The Finnish-Swedish debate on the Battle Axe Culture of the 1910s and 1920s

The paper deals with a debate during the 1910s and 1920s on the origins of the Finnish Battle Axe Culture of the 3rd millennium BC. In 1915 Aarne Europaeus (Äyräpää) suggested that the Battle Axe Culture would have reached Finland directly from Central Europe and not via Sweden, as previously assume...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFornvännen Vol. 109; p. 267
Main Author Salminen, Timo
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Stockholm Swedish National Heritage Board 01.01.2014
Subjects
20th century
Archaeology
Debates
Historic artifacts
Prehistoric era
Weapons
Sweden
Finland
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Summary:The paper deals with a debate during the 1910s and 1920s on the origins of the Finnish Battle Axe Culture of the 3rd millennium BC. In 1915 Aarne Europaeus (Äyräpää) suggested that the Battle Axe Culture would have reached Finland directly from Central Europe and not via Sweden, as previously assumed. This aroused opposition from Gunnar Ekholm in Sweden. Other researchers from both countries also took part in the discussion. At a concrete archaeological level, the different interpretations were based on different views of the typological relationship of Finnish Battle Axe and Corded Ware finds to those from Sweden and Central Europe.The discussion also had political implications regarding the question of the origins of today's Finland-Swedish population and its relationship to Sweden. The topic acquired new significance with the 1917 independence of Finland, when the identity of the new country had to be constructed. The debate died down, unresolved, at the end of the 1920s. Äyräpää’s interpretation, however, became the predominant one in the international context.
ISSN:0015-7813