Two neighbouring countries. Two distinctly charming cornerstones of Europe that’ll eventually be as renowned to the wider, world as are the likes of Germany and France the moment one tends to think of Europe.
Germany and France, as it is, in the eyes of many are the end and beginning of it all- isn’t it? But are these two nations everything where it comes to understanding the continent?
It can be said with certainty that the future will belong to one of the most exciting and exasperating parts of North Europe, a world onto its own: Finland and Sweden. It’s that aspect of the enigmatic continent that is bound to become the mover and shaker of the that continent that’s home to folklores, lakes, castles, medieval history, Renaissance, the legend of Dracula and whatnot.
Two fascinating lands that have their own viking folklores and resplendent charms, whether one talks about tourism or the hard-to-ignore entrepreneurial spirit!
And yet, what binds Finland and Sweden together is something you’d call extremely random or murky, something you would never have thought about: ancient skulls.
Little sense in asking, “Wait!! What??”
Now comes the main question. What is it about ancient skulls sees Finland and Sweden in constant contact with one another and could it be that this is related to some sort of omen?
Here’s what shocking. The buried remains (in Finnish burial cemeteries) of plenty of lives that had already passed away well over 150 years ago and had been stolen to be sent to research in Sweden will now hopefully get back and be returned.
And that is going to happen at the back of Finland’s top Ministry writing officially to their counterparts in Sweden for the ancient skulls to be returned.
The revered Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture is all set to approach the Swedish authorities in order to give back what Finland is currently missing or craving for.
And that’s Ancient skulls, for all of you who had absolutely no idea that the two countries were actually involved in something that has gone on to become a trending subject or theme.
In the past, the ancient skulls belonging to Finland, it has now been confirmed, found their way to Sweden for the purpose of aiding the ‘race study’ project at the Karolinska Institutet’s (KI) racial study project.
All of that being told, the following is what Republic TV world, the popular news platform in India had to say about the two precocious Nordic nations:
Karolinska Institutet apologised to Finland in 2019 but the remains have not been returned. According to KI, they are looking into the matter because returns follow international norms and there are no laws for returning remains. In light of this, KI will continue to look into the wishes for the return of the Finnish remains, in collaboration with the National Heritage Board and other relevant Finnish authorities and institutions, according to Expressen. The Finnish Ministry of Education is now attempting to determine the exact location of the bodies, with the intention of burying the skulls to the same location from which they were exhumed, when they are returned to them. However, major changes in Finland’s geography have occurred in the last 150 years, and what was once Rautalampi parish, where KI discovered the skulls, was much larger in the nineteenth century than the current Rautalampi municipality. According to Government Councilor Joni Hiitola of the Finnish Ministry of Education, their goal is to complete the inquiry into the origins of the skulls by the autumn of 2021, reported Expressen.