The Materiality of Death - mikroarkeologi.se

Chapter 8
Reuse in Finnish Cremation Cemeteries under Level Ground
– Examples of Collective Memory
Anna Wickholm
ABSTRACT This article presents site reuse in the cremation cemeteries under level ground, one of the
dominant burial forms in Finland and Estonia during Middle and Late Iron Age (AD 450-1100). These
cemeteries are sometimes erected on top of older burials and settlement sites. It is probable that either the
memories of these other monuments or the landscape influenced the choice of location. Towards the end
of the Viking Age occasional inhumations have been dug into the cremation cemeteries. The idea of
making inhumations in an older cemetery suggests a degree of continuity even if the ideas changed. By
re-using a site the dead becomes a part of a shared past and the same group of ancestors. The moraine
hills were important places because they gave the people a stronger identity, especially during a time of
change. The repeated rituals performed at the sites helped the people to sustain their collective memory.
Over the past decade Memory studies have become an
increasingly important part of burial archaeology (e.g.
Hallam & Hockey 2001; Lucas 2005; Van Dyke &
Alcock 2003; Williams 2005). It seems that
archaeologists have accepted the idea that the cemeteries
are not only static containers for the dead, but also
important places for creating and maintaining the
collective memory. Past peoples did not passively read
meanings of the surrounding landscape with its ancient
monuments, they also manipulated them. Monuments,
landscapes and specific sites evoked memories of
mythical or historical events. These memories could have
been reminiscent of certain persons, people or actions.
Even though the concept of time was probably different
to past people, they were naturally conscious of the
passing of time (e.g. Tilley 1994; Johansen 1997;
Zachrisson 1998; Bradley 2002).
Memory is a socially constructed phenomenon,
associated with repeated actions that can be either
inscribing or incorporating practices (Connerton
1989:72). While inscribing practices are needed to be
taught and explained in order for them to be understood
(e.g. learning the alphabet), incorporating practices have
to do with bodily actions. Incorporating practices are thus
practical experiences performed with the body, often
called embodied memory. Embodied memories are
maintained and remembered through repeated actions
such as performing a certain ritual, learning how to type
or ride a bicycle (ibid: 22pp; Bell 1992:118).
The French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs first
introduced the term collective memory to a broader
public. His main point was that personal memories and
also the community’s shared memories of the past are
influenced by social processes. Therefore, our
recollections are not completely personal; memory goes
beyond the individual capacity (Halbwachs 1992). “It is
also in society that they recall, recognize, and localize
their memories” (ibid: 38). Different groups of people
might in addition have completely different memories of
the same event. The collective memory is thus connected
to the social group that you experience it with, such as in
families, among believers of a religion or in social classes
(ibid). Memories are also often connected to a certain
place. When we return to this place, even after a long
time, it starts to evoke memories. Places can thus become
sites of memory (Nora 1996; Holtorf 2001).
Secondary burials are sometimes found on top of older
cemeteries. This re-use of sites that was formerly
believed to be accidental has lately been understood as
intentional behaviour (e.g. Zachrisson 1994; Gosden &
Lock 1998; Bradley 2002). This article will present some
cases of cemetery re-use from Finland, namely in
cremation cemeteries under level ground. There are quite
often layers from older settlement sites or burials under
the cremation cemeteries.
The cremation cemeteries under level ground were used
during several hundreds of years, and one particular
cemetery might have been used for over 500 years. The
connection between cremation cemeteries under level
ground and older graves indicates that there is something
special in the place or in the location of these cemeteries.
There must have been a reason for the continuous burials
at the site. Also, the long chronological continuity in
these cemeteries suggests that the place remained
important. The place of burial might have contained
several different meanings, all connected with history,
identity and social structures. Certain landscapes and sites
are thus deeply rooted in both the individual and
collective memories (Tilley 1994:27).
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