Ashley Strickland - CNN
The burial site of a young child who lived 8,000 years ago has been discovered in Eastern Finland, providing a rare glimpse into how Stone Age humans treated their deceased.
The Majoonsuo grave first drew the attention of researchers in 1992 in the municipality of Outokumpu when bright red ocher, a clay rich in iron, was spotted on the surface of a new service trail in the forest. Red ocher has been associated with rock art as well as ornamentation and burials.
The Finnish Heritage Agency began excavating the spot in 2018 due to concerns over erosion and motor traffic.
Little was found in the grave, but the surrounding soil revealed its secrets in a recent microscopic analysis published in September in the journal PLOS One.
Bright red ocher marked the spot of the grave, uncovered on a service road in a forest in Eastern Finland. - Kristiina Mannermaa
Finland’s Stone Age societies buried their dead in pits in the ground. The soil is so acidic in Finland that little remains preserved after thousands of years, which means traces of archaeological evidence are extremely rare.
The teeth of a child were found in the grave, as well as fragments of bird feathers, plant fibers and canine hair strands after an analysis using a painstaking protocol to uncover the microscopic evidence.
Together, these clues paint a portrait of the deceased.
Researchers determined that the teeth belonged to a child between 3 and 10 years old. Two quartz arrowheads and two other quartz objects, thought to be grave goods, were also recovered.
About 24 tiny feather fragments were found, and seven of them were associated with waterfowl. They represent the oldest feather fragments ever found in Finland. It’s possible that the child was laid to rest on a bed of down feathers, or the child was wrapped in clothing made from waterfowl, like an ancient parka or anorak.
A falcon’s feather was also found in the grave, thought to be part of an arrow likely once attached to an arrowhead, or used as decoration on the child’s clothing.
Fine hairs found at the child’s feet belonged to either a dog or a wolf. It’s possible that one was buried at the child’s feet, or the child was wearing shoes made from the fur of a dog or wolf.
Stone Age child's grave site in Finland reveals surprises© Provided by CNNThis image shows a possible canine hair from the grave viewed beneath an electron microscope. - Tuija Kirkinen
“Dogs buried with the deceased have been found in, for example, Skateholm, a famous burial site in southern Sweden dating back some 7,000 years,” said study coauthor Kristiina Mannermaa, researcher and associate professor in the University of Helsinki’s department of cultures, in a statement.
“The discovery in Majoonsuo is sensational, even though there is nothing but hairs left of the animal or animals — not even teeth. We don’t even know whether it’s a dog or a wolf. The method used, demonstrates that traces of fur and feathers can be found even in graves several thousands of years old, including in Finland.”
Lead study author Tuija Kirkinen, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Helsinki’s department of cultures, carried out the analysis of the plant- and animal-based materials within the soil.
The team collected 60 bags of soil samples and carefully separated organic matter from the soil using water. Three laboratories were used to search the samples for microparticles, fatty acids and carry out an analysis of the soil. The soil, stained by the red ocher, had to be gently sieved and was closely studied using electron microscopes and high-resolution images.
She works on the Animals Make Identities project, led by Mannermaa. The research group studies “social links between humans and animals in hunter-gatherer burial sites” in Northeast Europe. These links can unlock more insights into the deceased, who lived between 7,500 and 9,000 years ago. Kirkinen’s work is focused on developing methods to search for the minute remnants that help share ancient stories.
Kirkinen also found plant fibers that likely came from willows or nettles, which may have been used to make fishing nets, cords used to attach clothing or string bundles. The protocol she developed to search for fibers and fragments in the soil takes time, but it produced results.
“The work is really slow and it really made my heart jump when I found minuscule fragments of past garments and grave furnishings, especially in Finland, where all unburnt bones tend to decompose,” she said.
“This all gives us a very valuable insight about burial habits in the Stone Age, indicating how people had prepared the child for the journey after death.”
A Stone Age child buried with bird feathers, plant fibers and fur
IMAGE: AN ARTIST’S IMPRESSION OF THE CHILD BURIED IN MAJOONSUO DURING THEIR LIFE view more
CREDIT: TOM BJORKLUND
The exceptional excavation of a Stone Age burial site was carried out in Majoonsuo, situated in the municipality of Outokumpu in Eastern Finland. The excavation produced microscopically small fragments of bird feathers, canine and small mammalian hairs, and plant fibres. The findings gained through soil analysis are unique, as organic matter is poorly preserved in Finland’s acidic soil. The study, led by Archaeologist Tuija Kirkinen, was aimed at investigating how these highly degraded plant- and animal-based materials could be traced through soil analysis.
During the Stone Age in Finland, the deceased were interred mainly in pits in the ground. Little of the organic matter from human-made objects have been preserved in Stone Age graves in Finland, but it is known, on the basis of burial sites in the surrounding regions, that objects made of bones, teeth and horns as well as furs and feathers were placed in the graves.
Teeth and arrowheads found in the red ochre grave
The Trial Excavation Team of the Finnish Heritage Agency examined the site in 2018, as it was considered to be at risk of destruction. The burial place was located under a gravelly sand road in a forest, with the top of the grave partially exposed. The site was originally given away by the intense colour of its red ochre. Red ochre, or iron-rich clay soil, has been used not only in burials but also in rock art around the world.
In the archaeological dig at the burial site, only a few teeth were found of the deceased, on the basis of which they are known to have been a child between 3 and 10 years of age. In addition, two transverse arrowheads made of quartz and two other possible quartz objects were found in the grave. Based on the shape of the arrowheads and shore-level dating, the burial can be estimated to have taken place in the Mesolithic period of the Stone Age, roughly 6,000 years before the Common Era.
What made the excavation exceptional was the near-complete preservation of the soil originating in the grave. A total of 65 soil sample bags weighing between 0.6 and 3.4 kilograms were collected, also comparison samples were taken from outside the grave. The soil was analyzed in the archaeology laboratory of the University of Helsinki. Organic matter was separated from the samples using water. This way, the exposed fibres and hairs were identified with the help of transmitted-light and electron microscopy.
Oldest feather fragments found in Finland
From the soil samples, a total of 24 microscopic (0.2–1.4 mm) fragments of bird feathers were identified, most of which originated in down. Seven feather fragments were identified as coming from the down of a waterfowl (Anseriformes). These are the oldest feather fragments ever found in Finland. Although the origin of the down is impossible to state with certainty, it may come from clothing made of waterfowl skins, such as a parka or an anorak. It is also possible that the child was laid on a down bed.
In addition to the waterfowl down, one falcon (Falconidae) feather fragment was identified. It may have originally been part of the fletching of the arrows attached to the arrowheads, or, for example, from feathers used to decorate the garment.
Dog or wolf hairs?
Besides the feathers, 24 fragments of mammalian hair were identified, ranging from 0.5 to 9.5 mm in length. Most of the hairs were badly degraded, making identification no longer possible. The finest discoveries were the three hairs of a canine, possibly a predator, found at the bottom of the grave. The hairs may also originate, for example, in footwear made of wolf or dog skin. It is also possible a dog was laid at the child’s feet.
“Dogs buried with the deceased have been found in, for example, Skateholm, a famous burial site in southern Sweden dating back some 7,000 years,” says Professor Kristiina Mannermaa, University of Helsinki.
“The discovery in Majoonsuo is sensational, even though there is nothing but hairs left of the animal or animals – not even teeth. We don’t even know whether it’s a dog or a wolf,” she says, adding: “The method used, demonstrates that traces of fur and feathers can be found even in graves several thousands of years old, including in Finland.”
“This all gives us a very valuable insight about burial habits in the Stone Age, indicating how people had prepared the child for the journey after death”, says Kirkinen.
The soil is full of information
Also found were three fragments of plant fibres, which are preserved particularly poorly in the acidic Finnish soil. The fibres were what are known as bast fibres, meaning that they come from, for example, willows or nettles. At the time, the object they were part of may have been a net used for fishing, a cord used to attach clothes, or a bundle of strings. For the time being, only one other bast fibre discovery dating back to the Mesolithic Stone Age is known in Finland: the famed Antrea Net on display in the National Museum of Finland, laced with willow bast fibres.
A fibre separation technique was developed in the study, and is already being applied in subsequent studies. The project has demonstrated the great information value of soil extracted from archaeological sites.
The study is part of the ERC-funded project entitled Animals Make Identities (https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/animals-make-identities) headed by Kristiina Mannermaa.
The study was published in the PlosONE series. In addition to Kirkinen and Mannermaa, contributing to the study were Olalla López-Costas and Antonio Martínez Cortizas from the EcoPast research group at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Sanna P. Sihvo, Hanna Ruhanen and Reijo Käkelä from the Helsinki University Lipidomics Unit (HiLIPID), Marja Ahola and Johanna Roiha from the discipline of archaeology at the University of Helsinki, Jan-Erik Nyman, Esa Mikkola and Janne Rantanen from the Archaeological Field Services unit of the Finnish Heritage Agency and Esa Hertell from the museums of the City of Lappeenranta.
Location of Majoonsuo.
CREDIT
Johanna Roiha
JOURNAL
PLoS ONE
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Not applicable
ARTICLE TITLE
Preservation of microscopic fur, feather, and bast fibers in the Mesolithic ochre grave of Majoonsuo, Eastern Finland
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