We Know That All Finns Are Not On Fish
First on the Baltic
But then, all Finns are not a beef. These words are not intended to be about diet. They are to say a few introductory words about an important people on the northeast of the Baltic Sea. They have been there for a long time. They may have been there longer than anyone else.
There is a lot to learn about the Finns and I am just beginning to do so. So, don't expect me to be "a know it all." Good people, let us begin.
It is not easy to get much information about the Finns before the time of the first settlement of Helsinki. I believe that that Helsinki was settled by Swedes and named by them. Swedes and Finns each speak their own language as did their ancestors. There is a lot to learn here, just about the content of this short paragraph.
I bet that the ancestors of the Finns were in place on the Baltic long before the ancestors of the Swedes. I have begun to believe that ancestral Finns were in what is now Finland by 14,000 BP. That's over 13,000 years longer than Americans have been in North America! Finns were there at a time when the Ice Age ice had scarcely begun to begin to melt. That is, the Finns could have been in place during the most recent Ice Age. It seems possible that ancestors of the Finns could have lived much of the Ice Age on Ice!
Anyway, I think that Baltic people have been taught, from time to time, that the Finns were there first.
Early Swedes
I'll repeat some things a few times to help you remember. Helsinki, the capital city of Finland, is a name of Swedish origin and Helsinki was setup to support Swedish trade.
Finns were and still are a strong presence in the Baltic area. However, like most humans, Finns have admixtures of cultures and genetics. In historic times and recent prehistoric times, Finns have been influenced by Swedes, Russians, and others genetically and culturally, but not before Swede and Russian experienced admixtures of their own.
I'll try to move on a bit faster. We have now come to see that most of our own prehistory had some increase in human population and some increase in human activity after the end of post Ice Age floods. Now archaeologists are finding more evidence of human industry and and culture of Finland dates to a similar time. That is to about 7000 years ago or a bit before 500o BC. Abundance and quality of evidence seems to be coming from near Vantaa, Pitajanmaki, and Karela.
Talking Archaeology
You have probably noted that we are talking about the archaeology here. The strongest evidence of permanent settlements has been found to date shortly after the advent of Christ and was found to have been of Iron Age in nature. The culture of that time in Finland has been called Tavastian.
So far prehistoric evidence in Finland has been light, but research and publication has increased. Some strength of evidence indicates a bit more abundant activity beginning about 1000 AD. There is some documented evidence from this time onward. History in the form of written records becomes relatively abundant by the 1300s.
Vikings
Vikings seem to have begun more raiding then trading perhaps a bit before 900 AD. By 1100 AD Swedes were colonizing much of the Finnish coast. Swedish colonization of the coast was well established by 1300 AD. This happened after a successful Second Crusade by Sweden led to the defeat of the Tavastian. Weren't the Finn of the time referred to as Tavastian? It seems the Swedes said that they would just take over Finnic coastal trade until they became good Christians.
Finland
We can move forward in time and farther inland from the coast as we move on in our look into Finns and Finland. There are written chronicles of 1417 which mention Koskela village near the rapids of the Vantaa River Near which Helsinki would be founded.
Helsinki was established as a trading town by King Gustav I of Sweden in 1550 as the town of Helsingfors which he intended to be a rival to the Hasiatic city of Reval on the southern shores of the Gulf of Finland now known as Tallinn. Most agree that Reval won that rivalry
Estonia
The Hasiatic city of Reval soon became Tallinn. It became the northernmost member of the Hasiatic League. Tallinn is the capital city of Estonia. Estonia is a close neighbor of Finland. Tallinn is known in most of the world by variants of its other historical name, Reval. It was a significant trade hub from the 1300s to the 1500s. Vanillin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is part of the present day Tallinn.
Reval is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe.
In this little essay I am attempting to begin with the earliest times and gradually move toward introductions to more recent times. So, here I mention that the Comb ceramic pottery found on the site of Tallinn dates to before 3000 BC. The Corded Ware there dates to about 2500 BC. Some pottery like Comb ware and Corded ware have been found in Finland.
I see that I have begun to write more about Estonia than about Finland. Perhaps when I do have Estonia as the topic I will include information about its good neighbor, Finland. I will conclude my excursion into Estonia by saying: Around 1050 AD a fortress was built on Tallinn or on a limestone hill there. It was called Toompea. This is in the central part of the capital of Estonia, which is Tallinn.
Prehistory
Back o the early history and prehistory of Finland. Kalevi, sometimes called Kaleva, and his sons are important heroic figures in Estonian, Finnish and Karelia history. In the Finnish epic, the Kalevala, he is an ancient Finnish ruler. In Estonian mythology and in Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald's epic poem, Kalevipoeg, king Kalev was the father of king Laevipoeg and husband of Linda. Linda is important in Estonian mythology.
Memories of Kaleva may have been written as early as 500 AD. In 1551 Michael Agricola published a list of deities mentioning Kaleva. In 1641 it is mentioned by Hwirch Stahl in Leyen Spiegal(?)
Finnish people called the star, Sirius Kalevan thti. Kaleva's star. Orion's Belt was called Kaleva's sword by them.
Russians called Tallinn, Kolyva. Sounds a lot like Kaleva here and may indicate a Finnish influence.
More Archaeology
Not long ago some archaeologists began to note human-like activity as early as 10,000 years ago in this part of the Baltic area. Mythological information suggests an earlier time for human activity in the Land of the Finns as well as does more recent archaeological findings.
Historians
The word history as used by historians refers to documented history. For them history is written history and begins with the advent of writing. That includes much of that which has been called mythology. Personally I can remember no one who believes every thing that has been written just as it is written. Historians are familiar with the word discretion and most use its meaning in their professional thoughts. Historians have have sometimes found useful hints and orientations in their reading of selected mythology.
Historians and archaeologists can be aided by those who work in geological time. Let's look at some very recent geologic time. The Allerod oscillation, from about 13,900 BP to about 12,900 BP was a warm and moist period near the end of the most recent Glacial Period. It raised the temperatures of the northern region to almost present levels. It is in this period we first detect evidence of human activity in the Baltic north. We have learned a lot and have a lot to learn. By "we" I mean to imply you, me, and humanity in general. "We" as used in "...we first detect evidence of human activity" is also my word but I got it by interpreting the writing of another. I took it to mean "scientific authorities," but I am not positive of that. When we get really serious, we could look for names, address, and professional histories of the "we," "they," and "them" so often spoken of.
I take the following to be the very best guesses of top authorities in the field and very useful information. I am seldom completely wrong, but I'm not perfect.
Here we are back in the realm of archaeology which can be very helpful when looking into prehistoric times. To date, that which has been called the Bromme culture, may be the first culture to be detected in the northern Baltic area. The Bromme culture has been dated to from about 13,800 BP to about 12,000 BP. The landscape then was taiga and tundra, Reindeer seem to have been central to their economy. It was hunted, as were moose, elk, wolverine, and beaver. Sounds pretty much like the far north of Finland. This culture is known from archaeological sites in Denmark and one near Malmo in Sweden. South and west of Finland (Finland where more archaeological work may need to be done.) But that is getting pretty close to the land of the Finns. This Bromme culture seems much the same as the Ahrensburg culture, but seems to predate it. They could be called late Paleolithic reindeer hunters and perhaps a pre-flood people. Maybe they spoke a bit like the Finns.
There is more to say about the cultures around the Baltic Sea. There is much more to learn about the people touched by that sea.
Not long ago, 4000 BC seem very long ago and it is more than 6000 years ago. Still now we are learning more and more about times before 8000 BC.
Now many envision an enormous past, which may have included us, longer than 200,000 years ago, but life goes on to long before that and may included our relatives. Many have long understood that accounts in the biblical Old Testament pointed us toward realities. We have learned that we have a history which begins long before the extinction event(s) which followed the ending of the most recent Ice Age. Many of us first learned of those events in the Biblical account of "Noah's flood."
Archaeologists and others are rapidly filling in our understanding of happenings and doings between the time of grandparents to "that" flood and on to windows of human history from long before that flood.
Thank you for reading. To correct my mistakes or increase my knowledge write to me at magobill@gmail.com
Richard
