Anna Wessman

1 University of Helsinki, Dept. of Cultures, Finland suzie.e.thomas@helsinki.fi, firstname.lastname@helsinki.fi 2 HELDIG – Helsinki Centre for Digital Humanities, University of Helsinki, Finland http://heldig.fi 3 Semantic Computing Research Group (SeCo), Aalto University, Finland http://seco.cs.aalto.fi, firstname.lastname@aalto.fi 4 Finnish Heritage Agency, Finland http://www.nba.fi, firstname.lastname@museovirasto.fi

ABSTRACTHobby metal detectorists search for archaeological finds as individuals and within groups, the latter being the focus of this article. Such groups come together as “clubs” and “meetings,” but also as part of large, often commercially run events typically known as “rallies.” All these activities are attractive to detectorists because they provide them with access to land to search, along with the promise of making interesting (even valuable) discoveries, and they have a social dimension. They are common in England and also well established in several countries in northwest Europe, partly due to changing legislation. Although policies and mechanisms are often in place for collaboration with individual detectorists and even local metal-detecting clubs, larger events (not least, the large-scale commercial rallies increasingly occurring in England) present challenges for professional archaeologists, specifically in relation to the capacity to properly record finds and manage pote...

Levänluhdan vesikalmisto on kiistatta yksi Suomen merkittävimmistä muinaisjäännöksistä. Sinne on rautakaudella (noin 400–800 jaa.) haudattu lähemmäs sata vainajaa, pääasiassa naisia ja lapsia. Hautaaminen veteen on Suomessa, mutta myös maailmanlaajuisesti, harvinaista. Lähin vastine löytyy kuitenkin melko läheltä, Vöyrin Käldamäestä. Sieltä on tutkittu kuuden vainajan jäännökset jo 1930-luvulla. Keskisellä ja myöhäisellä rautakaudella vallitseva hautaustapa oli polttohautaus, useimmiten röykkiöihin tai niin sanottuihin polttokenttäkalmistoihin. Suurin osa Isonkyrön polttokalmistoista sijaitsee Kyröjoen varrella, mutta Levänluhta on näistä hiukan etäämpänä. Miksi siis valittiin näin poikkeava hautaustapa juuri Pohjanmaalla? Nykyisin Levänluhdan muinaisjäännösalue on noin 500 neliömetrin suuruinen, punaisella puuaidalla erottuva alue keskellä viljeltyä maisemaa. Lähteen ympärillä kasvaa neljä puuta, jotka istutettiin viimeisten arkeologisten kaivausten jälkeen vuonna 1984. Puita oli alun perin viisi ja ne symboloivat Levänluhdan silloisia tutkijoita: valokuvaaja K.J. Mielty, dosentti Aarni Erä-Esko, professori Istvan Kiszely, osteologi Tarja Formisto sekä maakuntaneuvos Teuvo Lagerstedt.

This article introduces the first of what will ultimately be two collections of case studies in archaeologist–responsible/responsive artifact collector collaboration. Focused on the United States, the articles in this issue of Advances in Archaeological Practice share the thoughts and experiences of archaeologists representing diverse employment sectors (compliance, agency, museum, and university), artifact collectors, and members of descendant communities. Research areas extend from California to Virginia and from Ohio to the Texas/Mexico border. The breadth of the writers' backgrounds and their focal regions reinforce the wide applicability of collaborative best practices. Every author explicitly treats two subjects: (1) the intersection of their work with the Society for American Archaeology's (SAA) recently published guidelines for ethical professional–collector collaboration, and (2) their own practical suggestions for establishing and nurturing those relationships. Thi...

<p>Four dramatic funerals punctuate the tenth- or eleventh-century Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf; two involve the burning of the dead. While a Christian work to its core, the poem draws upon far older stories and at its very conclusion the poet provides a striking vision of an early medieval open-air cremation ceremony. Having died by the fire and poisonous bite of a dragon dwelling in a stone mound, the king of the Geats is cremated with treasures: helmets, swords, and coats of mail (Owen-Crocker 2000: 89). Before the raising of a burial mound upon a headland overlooking the sea, Beowulf 's cremation is a focus of more than personal loss by mourners. Burning his body and then raising a mound containing the dragon-guarded treasure marks the end of the king's protection for his people and foreshadows their own doom. As such, the cremation constitutes the scorching and fragmentation of body and things with fire. Cremation is a memorable spectacle created at a prominent location between land and sea, between earth and Heaven. The burning is also an emotional outpouring: grief and fire are intermingled (Owen-Crocker 2000: 91). Furthermore, as the culmination of the hero's life and the poem, the burning is the lynchpin between the poetic past and the poet's present and manifest in an ancient landscape populated with prominent earthen and stone monuments (Williams 2015a). The hero's cremation in Beowulf is thus heroic, performative, emotive, and apocalyptic: linked to the changing of the world, times past, mourning, and the creation of memory. This description might seem diametrically opposed to the experience of cremation in Europe, North America, and elsewhere in the world today. Cremation as a widespread modern means of disposing of the dead is a process of technological transformation which is usually concealed from mourners. Moreover, the dual process of cremation means that burning the body is followed by the machine-grinding of the bones in a 'cremulator', reducing the ashes still further to grains of comparable size and shape (McKinley 1994a). In the poem, we find cremation as public, spectacular, and ritualized; today, it might be caricatured as secular and secretive. However, this contrast between early medieval poetry and modern practice is a false one.</p>

This article discusses cremation cemeteries under flat ground which are the most dominant burial form in Finland, Estonia and Karelian Isthmus in Russia during the Middle and Late Iron Age (AD 300-1100).These cemeteries have been used over considerable periods of ca. 400-500 years and they are often several hundred square meters in size.A significant feature of these cemeteries is that they are not visible above ground which makes them disappear into the landscape.They consist of larger and smaller granite stones that seem to be placed in an irregular structure.The extensive pavement of stones is 1-4 layers thick and covered by only grass and turf.The burial form is collective, the burned bones, artifacts, pottery and the charcoal have been strewn over a large area, in a way that pieces from one artifact can be found in an area of 5 meters. Only the Merovingian Period (AD 550800) weapon graves are interpreted as individual burials. In the Viking Age also the weapons are scattered in...

This paper presents the FindSampo system for analyzing and disseminating archaeological object finds made by the public. The system is based on Linked Open Data (LOD), and consists of a web portal and an open data service. The underlying knowledge graph contains data of some 3000 archaeological object finds catalogued in the archaeological collection of the Finnish Heritage Agency (FHA) from 2015 to 2020. The portal and LOD service have been open to public use since May 2021.

Levänluhta, located in southern Ostrobothnia, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in Finland. The finds consist of scattered human bones from almost 100 individuals and some artefacts, mainly dating to the Merovingian period (AD 550/600–800) and interpreted as grave goods. Previously, the site has been seen as a sacrificial place, a place of punishment, a battlefield or as a cemetery for slaves or people who had died of an epidemic. These negative connotations probably stem from the fact that the site itself is interpreted to have been a bog or a sacrificial spring. It will be argued here, however, that the Levänluhta site was more likely a small lake or a pond. The custom to bury the deceased in water is a global phenomenon that might be linked to new ideological views towards the landscape as well as the deceased and their ancestors.

espanolEl uso de detectores de metales en arqueologia, y la relacion entre los aficionados a la deteccion de metales y los arqueologos, ha sido ampliamente discutida y analizada en diferentes contextos. Se reconoce la utilidad de la propia herramienta como util instrumento para la prospeccion en el trabajo de campo arqueologico, sin embargo, a menudo ha atraido contro- versia en circulos academicos y de arqueologos profesionales debido a su popularidad con entusiastas de la busqueda de objetos [arqueologicos].En este articulo, tratamos las emergentes tendencias en el uso de aparatos detectores de metales en Finlandia. Esto incluye que se conoce sobre los usuarios no profesionales de los aparatos detectores de metales y sus motivaciones, el grado de colaboracion (o conflictos) con los arqueologos, y el actual y potencial uso de los detectores de metales dentro del trabajo de"campo arqueologico." EnglishThe use of the metal detector in archaeology, and the relationships betw...

The use of the metal detector in archaeology, and the relationships between metal detecting enthusiasts and archaeologists, has been long discussed and analysed in different contexts. The tool itself is acknowledged to be a useful prospecting device for use in archaeological fieldwork, and yet it has often attracted controversy in academic and professional archaeologi- cal circles due to its popularity with artefact-hunting hobbyists. In this paper, we discuss the emerging trends of metal detector use in Finland. This includes what is known about the hobbyist metal detector enthusiasts and their motivations, the extent of collaboration (or clashes) with archaeologists, and the current and potential use of metal detectors within archaeological fieldwork."

FindSampo fosters collecting, sharing, publishing and studying archaeological finds discovered by the public. The framework includes the following: a mobile find-reporting system; a semantic portal for researchers, the public and collection managers to use; and a Linked Open Data service for creating custom data analyses and for application developers.

Metal detecting has become a vivid area of citizen science. In many countries where metal detecting is legal, the rapidly increasing number of finds submitted to authorities managing national archaeological databases has overwhelmed the capabilities of those maintaining the records. We propose an innovative approach for solving the problem by presenting a case study, the Finnish Archaeological Finds Recording Linked Open Database (SuALT) project. The idea is to engage the citizens more deeply in the process of maintaining the database in a mentally rewarding way by educating and helping citizens to make their find reports more accurately and as easily as possible, in place at the find location using a mobile device. SuALT provides a sustainable archaeological repository of Linked Data in Finland, interlinked with related international systems that shall continue to facilitate public engagements with cultural heritage, and research opportunities, long after the project has ended.

In autumn 2018, eight Museum Studies students from the University of Helsinki had the opportunity to put theory into practice and to gain hands-on experience making a real exhibition. The ‘Museum Content Planning’ course was a collaborative project between the National Museum of Finland and the university in which the students, together with the museum staff, built a pop-up exhibition about the Indian festival Durga Puja in only five weeks. The exhibition showed in the National Museum for two weeks, and the students were involved in most stages of the exhibition’s development. They also blogged about their learning experience. In this case study, we present our reflections on both the benefits and challenges of collaboratively creating an exhibition, which is simultaneously an accredited learning experience for university students.

Modern cremation is often portrayed by archaeologists as a distracting antithesis of the open-air cremation practices encountered in the archaeological record from the prehistoric and early historic past. In some key ways, the process of burning cadavers within gas-fired ovens, followed by the grinding of bones to uniformly sized granules, offers a stark contrast to the varied multi-staged open-air cremation practices known from recent ethnographic studies, and from the increasingly rich data provided by the archaeological record. The cremation process is hidden, indoors and hence distanced from the survivors in modern cremation. However, there are also numerous connecting themes between modern and ancient cremation and this chapter hopes to shed light on how mortuary archaeologists can explore cremation today to better understand cremation’s memorials, spaces and materials in both the distant and recent past, including both shared themes and distinctive dimensions in relation to ot...

This paper introduces the FindSampo Reporter and Portal platforms for reporting and studying archaeological finds on the Semantic Web, respectively. FindSampo brings together members of the public, scientists, cultural heritage managers, and archaeologists utilising citizen science mediated by Linked Open Data and emerging Web development technologies. Our focus is on reporting technical results on designing the user interfaces and on evaluating the Reporter part in a field test.

Levänluhta, located in southern Ostrobothnia, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in Finland. The finds consist of scattered human bones from almost 100 individuals and some artefacts, mainly dating to the Merovingian period (AD 550/600–800) and interpreted as grave goods. Previously, the site has been seen as a sacrificial place, a place of punishment, a battlefield or as a cemetery for slaves or people who had died of an epidemic. These negative connotations probably stem from the fact that the site itself is interpreted to have been a bog or a sacrificial spring. It will be argued here, however, that the Levänluhta site was more likely a small lake or a pond. The custom to bury the deceased in water is a global phenomenon that might be linked to new ideological views towards the landscape as well as the deceased and

In this paper, we present an ongoing project called Finnish Archaeological Finds Recording Linked Open Database (Suomen arkeologisten löytöjen linkitetty avoin tietokanta – SuALT), including the reasons why this citizen science project is underway. SuALT will be a digital web service catering for discoveries of archaeological material made by the public; especially, but not exclusively, metal-detectorists. SuALT engages the citizens by providing them access to contextualized data about other related finds by linking data from different data sources in Finland and beyond. SuALT is a collaborative consortium project. The project team members work in three sub-projects, each led by a different organization and thus represents a broad interdisciplinary group, that combines specialisms from archaeology, semantic computing, cultural heritage studies, and archaeological heritage management. Subproject 1, which is based at the Department of Cultures at the University of Helsinki, focuses on...

Metal-detecting in Finland is growing in popularity, and with responsible metal-detectorists wishing to report their finds to the authorities, so also grows the pressure on the heritage sector to respond. But recording finds made by metal-detectorists is not merely a matter of providing a service to a certain group of enthusiasts; research in Finland and elsewhere shows that the archaeological data uncovered by non-professionals can have a big impact on archaeological knowledge production if the right fields of data and metadata are recorded. In this article we present the SuALT project (Suomen arkeologisten löytöjen linkitetty avoin tietokanta the Finnish Archaeological Finds Linked Open Database), intended as a solution for making the most of the increasing number of artefacts found by metal-detectorists and other members of the public. This is a four-year project carried out in collaboration between the University of Helsinki, Aalto University and the Finnish Heritage Agency, wit...

Three different burial types 1) cremation cemeteries below level ground, 2) inhumation burials and 3) water burials are discussed in five articles. I consider these burial forms from three different viewpoints; collectivity-individuality, visibility-invisibility and cremation-inhumation. The ...

The fiery transformation of the dead is replete in our popular culture and Western modernity's death ways, and yet it is increasingly evident how little this disposal method is understood by archaeologists and students of cognate disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. In this regard, the archaeological study of cremation has much to offer. Cremation is a fascinating and widespread theme and entry-point in the exploration of the variability of mortuary practices among past societies. Seeking to challenge simplistic narratives of cremation in the past and present, the studies in this volume seek to confront and explore the challenges of interpreting the variability of cremation by contending with complex networks of modern allusions and imaginings of cremations past and present and ongoing debates regarding how we identify and interpret cremation in the archaeological record. Using a series of original case studies, the book investigates the archaeological traces of cremation in a varied selection of prehistoric and historic contexts from the Mesolithic to the present in order to explore cremation from a practice-oriented and historically situated perspective.

Building for the cremated dead, in J.I. Cerezo-Román, A. Wessman and H. Williams (eds) Cremation and the Archaeology of Death, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 177-98 INTRODUCTION Given its inherent nature as fiery transformation, the archaeological traces of past cremation practices are always partial and fragmentary. However, recent advances in archaeological excavation and osteological analyses, and novel theoretical investigations of cremation's variability, character, and context, have enriched and developed the archaeology of cremation in prehistoric and early historic societies (for a review,