The thesis investigates who was buried in Roman Iron Age (0–400 CE) burial cairns on the Ostrobothnian coast and what these individuals can reveal about migration, ancestry and cultural connections. It combines archaeology, ancient DNA and radiocarbon dating.
The study examines seven individuals from three archaeological sites:
Raahe – Tervakangas
Pedersöre – Esse-Högbacken
Vöyri – Latjineliden
These are among the oldest human remains from Finland that have successfully yielded ancient DNA.
The research combines multiple approaches:
Ancient DNA sequencing
Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
F-statistics
Sex determination
Kinship analysis
Radiocarbon dating
Archaeological interpretation
Historical-comparative linguistics
This interdisciplinary approach allows biological and archaeological evidence to be interpreted together rather than separately.
The thesis concludes that:
The buried individuals had genetic and cultural connections in multiple directions around the Baltic region rather than representing an isolated local population. Indeed.
Evidence suggests that Proto-Finnic-speaking migrants from the Baltic mixed with local populations on the Ostrobothnian coast during the later Roman Iron Age.
The oldest individual from Tervakangas most likely represents a Proto-Saami-speaking population living before agriculture became established in that community, although older pollen analyses proves about local farming in the same region and era. I see this a little contradictory.
The archaeological evidence—including burial customs, ceramics, and imported artefacts—supports extensive contacts with neighbouring regions across the Baltic Sea.
Some radiocarbon dates proved unreliable because of shoreline displacement demonstrating the importance of combining dating with genetic analyses.
Rather than equating genetics directly with ethnicity, the author emphasizes that:
Genetics, language, and archaeological culture do not map directly onto one another.
Ancient DNA can reveal ancestry, migration, biological sex, and kinship, but cannot determine ethnicity. I wonder what does the ethnicity meant in the Roman Iron Age. Ethnicities figure often later beliefs.
The thesis contributes to a growing body of Finnish archaeogenetic research by providing some of the earliest genomic data from Roman Iron Age individuals in Finland. It argues that coastal Ostrobothnia was a dynamic region shaped by migration, interaction, and cultural exchange rather than by isolated populations. The study may also offer new perspectives on the spread of Proto-Finnic languages and the relationships between Proto-Finnic- and Proto-Saami-speaking communities. However, I'm still waiting for the Iron Age aDna samples from Southwestern Finland, because it was the centre of gravity of the Iron Age population in Finland.
Due to the right of publish I am not able to link straight the thesis, but it can be ordered from the University of Turku.
Title: Swerving north, south, east and west – An interdisciplinary case study on Roman Iron Age cairns on the coast of Ostrobothnia, Finland
Author: Aster Niemelä
University: University of Turku (Master's Thesis, Archaeology, 2026)
