Archaeological collections
Archaeological collections contain objects from the whole current territory of Finland as well as from the so-called ceded areas. The collections cover the whole prehistoric era extensively. Starting from 2011, the findings of the historical era have also been catalogued to the archaeological collections. Additionally, the collections contain a so-called comparative foreign collection which mainly includes objects from Russia, but also from other European countries as well as from e.g. Egypt and Palestine. Additions are no longer made to the foreign collection.
Collections are grown in accordance with the Antiquities Act
Collections mostly grow due to archaeological research activities. According to the Antiquities Act, discoveries made on land must be reported to the Finnish Heritage Agency which has the right to redeem them as part of the government collections. Finders can also donate their find to the collections. Each year nearly three thousand findings donated by private persons are deposited in the collections.
Archaeological artefact collections contain about 42,000 main identifiers. The amount of sub-identifiers varies from one to several thousand.