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2016, Journal of Field Archaeology
Sites connected to the Second World War (WWII) are increasingly recognized as worthy of archaeological investigation. Researchers are also becoming aware that that the collectors market in objects connected to WWII, particularly those connected to Germany, is encouraging the stripping of conflict landscapes in the search for “collectors items.” Finnish Lapland is sometimes regarded as peripheral compared to more centrally located regions of Europe. Archaeologists working here nonetheless find themselves in direct competition with enthusiastic treasure hunters. This is complicated even further by the myriad ontologies employed by different individuals in the construction of their relationship with the material culture connected to recent conflict periods, and on specific “other” or “exotic” landscapes, such as Lapland. This paper examines what might be learnt about the nature of treasure hunting for and trading in WWII material from Lapland, and its position within the emerging research on broader trends in “dark” approaches to and encounters with heritage.
Journal of Field Archaeology
Nazi memorabilia, dark heritage and treasure hunting as “alternative” tourism: Understanding the fascination with the material remains of World War II in Northern Finland2016 •
World Archaeology
* 'I have better stuff at home': treasure hunting and private collecting of World War II artefacts in Finnish Lapland (2016)Almost all archaeologists encounter collectors of different kinds of artefacts at some point in their career, whether it is the private collectors of financially valuable antiquities or ‘amateur archaeologists’ who have amassed personal collections of local finds. In our research into the material legacy of the German presence in northern Finland during World War II, we have encountered both artefact hunters (primarily but not exclusively metal detecting enthusiasts) and artefact collectors (sometimes the same people) with a specific interest in military remains from this location and period. In this article, we explore these alternative perspectives on collecting, and frame them within the context of treasure hunters, militaria collectors and other history hobbyists, and their relationship to the ‘official’ heritage managers and curators.
World Archaeology
‘I have better stuff at home’: treasure hunting and private collecting of World War II artefacts in Finnish Lapland2016 •
War & Peace: Conflict and Resolution in Archaeology. Proceedings of the 45th Annual Chacmool Archaeology Conference. Chacmool Archaeology Association, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CA. Editor Benfer, Adam K. 2017.
‘War junk' and cultural heritage: Viewpoints on the Second World War German material culture in Finnish Lapland (2017)2017 •
This paper maps diverse attitudes towards the heritage of the World War II German military presence in Finnish Lapland of northernmost Europe. As part of Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union, German troops had the frontal responsibility in northern Finland in 1941–1944. After a cease-fire between Finland and the Soviet Union in 1944, increasing Soviet pressure forced Finland to turn against the Germans, resulting in the “Lapland War” between the former allies. During their retreat to Norway, German troops destroyed their military bases and Lapland’s towns, infrastructure, and private property. The Germans, from a Finnish perspective, were both friends and foes who provided important support in the war against the Soviet Union, but who also “burned down Lapland.” Not surprisingly, World War II Finnish-German relations have been a sensitive subject in Finland. Remains of German military sites are abundant in Lapland, but lack official heritage status and have been often regarded in public in negative terms. Archaeological research, among other forms of engaging with the difficult heritage of the German presence, could put this material heritage into positive uses while helping to reconcile with this troubled episode in recent Finnish past.
This article addresses the functions and meanings of Second World War German material heritage in northern Finland from a haunting perspective and in terms of magical thinking. While archaeologists and heritage professionals have primarily been interested in the historical information that Second World War sites and military material culture may contain, this article explores how encounters and engagements with Second World War materialities in the northern wilderness of Lapland can be considered to affect people and manipulate their perceptions, awareness and understanding of the surrounding world. Second World War sites and matériel may be taken to promote a kind of magical consciousness which enables a degree of restructuring of relationships between the self and world and the past and present.
Project blog page 2014-2018
Project overview: Lapland's Dark Heritage - Understanding the Cultural Legacy of Northern Finland's WWII German Materialities within Interdisciplinary Perspectives (2014 -2018)Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage
* Public engagements with Lapland's Dark Heritage: Community archaeology in Finnish Lapland (2017)Research project Lapland’s Dark Heritage organized a one-week public excavation in Inari, Finnish Lapland, at a Second World War (WWII) German military hospital site in August 2016. #InariDig took place with the help of international experts and pre-registered volunteers. In this field report, two of the archaeologists leading the excavations and an ethnographer who took part in documenting this community archaeology experiment introduce the excavation sites and activities reflecting on the engagements with volunteers and local community.
Ethnologia Fennica
Remembering and Forgetting, Discovering and Cherishing Engagements with Material Culture of War in Finnish Lapland2018 •
The Second World War left considerable material remains in Finnish Lapland, ranging from remnants of structures destroyed in the 1944-45 Lapland War, through to small artefacts connected to soldiers, prisoners of war and civilians. These material remains have variously been saved and cherished by survivors and their families, forgotten or disregarded as 'war junk', 'discovered' by hob-byists, amassed and exchanged by private collectors, and/or accessioned into official museum collections. These various processes represent engagements with material culture of war that take on various meanings and embodiments, depending on the different individuals and organizations involved. We have conducted interviews with different individuals engaging with Lapland's wartime history, and observed the treatment of material culture, for example through exhibitions (both public and private) or through personal meaning-making practices. While some objects become accessioned to state-sanctioned collections, others remain 'officially' unknown and unrecognized (although known-even exchanged-through private channels). We discuss how different values and practices of treating the material war heritage emerge, depending on the actors involved, reflecting and reconstructing the culture commemoration.
2018 •
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