The Pre- and Proto-Historic Finns, Both Eastern and Western

The fifth Baron Abercromby (1841-1924), a soldier and keen archaeologist, published this two-volume work in 1898. His interest in the prehistory of Europe covers both physical remains (his two-volume 1912 work on British and Irish Beaker pottery is also reissued in this series) and ethnographic issues. Using the resources of archaeology, anthropology, linguistics and folklore, this work surveys the history of the Finno-Ugric peoples, the familiar 'Western Finns' (Finns and Estonians), and the less well known 'Eastern Finns', who include various tribes in northern Russia and Siberia. Volume 2 focuses on the language of charms and so-called 'magic songs' which the different tribes used to explain the origins of the natural world, to heal the sick, to prosper their undertakings (including quite mundane activities such as making skates or baking bread), and to guard against harm from terrestrial and supernatural dangers.

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