TURKU, FINLAND—According to a Live Science report, a 4,400-year-old wooden stick carved into the shape of a snake has been discovered at the site of Järvensuo, which is located in a wetland near a lake in southwest Finland, by archaeologist Satu Koivisto of the University of Turku and Antti Lahelma of the University of Helsinki. The 21-inch-long stick resembles a grass snake (Natrix natrix) or a European adder (Vipera berus) due to the shape of its head and tail and its short body. “This is interesting, since the viper has an important role in much later (historical) folk religion and magic,” commented Sonja Hukantaival of Åbo Akademi University. Kristiina Mannermaa of the University of Helsinki added that the object may have been placed in the wetland as an offering. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. To read about medicinal herbs grown by monastic communities in medieval Finland, go to "The Archaeology of Gardens: Medical Gardens."
