Markku Makivuoti AN IRONÂ· AGE DWELLING SITE AND BURIAL ...

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to date a structure on one fragmentary artefact,but even so the exercise offers interestingprospects as far as the whole problem surroundingRakanmaki is concerned.If we set out from the assumption put forwardin the above description of the excavation of themounds, that the object is in fact a neck ringopen able at the ends (Fig. 7), this would date itto the Migration Period, although one cannotentirely exclude the possibility that rings of thiskind may have been worn earlier (Kivikoski1973: 48, abb. 253). It is difficult, however, andperhaps impossible, to date a structure on thebasis of such a simple single artefact, and thusthe true age of the mounds remains an openquestion.The major problem in mind when theRakanmaki investigations were being plannedwas whether evidence could be found of IronAge settlement in Northern Finland, and if somewas to be found , then what could be said of suchsettlement on the basis of the site? Now that thework has been in progress for three years onemay attempt to render at least a preliminary accountof the findings.Rakanmaki may be regarded as the site of anextensive Iron Age settlement datable primarilyon radiocarbon evidence to the Roman Period,some time between the birth of Christ andA .D .400. Nothing concrete can be said aboutthe culture which this population represented,nor about their origins, but the artefacts recoveredsuggest that they were in contact withthe central areas of Iron Age civilization in thesurrounding regions.The finds to date are heavily weighted towardsmetalworking, and the site was clearly used forboth the smelting and forging of iron and for thecasting of bronze, for which there is a certainamount of evidence.The principal source of livelihood for thepopulation would seem to have been huntingand fishing, excellent opportunities for whichwere provided by its location close to the sea andto two major rivers, the Tornionjoki andKemijoki. There are no finds or samples thatgive any suggestion of farming or animal husbandry,and it is interesting to observe that noceramics at all have been found at the site.Finally, we should look for an answer to thequestion put forward at the beginning of thispaper as to whether settlement at the site was ofa permanent or a seasonal nature. For this purposeit is naturally essential first to determinewhat we mean by permanent settlement. UnderFinnish conditions we tend to use this phrase torefer to Iron Age settlements that remained relativelyfirmly anchored in one place and existedmainly on agriculture. It is also assumed thatsuch a population will have burial its dead in theimmediate vicinity. Regions characterized bypermanent settlement of this kind are traditionallyheld to be Southern Finland, South-WesternFinland and at least parts of Southern Ostrobothnia(Huurre 1983: 314; Meinander 1950),while the north of the country is traditionallythought of as having been inhabited only by ahunting and fishing population referred to asSami, or Lapps, and otherwise as having been atarget for hunting expeditions setting out fromthe areas inhabited by the dominant populationin the south (Huurre 1983: 414-429, 435-442).Considered against this background, theRakanmaki finds offer clues that can be exploredin a number of directions. On the one hand itsstructural remains are indicative of more longtermsettlement, while on the other hand thereare some signs suggestive of only temporary occupation.The large number of permanent remainsin the form of stone structures would suggestthat a certain population either returned tothe same site regularly or else lived there permanentlyfor a certain period, whereas the smallnumber of finds leads us to think that settlementthere was never particularly intensive.It would seem difficult to find any definitiveanswer at this stage in the research, andRakanmaki itself is only the first place at whichit has been possible to make a systematic studyof a dwelling and burial site in Northern Finland.Thus it would seem wisest to leave the questionof the nature of the settlement open for the timebeing.The work carried out at Rakanmaki to datehas nevertheless succeeded in demonstratingthat evidence of Iron Age settlement is to befound in the north of Finland, and that thehundreds, or possibly even thousands, of stonemounds to be found on the coast around thehead of the Gulf of Bothnia should be treatedseriously and regarded as possible indicators ofsome kind of settlement in the region (cf. Miettinen1986). Thus it is to be hoped that we canreturn to the question of the nature, extent andorigin of this settlement at a later stage, when afew more sites of this kind have been examined.44
UNPUBLISHED SOURCESCleve, N. 1955. Kiviraunioita Alatornion Laivaniemenja Laivajiirven viilissii metsiissii. Tarkastuskertomus.Museoviraston esihistorian toimiston topografinenarkisto.Erii-Esko, A. 1962. Laivajiirven kyliin "Rakanmiienkiviroykkio ja rakennelma-alue. Inventointiraportti.Museoviraston esihistorian toimiston topografinenarkisto.REFERENCESChristiansson, H. 1973. Sten-brons-jiirn i Ovre Norrland.SMYA 75.Hackman, A. 1905. Die altere Eisenzeit in Finland I.Helsingfors.Hallinder, P. 1978. Spade-shaped currency bars. Exavationsat Helgo V:1. Workshop Part II. Lund.Huurre, M. 1973. Ristiretkiajan polttohauta Suomusalmella.SMYA 75 .- 1982. Suomussalmen varhaista metallikautta. SM1981.- 1983. Pohjois-Pohjanmaan ja Lapin esihistoria.Pohjois-Pohjanmaan ja Lapin historia I.- 1986a. Esihistoria. Kainuun historia I.- 1986b. The eastern contacts of northern Fennoscandiain the Bronze Age. Fennoscandia archaeologicaIII.Kehusmaa, A. 1972. Neitilii 4. Helsingin yliopistonarkeologian laitos. Moniste n:o 3.Kivikoski, E. 1973. Die Eisenzeit Finnlantis. Bildwerkund Text. Helsinki.Meinander, C.F. 1950. Esihistoria. Etela-Pohjanmaanhistoria I.Miettinen, M. 1986. An early Iron Age cairn fromFroniisudden, southern Ostrobothnia. Fennoscandiaarchaeologica III.Miikivuoti, M: 1984. Kempeleen Linnakankaan lapinrauniotutkimuskesiillii 1983. Faravid 7/1983.- 1985. Kempeleen Linnakankaan loydoistii jaajoituksesta. Faravid 9/1985.- 1986. Rautakautista asutusta etsimiissii. Museoaviisi2186.- 1987. Om det fOrhistoriska jiirntillverkningen iNordfinland. Studia Historica Septentrionalia 14:1.- 1987. Tornion Rakanmiien rautakautinen asuinpaikka.Tornionlaakson vuosikirja 1987.Nihlen, J. 1939. Aldre jiirntillverkning i Sydsverige.Studier rorande den primitiva jiirnhanteringen i Hallandoch SkAne. lernkontorets BerghistoriskaSkriftserie Nr. 9.Purhonen, P. 1982. Ylivieskan Kettukallion rautaharkko.Studia Minora. Helsingin yliopiston arkeologianlaitos. Moniste n:o 29.Salo, U. 1984. Pronssikausi ja rautakauden alku. Suomenhistoria I.- 1968. Die fruhromische Zeit in Finnland. SMYA 67.Sc~.ulz, E.-L. 1986. Ein Eisenverhiittungsplatz aus derAlteren Eisenze.~t in Kajaani. Iskos 6.Serning, I. 1960. Ovre Norrlantis jarndlder. UmeA.- 1979. Prehistoric Iron Production. Iron and Man inPrehistoric Sweden. Leeds.Siiriiiinen, A. 1964. Kemijiirven Jatulinsaari. SM 1964.- 1978. Archaeological Shore Displacement ChronOlogyin Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Iskos 2.Stuiver, M. & Pearson, G .W. 1986. High-precisionCalibration of the Radiocarbon Time Scale, AD1500-500 BC. Radiocarbon Vol. 28. No. 2B .Stuiver, M. & Reimar, P.J. 1986. A Computer Programfor Radiocarbon Age Calibration. RadiocarbonVo. 28 . No. 2B.ThAlin, L. 1973. Notes on the Ancient Iron CurrencyBars of Northern Sweden and the Nickel Alloys ofsome Archaeological Objects. Early MedievalStudies 5. Antikvariskt Arkiv 50. Lund.Uino, P. 1986. An Iron age community at Ketohaka inSalo and other remains of Metal Period Buildings inFinland. SMYA 89:1.Zachrisson, I. 1976. Lapps and Scandinavians. ArchaelogicalFinds from Northern Sweden. EarlyNorrland 10.ABBREVIATIONSSM = Suomen MuseoSMY A Suomen MuinaismuistoyhdistyksenAikakauskirja,45
Page 3 and 4: Fig. 3. The regular pentagon constr
Page 6 and 7: ~1_3~2Map 2. Shaping of Rakanmaki a
Page 9: Table 1. Calibrated radiocarbon dat

Markku Makivuoti AN IRONÂ· AGE DWELLING SITE AND BURIAL ...

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