Bog body studies have focused on rich individual biographies, largely neglecting broader spatial ... more Bog body studies have focused on rich individual biographies, largely neglecting broader spatial and temporal trends. Here, the authors present the first large-scale overview of well-dated human remains from northern European mires, based on a database of 266 sites and more than 1000 bog mummies, bog skeletons and disarticulated/partial skeletal remains. Analysis demonstrates fluctuating depositions of human remains between the Early Neolithic and early modern times, significant and shifting spatial clustering, and variation in site characteristics (e.g. preservation, use frequency, cause of death). The results emphasise previously unrecognised activity phases and highlight issues with categorising motives, especially around ritual violence.
The article gives a short overview about the progress in the inventory of natural sacred sites in... more The article gives a short overview about the progress in the inventory of natural sacred sites in Estonia and describes developments in the protection of these sites. Inventory of natural sacred sites means locating and detailed description of holy sites in nature. Inventory begins in archives where all the information about the areas of sacred natural sites is searched and combined. There are plenty of folklore notes about, for example, offering stones, holy groves or springs with healing water, but often the exact location and their state is unknown. The second phase of inventory is fieldwork, where sacred sites are being searched in landscape – and if this is successful, are described and the borders of a site are determined. Many sacred sites described in archive texts unfortunately have not survived due to natural causes or human activity. Important is the help and knowledge of local people, who may pass on information about sacred sites in the area and can help with finding th...
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Culture Theory. (Approaches to Culture Theory 8), 2020
The aim of this article is to study the internal and external boundaries of cultures of the past.... more The aim of this article is to study the internal and external boundaries of cultures of the past. Boundaries here include spatial and temporal, as well as functional boundaries. The exemplary cases analysed here include the archaeological cultures of tarand cemetery and long barrows. We will discuss the concept of archaeological culture and describe the features and boundaries that have frequently been used to distinguish the cultures of tarand cemetery and long barrows. In order to move closer to the lived culture that existed in the past along with its external and internal borders , we supplement the notion of archaeological culture with the semiotic model of culture and its notion of boundary. We test the applicability of semiotic theories to archaeological empirical material and develop a micro-, meso-, and macro-level system of description. The proposed theoretical and methodological scheme should highlight the cultural boundaries expressed within an individual grave, between graves, and between larger areas and eras. Having a sufficient amount of empirical material together with the system of description would enable tentative reconstruction of the self-model of cultural entities on different levels. Burial places are one of the possible semiotic systems that can be analysed in this manner. In this article, we did a micro-level description of a single burial in a tarand cemetery and in a barrow cemetery and mapped the analysed cases on the meso-and macro-levels. In the macro-level analysis, distinct boundaries can be observed in the burial rites and grave goods, but the greatest internal boundary is probably the one between the elite and the common people: the former buried their dead in monumental structures, while the majority of the people treated their dead in manners that have not left any archaeological traces. The macro-level analysis of graves also displays intentional transgressions of boundaries, such as mixing bones or the re-use of older burial sites, which appear to be features shared widely among the discussed cultures.
Matthias Johann Eisen olevat öelnud, et eestlastel on kolm püha kohta: saun, hiis ja kirik. Just ... more Matthias Johann Eisen olevat öelnud, et eestlastel on kolm püha kohta: saun, hiis ja kirik. Just hiitest ja teistest looduslikest pühapaikadest juttu tulebki. Võib öelda, et looduslikud pühapaigad on eestlaste üks identiteedi alustalasid ka ligikaudu 100 aastat hiljem. Need paigad näitavad vana arusaama, et loodus on hingestatud ning erilistes kohtades on võimalik suhelda kõrgemate jõududega ja saada abi.
Arheoloogiaarhiivist leiame veel ühe põgusa teate rabalaiba leidmisest üle saja aasta tagasi: 190... more Arheoloogiaarhiivist leiame veel ühe põgusa teate rabalaiba leidmisest üle saja aasta tagasi: 1900 ümber leiti Väätsa rabas naisterahva laip turba lõikusel muistses rõivastuses, mille vanust arst ja kohtuuurija vähemalt 200 aasta peale hindasid, hästi hoidunud. Koht teadmata, leidjad surnud. Maeti sinnasamasse tagasi.
Sõela puudumisel muditi pinnas käte vahel läbi, et võimalikud leiud märkamata ei jääks. Foto: Eve... more Sõela puudumisel muditi pinnas käte vahel läbi, et võimalikud leiud märkamata ei jääks. Foto: Eve Rannamäe. Osteoloog Martin Malve põlenud inimluid määramas. Foto: Heiki Valk. Zalahtovje kaevamiste lõpp. Foto: Maria Smirnova.
In this article I present an analysis of how place-lore has and can be used as a tool to identify... more In this article I present an analysis of how place-lore has and can be used as a tool to identify archaeological sites. The focus was upon three types of sites: prehistoric strongholds; burial sites on dry land; wetland sites with potential human remains. In the first part, the prehistoric strongholds in historical Võrumaa County are discussed, followed in the second part by the burial sites in Karula Parish. The aim was to answer the questions " How many of these sites had been identified using folklore (including place names)? " , " How did this place-lore form and what kind of information does it pass on? " and " How did identifications in folklore or on the basis of folklore relate to the archaeological evidence at these places? " In third part my own fieldwork, undertaken at wetlands selected on the basis of folklore that referred to human remains, is presented. Analysis of the prehistoric strongholds showed that in general they were identified on the basis of folklore. However, other potential stronghold sites that occur in place-lore remain unconfirmed by archaeological evidence. In the case of some of these sites, a lack of confirmation may be owing to inadequate archaeological investigation. Almost all burial places in Karula Parish have been identified using place-lore, usually describing unearthed human remains. Unlike in the case of strongholds, the place-lore concerning burial sites is less likely to refer to the original use of sites, which indicates that many of them were " forgotten " by locals after the end of use. The fieldwork in the wetlands did not uncover any new archaeological finds. The main reason could be the difficulties of doing wetland archaeology. The place-lore may also be misleading with regard to all three types of archaeological sites, but it is also not possible to state categorically that in the past people did not interact with these sites. The results of this study show how important place-lore has and can be in determining archaeological sites. However, one has to keep in mind how place-lore emerges and the character of the information it tends to pass on.
abstract: The aim of this article is to compare Estonian burial-related runosongs (regilaul) to a... more abstract: The aim of this article is to compare Estonian burial-related runosongs (regilaul) to archaeological information. I introduce the runosong as a potential source of information about burials to archaeologists and give folklorists a new perspective by addressing the age and practises behind the motifs of runosongs. One runosong may contain elements from different time periods, and for this reason I have concentrated on dating the elements of storylines. However, I have also tried to match the idea of a whole song-type with one or another time period.
¹ There is one stone grave in the centre of village Alasoo that could also have been used during ... more ¹ There is one stone grave in the centre of village Alasoo that could also have been used during the Viking Age (Tvauri 2012, 252). ² AI 2712: 92-95; AI 3090: 1-4.
¹ In contemporary maps, the hill is named Liinumägi, but in older records it is called Liinamägi.... more ¹ In contemporary maps, the hill is named Liinumägi, but in older records it is called Liinamägi. ² The measurements on the hill top are based on points taken with a total station, but as the edges of the plateaus were not always clear, the result is somewhat arbitrary.
The aim of this article is to introduce what kind of place-lore concerning bog bodies can be foun... more The aim of this article is to introduce what kind of place-lore concerning bog bodies can be found in Estonian folklore. How could this place-lore be used by archaeologists? There is folklore describing people buried in swamps and bogs and drowning in wetlands. Moreover, some place-lore mentions finds of human remains from wetlands, which refers to incidents where bog bodies were found in the past but of which we do not have any knowledge based on archaeological records. The case-study presented in this paper illustrates the complex relationship between an archaeologically documented find, the Rabivere bog body and place-lore. There are various stories about the Rabivere bog body, and this place-lore has been used to interpret the bog find. This paper gives an example how folkloric information can provide a rather different picture about the past in comparison with archaeological data, bringing out the possibilities and difficulties of this kind of interdisciplinary approach.
Bog body studies have focused on rich individual biographies, largely neglecting broader spatial ... more Bog body studies have focused on rich individual biographies, largely neglecting broader spatial and temporal trends. Here, the authors present the first large-scale overview of well-dated human remains from northern European mires, based on a database of 266 sites and more than 1000 bog mummies, bog skeletons and disarticulated/partial skeletal remains. Analysis demonstrates fluctuating depositions of human remains between the Early Neolithic and early modern times, significant and shifting spatial clustering, and variation in site characteristics (e.g. preservation, use frequency, cause of death). The results emphasise previously unrecognised activity phases and highlight issues with categorising motives, especially around ritual violence.
The article gives a short overview about the progress in the inventory of natural sacred sites in... more The article gives a short overview about the progress in the inventory of natural sacred sites in Estonia and describes developments in the protection of these sites. Inventory of natural sacred sites means locating and detailed description of holy sites in nature. Inventory begins in archives where all the information about the areas of sacred natural sites is searched and combined. There are plenty of folklore notes about, for example, offering stones, holy groves or springs with healing water, but often the exact location and their state is unknown. The second phase of inventory is fieldwork, where sacred sites are being searched in landscape – and if this is successful, are described and the borders of a site are determined. Many sacred sites described in archive texts unfortunately have not survived due to natural causes or human activity. Important is the help and knowledge of local people, who may pass on information about sacred sites in the area and can help with finding th...
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Culture Theory. (Approaches to Culture Theory 8), 2020
The aim of this article is to study the internal and external boundaries of cultures of the past.... more The aim of this article is to study the internal and external boundaries of cultures of the past. Boundaries here include spatial and temporal, as well as functional boundaries. The exemplary cases analysed here include the archaeological cultures of tarand cemetery and long barrows. We will discuss the concept of archaeological culture and describe the features and boundaries that have frequently been used to distinguish the cultures of tarand cemetery and long barrows. In order to move closer to the lived culture that existed in the past along with its external and internal borders , we supplement the notion of archaeological culture with the semiotic model of culture and its notion of boundary. We test the applicability of semiotic theories to archaeological empirical material and develop a micro-, meso-, and macro-level system of description. The proposed theoretical and methodological scheme should highlight the cultural boundaries expressed within an individual grave, between graves, and between larger areas and eras. Having a sufficient amount of empirical material together with the system of description would enable tentative reconstruction of the self-model of cultural entities on different levels. Burial places are one of the possible semiotic systems that can be analysed in this manner. In this article, we did a micro-level description of a single burial in a tarand cemetery and in a barrow cemetery and mapped the analysed cases on the meso-and macro-levels. In the macro-level analysis, distinct boundaries can be observed in the burial rites and grave goods, but the greatest internal boundary is probably the one between the elite and the common people: the former buried their dead in monumental structures, while the majority of the people treated their dead in manners that have not left any archaeological traces. The macro-level analysis of graves also displays intentional transgressions of boundaries, such as mixing bones or the re-use of older burial sites, which appear to be features shared widely among the discussed cultures.
Matthias Johann Eisen olevat öelnud, et eestlastel on kolm püha kohta: saun, hiis ja kirik. Just ... more Matthias Johann Eisen olevat öelnud, et eestlastel on kolm püha kohta: saun, hiis ja kirik. Just hiitest ja teistest looduslikest pühapaikadest juttu tulebki. Võib öelda, et looduslikud pühapaigad on eestlaste üks identiteedi alustalasid ka ligikaudu 100 aastat hiljem. Need paigad näitavad vana arusaama, et loodus on hingestatud ning erilistes kohtades on võimalik suhelda kõrgemate jõududega ja saada abi.
Arheoloogiaarhiivist leiame veel ühe põgusa teate rabalaiba leidmisest üle saja aasta tagasi: 190... more Arheoloogiaarhiivist leiame veel ühe põgusa teate rabalaiba leidmisest üle saja aasta tagasi: 1900 ümber leiti Väätsa rabas naisterahva laip turba lõikusel muistses rõivastuses, mille vanust arst ja kohtuuurija vähemalt 200 aasta peale hindasid, hästi hoidunud. Koht teadmata, leidjad surnud. Maeti sinnasamasse tagasi.
Sõela puudumisel muditi pinnas käte vahel läbi, et võimalikud leiud märkamata ei jääks. Foto: Eve... more Sõela puudumisel muditi pinnas käte vahel läbi, et võimalikud leiud märkamata ei jääks. Foto: Eve Rannamäe. Osteoloog Martin Malve põlenud inimluid määramas. Foto: Heiki Valk. Zalahtovje kaevamiste lõpp. Foto: Maria Smirnova.
In this article I present an analysis of how place-lore has and can be used as a tool to identify... more In this article I present an analysis of how place-lore has and can be used as a tool to identify archaeological sites. The focus was upon three types of sites: prehistoric strongholds; burial sites on dry land; wetland sites with potential human remains. In the first part, the prehistoric strongholds in historical Võrumaa County are discussed, followed in the second part by the burial sites in Karula Parish. The aim was to answer the questions " How many of these sites had been identified using folklore (including place names)? " , " How did this place-lore form and what kind of information does it pass on? " and " How did identifications in folklore or on the basis of folklore relate to the archaeological evidence at these places? " In third part my own fieldwork, undertaken at wetlands selected on the basis of folklore that referred to human remains, is presented. Analysis of the prehistoric strongholds showed that in general they were identified on the basis of folklore. However, other potential stronghold sites that occur in place-lore remain unconfirmed by archaeological evidence. In the case of some of these sites, a lack of confirmation may be owing to inadequate archaeological investigation. Almost all burial places in Karula Parish have been identified using place-lore, usually describing unearthed human remains. Unlike in the case of strongholds, the place-lore concerning burial sites is less likely to refer to the original use of sites, which indicates that many of them were " forgotten " by locals after the end of use. The fieldwork in the wetlands did not uncover any new archaeological finds. The main reason could be the difficulties of doing wetland archaeology. The place-lore may also be misleading with regard to all three types of archaeological sites, but it is also not possible to state categorically that in the past people did not interact with these sites. The results of this study show how important place-lore has and can be in determining archaeological sites. However, one has to keep in mind how place-lore emerges and the character of the information it tends to pass on.
abstract: The aim of this article is to compare Estonian burial-related runosongs (regilaul) to a... more abstract: The aim of this article is to compare Estonian burial-related runosongs (regilaul) to archaeological information. I introduce the runosong as a potential source of information about burials to archaeologists and give folklorists a new perspective by addressing the age and practises behind the motifs of runosongs. One runosong may contain elements from different time periods, and for this reason I have concentrated on dating the elements of storylines. However, I have also tried to match the idea of a whole song-type with one or another time period.
¹ There is one stone grave in the centre of village Alasoo that could also have been used during ... more ¹ There is one stone grave in the centre of village Alasoo that could also have been used during the Viking Age (Tvauri 2012, 252). ² AI 2712: 92-95; AI 3090: 1-4.
¹ In contemporary maps, the hill is named Liinumägi, but in older records it is called Liinamägi.... more ¹ In contemporary maps, the hill is named Liinumägi, but in older records it is called Liinamägi. ² The measurements on the hill top are based on points taken with a total station, but as the edges of the plateaus were not always clear, the result is somewhat arbitrary.
The aim of this article is to introduce what kind of place-lore concerning bog bodies can be foun... more The aim of this article is to introduce what kind of place-lore concerning bog bodies can be found in Estonian folklore. How could this place-lore be used by archaeologists? There is folklore describing people buried in swamps and bogs and drowning in wetlands. Moreover, some place-lore mentions finds of human remains from wetlands, which refers to incidents where bog bodies were found in the past but of which we do not have any knowledge based on archaeological records. The case-study presented in this paper illustrates the complex relationship between an archaeologically documented find, the Rabivere bog body and place-lore. There are various stories about the Rabivere bog body, and this place-lore has been used to interpret the bog find. This paper gives an example how folkloric information can provide a rather different picture about the past in comparison with archaeological data, bringing out the possibilities and difficulties of this kind of interdisciplinary approach.
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Papers by Pikne Kama
Analysis demonstrates fluctuating depositions of human remains between the Early Neolithic and early modern times, significant and shifting spatial
clustering, and variation in site characteristics (e.g. preservation, use frequency, cause of death). The results emphasise previously unrecognised activity phases and highlight issues with categorising motives, especially around ritual violence.
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Analysis demonstrates fluctuating depositions of human remains between the Early Neolithic and early modern times, significant and shifting spatial
clustering, and variation in site characteristics (e.g. preservation, use frequency, cause of death). The results emphasise previously unrecognised activity phases and highlight issues with categorising motives, especially around ritual violence.
Full text: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/NNA23giFZGtnPKgsIvdz/full