Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Age

History of Finland between 150000 BC - 4001 BC

If confirmed, the oldest archeological site in Finland would be the Wolf Cave in Kristinestad, in Ostrobothnia. Excavations are currently underway, and if the so far presented estimates hold true, the site would be the only pre-glacial (Neanderthal) site so far discovered in the Nordic Countries, and it is approximately 125,000 years old.

The last ice age in the area of the modern-day Finland ended c. 9000 BCE. Starting about that time, people migrated to the area of Finland from the Kunda and - possibly - Swiderian cultures, and they are believed to be ancestors of today's Finnish and Sami people in Finland. The oldest confirmed evidence of the post-glacial human settlements in Finland are from the area of Ristola in Lahti and from Orimattila, from c. 8900 BCE. Finland has been continuously inhabited at least since the end of the last ice age, up to date.

The earliest post-glacial inhabitants of the present-day area of Finland were probably mainly seasonal hunter-gatherers. Their artifacts discovered are known to represent the Suomusjärvi and the Kunda cultures. Among finds is the net of Antrea, the oldest fishing net known ever to have been excavated (calibrated carbon dating: c. 8300 BCE).

Reference: Wikipedia

| Next historical period: Neolithic Age (-4000--1501)

Popular sites founded between 150000 BC and 4001 BC in Finland

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Wieskirche

The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.

The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.

The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.