Johannes Reinhold Aspelin (August 1, 1848 – May 29, 1915) was a Finnish archaeologist and professor who was the first state archaeologist of Finland, as well as the first professor of archaeology in Finland. He was a leading figure in the establishment of the National Museum of Finland. His range of expertise was mainly Scandinavia and the Ural region.

Early life

Aspelin was born on August 1, 1842 in

Messukylä Messukylä ( sv, Messukylä, also ) is a former municipality of Finland which was annexed by the city of Tampere in 1947. The medieval stone church (built c. 1540) in Messukylä is the oldest building in Tampere. During the Civil War (1918), Mess ...

. His father was a priest and the family moved around Ostrobothnia as he moved to different churches. It was perhaps his Ostrobothnian upbringing that encouraged his interest in archaeology, as many ancient artifacts were being found by clergymen at the time. Aspelin studied history at the University of Helsinki in the mid-1860s, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in 1866 and a Master of Arts in 1869. Aspelin travelled to Sweden and became acquainted with Oscar Montelius and his research in Scandinavian antiquities. Returning, he wanted to research Finland's ancient history.

Career

He graduated from the University of Moscow and conducted excavations in Russia where Finns may have lived. He then traveled to Germany, France, Poland, and the Baltics to research Finnish communities there as well. In 1875, with this research, he published his first dissertation, ''Suomalais-ugrilaisen muinaistutkinnon alkeita'' (English: ''Fundamentals of Finno-Ugric Antiquities''). Within the book, he supported Matthias Castrén's idea that Finns came from the

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...

and the

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

s of the Yenisey, and migrated west towards the Urals during the Bronze Age. He also obtained a licentiate in 1876 and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in 1877. Following this dissertation and a period of editing a five-part atlas of Finnish-related settlements, he became a professor of Nordic archaeology at the University of Helsinki in 1878. He was a professor for seven and a half years and established an archaeology program at the university, with notable students including Axel Heikel and

Hjalmar Appelgren-Kivalo Hjalmar () and Ingeborg () were a legendary Swedish duo. The male protagonist Hjalmar and his duel for Ingeborg figures in the '' Hervarar saga'' and in '' Orvar-Odd's saga'', as well as in '' Gesta Danorum'', '' Lay of Hyndla'' and a number of Fa ...

. He wrote the first general work on

prehistoric Finland The history of Finland begins around 9,000 BC during the end of the last glacial period. Stone Age cultures were Kunda, Comb Ceramic, Corded Ware, Kiukainen, and . The Finnish Bronze Age started in approximately 1,500 BC and the Iron Age star ...

in 1879. In 1883, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

passed an ordinance that would protect ancient monuments and the Archaeological Commission was founded to enforce this ordinance. Aspelin was appointed as the head of the commission in 1885, becoming Finland's first state archaeologist. He left his position of professor when he assumed the state archaeologist position. During a leave of absence from the commission, he travelled to the Yenisey region and discovered rock carvings, which Aspelin thought belonged to Finns during the Bronze Age. However, Vilhelm Thomsen believed the carvings were from the Turks during the Iron Age. As archaeology developed, many of his ideas became obsolete. Influential figures such as

Aarne Michaёl Tallgren Aarne Michaël Tallgren (8 February 1885 – 13 April 1945) was a Finnish archaeologist. Tallgren was born in Ruovesi. He earned his PhD in 1914 and served as professor of archaeology at the University of Tartu. In 1923, he became the first prof ...

disproved his theories. In his old age, Aspelin wrote cultural historical and genealogical articles for Biografinen nimikirja. Nevertheless, he is regarded as a father figure for Finnish archaeology and showed that archaeology was part of the broad sense of cultural history.

Personal life

Aspelin was not very involved in politics, but he sympathized with the

Young Finnish Party The Young Finnish Party or Constitutional-Fennoman Party ( fi, Nuorsuomalainen Puolue or ) was a liberal and nationalist political party in the Grand Duchy of Finland. It began as an upper-class reformist movement during the 1870s and formed as a ...

during the Russification of Finland. He died in Helsinki on May 29, 1915, aged 72.

References

1842 births 1915 deaths Academic staff of the University of Helsinki Finnish archaeologists Finnish genealogists Moscow State University alumni {{authority control