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Fennoscandia archaeologica XVIII (2001)

Mika Lavento, Petri Halinen, Vladimir Timofeev, Dmitri Gerasimov andAlexander Saksa

AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD SURVEY OF STONE AGE AND EARLYMETAL PERIOD SETTLEMENT AT KAUKOLA (SEVASTYANOVO) ANDRÄISÄLÄ (MELNIKOVO) ON THE KARELIAN ISTHMUS IN 1999

Abstract

In the spring of 1999 the Department of Archaeology of the University of Helsinki, and the Institute of History andMaterial Culture/RAN at St. Petersburg carried out a two-week survey in the municipalities of Kaukola(Sevastjanovo) and Räisälä (Melnikovo) with the purpose of uncovering previously unknown, mostly Stone Ageand Early metal Period sites. During the survey 36 Stone Age and 2 Early Metal period sites were found. Materialsfrom the historical period were found at three sites, and at five dwelling sites one to four dwelling depressionswere documented. Dwelling depressions are not earlier known on the Karelian Isthmus. The survey clearly showsthat on the Karelian Isthmus there can be found a large number of new sites also in areas that are better known thanother areas on the Isthmus. The role of survey methods is also discussed.

Keywords: Karelian Isthmus, field surveys, history of research, methodology, Stone Age, Early Metal Period.

Mika Lavento, Institute for Cultural Studies, Department of Archaeology, P.O. Box 59 (Unioninkatu 38F), FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: mika.lavento@helsinki.fi

Petri Halinen, Institute for Cultural Studies, Department of Archaeology, P.O. Box 59 (Unioninkatu 38F), FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: petri.halinen@helsinki.fi

Vladimir Timofeev, Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of the History of Material Culture, Dvortsovayanaberezhnaya 18, 191186 St. Petersburg, Russia. E-mail: vtimof@mail.wplus.net

Dmitri Gerasimov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Anthropology and Ethnograpy (Kunstkamera),Universitetskaja naberezhnaya 3, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia. E-mail: gerhome@yandex.ru

Alexander Saksa, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of the History of Material Culture,Dvortsovaya naberezhnaya 18, 191186 St. Petersburg, Russia.

INTRODUCTION

The Karelian Isthmus is situated between largehistorical-geographical regions - Karelia,Fennoscandia and the Baltic region. This is onereason why it has also been a contact area betweenpopulations living in these regions since the EarlyMesolithic. Since World War II the Karelian Isth-

mus has been an enigmatic area for Finnish ar-chaeologists. Until 1930 about half of all knownStone Age dwelling sites were there (Uino 2000).It was not by chance that the Karelian Isthmusbecame known as the location of the oldest netfind in the world (Pälsi 1920) already in the be-ginning of 1900s. Many important site areas andcemeteries were found on the Karelian Isthmus on

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both sides of the turn of 1900s. Archaeologicalfindings and dwelling sites there were of primaryimportance when building the general view ofFinnish prehistory. This also explains why severalexcavations and articles dealing with the prehis-tory of Kaukola (Sevastyanovo) and Räisälä

(Melnikovo) achieved a classical role in Finnisharchaeology (Fig. 1).

The geology of the Karelian Isthmus is directlyconnected with the history of the Baltic Sea andLake Ladoga. Stone Age dwelling sites have beenfound on ancient sea shores, but also in inland

Fig. 1. A large-scale map of the Karelian Isthmus. Source: Map of Karelian municipalities published bythe Karjalan Liitto heritage association.

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conditions on narrow straits and islands. For thesereasons the Karelian Isthmus has attracted archae-ologists, geologists and geographers for over 100years.

These are also the main reasons why the De-partment of Archaeology of the University ofHelsinki, has focused interest on the Karelian Isth-mus, in Kaukola and Räisälä, in probing possibili-ties to launch fieldwork together with archaeolo-gists of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A pre-liminary familiarization with the area was alreadycarried out in October 1998 (Siiriäinen et al.1999). The work showed that although the “clas-sical” Stone Age dwelling sites - around LakePitkäjärvi in Räisälä and at Riukjärvi and Piiskun-salmi in Kaukola - were principally well preservedfor further, and more detailed surveys, it stillseemed tempting to proceed by trying to find pre-viously unknown dwelling sites in the area. Be-cause the survey was the first one conducted byFinnish and Russian archaeologists questions re-lating to logistics, accommodation, maintenanceof the group, its transporting from site to site etc.gained more important role than normally in ar-chaeological fieldwork.

THE STARTING POINTS OF THE SURVEY

In addition to their large number of known dwell-ing sites Kaukola and Räisälä were a naturalchoice for the focus of the first major survey ofStone Age and Early Metal Period dwelling sitesbecause cartographic material studied beforehandsuggested that both municipalities were archaeo-logically and geologically favourable for survey-ing. It was possible to locate shore terraces at dif-ferent elevations from various periods of the StoneAge. Further, particularly in Räisälä, long eskersand large glaciofluvial deltas related to them werepromising locations for finding the ancient shoreterraces of Lake Ladoga.

The survey was jointly conducted in the fieldbetween the 2nd and the 14th of May 1999 by aFinnish-Russian team of archaeologists. FromFinnish side the leaders of the project were PetriHalinen, lic. phil. and Mika Lavento, lic. phil.from the University of Helsinki. From Russianside the leaders were Dr Vladimir Timofeev, DrAlexander Saksa, and MA Dmitri Gerasimov.

Along with its scientific purposes the surveyalso had another main aim. It was organized as a

field course for students of archaeology at theUniversity of Helsinki. Altogether 12 advancedlevel students were responsible for the practicalpreparation of the field work by studying differ-ent kinds of material in the archives. The studentswere engaged in a course of advanced field stud-ies, the purpose of which was to obtain the meansand necessary skills to conduct archaeologicalsurvey from beginning to end in a restricted area.The actual survey areas within the municipalitieswere chosen on the basis of suggestions from thestudents. They also carried out a considerable partof the subsequent work for the survey report(Halinen et al. 1999). Petri Halinen was respon-sible for the lectures of the course and he alsoinitiated students into the methods of archaeologi-cal survey and preparation of the field work.1

Four basic questions were posed for the survey:

1) The first group of interests was related to lo-cating Stone Age sites involving possible dwell-ing depressions. A large number of Neolithicdwelling depressions have recently been locatedall over Finland, but also in the Ancient LakeSaimaa area (Kotivuori 1993; Pesonen 1999). Itis therefore natural to assume that large dwelling-site complexes could also be found on theKarelian Isthmus. It was particularly worth not-ing that although rich Stone Age sites were foundand excavated in these municipalities already inthe early 1900s (Ailio 1909; Pälsi 1915), no dwell-ing depressions were known from the KarelianIsthmus before 1999.

2) It is evident that Julius Ailio, Sakari Pälsi, A.M. Tallgren, K. Soikkeli and several other pioneerFinnish archaeologists had clear hypotheses ofwhere to find Stone Age and Early Metal Perioddwelling sites on the Karelian Isthmus. It was theninteresting to compare how much these hypoth-eses bear weight today, or might it be possible tosee some kind of “change in paradigm” in seek-ing prehistoric sites. To this problem was alsorelated an interest in observations about the loca-tion of dwelling sites and their environment. Al-though Russian archaeologists have carried outsome restricted surveys in Kaukola they haveconcentrated mostly on the vicinity of previouslyknown dwelling-site complexes (Dolukhanov &Timofeev 1998). One serious difficulty for the

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surveys conducted by Russian archaeologists hasbeen the lack of proper topographic maps withelevation contour lines (scale 1:20 000).

3) One more interesting question was to use thecourse of shore displacement as constructed byAilio (1915) and Saarnisto & Siiriäinen (1970) asa starting point of the survey. Although it was notpossible to carry out levellings of the elevationsof newly discovered sites, it was still possible toestimate at least roughly what was the relation ofnew sites of different periods of Stone Age andEarly Metal Period to the shorelines.

SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF MOST IM-PORTANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL STONE AGEAND EARLY METAL PERIOD STUDIES ONTHE KARELIAN ISTHMUS

The earliest archaeological research on theKarelian Isthmus was conducted in the 1870s byTheodor Schvindt. Although Schvindt’s interestsfocused particularly on Iron Age settlement hemade a large number of observations concerningStone Age habitation in the area.

Stone Age studies considerably gained place atthe turn of the 19th and 20th centuries through thework of the Finnish archaeologists Julius Ailio(1909; 1915; 1922), A. M. Tallgren (1914) andespecially Sakari Pälsi (1915; 1918). In 1914 Pälsiinvestigated an unique and later internationallyrenowned early Mesolithic site at Antrea near thevillage of Korpilahti (contemporary Ozerskoye)(Pälsi 1920). Although the majority of archaeo-logical studies before the World War II focused onthe Iron Age, a considerable amount of Stone Ageand Early Metal Period research was still con-ducted by Finnish archaeologists.

Theodor Schvindt was also a pioneer of StoneAge archaeology on the Karelian Isthmus. Be-tween 1876-1884 he wrote a report about the re-sults of his Stone Age studies – the report includesthe material not published in his doctoral disser-tation (1893). Despite this, he excavated only ontwo occasions at a Stone Age dwelling site. In1982 he carried out excavations at Teperinaho andin 1905 at Papinkangas, in the municipality ofRäisälä. Also the first excavations at Kalmis-tomäki, Räisälä (1885, 1887 and 1892) were con-ducted by Schvindt.

Julius Ailio, Kaarle Soikkeli, and Sakari Pälsiwere responsible for the first large-scale excava-

tions in Finnish Stone Age archaeology. Ailio re-searched several dwelling sites at Riukjärvi andPiiskunsalmi between 1909 and 1912, and de-voted his efforts to the geology and shore dis-placement of Lake Ladoga (Ailio 1915). Pälsicontinued field excavations at the sites in Kaukolain 1911 and 1912. Because the number of bothexcavation and stray finds had become very largePälsi decided to write his doctoral dissertation onthis material (Pälsi 1915). Ailio’s and Pälsi’s ex-cavations were also methodologically developed;for example, the excavation areas were dividedinto 2 x 2 m grids. The large salvage excavationsat Häyrynmäki in Viipuri were conducted by Ailioand Soikkeli in 1909 and 1910. The continuationof field work at Kalmistonmäki, Räisälä in 1914by A. M. Tallgren uncovered a great deal of im-portant information relating to the Early MetalPeriod in Finland. Although a large number ofStone Age material was found also as stray findsall over the Karelian Isthmus it was still the ma-terial from the excavations in Kaukola, Räisälä,and Viipuri which essentially influenced the over-all view of the Stone Age in Finland in the begin-ning of 1900s.

During 1920s and 1930s no major Stone Ageexcavations were carried out on the Isthmus. Ar-chaeological research activity concentrated onIron Age problems, and only minor Stone andEarly Metal Period excavations were conducted.The last Finnish Stone Age excavation was car-ried out by Sakari Pälsi in August 1944 at Sintolain Vuoksenranta.

On the Russian side of the border, in the south-ern part of the Karelian Isthmus, Stone Age dwell-ing sites were mainly studied before World WarII by geologists and students. Archaeologicalmaterial was investigated and described at thattime mainly according to Ailio’s (1915) chrono-logical scheme. In 1907-1908 the site ofSosnovaya Gora was discovered by S. A.Gamtchenko (1913) on the basis of the barrowsnear Lake Sestroretskiy Razliv. The barrows datedfrom the Medieval Period. Gamtchenko still col-lected a relatively large Late Neolithic material inhis excavation in the area. This collection is nowstored in the State Hermitage Museum in St.Petersburg. In 1916 an interesting dwelling site(Razliv) located by the Sestroretskiy Razliv wasincidentally discovered by Baron A.P. Schtakel-berg. Soon after this, in 1921, B. F. Zemlyakovconducted first archaeological excavations at the

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site. This material launched a lively archaeologi-cal discussion and it was soon recognized as a“classic” Mesolithic site in the region (Zemlyakov1922a; Gurina 1961). Now it appears to be a treas-ure of the Middle Neolithic, belonging to theBaltic Comb Ware culture (Gerasimov 2000). Thecollection from Razliv is stored in the Kunst-kamera Museum in St. Petersburg.

Many Stone Age dwelling sites were discov-ered in the southern part of the Karelian Isthmusdue to activities of the Lakhta excursion station(a centre of local folklore studies). A very impor-tant role in these investigations was played by B.F. Zemlyakov, a Russian geologist and archaeolo-gist, who is well-known by his work in Kareliaand the Kola Peninsula. His investigations of qua-ternary sedimentation associated with archaeo-logical sites on the Karelian Isthmus have beenimportant for constructing a detailed chronologi-cal scheme of Stone Age settlement in this region(Zemlyakov 1922a; 1922b; 1928a; 1928b; 1941).

In 1916 the Middle Neolithic site of Tarkhovkawas discovered on the eastern shore of LakeSestroretskiy Razliv by M. Ya. Rudinskiy and G.P. Sosnovskiy, of the Lakhta station. After this itwas investigated by B. F. Zemlyakov, who madea section of the site sediments there (Sosnovskiy& Zemlyakov 1917; Zemlyakov 1922a; 1928b).The excavation unearthed a fire place and somematerial which is stored at the Kunstkamera mu-seum, St. Petersburg.

In 1922 P. V. Vittenburg of the Lakhta stationdiscovered a Late Neolithic - Early Metal Agedwelling site at Lakhta and 1923 B. F. Zemlyakov(1928a) conducted a small excavation there. Thedating of this site was associated with the prob-lems of late transgressions in the Baltic sea, whichmade it a subject of active discussion among ge-ologists (Zemlyakov 1928a; Markov 1931). In1999 P. A. Sorokin and D. Gerasimov carried outa survey at the site trying to define its precise lo-cation and to collect datable material. This surveyshowed that in 1933 the level of LakeSestroretskiy Razliv was artificially lowered, andseven dwelling sites dating to the Late Neolithic(Sestroretskaya 1-7) were discovered on the west-ern coast of the lake by G. P. Sosnovskiy and B.F. Zemlyakov (Sosnovskiy 1935). In 1998 a re-stricted survey was carried out there by P. A.Sorokin and V. I. Timofeev. It reinforced the hy-pothesis according to which all the dwelling siteshave remained under the contemporary water

level of the lake. Material collected from thesesites is catalogued in the Kunstkamera Museumin St. Petersburg.

Archaeological work on both Finnish and Rus-sian sides of the Karelian Isthmus created a goodbasis for conducting overviews of the Stone Agearchaeology in the region. The material from theKarelian Isthmus played an important role whenAarne Äyräpää (Europaeus) published one of hismost important works dedicated to the chronol-ogy of Stone Age ceramics in Finland (Europaeus1930). Many of his results were based on SakariPälsi’s excavations in Kaukola, but also on his ownexcavations at Selänkangas close to the city ofViipuri. Äyräpää’s work has retained its impor-tance to the present day.

After World War II N. N. Gurina carried outsome archaeological investigations at LakeSestroretskiy Razliv (Sestroretskaya sites,Tarkhovka). In 1961 Gurina published her funda-mental monograph about the Stone Age and EarlyMetal Period in the NW Russia, where also all dataavailable concerning the Stone Age on theKarelian Isthmus was presented as a large-scalegeneralization (Gurina 1961).

A. N. Rumyanchev conducted a number ofsmall excavations at Neolithic sites in Kaukoladuring the early 1960s. He also surveyed inRäisälä and the area of Viipuri. A report existsfrom this field work (1969). In 1961-1962 theNeolithic dwelling site of Vyun was excavated onthe Central-Eastern part of the Karelian Isthmus,near the village of Pyatirechye, not far from thecoast of Lake Ladoga. The excavations were con-ducted by Professor S. Rudenko, the Head of theArchaeological Technology Laboratory at theLeningrad branch of the Institute of Archaeology(LOIA), now the Institute for the History of Ma-terial Culture of the Russian Academy of Science(IIMK). An area of 117 square metres was exca-vated. S. Rudenko wanted to test different scien-tific methods in the research of the site (geophys-ics, phosphorous analysis, C-14 analysis, petrog-raphy etc.). Several radiocarbon dates were madefrom the charcoal samples taken from the culturallayer (but the dates proved to be too young) andfrom samples taken from the geological sedimentsin the area situated close to the site. A large col-lection of Comb Ware and stone artefacts wasobtained as a result of these excavations (Rudenko1970).

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Yu. N. Urban (1976) compiled a large list ofsites and finds based on varies types of informa-tion, collected partly by him. No report about hisactivities on the Karelian Isthmus has remainedin the archives, and the list of the sites collectedwas never published. The sites Urban researchedare to be found in Lapshin’s book (1990; 1995).

V. M. Sokolov was an amateur archaeologistwho did not carry out excavations in the westernpart of Karelian Isthmus, but instead collectedfinds at different places of the northern and south-ern part of the Isthmus with the help of school-children. Rather large collections of finds arestored in his school museum. The amateur V. M.Sokolov was the first who rediscovered in the1960s the majority of sites excavated in the early1900s by Julius Ailio and Sakari Pälsi in theRiukjärvi and Piiskunsalmi area.

In 1977 a Neolithic dwelling site at LakeHepojärvi, close to Toksovo, was excavated by I.V. Vereschagina (IIMK). The main part of the site(about 100 sq.m.) was investigated and the re-mains of hearths were found. Ceramics ofSperrings type were found, but still the TypicalComb Ware prevailed the find material. The ra-diocarbon dates were obtained from the charcoalcollected in the fireplaces with the following re-sults: 6480±60 BP, 6380±60 BP, 4100±60 BP,4020±60 BP (Timofeev & Zaitseva 1991). Thefind material of the site is so far unpublished andit is stored at IIMK.

In 1984 field work at Stone Age and EarlyMetal Period sites on the central and southernparts of the Karelian Isthmus was carried out byV. I. Timofeev. Some new sites were found and anumber of sites discovered by amateurs (first ofall by V. M. Sokolov) were investigated further.

New archaeological data were collected atsome 30 dwelling sites, dating mainly from theperiod of the Neolithic Comb Ware culture. Smallexcavations were also conducted at the EarlyMetal Period dwelling site of Kanneljärvi 2, dis-covered on the low shore terrace of Lake Kannel-järvi in the central part of the Isthmus (Timofeev1985; 1986; 1993).

Two 14C dates of about 3500-3600 BP wereobtained from charcoal samples collected fromthe cultural layer at the Kanneljärvi 2 dwelling site(Timofeev & Zaitzeva 1991). In 1987 a palaeo-geographical investigation was carried out at theHäyrynsuo bog situated close to the large Neo-

lithic dwelling sites of Häyrynmäki and Selän-kangas investigated by Soikkeli, and Ailio. A ra-diocarbon date of 4600±150 was obtainedthrough pollen stratigraphy from the layers asso-ciated with sites (Kleymenova et al. 1988). Alsoa pollen spectrum of plants was investigated. Sev-eral disturbances caused by human activity wereobserved dating from as early as the Neolithicperiod.

In 1993 a small-scale field investigation wasconducted by V. I. Timofeev at the sites close tothe site of Riukjärvi 6. On the opposite of the pre-liminary hypotheses the site was not dated toNeolithic, but to the first half of the Mesolithicperiod (Timofeev 1994; 2000). In 1997 these siteswere revisited together with P. M. Dolukhanov(University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Great Brit-ain), who also made some interesting geomorpho-logical observations at the site (Dolukhanov &Timofeev 1998).

Dr. Alexander Saksa (1998) has conductedmore Iron Age field research than anyone else onthe Karelian Isthmus since the World War II, butinvestigations have also been made in cooperationwith Russian and Finnish archaeologists since thelate 1980s (e.g. Saksa 1985; Uino 1990; Taavit-sainen et al. 1994). Iron Age studies have beencarried out particularly in Käkisalmi (Uino &Saksa 1993) and Viipuri (Tjulenev 1987). TheIron Age of the whole area has been researchedalso in large monographs (Kochkurkina 1982;Taavitsainen 1990; Uino 1997; Saksa 1998). Alsomany geological investigations related to archaeo-logical problems have been carried out since1990s. Professor Matti Saarnisto, Dr. HeikkiSimola, and Dr. Elisabeth Grönlund on particu-lar have been active in these studies. The problemshave concerned the shore displacement of LakeLadoga, but even more emphasis have been laidon palynological studies and the history of agri-culture on the Karelian Isthmus (Grönlund et al.1995; Saarnisto & Grönlund 1996; Saarnisto &Vuorela 1996).

The most recent field work concerning StoneAge or Bronze Age archaeology on the KarelianIsthmus has been conducted jointly by Finnishand Russian archaeologists. The field research hasbeen made by the University of Helsinki (Halinenet al. 1999), the Lahti Historical museum (Takala1998), and some individual archaeologists (seeJussila 2000). These studies have opened up new

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possibilities which may change during the shortperiod the view of prehistory in this area.

VIEWS ON THE GEOLOGICAL AND SHOREDISPLACEMENT HISTORY OF THE ENVI-RONMENT OF THE KARELIAN ISTHMUS

From its discovery (Pälsi 1920) until the presentday, the Antrea net has been a subject of interestfor many specialists (Zemlyakov 1928b; Hyyppä1937; Sauramo 1951; Gurina 1961; Dolukhanov1963; Meinander 1982; Timofeev 1993). The soilprofile was taken in connection with the net andpollen analysis dated it to the Pre-Boreal period.In 1970 a float of pine bark was dated by the ra-diocarbon method (Hel-269, 9230±210; Hel-1303, 9310±140) which confirmed the pollendate. Until now Antrea has been known the earli-est site on the Karelian Isthmus and it seems tosuggest the beginning of the human occupation inthe whole region, although the site itself is only astray find, probably indicating a kind of accident.Early dwelling sites, the chronology of whichcomes close to Antrea net, have recently beenfound both on the Finnish side, close to Lap-peenranta, but also on the Karelian Isthmus, closeto the Antrea area (see Jussila 2000).

Investigations concerning the development anddifferent phases of the Baltic Sea and LakeLadoga have been especially important for re-searchers of Stone Age archaeology on theKarelian Isthmus, because the habitation of thisregion in ancient times was closely connected withenvironmental conditions. Studies relating to thephases of the Baltic Sea and Lake Ladoga havebeen conducted by several Finnish and Russiangeologists and archaeologists, including J. Ailio(1915), B. F. Zemlyakov (1922a; 1928b), S. A.Jakovlev (1926), W. Ramsay (1926), K. K.Markov (1930), E. Hyyppä (1937), P. M.Dolukhanov (1963; 1965; 1969), M. Saarnisto &A. Siiriäinen (1970), G. Lak (1978), and recentlyM. Saarnisto (Saarnisto et al. 1994). Julius Ailio(1898; 1915) was the first to present a generalmodel of the shore displacement history of LakeLadoga. Ailio’s model is still valid in its mainparts.

Already in the end of 19th century both geolo-gists and archaeologists discovered that the shoredisplacement history of Lake Ladoga did not fol-low the simple regularly retarding model of land

uplift (Berghell 1896; Ailio 1898). Both strati-graphic evidence collected by geologists and thearchaeological evidence showed that water levelsin the lake rose during the Neolithic. The expla-nation of the phenomenon was the transgressionof Lake Ladoga. The transgression suddenly fin-ished when the River Neva formed. The forma-tion of the River Vuoksi considerably increasedthe amount of water (Saarnisto 1970:75) in LakeLadoga. Also the pluvial period and the increaseof moisture have been suggested as one explana-tion for the phenomenon (Znamenskaja &Ananova 1967).

It is of particular interest that the dwelling sitesof Riukjärvi and Piiskunsalmi (Kankaanmäki,Nököpelto, Iivosen rantapelto, Teräväisen ranta-pelto etc.) have revealed large amounts of Typi-cal Comb Ware (hence Ka II), some Early andLate Comb Ware (hence Ka I and Ka III), andNeolithic Asbestos ceramics of the Pöljä andKierikki type. Also worth noting is the fact that alarge collection of Early Metal Period ceramics inthe dwelling site complex consists of Textile ce-ramics, and only some vessels of Luukonsaari andSirnihta Ware have been found. Considerableamounts of Slavo-Karelian ceramics dating to thehistorical period have been found at many dwell-ing sites (Ailio 1909; Pälsi 1915:passim;Meinander 1954:190; Uino 1997:236-240;Lavento 2001:244-254). According to Saarnistoand Siiriäinen (1970:16), the dwelling sitesaround Riukjärvi and Piiskunsalmi are at an eleva-tion of 14-24 m asl. The dwelling site of Pitkäjärviin Räisälä revealed a ceramic sequence from KaII:1 to the Pöljä type, together with an arrowheadof the Pyheensilta type, at an elevation of 21-22m asl (Pälsi 1918). Finds from Teperinaho inRäisälä included Ka II at 19 m asl (Saarnisto &Siiriäinen 1970:16). Finally, the survey area alsocontains the well-known multi-period dwellingsite of Kalmistomäki Hovi in Räisälä (Meinander1954) at an elevation of 18.5 m asl. In addition,there are also some other areas on the KarelianIsthmus with elevation observations, which are ofimportance in discussing the basic models ofshore displacement history of the area and thestarting points of the survey.

C. F. Meinander dated the beginning of Textileceramics (or late Textile ceramics known as theKalmistonmäki group) on the basis of the trans-gression of Lake Ladoga to the middle of the first

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Fig. 2. New dwelling sites in Kaukola and Räisälä with the 20 m contour line. Visible area is 33 x 23 km.The illustration shows an area of 33 x 23 kilometres. Map: Antti Korpisaari and Mika Kunnari.

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millennium BC (Meinander 1954:195; Saarnisto& Siiriäinen 1970:18). In the late 1970s G. Laket al. (1978) proposed that the peak of the trans-gression had already taken place around 1100-1000 BC. In 1994 a carbon-14 date (2970±380)from a site containing asbestos ceramics close toKuuppala in Kurkijoki, at an elevation of 18 m asl,has given support to the earlier dating (Saarnistoet al. 1994:77; Saarnisto & Grönlund 1996:210).

What has been earlier said about the shore dis-placement history on the Karelian Isthmus illus-tratively shows how well it is known in general.This is why it also played a central role in plan-ning the survey in Kaukola (Sevastyanovo) andRäisälä (Melnikovo). The shore displacementobservations were the basis of the analysis ofmaps.

METHODS OF THE SURVEY

In general terms, the survey of May 1999 wasconducted on the basis of methodology applied inStone Age and Early Metal Period basic surveysin Finland in 1990s. The main emphasis in theinvestigation was not on inspecting sites and strayfinds that were already known sites but on locat-ing new sites, in new kinds of topographical andecological environments. The basis of the success-ful fieldwork lies in detailed knowledge of allrelevant archive material (particularly the Topo-graphic Archives of the National Board of Antiq-uities, Helsinki), and the study of so-called basicsurvey maps (1:20 000 - 1:50 000). In addition tobasic maps also some special maps involving dif-ferent type of information relating to the environ-ment, soils, geological formations, agriculture etc.can have an important role in the survey. The findmaterial already known from the investigationarea makes it possible to postulate the elevationmodels for sites dating from different prehistoricperiods. The application of shore displacement insub-areas on the Karelian Isthmus is presented inmore detail in the following chapter.

All archaeological information concerningStone Age and Early Metal Period sites availablein the archives of the National Board of Antiqui-ties of Finland was marked on printed basic mapsof 1:20 000 scale. Used as base maps were dig-ital copies of maps published in Finland before1939. For the archaeologists conducting the sur-vey the most important information in these maps

for locating sites consists of waterways, bogs,fields, buildings, roads and stands of trees. Al-though many details – farmhouses and their out-buildings, roads etc. – are only in ruins today themaps have still proved to be very useful in prac-tical field work. The dating of a site is based oncontour lines, in the case of Kaukola and Räisäläparticularly at elevations of ca 20 and 25 m asl.They were marked on copies of printed maps forillustrating chronological information and fea-tures of local topography – straits, capes, bays,estuaries of rivers etc. The most promising shel-tered coves, terraces and areas situated in the oth-erwise favourable topographical locations, alongpotential waterways and land roads were sepa-rated for further checking in the field. Some en-vironmental factors, geographical and geologicalattributes characterizing the most typical locationsof different types of sites (Vikkula 1994) were alsochecked in the field.

An important part of the pre-fieldwork was tofind out the existence and location of differentkind of quaternary formations such as estuaries,drumlins and glaciofluvial deltas etc. Usuallythese formations can be observed on basic maps,but in many cases also geological maps – particu-larly when soil maps were available – were usedfor this. Unfortunately, only old soil maps of largescale are available from the survey areas on theKarelian Isthmus. Despite this, the basic featuresof the most important geological formations couldbe established by investigating 1:20 000-scalemaps. The majority of Stone Age and Early MetalPeriod dwelling sites in the area of the BalticShield are situated on gravel and sand formations.These soils together with suitable elevations in-dicate shores, terraces and pine heaths where rainwater soaks down quickly, and where snow alsomelts first after the winter.

In addition to soil types and elevation, also anunderstanding of the local topography played animportant role in the survey. Finnish archaeolo-gists have discussed the topographical aspectsrelating to sites particularly in connection withMesolithic settlement (Siiriäinen 1981; 1987;Matiskainen 1989). Most Mesolithic sites havebeen found in different types of sea-shore envi-ronments, where coastal archipelagos or evenouter archipelagos were used. The outer archi-pelago was an area of small hunting stations incertain seasons also during the Bronze Age (Seger

12

1986a; 1986b).All these questions have also been investigated

in large and small lacustrine environments. Dwell-ing sites on sheltered bays, the shores of smallinland lakes and rivers, river estuaries, and thecoastal archipelagos of large inland lakes areknown from the Ancient Lake Saimaa area(Vikkula 1995), belonging to the same water sys-tem as the Stone Age sites of Kaukola and Räisälä(Fig. 2). The methods of natural geography havebeen applied to a great deal in the field surveysof the 1990s in the Ancient Lake Saimaa Project(Wilhelms 1995; Maaranen 1996a; 1996b) inanalysing environments around the sites of differ-ent types and age. They have also been useful onthe Karelian Isthmus. In addition to these, alsovarious methods of geoarchaeology and soil sci-ence have recently been applied in surveys(Lavento 1997). However, soil samples were nottaken in the surveys of Kaukola and Räisälä.

Survey methodology has developed at a briskpace during the 1990s in Finland.2 Because sur-veys have become an increasingly important partof field work also methodology has been devel-oped for different conditions and questions(Lavento 2000). At Kaukola and Räisälä it waspossible to check only part of the potential areas,and the survey as a whole can be considered asample.

EARLIER RESEARCH CONCERNING STONEAGE AND EARLY METAL PERIOD SETTLE-MENT IN KAUKOLA AND RÄISÄLÄ

In the archive material concerning Stone Age andEarly Metal Period dwelling sites in Kaukola andRäisälä at the National Board of Antiquities canbe separated – depending on manner to calculate– coarsely 20 and 30 sites and ca 10 stray finds,which were collected before the World War II.3

After the War all information about the new fieldstudies is in the Russian Academy of Sciences, theInstitute of the History of Material Culture, St.Petersburg, in the Museum of Anthropology andEthnography named after Peter the Great, Kunst-kamera, St. Petersburg, or at the University of St.Petersburg.

No large surveys have been conducted neitherin Kaukola or Räisälä by Finnish archaeologists,but most sites have been first located on the basisof stray finds picked up by local people. Ju. N.

Urban and V. M. Sokolov carried out field surveysin Riukjärvi and Piiskunsalmi area in 1970s (Uino1997:39), but these investigations brought notmuch new information.

The largest Stone Age studies on the KarelianIsthmus were made in the surroundings of LakeRiukjärvi (Pälsi 1915), in the fields situating by arelatively low esker. Together with large excava-tions in Räisälä Pitkäjärvi and Papinkangas, andViipuri Häyrynmäki Aarne Äyräpää was able tosay that Stone Age studies in Karelia are on a goodfooting, better than those of other periods of pre-history (Europaeus 1923). After 1920s the stateof research went worse for many decades. Notuntil 1990s the place of almost all Stone Agedwelling sites known by Pälsi were again locatedin this area of Riukjärvi and Piiskunsalmi(Timofeev 1994). In addition to large number offinds excavated by Julius Ailio and Sakari Pälsialso local farmers collected yearly large numberof stray finds during their cultivation activities. Itis worth to note that finds from Riukjärvi andPiiskunsalmi comprised that far largest find col-lection in Finland. Although in both Riukjärvi andPiiskunsalmi the great majority of finds are StoneAge ceramics and fragments of stone implementsalso later periods are well represented in thesesites.

In Räisälä Stone Age dwelling sites weremostly found on the esker running in the N sideof Lake Juoksemajärvi. Theodor Schvindt, whowas particularly concentrated on the Iron Age ofthe Karelia, also conducted excavations at RäisäläTeperinaho in 1892 and Papinkangas in 1905. Thewell-known Stone Age dwelling sites of Pitkäjärvi(Pälsi 1918) brought in light Pälsi’s interpretationabout the Stone Age hut – an interpretation whichhas kept its place until our days. In addition tothese dwelling site clusters only stray finds havebeen known in the parish (Appendix 1). Strayfinds are stone axes and adzes, perforated stones,etc. which are easy to understand as prehistoricfinds by laymen.

Until recently no sites involving dwelling de-pression were known in these parishes. Still bothJulius Ailio and Sakari Pälsi (1915; 1918) docu-mented remains of hut floors both in Kaukola andRäisälä. These hut floors included no remains ofdepressions or sand walls. There can be severalexplanations for this. One important observationis that almost all Stone Age and Early Metal pe-

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riod dwelling sites known before the World WarII on the Karelian Isthmus were found in culti-vated field, in the edges of eskers or gravel for-mations. It is also possible that cultivation whichhas utilized fields sometimes for even severalcenturies may have gradually destroyed dwellingdepressions. Another possibility – which seemseven more likely – is that Ailio, Pälsi and otherarchaeologists before World War II looked forsites in a different kind of geographical and topo-graphical environment than today. In other words,this implies a gradual change in the paradigm ofsurveying. Instead of stray finds picked up bylocal people particularly in connection with cul-tivation, archaeologists today will put more em-phasis on the active surveying of forest areas,augering samples, digging test pits or even mak-ing clearings or soundings. The results of thesenew approaches are very clearly visible in theKaukola and Räisälä survey of 1999.

A third possibility is that Ailio and Pälsi uncov-ered and documented “postholes”, which wereactually not postholes. Dwelling depressions re-searched in Finland have revealed only a smallnumber of postholes which means that many hutconstructions during the Neolithic have had some-thing else than posts as their supporting structure.This question remains open. Posts are probablynot needed in light huts. Instead, it is of consider-able importance that today we know of remainsof houses, which implies the use of timber con-structions (Karjalainen 1996; Vaara 2000).

The Early Metal Period excavations on theKarelian Isthmus have remained few in number,but perhaps the most important of them were con-ducted at Kalmistomäki Hovi in Räisälä first byTheodor Schvindt in 1885, 1887 and 1892. Thislocation included both a cemetery and a dwellingsite. A. M. Tallgren’s excavations in 1914 un-earthed a fragment of the casting mould of anAnanino axe and a bracelet (Tallgren 1914). Alsounusual textile-impressed ceramics were of par-ticular interest for him. Later excavations in thearea conducted during the 1930s by S. Pälsi andC. F. Meinander reveal much new information.The relatively large material of Early Metal Pe-riod ceramics at Riukjärvi and Piiskunsalmi wasrecovered in connection with Stone Age excava-tions (Pälsi 1915), but was not discussed until1950s (Äyräpää 1953; Meinander 1954). Later,this material was more profoundly investigated by

Carpelan (1965), Uino (1997), and Lavento(2001).

Iron Age research has been carried to a muchgreater extent on the Karelian Isthmus. In addi-tion to Schvindt’s (1893) work and research bymany Finnish Iron Age archaeologists, a great dealfieldwork has recently been carried out by Alex-ander Saksa. Because both Saksa’s (1998) and P.Uino’s (1997) dissertations are profound synthe-ses of this research they will not be discussed heremore.

THE FIELD SURVEY OF 1999

A starting point of contemporary surveys on theBaltic Shield is that all Stone Age dwelling siteswere situated close by the ancient shore, which isdisplaced as a result of land upheaval. Therefore,an important part of the 1999 survey was to rec-ognize ancient shore formations. An ancient shoreformation can sometimes be identified as a steepfall of the slope profile, but sometimes it is verydifficult to discern. During the Ka II period, thewaters of Lake Ladoga remained for a long timeat the same elevation with the result that the shoremay be well developed. The ancient shoreline isoften situated at an elevation of ca. 20 m asl withshore formations 2-3 metres in height.

Careful investigations of archive material con-cerning Stone Age and Early Metal Period dwell-ing sites has helped in creating a rough model forresearch in the field. Together with shore displace-ment models presented by geologists and archae-ologists (Ailio 1915; Hyyppä 1937; Saarnisto &Siiriäinen 1970), it seemed evident that the ma-jority of Neolithic dwelling sites (sites involvingComb Ware) could be found at an elevation of 20m asl. Early Metal Period ceramics were assumedto be found at this elevation, but it seemed alsopossible that dwelling sites with Textile ceramicsand subtypes of Säräisniemi 2 Ware could also bediscovered some meters below this level, close to15 m asl. This could be postulated when takinginto account the rapid regression of Lake Ladogaduring the Early Metal Period. Mesolithic siteswere assumed to have been occupied when thewater level was close to an elevation ca. 25 m asl.Because land uplift is relatively slow on theKarelian Isthmus, in the outer area of the BalticShield, and because of the abnormal rise of waterlevel in Lake Ladoga the detailed model of shore-

14

displacement history for the area is still underinvestigation.

On the basis of the previous information, theareas at suitable elevations were field-walked indetail and by taking into consideration also someother characteristics of topography. The potentialareas were assumed to be at the ends of capes, atthe mouths of bays, on islands and the S and SWslopes of eskers etc. (Vikkula 1994). Particularlyareas on eskers, ridges and their edges were in-spected. Not only topographic variables were thefocus of inspection, but also locations with suit-able soil and vegetation were observed. Vegeta-tion was still not assumed to be as useful a tool inlocating human settlement in Stone Age environ-ment as in the Iron Age context.

Field surveys of potential dwelling-site areasconcentrated on investigating surface topographyand possible structures visible at the site. Eachsurvey team at Kaukola and Räisälä had a soilauger, 5 cm in diameter, for making small probesinto soil horizons. Often these probes yielded re-mains of ancient artefacts and burnt bones. Theaim was to dig small test pits above the shorehorizon, or where possible, in potential dwellingdepressions. Only seldom test pits were made bydigging soundings or sondages by spade. Thereason for this was that the documentation of testpits (1 x 1 m in size) would have taken too much

time. In few cases some quick “cleanings” weremade on the edges of terraces. On terraces wereobserved modern (20th-century) pits or fireditches, the edges of which were sometimescleaned.

Surface observations were made particularly inplaces where the surface had recently been dis-turbed for some reason. These places wereploughed fields, the worn surfaces of paths, pits,fire ditches, scarps in roads and paths and thestumps of trees. These places were carefully in-spected in the hope of finds or other remains ofearly habitation. In almost all cases the first signsof sites were discovered on the basis of surfaceobservations.

A field map was drawn at every new site foundduring the survey (Figs. 3 and 4). Although thistook considerable time it still proved to be useful,because in this way it was also possible to estab-lish many qualities relating to the map. In manycases it was possible to observe ancient shore ter-races and shore formations; the elevations weresometimes characterized in trying to separatepossible chronological phases on the basis of thespatial distribution of finds.

Also observations concerning the potential sizeand topographical factors at the sites were made,together with observations of environment. Veg-etation, primarily trees, but also ground cover or

Fig. 3. A dwelling depression at Pontuksenhauta in Kaukola. Dr Alexander Saksaby a tree inside a depression 1. View from S. Photo: Mikael A. Manninen.

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Fig. 4. General map of dwelling depressions at Pontuksenhauta in Kaukola. Drawing: Susanna Nieminenand Mari Salminen.

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undervegetation was documented. As opposed tomany specialized surveys in Finland no soil sam-ples – e.g. for phosphorous analysis - were taken.Descriptions of shore profiles were only seldommade. No levellings were carried out. The reasonwas lack of time, but also the difficulty to findfixed points for levelling.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Because the purpose of the survey was to studyStone Age and Early Metal Period settlement, thegreat majority of new sites found were Stone Agedwelling sites (Fig. 2). Of all 37 new sites (seeApp. 1) only two can be wholly or partly dated tothe Early Metal Period. One of these is a multi-period dwelling site, another a possible Lapp cairnwithout any find material (Fig. 5). Three StoneAge sites in Kaukola also revealed ceramics of the

Slavo-Karelian type. Some sites also revealedsmall fragments of iron slag the dating of whichis usually impossible.

Two sites which were found during the surveyproved later to be previously known,4 whichmeant that altogether 34 Stone Age dwelling siteswere found in Kaukola and Räisälä (see App. 1).In addition, five other potential dwelling siteswere found, but they were still not classified asdwelling sites because of scant surface observa-tions or finds made on them. A find location wasdefined as a dwelling site in such cases whereremains of cultural layers could be observed, orif more than one find category, remains of fire-places or dwelling depression were observed.

On the Karelian Isthmus possible hut-floorremains have been mentioned to exist at Pitkäjärviin Räisälä (Pälsi 1918), but possible also at Riuk-järvi in Kaukola (Pälsi 1915). The hut floor of

Elevation asl Kaukola Räisälä TotSites between 25-30 m 2 7 9Sites between 20-25 m 9 14 23Sites between 15-20 m 4 2 6

Tot 15 23 38

Table 1. Rough elevations of dwelling sites in Kaukola and Räisälä

Fig. 5. A Lapp cairn at Tossinakanjärvi N in Kaukola. View from E. Photo:Mika Lavento.

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Pitkäjärvi cannot be counted as a dwelling depres-sion, because no depression of a building wasobserved at the site during the excavation, whichmeans that before 1999 no dwelling depressionswere known in this area. The closest parallels havebeen found in the Lake Saimaa area (Karjalainen1996). In the Karelian Republic the nearest dwell-ing depressions are known from Syamozero andon the W side of Lake Onega (Pankrushev 1978II:45-47; Zhulnikov 1999:32-39, ris. 5). The hutfloor of the Pitkäjärvi type – a round bottom withpostholes but without any visible depression orwalls - has proved to be exceptional and this kindof structure has not been excavated in the areasince World War II. A critical inspection of Pälsi’sobservations would be welcome. This is possible,because knowledge relating to the Neolithichouse-floors has essentially increased sincePälsi’s days. Thus, some archaeologists mighteven say that Pälsi’s “postholes” were not actu-ally postholes, but something else which was stillnatural to interpret as such.

The dwelling site of Kökkölä in Räisälä (Fig.6) represented a type which has often been foundin the Lake Saimaa Area. A special characteristicof the site is that the habitation history can befollowed there from the beginning of the Neolithicto the Early Metal Period. At several dwelling sitesshore terraces can be distinguished, which can beat least roughly dated on the basis of ceramic types

isolated in the material. The dwelling sites datefrom a long period. At both Kaukola and Räisäläthe majority of sites were found at elevations be-tween 20-25 m asl.

No finds were collected at elevations above 30m asl. Nine sites were found at elevations between25 and 30 m asl. Apart from quartz flakes noth-ing was observed that could have connected themwith the Mesolithic Stone Age. It should still beremembered that elevations have been estimatedonly by using basic survey maps which means thatthe margin of error is 2-3 meters. Therefore, thisinformation should be not regarded as highly ac-curate.

The majority of the ceramics found during thesurvey consisted of Typical Combed Ware (Fig.7a). Early Comb Ware belonged to the materialof the large dwelling site of Kökkölä in Räisälä.The ceramics of this site implied also some sherdsof the “eastern” Combed Ware or Rhomboid-Combed Ware (Fig. 7b). This kind of CombedWare involving a great deal of comb imprints inornamentation was also found at two other sites(Räisälä 14 Hietakangas, Räisälä 17 Portinharju).Late Combed Ware was found at three sites.Neolithic asbestos-tempered ceramics existed attwo sites, and it seems probable that one of them(Kaukola 6 Kalliola) can be classifed as EarlyAsbestos Ware (Pesonen 1996).

The dwelling site of Kökkölä has already been

Fig. 6. A dwelling site of Kökkölä in Räisälä. Overview by the road to NE.Photo: Merja Uotila

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Fig. 7. Typical CombedWare (a), Rhomboid-Combed Ware (b) andTextile ceramics (c) fromKökkölä in Räisälä. Photo:Mika Lavento.

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mentioned several times. This is because it rep-resents a long period of habitation from the EarlyCombed Ware to the Textile ceramic phase (Fig.7c). At the site there are two shore terraces, thelowermost of which is at the elevation of the roadrunning parallel to it. The dwelling site of Kökköläis large. The zone where ceramics, flint and quartzflakes were found, is over 400 m long, but still noremains of dwelling depressions were observed.Topographically, the dwelling site area is on thenarrow strait on an esker, which widens into aglaciofluvial delta formation towards the north.

The majority of dwelling sites found during thesurvey revealed ceramics from only one period.The small ceramic fragments keep the type defi-nition unclear. For instance, asbestos-temperedceramics can be Early Asbestos Ware, but it canbe connected together with the Pöljä or Kierikkigroups, or even some types of Säräisniemi 2 Wareas well. Therefore, one should not try to “press”too much information from the fragmentary ma-terial. Digging test pits and soundings for findingmore datable material together with elevation in-formation would be still welcome to shed morelight on shore displacement on the Karelian Isth-mus.

It was of particular interest that five sites withdwelling depressions were found during the sur-vey. Dwelling sites with depressions are often situ-

ated on eskers or drumlins on sheltered niches, inareas where the soil is soft enough for digging pitsand depressions (Fig. 8). In Kaukola and Räisäläsites with dwelling depressions were usuallysmall, with only one to four house bottoms. Thesize and shape of the actual depressions variedconsiderably. The depressions at Mäenala (Räisälä16) and Juoksemajärvi W (Räisälä 4) were small.They were oval in their form, and their length didnot exceed 6 m, their depth being ca. 0.3 m (Fig.9).

A very different dwelling depression wasfound at Sylijärvi SW 2 (Räisälä 6). It wasunexceptionally large, 19 x 4.5 m in size, but itsdepth was only 0.4 m. At the dwelling site ofPontuksenhauta (Kaukola 11) were found fouroval house bottoms (Fig. 3). The largest of themwas 10 x 6 m in size, and the smallest one only 5x 5 m. Depressions at the site comprised a smallvillage-type of settlement. At Valkialampi (Räisälä12) there was an almost round depression, ca. 10x 10 m in size (Fig. 8). This site also had two moredepressions, which were less than ca. 5 x 5 m insize. The number and size of depressions on theKarelian Isthmus roughly reflects the results ob-tained also in the Ancient Lake Saimaa area(Pesonen 1999).

Discovered inside the depression atValkialampi was the fragment of an arrowhead

Fig. 8. An overview to dwelling depressions of Valkialampi in Räisälä from S.Photo: Merja Uotila.

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which greatly resembles types dating from theLate Neolithic period. Ceramics were found to-gether with depressions only at the sites ofJuoksemajärvi W and Pontuksenhauta. At thefirst-mentioned site there was Typical CombedWare; the second site had Neolithic Asbestos ce-ramics of the Pöljä or Kierikki type. When tryingto date depressions one should bear in mind thatceramics were often not found inside the depres-sions but on the terraces outside them, at a lowerelevation. This is the case, for instance, at thedwelling site of Pontuksenhauta, where ceramicswere found even two metres lower than the eleva-tion of the lowest depression, almost 20 m fromthe depressions. It may then date from someyounger period of habitation, and not necessarilythe period of use of the house-floors. No sound-ings were made at these sites. Inspection by spadeinside the dwelling pit did not uncover archaeo-logical finds.

It is also possible that the depressions were dugthrough an earlier cultural layer, and that theseearlier finds have been found during the surveyoutside the wall, i.e. around the depression. Ex-amples of this have recently been documented inthe northern Lake Saimaa area (Karjalainen1996).

In some cases it seems possible to find almostidentical parallels to some depressions in Räisälä

and Kaukola in the Lake Saimaa area. The struc-tures which seem to have parallels in the Saimaaarea were built during the Ka II and Ka III peri-ods. The depression at Sylijärvi SW 2 is an excep-tion in this respect. This type of structure has beenfound in the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea, forinstance, at the dwelling site of Jokipelto inPeurasuo, Yli-Ii (Alakärppä et al. 1998), which isdated with shore displacement chronology to theLate Stone Age, ca. 4000 BP.

Most dwelling sites on the W and SW area ofthe Karelian Isthmus are situated on eskers or theiredges, in the labyrinthine coastal zone of AncientLake Ladoga. Sites have been often found also onnarrow straits or small islands. The sites are on thesunny side of slopes, opening to the S, SE or E,but there are also exceptions. In general, dwell-ing sites were situated in varying environments.When comparing the environmental informationrelating to sites in Kaukola and Räisälä with AnneVikkula’s (1994) six-part environmental modelone can see that almost all topographical areaswere utilized. The location of sites also suggeststhat all seasons are represented. The survey findscomprised fish bones, which, however are diffi-cult to connect with specific seasons of the year(cf. Matiskainen 1989).

The seasonal nature of sites often has bettervisibility than their year-round use. This hypoth-

Fig. 9. A dwelling site with depressions at Juoksemajärvi W in Räisälä form E.Photo: Ninni Närväinen.

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esis finds support in the size of sites and their rela-tively thin cultural layers. Although considerabledifferences were observed in the numbers ofdwelling depressions, no such large Stone Agedwelling sites, as for instance in the Sätös area inOutokumpu (Karjalainen 1996) or Vihi inRääkkylä (Pesonen 1998), have so far been foundon the Karelian Isthmus. The sites were used bythe populations applying different types of loca-tions in different parts of their utilization area. Thismakes it possible to construct models for the lo-cation of sites in the middle part of the KarelianIsthmus the SW and W parts of the Lake Ladogaregion. The testing of these models by excavationis necessary in future research.

Nor should the large excavations conducted byAilio and Pälsi in the Riukjärvi and Piiskunsalmiarea, and Pitkäjärvi and Teperinaho in Räisälä, beignored. Although no dwelling depressions werefound it is evident that these sites were occupiedfor several thousand years, and that populationsin them have been relatively large. It is also morethan probable that some shelters or house struc-tures existed in the area although they are nolonger visible.

It is worth noting that the topographic locationof dwelling sites differed in an important respectbetween Kaukola and Räisälä. It seems that mostsites in Räisälä were located on eskers, on gravel

and sand soils. Particularly around Lake Pitkäjärviand Lake Juoksemajärvi conditions favouredStone Age settlement. In Kaukola most sites foundduring the survey were located in contemporaryfields, on terraces lying just below low eskers ordrumlins (Fig. 10). Therefore, the soils at thesesites were sandy silts or silts, sometimes with verycoarse boulders. A good indication of soils is thatdwelling sites in Lake Riukjärvi and LakePiiskunsalmi are situated on contemporary fields.But there is a low esker running NW-SE also inRiukjärvi, where a ca. 0.5-1 m thick layer of siltand clay covers the sorted gravel and sand belong-ing to the esker. This may be caused by sedimen-tation during the transgression of Lake Ladoga.It might also explain why Ailio and Pälsi observeda soil horizon above the cultural layer. More ob-servations and field investigations are still neededfor pursuing this hypothesis further.

Moreover, because there are no clear terracesin Riukjärvi and Piiskunsalmi on the lower eleva-tion than ca. 20 asl, it is not difficult to believe thatthe habitation has stayed roughly at this elevationfrom the Mesolithic (Timofeev 1993) to the EarlyMetal Period. Prehistoric ceramic types also oc-curred sometimes below and above this elevation(see table 1). Using ceramics for dating the trans-gression maximum of Lake Ladoga is thus not anystraightforward method, and particularly the sites

Fig. 10. A dwelling site of Rampala in Kaukola. Overview from NE. Photo:Mikael A. Manninen.

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at Riukjärvi and Piiskunsalmi are not the mostfeasible ones for this purpose. In addition to trans-gression, there is also the problem of the absenceof distinct terraces, and the influence of long-termagriculture that has mixed the original archaeo-logical context several times before the excava-tion of sites.

CONCLUSIONS

One interesting result of the survey 1999 inKaukola and Räisälä was that it illustrated how themethodology of field surveys has changed fromthe days of Pälsi and Ailio, and how the new ap-proach can essentially affect the results of ar-chaeological fieldwork. A great majority of dwell-ing sites known before the 1940s in Kaukola andRäisälä were found in fields. Most of the siteswere initially discovered as a by-product of activecultivation. On the basis of this most dwelling sitesappear to be situated on shore terraces and fields.Also Iron Age settlement with several large cem-eteries essentially influenced the general view ofthe prehistory of the Karelian Isthmus.

The surveys of the 1990s - in which the pur-pose has been to detect Stone Age and Early MetalPeriod sites - have concentrated on finding siteson eskers, deltas, drumlins and various kinds ofmoraine formations. This means that most dwell-ing sites have been found in forests instead of openfields. This may also be one reason why severaldwelling depressions have previously been foundon the Karelian Isthmus. One practical reason maybe that Finnish archaeologists have not learned torecognize dwelling depressions on a large scaleuntil the 1980s. Although some special areas, suchas Sätös in Outokumpu, or the Törmävaara areain Tervola, were known they still represent acuriosity.

The results of the survey carried out in 1999in Kaukola and Räisälä were very encouraging.They evidently show that even a relatively smallinvestment in survey work can provide a great dealof new archaeological information. Even today,the Karelian Isthmus has a special position inFinnish prehistory. Finnish archaeologists stillknow the field work carried out by Julius Ailio,Kaarle Soikkeli, Sakari Pälsi, Aarne Äyräpää andmany others in this area. These results are still apart of Finnish prehistory. Yet, only very littleStone Age and Early Metal Period research has

been carried out there since these days. The situ-ation has changed after the 1980s, as a result ofwork carried out by the Russian archaeologistsAlexander Saksa, Vladimir Timofeev, and severalothers. Now at the turn of 21st century, fieldworkhas again begun intensively also by Finnish ar-chaeologists. It is hardly too daring to assume thatthe coming decade will change the picture of theprehistory of the Karelian Isthmus considerablymore than the past 50 years after World War II.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank Christian Carpelan,LicPhil, about the list of sites and find places inKaukola and Räisälä found before 1944 (App. 1).We also thank professor Matti Saarnisto anddocent Pirjo Uino about their information in fin-ishing the manuscript.

NOTES

1Participants of the survey in Kaukola and Räisälä. TheRussian archaeologists: Dr Vladimir Timofeev, DrAlexander Saksa, Dr Vladimir Nazarenko, Dr SergejAstahov, and MA Dmitri Gerasimov. Archaeologistsfrom the University of Helsinki: Lic.Phil. PetriHalinen, Lic.Phil. Mika Lavento; students from theUniversity of Helsinki: Mikael A. Manninen,Susanna Nieminen, Mari Salminen, MinnaHaapanen, Lauri Skantsi, Niina Turri, ViviDeckwirth, Ninni Närväinen, Merja Uotila, KarinHinkkanen, Jaana Pietilä, and Hanna Pyy.

2 These methods have recently been published inseveral articles in “Arkeologinen inventointi. Opasinventoinnin suunnitteluun ja toteuttamiseen” (seeMaaranen & Kirkinen (eds.) 2000).

3 The number of dwelling sites depends on manner ofdistinguishing them. For instance, on thePiiskunsalmi and Riukjärvi area in Kaukola, PirjoUino (1997) has connected together several siteswhich Ailio and Pälsi (1915) have considered to beseparate dwelling sites. The essential problem isrelated to locating Ailio’s and Pälsi’s old excavationareas (see also Lavento 2001).

4 The sites are, Kaukola 15 Piiskunsalmi (17, see Pälsi1915), Räisälä 18 Olla (Pälsi 1918, RäisäläPitkäjärvi). The dwelling site of Hiidenmäki 12 inKaukola got the same name as the site Hii(d)enmäkiKangaspelto Pessi (KAUK 15), which, despite thesame name, is a different place (see Uino 1997:238-239).

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REFERENCES

Ailio, J. 1898. Über Strandbildungen des Litorina-meeres auf der Insel Mantsinsaari. Fennia 14:2.

Ailio, J. 1909. Die steinzeitlichen Wohnplatzfunde inFinland I-II.

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ABBREVIATIONS

FA Fennoscandia archaeologicaFM Finskt MuseumSM Suomen MuseoSMYA Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistyksen Aika-

kauskirja