Mysterious child’s grave discovered in Finland gives archaeologists three clues

Scientists have found that children were buried with animals and weapons, and their clothes could be decorated with feathers

The burial place of a child who lived 8 thousand years ago on the territory of modern Finland aroused genuine interest from archaeologists around the world. The experts got a rare glimpse into how Stone Age people treated their dead children. Here are just some of the artifacts that baffled experts. “MK” asked Russian scientists to decipher some of the “messages” from the ancient necropolis.

The Finnish Heritage Agency started excavations at the site in 2018. However, they moved rather slowly. Luck has smiled on archaeologists recently. They found the remains of the child and fragments of things buried with him. Light on some of the mysteries associated with this necropolis was shed by microscopic analysis of the soil and remains.

“Children’s teeth, bird feathers, traces of weapons and dog hair were found in the grave,” says archaeologist Nikolai Remezov. – We got a little more understanding of the burial traditions in the Paleolithic era. But it remains unclear whether ritual killings of animals and birds were performed after the death of a child. Maybe the kids were buried along with the “pets”, or maybe they simply decorated their shroud with bird feathers and put on shoes made of dog hair on their feet. Maybe it was even wolf hair. And it is not very clear why there are quartz arrowheads in a children’s grave. Thus, the portrait of the deceased is not fully drawn for us.

The researchers determined that the teeth belonged to a child between the ages of 3 and 10. 24 tiny feather fragments found to be part of the plumage of waterfowl. Perhaps the deceased was laid on a bed of feathers, or wrapped in clothes made of fluff, or simply laid next to him the killed birds, which, on their wings, should take him to another world.

A falcon feather was also found in the grave, believed to have been either part of an arrow once attached to the tip or part of an ornament on children’s clothing.

Fine hair that belonged to a dog or a wolf was found at the child’s feet. And this is another mystery. Was the animal killed as a sacrifice, or did only its wool become the basis for some kind of fur garment?

– Almost half a century ago, a children’s burial was also found on the territory of Vladimir – the remains of two children rested in the grave, – says archaeologist Artyom Suntsov. – Very expensive bone inventory was found there, including spears made from straightened mammoth tusk. It has been suggested that this is how boys, potential hunters, were buried in the Upper Paleolithic. This means that in Finland the grave most likely belonged to a male child.