Aidalla rajatut. Ravattulan Ristimäki ja keskiaikaiset kirkkoaidat

Abstract

<p>From the Middle Ages onwards, a marked boundary was prerequisite for a Christian cemetery or<br>churchyard. The oldest known church in Finland, Ravattula Ristimäki in Kaarina, therefore also<br>provides the earliest example of ecclesiastical fence remains in the country. It consists of an oval,<br>137-metre long stone foundation belonging to a wall, which surrounded the churchyard. This was<br>constructed in the late 12th century, at the same time, or almost at the time, as the church building,<br>based on the dating and the regular location of the structures.<br>In a wider Nordic Medieval context, the enclosure around a Christian churchyard or cemetery could<br>consist of a wooden fence, a stone wall, or a mixed combination thereof. These could be constructed<br>using various techniques. So far, examples of the first two of these three categories are known for sure<br>from medieval Finland. Furthermore two sub-groups can be detected within the stone wall category<br>in Finland: walls constructed from piled stones or using a dry-stone technique and walls constructed<br>of stones bound together by mortar. It has been suggested that a simple ditch could also serve as a<br>boundary marker, but this would require an adjacent stone or wooden barrier to be present.<br>Due to possible subsequent changes, such as extensions or modifications of the churchyards, and<br>generally poor preservation of wood, original fences and walls are hard to find and difficult to date.<br>The construction of medieval churchyard barriers could vary considerable and should not be understood as standardized structures. It is only in the case of parish churchyards during the late Middle<br>Ages that we can speak of uniform structures especially in relation to stone walls.<br></p>