Baltic Finnic peoples
Kvens and Forest Finns are subsumed under Finns, as they are most commonly described as being subgroups of Finns proper rather than separate ethnic groups altogether. |
The Baltic Finnic peoples, often simply referred to as the Finnic peoples,
The bulk of the Finnic peoples (more than 98%) are ethnic Finns and Estonians, who reside in the two independent Finnic
Finnic peoples are also significant minority groups in neighbouring countries of
Theories of origin
According to the "Migration Theory" that was based primarily on comparative linguistics, the proto-Finns migrated from an ancient homeland somewhere in north-western Siberia or western Russia to the shores of the Baltic Sea around 1000 BC, at which time Finns and Estonians separated. The Migration Theory has been called into question since 1980 based on genealogy, craniometry and archaeology. Recently, a modified form of the Migration Theory has gained new support among the younger generation of linguists, who consider that archaeology, genes and craniometric data cannot supply evidence of prehistoric languages.[3]
During the last 30 years, scientific research in physical anthropology, craniometric analyses, and mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal DNA frequencies have reduced the likelihood of the Migration Theory—a major westward migration as recently as 3,000 years ago. The Settlement Continuity Theory asserts that at least the genetic ancestors of the Finnic peoples were among the earliest indigenous peoples of Europe.[4][5]
The origin of the people who lived around the
On the other hand, some linguists do not consider it likely that a Baltic Finnic language form could have existed at such an early date. According to these views, the Finnic languages appeared in Finland and the Baltic region only during the Early Bronze Age (ca. 1800 BC), if not later.[3]
Finnic oral poetry
The Finnic peoples share a common cultural heritage: the art of ancient "rune" (poem) singing in the
The ancient rune singing has inspired the creation of the national epic of Finland, Kalevala compiled by Elias Lönnrot, and the music of Arvo Pärt, the best-known Estonian composer in the classical field.[8]
J. R. R. Tolkien has highlighted the importance of Kalevala as a source for his legendarium, including The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings.[9]
History of the Finnic peoples
The Mesolithic Period
The region has been populated since the end of the last glacial era, about 10,000 BC. The earliest traces of human settlement are connected with Suomusjärvi culture and Kunda culture. The Early Mesolithic Pulli settlement is located by the Pärnu River. It has been dated to the beginning of the 9th millennium BC. The Kunda Culture received its name from the Lammasmäe settlement site in northern Estonia, which dates from earlier than 8500.[10] Bone and stone artefacts similar to those found at Kunda have been discovered elsewhere in Estonia, as well as in Latvia, northern Lithuania and southern Finland.
The Neolithic Period
Around 5300
Pit–Comb Ware culture
Until the early 1980s, the arrival of Finnic peoples, the ancestors of the Estonians, Finns, and Livonians on the shores of the Baltic Sea around 3000 BC, was associated with the Pit–Comb Ware culture However, such a linking of archaeologically defined cultural entities with linguistic ones cannot be proven and it has been suggested that the increase of settlement finds in the period is more likely to have been associated with an economic boom related to the warming of climate. Some researchers have even argued that a form of Uralic languages may have been spoken in Estonia and Finland since the end of the last glaciation.[12] Through archaeogenetics the population has been shown to derive the bulk of its ancestry from Eastern Hunter-Gatherers of Russia.[13]
Bronze Age
The beginning of the
The Iron Age
The
The
Between 200 and 400 AD, a group of Baltic Sea Finns in southwestern Finland (
Between 200 and 400 AD, the Finns proper themselves became divided geographically in three parts:
- Tavastians: The tribes who went inland to Tavastia;
- Southwestern Finns: The tribes who stayed in the southern side of the Kokemäenjoki river delta;
- Southern Ostrobothnians: The tribes who stayed on the northern side of the river delta.
During the Migration Period in 400–600 AD, the Estonian influence gradually weakened. By the end of the period, clearly defined tribal dialectical areas – Finns proper, Tavastians, Karelians, Northern Estonians, Southern Estonians, and Western Estonians including the islanders—had emerged, the population of each having formed its own understanding of identity.[16]
Early Middle Ages
Finnic peoples in chronicles
The word
The term Aestii, the name of the Estonians, occurs first again in Tacitus; however, it might have indicated Balts. In Northern sagas (13th century), the term[
In a Norwegian text (11th–12th century)[
The opening chapter of the
The
The northern (or eastern) Chudes were also a mythical people in folklore among Northern Russians and their neighbours. In Komi mythology, the Northern Chudes represent the mythic ancestors of the Komi people.[21]
Middle Ages and Modern period
In the 13th century the east Baltic world was transformed by military conquest: first the Livs and Estonians, then the Finns underwent defeat, baptism, military occupation and sometimes extermination by groups of Germans, Danes and Swedes.
See also
Notes
- ^ Other names include Balto-Finnic peoples, Baltic Sea Finns, Baltic Finns and Western Finnic peoples.
References
- ^ "Population". Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archivedfrom the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ^ from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ISBN 978-1-931930-18-5.
- ^ (PDF) from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
- ^ Siiri Rootsi (19 October 2004). "Human Y-Chromosomal Variation in European Populations". Tartu University Press. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-253-21352-5. Archivedfrom the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-415-96801-0.
- ISBN 978-0-8131-2301-1.
- ISBN 90-420-0890-3. Archivedfrom the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ "Maanviljely levisi Suomeen Itä-Aasiasta jo 7000 vuotta sitten – Ajankohtaista – Tammikuu 2013 – Humanistinen tiedekunta – Helsingin yliopisto". Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
- ISBN 0-521-47299-7. Archivedfrom the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- PMID 28712569.
- ISBN 978-90-420-0890-8. Archivedfrom the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ PMID 31080083.
- ISBN 978-90-420-0890-8. Archivedfrom the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0-910956-34-0.
- ISBN 0-631-23170-6. Archivedfrom the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ a b Tvauri, Andres (2012). The Migration Period, Pre-Viking Age, and Viking Age in Estonia. pp. 33, 59, 60. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ^ Pre- and Proto-historic Finns by John Abercromby p.141
- ^ FOREST MYTHS by Pavel F. Limerov Archived 6 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine at google.scholar
- ISBN 0-14-026653-4.