Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities

Paper discusses the use of available LiDAR laser scanning data in field archaeology in Finland based on a few examples from the summer 2010. Digital elevation models based on new Lidar data proved to be useful for planning and carrying out fieldwork, for example in identifying the most suitable survey areas and especially in locating various pit features, such as trenches or Stone Age housepits. These could also provide basis for developing predictive models in the future for locating such features.

Finnish hunter-gatherer rock paintings are situated on steep cliff faces that typically face onto bodies of water. Because of isostatic land uplift and lake level changes some rock paintings are situated several metres above present day lake level. Using the shoreline displacement history of Lake Saimaa, a relative chronology of different rock painting motifs is presented. There has hitherto been almost no study of diachronic change in Finnish rock-art motifs. This study presents some general stylistic and orientational shifts in the rock painting tradition, shifts that are most pronounced towards the end of Subneolithic period; pictorial display seems to become more one-sided and schematic towards the end of the rock painting tradition from 2500 Cal BC onwards. Changes seem relatively synchronous throughout the Lake Saimaa catchment. Thereafter the painting tradition diminishes as Early Metal Period ceramic styles and early agriculture becomes more established in the area after 2000 Cal BC. These developments could reflect changes in the socio-economic organisation and ideology.

Paper describes an example of digital documentation methods used at the forensic archaeological excavations at Lappeenranta Huhtiniemi, eastern Finland. Several documentation methods were tested and compared while excavating a 19th century mass grave of Russian soldiers: described methods include traditional sketching, total station documentation, photogrammetry, and 3D laserscanning.