Hautaketo Stone Age dwelling site

Emäntäkouluntie 30 Veteli

In the Hautaketo area, remnants have been found that suggest the existence of Stone Age settlements. They pertain to the early Comb Ceramic culture (4200–3300 BCE). In the 1930s, when digging foundations for the Emäntäkoulu (school for farmers’ wives), pieces of earthenware were discovered, but their historical value was not yet understood. In 1945 ceramics were found along the Perhonjoki (Vetelinjoki) riverbank. As a result of the finds, a professor of archaeology at the University of Helsinki, Carl Fredrik Meinander (1916–2004), was invited to the site in summer 1946. In his excavations, Meinander found, for example, stove stones and quartz debitage (pieces of quartz shaped with stones). He concluded that this was a dwelling site from the times of the early Comb Ceramic culture and had probably been located on an ancient seashore.

An archaeological inventory survey was conducted in the area in 2017. In the courtyard of the school and on the riverbank, more remnants of Stone Age dwellings were found.

In the rugged river landscape of Hautaketo, there is also an earth bank called “Ingman’s sofa”, where Anders Wilhelm Ingman used to sit in the summer when he served as chaplain in Yliveteli from 1855 to 1864. At the time, he also translated Bible texts into Finnish and later worked as a professor of exegetics at the University of Helsinki.

Today the main building of the Emäntäkoulu is known as Vetelin Taidekartano, a space for art exhibitions and events. https://www.facebook.com/Vetelin-Taidekartano-104631007604777/

Stories

Professor Meinander (1946, 7) discusses the archaeological excavations of summer 1946 around the Emäntäkoulu as follows: “We can thus note that the finds were abundant only near the fireplace. In addition to the finds I excavated, the pieces of earthenware preserved at the museum of Veteli also come from this site, as well as the clay pattern I brought from there. No doubt there has been a hut (kota) on the site, even though I did not manage to completely unearth it. I was not able to unearth any evidence of hut poles or statues. As mentioned above, ceramics had also been found when building the Emäntäkoulu. It is therefore probable that many Sami huts have existed in the area.”