Hanging tree as a place of memories – Encounters at a 1916 execution site

ABSTRACT

Near the city centre of Oulu in northern Finland, one comes across a peculiar monument: a pine tree turned into a memorial that marks the site of the last official execution by hanging in the country. Archaeological excavations took place at the hanging site in August 2014, not only to gather archaeological evidence on the history and use of the memorial, but also in order to offer people a way to share their memories and recollections of this rather unusual place. In this article we discuss the data gained from interviews (N = 20) conducted in connection with the excavations. The interpretation of the data shows that the hanging tree memorial has been and continues to be a place of both private and communal memories. It has been used for private gatherings and visits as well as for nationalistic purposes. The authenticity of this site as the actual place of hanging can be reasonably questioned, but the place is still important for local people.

KEYWORDS:

• Dark heritage
• memories
• nation building
• execution site
• Finland
• Taavetti Lukkarinen
• 65°00′32.9″N 25°30′36.6″E

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank all the informants who shared their memories concerning the hanging tree memorial of Taavetti Lukkarinen. We are also grateful for the members of the staff of Oulu University of Applied Sciences who showed their interest in the memorial and our research. And, finally, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the editors of Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage and to its anonymous reviewers, whose constructive comments and suggestions improved our contribution significantly.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Note on contributors

Janne Ikäheimo is a Lecturer in archaeology at the University of Oulu. While his dissertation focused on (2003) ceramic cooking pots produced in Roman Africa, his current research interests include ‘neo-relics’ in contemporary society, the early Medieval period in Northern Finland and the use of native copper in eastern Fennoscandia and northwest Russia during the Neolithic. Janne is principal investigator of the research project ‘The use of materials and the Neolithisation of North-Eastern Europe (c 6000–1000 BC)’ funded by the Academy of Finland (2013–2017).

Tiina Äikäs is a post-doctoral researcher funded by the Academy of Finland working in Archaeology at the University of Oulu. Her dissertation (2011) focused on the landscape analyses and site biographies of Sámi offering sites, including their use from Iron Age to present. Tiina's research interests include contemporary archaeology, ritual archaeology, and the use of interviews in archaeological research. She is interested in the meanings of cultural heritage in the contemporary world.

Notes

1 See http://www.tenk.fi/sites/tenk.fi/files/HTK_ohje_2012.pdf.

2 Altogether three dates have been put forward as the execution date: 2, 3 and 6 October 1916. The inscription on the handrail gives the date as 6.x.1916, while 3.x.1916 is the date carved on his gravestone. The documents of the Oulu County Prison stored at the Oulu Provincial Archive state explicitly that Lukkarinen was handed over to the Russian authorities in the early hours of 3 October 1916.

3 The day was Sunday, while the exact anniversary should have been celebrated on Thursday, 3 October 1935. A weekday was probably avoided for practical reasons and this resulted in the misconception regarding the exact hanging date now documented in the restored copper handrail cover of the tree memorial.