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Folk Magic and the Haunting of the Second World War in Finnish Lapland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2024

Vesa-Pekka Herva Open the ORCID record for Vesa-Pekka Herva [Opens in a new window] ,
Oula Seitsonen ,
Iain Banks ,
Gabriel Moshenska  and
Tina Paphitis
Vesa-Pekka Herva
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology University of Oulu P.O. Box 1000 FI-90014 University of Oulu Finland Email: vesa-pekka.herva@oulu.fi
Oula Seitsonen
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology University of Oulu P.O. Box 1000 FI-90014 University of Oulu Finland Email: oula.seitsonen@oulu.fi
Iain Banks
Affiliation:
Scottish Centre for War Studies and Conflict Archaeology University of Glasgow R220 level 2, Gregory Building Glasgow G12 8QQ UK Email: iain.banks@glasgow.ac.uk
Gabriel Moshenska
Affiliation:
Institute for Archaeology University College London 31–34 Gordon Square London WC1H 0PY UK Email: g.moshenska@ucl.ac.uk
Tina Paphitis
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion University of Bergen Øysteinsgate 3 Postboks 7805 5020 Bergen Norway Email: t.paphitis@outlook.com
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Abstract

This article engages with certain peculiar finds and features that we have documented at former German WWII military camps in Finnish Lapland, with a particular emphasis on an excavated assemblage that has affinities to traditional ritual (sacrificial) practices. The relevant finds and features date from the post-war period, but they are meaningfully associated with WWII sites. We consider the possible connections of these finds and features to folk magic and the supernatural, especially with regard to boundaries and boundary-making. The material is interpreted in relation to the painful histories and memories of WWII in the high North, and in the broader context of northern ways of life and being and perceptions of temporally layered landscapes. More specifically, we focus on how locals have coped with the difficult and haunting presences of WWII in northern landscapes and mindscapes after the war in a particular natural, cultural and cosmological lived environment which people have long co-inhabited with various non-human and spiritual entities. We aim to contribute to the broader discussion of the folklore of WWII as a dimension in conflict heritage and memory.

Type
Research Article
Information
Cambridge Archaeological Journal , First View , pp. 1 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

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