden began in nation and arctic features of the ecology (Autio the 12th century. It has been suggested, that the et al. 1993) as elsewhere in the Northern part people exploiting the wilderness would not of the Baltic rim. Particular to the Southern settle down because they would have to cross and South-Western coasts of Finland is shal- the ice-marginal features of Salpausselkä and low fragmented coastal topography. The ar- travel tediously by boat along the rivers as they chipelagos give the coastal Finland, Åland and made their way from their homes to the coast Sweden a special character, and this evokes the of Uusimaa in the south. So instead their trade 11 TAPANI TUOVINEN was directed towards the west to the coasts of Miettinen, T. 1998: 91–110), reminiscent of the Finland Proper and Lower Satakunta, both of cairns in Åboland. which are regions that served as goods agents In 1995 Torsten Edgren wrote that, due to of commodities (Masonen 1989). several indications, “the old cherished myth of Uusimaa would thus have been settled an unsettled archipelago” should be rejected rather late. It was thought that the coast would (Edgren 1995b: 62). The new evidence in the have been dependent on the interior. Accord- 21st century makes it paramount to continue ing to this view, the coast was a hinterland, along this line of thought, re-evaluating the set- which was not affected by initiatives, popula- tlement (pre)history of the archipelago coast of tion pressure or economic enterprises from the Uusimaa and questioning established views. interior. Uusimaa would thus have dramatically In the following, it is examined how the 450 differed from Finland Proper and Åland, where kilometres long archipelago coast of Uusimaa, the preconditions of settlement and possibilities Åboland and Åland – using the vocabulary of of success were tied to the geography and his- natural geography it would be called the archi- tory of the coast. But why would the settlement pelago coast of Uusimaa and the Archipelago dynamics of Uusimaa before the Swedish set- Sea – could be viewed from a coastal archaeol- tlers have been so different? And why would ogy perspective. the competence and strategies of the Swedish settlers have been so much more advanced that before them the resources of the sea and land 2. Footprints of the early settle- could not be exploited in full scale? ment Nonetheless, preliminary and significant in- dications of an Iron Age settlement on the coast of Uusimaa have been discovered. Archaeo- Cemeteries and settlement logical evidence points towards an exchange of goods with the interior as well as across the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia. Not Valter Lang has presented a concise definition later than during the Viking Age the Tavastians of settlement archaeology. According to him, were involved in trade with the coast of Uusi- settlement archaeology is “a study of the estab- maa (Edgren 1985; Lavento 2005; Haggrén lishment and development of human settlement 2008a). Among the place-names a stratum old- (usually) in a long-term perspective and in its er than the medieval period is evident (Kepsu whole versatility, among others: the dimen- 2005). Furthermore, pollen analyses indicate sions, variability and geographic distribution of clearance, cultivation and grazing not later than settlement units, the choice of settlement areas, the middle of the Iron Age (Sarmaja-Korjonen the mutual influence between man and envi- 1992; Vuorela 1993; Miettinen, T. 1998: 95; ronment, the creation and re-creation of cul- Alenius et al. 2004; Alenius et al. 2006; see tural landscape, the land colonization (so called also Alenius’ contribution to this volume).