Sammallahdenmäki burial site is one the seven Unesco World Heritage Sites in Finland. It’s a prehistoric archaeological site that will take visitors back to the Bronze Age.
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During our trip trip to Finland we visited two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, both in the city of Rauma.
Rauma is a small coastal town in the Western part of Finland. It is famous for its old town, which is the largest wooden city from the Middle Ages in the Nordic countries.
Old Rauma is beautiful, and absolutely worth a visit. But after we spent a day and a half there, we were ready to move on to the Sammallahdenmäki Bronze Age Burial Site. Sammallahdenmäki might not be as well known as the Old Rauma, but we thought that it was equally interesting.
Rauma is the only city in Finland to have two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, so it is a great place for visitors who enjoy historical places.
The sites are only about a 20 minute drive from each other and very easy to access. When arriving at Sammallahdenmäki from Rauma there are two road options: You can either take Route 12 and follow the signs to the southern entrance, or you can take smaller roads to the northern entrance.
Both entrances have the same amenities and trails.
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE SAMMALLAHDENMÄKI
Sammallahdenmäki was designated to the Unesco World Heritage list in 1999. The area consists of 36 Bronze Age burial cairns, which makes it the biggest burial site in Scandinavia.
The site is in a beautiful spot of forest, and covers about 36 hectares. The burial cairns are all different sizes and shapes.
Some of them are so small that they are barely noticeable. Some on the other hand are huge and must have hundreds, if not thousands of granite boulders. They have all been quarried from the nearby ridge.
The cairns were built more than 3000 years ago.
Normally, it has been customary in Finland to bury bodies, but this proves that cremation was also used. Cremation came to Finland from Scandinavia. Bodies were first buried under the rocks and then burned.
It was normal to bury them together with some artifacts like jewellery or weapons. A piece of a bracelet has been found in one of the burial sites in Sammallahdenmäki.
These kinds of burial sites were usually built high up on top of a hill. Back in the Bronze Age, Sammallahdenmäki would have been right by the Gulf of Bothnia. But over time, uplift of the land has occured and now you cant see the water any longer.
It has been thought that they chose this place because it was good for religious rituals like worshipping the sun.
Some of the cairns at Sammallahdenmäki have been under excavation in years past. The first time some of them were unearthed was in 1891. At that time they did not find any artifacts, but they were able to get more information as to how the cairns were built.
In 2002, excavations was done in eight cairns. It was discovered that all of them had some structural damage. At the same time they were able to confirm the timeline for building the cairns based on the burned bones found within them.
VISITING SAMMALLAHDENMÄKI BURIAL SITE
We started our tour at Sammallahdenmäki from the southern entrance. The main trail is about 0.9 miles (1,5 kilometres) long and loops back at the end. Or you can choose to criss cross around the trails and make it either shorter or longer.
You will see some cairns almost right away after starting the trail, but we still felt a little lost. There were no signs at all on any of them!
There was a great map at the beginning of the trail with a lot of information on it, but the individual cairns were not marked in any way. So it was impossible to know which one was which.
We walked around trying to guess which cairn we were looking at, comparing them to the brochure we had. I think we would have enjoyed our visit more had there been better signage.
The trail itself was easy going and well visible. It was marked with wooden signs called “Hannunvaakuna” which were very small and blended well in the nature. But they did their job and they kept us on the right trail.
In addition to trail markers, we were really hoping to see little signs, or even little number plates to indicate the cairns, so we could then match them to our map.
The largest of the burial cairns is called Kirkonlaattia (Church Floor). It is very unique to Finland and to the whole of Scandinavia. It’s square shaped and measures 16 x 19 metres overall.
There are many folktales about how it was built to be so big. According to one story, it was built by forest goblins who were competing in building a church. Who would win the race would get to stay and live in the area.
The real reason of this cairns’ size and shape is unknown.
The other well known cairn is called Huilun pitkä raunio (The Flute’s Long Ruin). The name most likely comes from the long shape of the structure. The cairn has two circle-shaped areas at both ends.
The research in this area has shown that the cairn has been later extended several times and people have been buried in it at different times.
There was also one cairn that was supposed to be built like a spiral. We tried to look for it and we think we found it. But again, it would have been helpful to have some signs to confirm it.
The spiral is believed to resemble the sun. Cremations were connected to the sun in the sense that the soul would be able to travel from the body close to the sun along the smoke that came from the cremation.
The trail is very nice and not demanding at all. It was very well suitable for kids as well. You can read our tips to hiking with kids from here.
We were at Sammallahdenmäki on a hot day in June, but if it rains, I can imagine that the rocks can get quite slippery.
In the beginning of the summers Finnish forests usually have a lot of mosquitos, so some bug spray might be a good thing to bring along.
Maps were available at the beginning of the trail where the big signs were. They also have restrooms in both parking lots.
We fully enjoyed visiting Sammallahdenmäki. It was very peaceful and quiet in the forest. Occasionally, we would hear a cuckoo bird singing. We only saw one other visitor on the trail, so it was not busy at all.
I’m not surprised that this beautiful spot was chosen to be the resting place for so many, and what now is an important historical site in Finland.
We drove over to Sammallahdenmäki from Rauma but it also makes a great day trip for people visiting Helsinki. Our reason for stopping at Rauma was its old town which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Finland’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites are:
Sammallahdenmäki Bronze Age Burial Site
Old Rauma
Fortress of Suomenlinna
Petäjävesi Old Church
Verla Groundwood and Board Mill
Struve Geodetic Arc
Kvarken Archipelago
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Another great day in nature! Have you ever seen this kind of burial place?
