Published in: Aamuposti, 28th of August, 2004

- UTSJOKI, THE ARCHAELOGIC WONDERLAND

- Tens of archeological discoveries have been made during this summer in the Utsjoki area. Nearly thirty ancient relics have been found from the banks of the Tenojoki and Utsjoki. New discoveries also include the stone circles in the Urroaivi arctic hill, which kind of so far have been found only from North-Norway. The valleys of Utsjoki and Tenojoki have been investigated for the past two summers and they are part of the plan to have the town planning completed in the borough. The researcher from the Museum office has been walking along the river banks for nearly two hundred kilometers and investigated the ground, where a suitable place has been found.

- A good spots to make discoveries are the small headlands that stretches into the river, they form a small harbor like place, where usually people have settled to live. Other good spots are the places where the small rivers combine to the Tenojoki. The researcher from Museum office has so far found old living places near the river. Usually these places are 3 to 4 meters from the water level. According to the researcher, finding these kind of places is much easier in Utsjoki than in Southern Finland, as here in the north, the peat hasn't formed a thick layer even after hundreds of years, which would have hidden all traces from ancient living places. The researcher has listed some 27 living or hunting places during this summer.

- Some of them have been placed to the time 7000 to 1500 years before Christ and some on the other hand dates from the 18th century. No detailed investigations hasn't been made so far. According to the researcher, these discoveries are now documented and the investigations can start on a later date. The second remarkable discovery from this summer, is the old stone circles in Urroaivi arctic hill, which most likely has been an ancient sacrificial altar for the Lapp's. These stone circles are located close to the Finnish-Norwegian border and according to the researcher, these stone formations are well known among the local people, but no one hasn't thought about before to mention them to the Museum office.