Humans and land uplift
The sea has always shaped the way of life in the High Coast and in the Kvarken Archipelago. Stone Age hunters visited the High Coast already when the tops of till-capped hills were just islands in the sea. At that time the Kvarken Archipelago was still deep down in the sea. It still would be thousands of years before seal hunters and Vikings could visit the first islands of the Kvarken Archipelago.
Because of the land uplift, people have always had to adapt to the changing nature. People had to move their harbours closer to the sea, when the land uplift gradually made the sea bays too shallow or even separated from the sea. Sometimes people had to build new settlements or move whole towns, which happened when the old city of Vaasa burned down 1852.
Humans follow the shoreline rising from the sea
At the High Coast’s steep shores, you can follow the traces of the ancient remains uphill, from the Iron Age, then to the Bronze Age and all the way to the Stone Age. Humans have always settled near the water. The higher up the ancient remains are found in the landscape, the older they are. The oldest traces of humans are nowadays 160 meters above sea level, and they are about 8,000 years old. Among the most interesting findings are a trading place from the Stone Age and burial cairns from the Bronze Age.
In the low-lying and shallow Kvarken Archipelago, the land uplift makes a difference surprisingly fast. In just one lifetime, you might not be able to reach your boathouse with a boat anymore. Similarly, prehistoric fishing camps are nowadays in the forest, while new harbours are intentionally built on the outer borders of the archipelago.
Land uplift makes it difficult to navigate
The land uplift makes the boat passages shallower and lifts boulders above sea level. The Kvarken Archipelago has even been called the archipelago of wrecks because of the many vessels that have run aground here. The boat passages are marked, but winter ice can move the boulders in to the boat passages.
In the High Coast, the waters are deeper, but even there the land uplift has made waterways too narrow and harbours too shallow. Just like in the Kvarken Archipelago, the High Coast charts have been redesigned many times over the centuries.
Place names show traces of land uplift
One interesting cultural trace of the land uplift are the many names on villages, lakes, islands or other places that are not geographically correct anymore. With the aid of land uplift models one can search for when the name was correct, and the age of the name can be deduced. There are many examples both from the High Coast and the Kvarken Archipelago. In the High Coast there is an island called Trysunda, meaning “three straits”. But today, there are no longer three straits there. With a very similar meaning, is the village Sundom in Kvarken, which nowadays lacks straits. When the continuing land uplift, there will be even more names of places that are geographically incorrect in the future.