Pihtipudas

Sister cities

• Ullensaker Municipality
• Haljala Rural Municipality
• Leirvík
• Borgarnes

History

The area has been inhabited since the prehistoric period, evidenced by a range of Stone Age sites in the municipality, including: Niemet Keidas and Halmeniemi in the area of Muurasjärvi village; Kivikko; Pitkänen; Männikkö; Viipylä; Metsälä; Koivukangas; Rimpisuo; Santaharju; Teen; and Auhtola. Prehistoric artifacts recovered from the area include stone axes, awls, scrapers and other tools. The so-called 'Village of Rönni' at Rönnynkylä on the north-east shore of Saanijärvi has been dated to approximately 5,000 BC in the Mesolithic period and contained the bones of a small-sized dog, one of the earliest discovered in Finland. Fragments of a clay figurine characterized as Comb ware have also been retrieved from a Mesolithic site at Pihtipudas. Archaeological evidence for Neolithic settlement in the area is rare, but palaeoecological data shows increasing signs of sporadic cultivation during the late Neolithic and the beginning of the Bronze Age between 2500 and 2100 BC, with pollen evidence for the first cultivation recovered from Pihtipudas, Keuruu, and Saarijarvi. Other evidence for human activity in the Neolithic period includes a zoomorphic stone mace, possibly carved with a fish or amphibian, believed to be associated with the arrival in Central Finland of cattle herding groups in the 3rd millennium BC. The prehistoric presence of the Sami people in the region are evidenced by two tampered cairns at Vaaksianniemi and Hameensaari. These were excavated in the 1980s and 1990s and contained bronze sheets with high elements of tin, dating them to the Early Metal Period of Central Finland. The Pihtipudas region area was inhabited by Sámi peoples until the Middle Ages. The first known fixed settlement was established in the early 16th century with the first permanent…

Most-observed species

• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  362
• Tree Pipit

  Anthus trivialis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  166
• Willow Warbler

  Phylloscopus trochilus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  127
• Scots Pine

  Pinus sylvestris L. · Pinopsida
  119
• Hertelidea botryosa (Fr.) Printzen & Kantvilas

  Hertelidea botryosa (Fr.) Printzen & Kantvilas · Lecanoromycetes
  117
• Norway Spruce

  Picea abies (L.) H.Karst. · Pinopsida
  115
• European Pied Flycatcher

  Ficedula hypoleuca (Pallas, 1764) · Aves
  103
• Ural Owl

  Strix uralensis Pallas, 1771 · Aves
  94