8 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists have found a mysterious prehistoric site, believed to be a 6,500-year-old Stone Age cemetery, near the Arctic Circle

Archaeologists have found a mysterious prehistoric site believed to be a 6,500-year-old Stone Age cemetery just 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of the Arctic Circle.

The prehistoric site is known as Tainiaro, located about 50 miles south of the Arctic Circle in the Finnish region of Lapland. Although the hypothesis that the Tainiaro site is a Stone Age cemetery remains unproven, if confirmed, it could drastically alter ideas about the history of Northern Europe. Furthermore, the proof would make Tainiaro the northernmost Stone Age graveyard in the world.

Back in 1959, local workers came across stone tools in Simo, which is situated near the Baltic Sea’s northern edge, just 80 kilometers to the south of the Arctic Circle. The site, named Tainiaro, underwent partial excavations in the 80s. This led to the revelation of thousands of artifacts, including pottery, stone tools, and animal bones.

The archaeologists were also able to notice 127 possible pits of different sizes that could have been sediment-filled. Some had burning evidence, while others had red ochre traces. Red ochre is a natural iron pigment that is crucial to several burials of the Stone Age. However, without skeletal evidence, which quickly decayed in the acidic soil of this region, the Taniaro’s identification as a cemetery was never confirmed.

The team of archaeologists working on the site has published its findings and theories in the Cambridge University Press archaeological journal Antiquity in the paper entitled “A large fifth-millennium BC cemetery in the subarctic north of the Baltic Sea.”



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



The prehistoric site is thought to be a Stone Age cemetery. Image: Antiquity
The prehistoric site is thought to be a Stone Age cemetery. Image: Antiquity

Archaeologists were initially unsure whether the pits were graves, hearths, or a combination of the two. To determine the nature, the team examined the contents and sizes of the pits and compared them to hundreds of Stone Age graves in 14 cemeteries. The archaeologists were then able to determine that at least 44 of these could have housed human burials. Furthermore, the pits’ rounded-edge rectangular shape, red ochre traces, and occasional artifacts suggest that they were graves.

The authors note in the study that Tainiaro should be considered a cemetery despite no skeletal material surviving in the area was found.

Their research paper mentions, “Despite the absence of skeletal evidence, dozens of fifth-millennium BC pits have been tentatively interpreted as burials… Many of the pits are consistent in form with those used for inhumation at contemporaneous sites suggesting that Tainiaro is one of the largest Stone Age cemeteries in northern Europe and raising questions about the cultural and subsistence practices of prehistoric societies in the subarctic.”

While elsewhere it would have been possible to find human remains in these pits, which would have confirmed the Stone Age cemetery hypothesis, the soil in Finland is so acidic that nothing organic buried in the ground could survive for more than a thousand years.

The pits discovered in previous excavation. Image: Antiquity
The pits discovered in previous excavation. Image: Antiquity

” We’re talking more than six millennia here. So the outlines of pits and their inner traces are all that local archaeologists have to go by. But there was not even a map of the place,” Aki Hakonen, an archaeologist with the University of Oulu in Finland and one of the authors of the paper, said in a statement to Newsweek.

Archaeologist Aki Hakonen, who led the team, explains that based on the burial pit shapes at other areas, the dead in Tainiaro could have been buried on their sides or backs, with bent knees. He notes that furs could have been present and that the dead could have been wrapped in the skins of seals. Hakonen also notes that red ochre and grave goods may have been mixed into the fill dirt or the grave.

Excavations have only been done on one-fifth of Tainiaro. This means that the number of graves could actually be more than 200.

Antiquity

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.160

Related Articles

2,000-Year-Old Artifacts Found at Swat’s Butkara Site in Pakistan, Including Coins and Kharosthi Inscriptions

14 February 2025

14 February 2025

Excavations at the Butkara Stupa, located near Mingora in Swat, Pakistan, have uncovered significant findings, including two-thousand-year-old coins, pottery, and...

An amateur archeologist has discovered a Roman war site

1 November 2021

1 November 2021

Thanks to the insistence of an amateur archaeologist, a Roman battlefield in Switzerland has been identified. Shortly before the birth...

Zeus Temple’s entrance was found in western Turkey’s Aizanoi Ancient City

31 July 2021

31 July 2021

During recent digs, the monumental entrance gate of the Zeus Temple sanctuary in the ancient city of Aizanoi, located in...

Middle Ages living space uncovered at an altitude of 1,800 meters in eastern Turkey

20 December 2021

20 December 2021

A living space carved into a bedrock considered to belong to the Middle Ages was found at a point overlooking...

Archaeologists discover a 4,000-year-old ancient city in the Iraqi Dhi Qar region

20 July 2021

20 July 2021

An astonishing find was made by archaeologists in Iraq‘s Dhi Qar province, where an ancient settlement estimated to be 4,000...

Uncovering a Rare Enamelled Roman Brooch in Scotland

6 March 2025

6 March 2025

Recent research by GUARD Archaeology highlights a rare enamelled Roman brooch, suggesting its potential use in a “foundation offerings ritual”...

Most important Discovery in New Zealand Archaeology: Ocean Waka

5 March 2025

5 March 2025

What began as a routine search for wood by Vincent and Nikau Dix on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands) has led to...

2,500-Year-Old Burial Site in Negev Highlands Reveals Ancient Trade Routes and Evidence of Human Trafficking

5 February 2025

5 February 2025

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday the discovery of a 2,500-year-old burial site in the Negev Highlands. This significant...

Archaeologists Discover Roman-Era Industrial Settlement at Future Bilmer Berg II Business Park in Germany

2 October 2025

2 October 2025

At first glance, the sandy field near the B209 road does not appear remarkable. Yet for archaeologists, the site in...

Pharaonic Hieroglyphic Inscription of Ramses III Found in Southern Jordan

20 April 2025

20 April 2025

In a remarkable archaeological breakthrough, a hieroglyphic inscription bearing the royal cartouche of Pharaoh Ramses III (1186–1155 BC) has been...

Fake Byzantine Coin Pendant Is First Evidence of 6th-Century Elite in Thaxted, Essex

1 August 2025

1 August 2025

Discovery of a rare 6th-century pseudo-Byzantine gold coin pendant near Thaxted sheds new light on elite presence in early medieval...

Ancient Three Fortresses: Layered Defense on Egypt’s Eastern Border at Tell Abu Saifi

11 May 2025

11 May 2025

Archaeological excavations at the strategically significant Tell Abu Saifi site in North Sinai have unearthed compelling evidence of Egypt’s long-standing...

Ancient Christian Cross Over 1,400 Years Old Linked to Church of the East Unearthed on Abu Dhabi’s Sir Bani Yas Island

19 August 2025

19 August 2025

A remarkable archaeological discovery on Sir Bani Yas Island has brought to light an ancient Christian cross dating back more...

Rare Ancient Stamps Found in Falster May Show Way to an Unknown King’s Home

27 July 2023

27 July 2023

In the center of Falster, southeast of Denmark, a man with a metal detector has made an important discovery. The...

Oldest footprints of pre-humans identified in Crete

11 October 2021

11 October 2021

Six million-year-old fossilized footprints on the island show the human foot had begun to develop. The oldest known footprints of...