The Story of the Site Material and Immaterial Heritage Framework

Transcription

1 The Story of the Site Material and Immaterial Heritage Framework Kierikkikeskus, Oulu (FI) Kierikki Stone Age village Description 1 Introduction There were large Stone Age villages on the coast of Bay of Bothnia around years ago. As the land rose, villages followed the receding shoreline, and a series of settlements formed by the River Iijoki in Kierikki region, Yli-Ii, for the whole period. The community living in Kierikki was rich by Stone Age standard. The local economy was characterized by extensive seal hunting and trading. (Eilola & Lehtinen 2001: 3, 14) Archaeological research in Kierikki began in the 1960s and the area is still the focus of continuing research (Vaara 2000: 2 3; Viljanmaa 2014: 8 9). A Stone Age village reconstruction based on archaeological research has been built next to Kierikki Stone Age Centre in Yli-Ii. It represents the large villages of 5 to 7 houses that were situated in the area some 5000 years ago (Vaara 2000: 3). Reconstructions representing Stone Age houses have been built in Kierikki since The latest house is under construction in the summer of The most remarkable renovations in the village have been the rebuilding of turf-roofed houses into thatched houses in 2008 and in 2012 (Nieminen & Viljanmaa 2014). 2 Reconstructions representing Stone Age houses In the Finnish soil organic material is preserved for a long time only in exceptional conditions, and no overground structures of houses have preserved. Archaeological excavations bring up data that helps deducing the shape, size, places of doors, and the location of a possible fire place (Pesonen 2002). The data from excavations do not reveal the roof materials used in Stone Age houses. However, signs of poles that reach from the sides of the floor towards the supposed middle point of the house have been found in Kierikki. In the arctic zone birch-bark has been common roof material. In Kierikki the reconstruction of houses is a combination of excavation finds, experimental archaeology, and application of the ethnographic models of northern primitive people (Muurimäki 2014). If reconstructions are located in tourist attractions, there are several factors that affect their implementation: the purpose of use and the resources for maintenance of the buildings, the requirements imposed by various building and safety regulations, availability of needed materials, the time available for building, and the amount of workforce. 3 The Kierikki Stone Age Buildings in The first house of the Stone Age village, a one-room reconstruction of a Stone Age house, was built in the summer of Part of its structures were based on findings from the excavation of Korvala row houses in Yli-Ii, led by Hans-Peter Schulz. The first reconstruction was built on a one metre high, quadrangular timber foundation with an earthwork outside. The size of the building was about 4 metres by 6 metres, and the only doorway was towards the riverside, in the middle of the long side of the house. Peeled pine poles were laid side by side against the timber foundation. The ends of the poles were charred and embedded in the earthwork. 1

2 Photo 1. The frame of the first house reconstruction in Stone Age Village is almost finished (in 1997). Photo is from the archives of Kierikki Stone Age Centre, unknown photographer. Birch-bark sheets were imbricated on top of the pine poles to cover the house, and a 15-centimeter-thick layer of turf was piled on the birch-bark sheets. The layers of birch-bark and turf covered the ridgepole as well. Above the paved fireplace in the middle of the house was an opening for smoke. The slope of the roof was quite gentle, only about 30 degrees, so the cover material stayed on well without any attachment. This house was pulled down in 2006, because it was structurally unsound: the main reason was the wet floor and in the springtime more water got in. Photo 2. Building of the first house reconstruction in the Stone Age Village. Photo is from the archives of Kierikki Stone Age Centre, unknown photographer. 2

3 In five new reconstructions were built in the Stone Age Village. The houses were based of the excavation findings and ethnographic data (Vaara 2000, Vaara 2002). One of these reconstructions, designed by archaeologist Rauno Vaara, was built on timber foundation, and it was built as the first house of a Stone Age row house reconstruction. The other four reconstructions were designed after the remnants of the dwelling site next to the Stone Age Village. Those houses did not have timber foundations. In one of the reconstructions the earthwork surrounding the house ended to vertical tree poles embedded in the ground. Between the poles was a willow twine wall compacted with turf to prevent sand from running onto the floor of the dwelling. (Vaara 2000, s. 7 9) 3.1. The Reconstruction of Korvala Row House The Korvala row house reconstruction was complemented into a three-room house in 2002, and plank floors were built into the rooms to make them accessible to physically impaired visitors. Vents under the planks helped reduce moisture accumulation in the floor structures of the dwelling. When the reconstruction of the Korvala row house was completed, the Stone Age Village had reached the appearance it has kept until Photo 3. The Reconstruction of Korvala Row House in 2006 Photographer Sami Viljanmaa. 4 Dwelling Reconstructions in When the development and repair project began, there were altogether six reconstructions with roofs made of birch-bark sheet and turf built in : one row house of three rooms, one house of two rooms, and two one-room dwellings. The oldest dwelling of the village had been partly pulled down in 2006, when it had been turned into a half-open, lean-to sort of a building. The wood structures of the dwelling in question started to be structurally unsound, so it had to be pulled down completely during the project. Because several dwellings in the village had badly deteriorated, it was necessary to consider which of them could still be repaired and used, and which ones should be pulled down. The decision was that both of the one-room houses would be pulled down to make space for new dwelling reconstructions. Since no one actually lives in the Stone Age Village and the structures are subjected to heavy changes of weather and seasons, the main starting points for designing of the dwellings were long useful life and to be 3

4 as maintenance-free as possible. The constructions were not designed after any individual dwelling site made on archaeological excavation, but one possible Stone Age dwelling model was strived to be designed on the grounds of observations made on several excavation sites. Also the building material resources in the Stone Age Kierikki region were taken into account when designing the reconstructions. The characteristics of Kierikki Stone Age Centre as a tourist attraction had to be taken into consideration it was desirable that each dwelling would have a capacity of twenty visitors. In addition to that safety regulations demand at least two exits in each building. In 2008 Stone Age Village was renewed. Especially the roof structures had encountered problems: the birch-bark sheets and turf had started to slide downwards and let water run into the houses. In 2008, two one-room buildings were pulled down and one new house, size of 6 metres by 8 metres and with a turf roof, was built. This house was field tested in a winter of big freeze, when an international Primitive Surviving Camp -living experiment was arranged between October 2010 and July Another reedroofed building was built in Asumusten perustuksiin lisättiin noin 30 cm paksuinen kerros karkeaa sepeliä estämään kosteuden nousua maaperästä asumusten rakenteisiin. Common reed was chosen as the roof material, because it is much more durable than birch-bark-turf roof. It was possible to make reed roofs in Kierikki, because the area was in the mouth of a river when people lived there in BC. Because of the land rising Kierikki is nowadays situated 30 kilometres from the sea coast. The inland dwellings have probably had birch-bark and turf roofs, but the situation at the coast was different, because other materials were available, too: the shallow bays were favourable habitat for common reed (Phragmites australis). In 2012, led by Sooster and archaeology student Antti Palmroos, the third reed-roof dwelling was built. It was an extension to a dwelling finished in 2009, and together they formed a two-room reed-roofed row house. An octagonal birch-bark -roofed house, such as were used in Kierikki, will be built in In the summer of 2015 in Kierikinkangas there is an excavation of a large circular dwelling site, which has possibly been a separate, yurta-like building (see fig. 1). The Stone Age village is a constantly changing and developing unity, and new reconstructions are planned all the time; especially based on the findings of the public excavations arranged in Kierikinkangas since

5 Photo 4. The Kierikki Stone Age Village in summer 2012, when the third reed-roof house had just been completed. The 2008 house on the left, and the 2009 house next to it. The birch-bark roofed Korvala house reconstruction, 2002, on the right. Photo: Kierikki Stone Age Centre. Fig. 1. The construction plan of the house that will be built in Drawing: Giovanni Giacomodonato, Kierikki Stone Age Centre. Further Reading 1. Nieminen I. & Viljanmaa S Kierikkikeskuksen kivikauden kylän järviruokokattoiset asumusrekonstruktiot ja havaintoja kylän aiemmista rakennuksista. Muinaistutkija 4/ Eero Muurimäki: Experiences concerning Stone age building constructions in Finland. Presentation in OpenArch conference Kierikki 12. June Vaara, R Yli-Iin Kierikin kivikautinen kylä asumusrekonstruktiot Muinaistutkija 2/2000:

6 Sources Reconstruction (material) 1. Location Kierikki Stone Age village 2. Dating c BC 3. Current location Pahkalantie 447, Yli-Ii, Oulu Finland, (400 metrs from the main building) 4. Secondary literature Story (immaterial) a. Pesonen, P Semisubterranean Houses in Finland a Review. Huts and Houses. Stone Age and Early Metal Age Buildings in Finland: National Board of Antiquities, Jyväskylä. b. Vaara, R Menneisyyden elävöitys ja arkeologisten rekonstruktioiden problematiikka. Muinaistutkija 2/2002: Stone Age village was built in late 90 s to make a reconstruction according to excavations at Kierikki area. The aim was to show what living was in Neolitihic times and also to make a place for visitors to schools and also for private occasions. There actually is no story of people living in village because most of the information is based on research. But always the guides are telling about the living of Stone Age people and people can try Neolitihic skills. 5. Primary sources Excavations at Kierikki house pits area since Reconstruction works on late 90 s (Rauno Vaara s reconstruction plans) and plans for rebuilding on 20 s by viljanmaa, Nieminen and Palmroos. 6. Secondary sources Film Sun Stone was made in 2013 also with OpenArch money which was filmed in Stone Age village also at wintertime which tells about young boy Osma who was living on a Stone Age. Ther was a living experience at Stone Age village Primitive Surviving Project 6