Digital materials

The Finnish Heritage Agency’s digital materials contain extensive information on various aspects of Finland’s cultural environment and cultural heritage, dating back thousands of years. Explore the digital materials of the Finnish Heritage Agency, regardless of location and time of day!

The Finnish Heritage Agency’s collections at Finna

The Finnish Heritage Agency and the National Museum of Finland have more than 20 million images and hundreds of thousands of objects in their collections. The Finnish Heritage Agency-Finna allows you to search, browse, explore and, in most cases, use the information in the collections and digitised materials as desired. Only a part of our national collections has been digitised and made available in Finna; so far the information of approximately 350,000 objects or images.

Archaeological Collections

The archaeological collections contain artefacts from the entire area of present-day Finland as well as from the so-called ceded area. The collections diversely cover the entire prehistoric period, and since 2011, the finds of the historical period have also been catalogued in archaeological collections. In addition, the collections include a foreign, comparative, collection, which mainly includes objects from Russia, but also from other European countries, as well as from Egypt and Palestine, for example.

Learn more about the archaeological collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency

Browse the Archaeological Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency at the Finna search service

Archaeological objects from the historical period discovered before 2011 have been deposited in the historical collections of the National Museum of Finland

Explore archaeological collections' find lists in Muinaiskalupäiväkirja

The Archives

The archive materials of the Finnish Heritage Agency are mainly related to the cultural environment and heritage, its research, management and control. The largest material entities are related to archaeology, the built environment and ethnology.

The archive materials mainly start from 1884, when the Archaeological Commission was established. The archive also contains material older than this date.

Explore the archive materials and directories.

The Finnish Heritage Agency gives statements on more than a thousand matters every year, including the cultural-historically valuable environment, and the protection of archaeological and building heritage and cultural property.

The Asiat-service contains statements, research reports and other documents since the end of 2017.

The cultural environment service window contains research reports in various fields, including archaeology research reports until 2017.

Library

Archaeology, history, ethnology and museology, building protection, restoration, artefacts and art history for everyone interested in cultural heritage.

The Library of the Finnish Heritage Agency is a special scientific library in the field of cultural heritage that is open to all. We provide information on archaeology and history, ethnology and museology, building protection, restoration and conservation, as well as art history and artifact history.

Explore the library

Library material search HELKA

The e-journals of the Finnish Heritage Agency are available through the Helka database.

Helka's link provides direct access to the online journal’s website. The majority of e-journals can be read freely online, but some can only be read on the Finnish Heritage Agency’s network. These journals can also be read by library visitors on the machines in the customer premises. A small part of the e-journals is only available for the staff of the Finnish Heritage Agency.

E-journals in the field of cultural heritage

The Finnish Antiquarian Society is a scientific society founded in 1870, whose tasks include publishing activities related to the fields of cultural heritage and, in particular, archaeology, ethnology and art history. The Society's library is located in the library of the Finnish Heritage Agency. The Society's publication series also extensively discuss the field and collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency. Most of the Society's publications published by 1945 are available online in the service of the National Library of Finland.

The Cultural Environment

The Finnish Heritage Agency produces and stores information on cultural environments and their protection. Data is available on archaeological sites and built environments, for example.

The information can be accessed in the Cultural Environment service window. For example, would you be interested in what kind of relics can be found near your home? Here you can also report an archaeological site you have found and download the Finnish Heritage Agency’s geographic information materials.

Cultural Environment service window

The site contains information on the preservation of renovation construction, instructions for the renovation project of a protected building, examples of successful renovation projects and the vocabulary of the industry. The familiar repair cards of the Finnish Heritage Agency can also now be found on the Korjaustaito.fi website.

Repair skills (in Finnish)

Over 80% of the building stock and infrastructure in Finland has been built in the past 70 years. The materials of the Built well-being project tell us about the built environments related to well-being in our everyday lives.

Built well-being (in Finnish)

The Guide to Archaeological Cultural Heritage explains what archaeological cultural heritage means in Finland, what the sites look like in the terrain and what their history is. What signs indicate a Stone Age residence or ancient clearing, for example?

Guide to Archaeological Cultural Heritage (in Finnish)

On the Valtiollerakennettu.fi website, you can browse information about the state's EUR 4.2 billion real estate assets. On the site, there is information on what the state's building heritage is like and how it should be managed sustainably.

Built for the State (in Finnish)

Picture Collections

The Picture Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency record, care for, and study cultural and historical, ethnological, architectural historical and journalistic picture materials and make them available for public use.

The Picture Collections of Finnish Heritage Agency are an inexhaustible gallery of images. The pictures range from graphic arts from the 1500s to the present day’s digital photography through a variety of different techniques.

Browse the Picture Collections

Press Photo Archive JOKA takes care of the preservation and availability of the history of Finnish photojournalism. The collection of millions of press photographs consists mostly of original negatives.

View press photographs digitised by JOKA in the Finna search service

Modern technology makes it possible to view a museum object closely and from different sides, even when the object is protected from changing conditions. What does an old teapot or an old leather shoe look like?

Rotate the 3D models created by the Picture Collections

Old photographs are a great tool for teaching and studying. We chose examples from all decades of the 1900s with themes such as technology, art, the exercise of power and food.

Illustrate the history of 100-year-old Finland through photographs

The Picture Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency have digitised old ciné film, and also made other moving pictures available for everyone. They include many examples of traditional craft skills.

Watch the ciné film digitised by the Picture Collections

In their work, our staff encounters fascinating glimpses into the past. These photographs are more prominently visible in articles published in magazines and online in the years 2014–2023.

Read what the employees of the Picture Collections write about photographs

Technical instructions for digitising two-dimensional cultural heritage materials in the museums have been published as a PDF file and a WIKI website at digitointilaatu.fi

Learn how picture materials are digitised

Online publications and current affairs materials

The Kulttuurista perinnöksi (“from culture to heritage”) online publication presents cultural heritage from fresh perspectives: cultural heritage from 3D technology to modern documentation, climate change and interesting people in the sector.

Kulttuurista perinnöksi

You can examine the views of Finnish people on cultural heritage and cultural environment in the Cultural Heritage Barometer (Kulttuuriperintöbarometri).

Kulttuuriperintöbarometri 2021

The Sadan vuoden satoa website tells a hundred stories about the history and achievements of the Finnish Heritage Agency and its predecessor, the National Board of Antiquities, as part of the development of the Finnish society.

Sadan vuoden satoa

The museum statistics include statistical data on the finances, personnel and operations of Finland’s professionally managed museums, collected by the Finnish Heritage Agency. Information on the museums’ operations since the year 2007 is accessible to everyone in the Museotilasto.fi online service.

In the online service, you can search and examine information using the statistics search, tables published as open data and annual statistics publications.

Museum Statistics