Introduction

Abstract

Postglacial land uplift has shaped the coastline of western Finland during past millennia. The first recordings of the consequences of the shoreline displacement due to land uplift date from the end of the 14th century. Current land uplift is mostly the result of the Weichselian glaciation, which ended about twelve thousand years ago, however, it is well possible that the process is also affected by the earlier glaciations of major ice ages having taken place up to hundreds of millions of years ago. In Finnish archaeology, coastline displacement has been used in dating the prehistoric settlements, as it can be assumed that these settlements follow the shorelines and waterways. By reconstructing the shoreline displacement and comparing the results with radiocarbon dating of findings from prehistoric settlements, new insights can be obtained from both the archaeology and the land uplift modelling point of view. In this chapter the geological and archaeological history of Satakunta is introduced by the example of four prehistoric sites in Lower Satakunta: Kolmhaara, Kuninkaanhauta, Luistari and Tyttöpuisto.