Kuopio park may hold tens of thousands of unstudied graves

Restoration work has begun at Piispanpuisto, a park in Kuopio, under archaeological supervision. Yle reports that an old cemetery beneath the park may contain tens of thousands of graves.

Four churches stood on the site from the 16th century until the early 19th century. The first was Northern Savonia’s first church. The last church remained in use until 1815, when the present cathedral was completed on Vahtivuorenmäki.

Piispanpuisto is considered an archaeologically significant site of national importance. Its cemetery offers a rare opportunity to study the early Christian period in eastern Finland, which has received little archaeological research.

Extensive potential for research

Archaeologist Andreas Artto, who is supervising the restoration, said the site could provide extensive information about Kuopio’s past. Human remains could reveal not only causes of death but also details about how people lived in earlier times.

Restoration work has already uncovered pieces of white porcelain and the bottoms of glass bottles. These were found among typical surface finds within the first 10 centimetres of soil. Human bones were found at a depth of 40 centimetres during earlier excavations.

Archaeological test excavations carried out in 2021, as required by Finland’s Antiquities Act, uncovered old graves in the central part of the park across an area of nearly one hectare, according to Tytti Räikkönen, an intendant at the Kuopio Cultural History Museum.

The current restoration is taking place in a part of the park where the 2021 test excavations found no ancient remains. Archaeologists are monitoring work such as tree planting because bones and other remains may still be found underground.

Burials in the churchyard ended in the mid-1770s after the King of Sweden ordered that people could no longer be buried beneath churches or in central urban areas. Burials were moved to Väinölänniemi.

Räikkönen also hopes the restoration work may uncover remains of wartime shrapnel shelters that stood in the area. No broader archaeological investigations are currently known to be planned, as such studies are often carried out only in connection with land use projects.