‘I have better stuff at home’: treasure hunting and private collecting of World War II artefacts in Finnish Lapland

Abstract

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.

Public engagements with Lapland’s Dark Heritage: Community archaeology in Finnish Lapland

“…This corroborates our wider research concerning the motivation for the engagement of history enthusiasts and collectors with the WWII material heritage in Finnish Lapland: most of the history hobbyists seem to have personal and local connections to this particular heritage (e.g. Herva et al 2016;Seitsonen 2017). Special interests included professional and scientific expertise.…”

“…Several of the local history hobbyists and activists that we have interviewed during our research (e.g. Herva et al 2016;Thomas et al 2016) also visited us on site.…”

Remembering and Forgetting, Discovering and Cherishing

“…In our research, we noticed that not all local people see WWII heritage as dark heritage. The motivations of the history hobbyists, collectors and heritage activists in Finnish Lapland lie in safeguarding local heritage, raising awareness of its existence, and also in making it part of the national WWII narrative (Herva, Koskinen-Koivisto, Seitsonen & Thomas 2016;Koskinen-Koivisto & Thomas 2017;Koskinen-Koivisto, forthcoming). Nevertheless, the concept of difficult and dark heritage opens up insights into the processes of engaging with material legacy of war and the ways in which different groups such as locals and tourists, amateurs and officials, as well as different generations view the WWII heritage.…”

‘Where the F… is Vuotso?’: heritage of Second World War forced movement and destruction in a Sámi reindeer herding community in Finnish Lapland

“…Originally Seitsonen was invited to map the sites around Vuotso due to the villagers' reaction against the state's land-use plans and the actions of an environmental organisation that was cleaning 'war junk' to make Lapland's wilderness 'pristine' again (Herva 2014;Herva et al 2016). The Vuotso Sámi saw this as a 'southern' intervention: the organisation is based in Rovaniemi, on the Arctic Circle, which gives an idea of the local perception of 'southern' .…”

“…The villagers' strong sense of ownership and attentiveness in acting as custodians of their local past makes sense as an Indigenous reaction and act of self-identification against Lapland's long colonial history and -real or perceived -marginalisation by southern authorities (Friedman 1992;Nyyssönen 2013;Herva et al 2016). Originally Seitsonen was invited to map the sites around Vuotso due to the villagers' reaction against the state's land-use plans and the actions of an environmental organisation that was cleaning 'war junk' to make Lapland's wilderness 'pristine' again (Herva 2014;Herva et al 2016).…”