A Giant's Church ( fi, Jätinkirkko, jatulinkirkko) is the name given to prehistoric stone enclosures found in the Ostrobothnia region of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Dating from the subneolithic period (3500–2000 BC), they are thought to be a rare example of monumental architecture built by hunter-gatherers in Northern Europe.

Description

The stone enclosures are rectangular or oval boulder embankments. Around forty sites are known, located in a strip on the northwest coast of Finland ( Ostrobothnia). Although located inland today, they were probably originally on the seashore. There is no hard evidence as to their intended use. It is possible they were used by hunters of seals on the Spring ice, who were away from their usual dwelling places. One of the largest known sites is Kastelli Giant's Church, which encloses an area of . The Giants' Churches have been dated to the " subneolithic" (ie. Mesolithic people who are beginning to use

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

artefacts) around 3500–2000 BC. By 1500 BC they were abandoned.

References

External links

* {{Commons category inline, Giant's churches 4th-millennium BC establishments 16th-century BC disestablishments Mesolithic Europe Neolithic Finland Archaeology of Finland Ostrobothnia (region)