Nothing like this has ever been found in Finland before.
Shamanic beliefs essentially purport that a litany of supernatural spirits inhabit the natural world we live in, and the research team has posited that this particular staff was used to engage in relevant rituals.
Shamans are a community’s intermediary between the world one can see and the supernatural elements hidden within. They’re arguably most comparable to the medicine men of America’s Indigenous. According to the study’s co-author, archaeologist Antti Lahelma, snakes were essential to their practice.
“There seems to be a certain connection between snakes and people,” she said. “This brings to mind northern shamanism of the historical period, where snakes had a special role as spirit-helper animals of the shaman … Even though the time gap is immense the possibility of some kind of continuity is tantalizing:”
“Do we have a Stone Age shaman’s staff?”
While the team is fairly confident this wooden relic was indeed once used as such, the “magical” rituals in question remain unidentified. The study urges readers that “great caution must be exercised in interpreting a practically unique find such as [this], particularly as the character of the site is not yet fully understood.”
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