Archive Materials on Traditional and Contemporary Culture

The oldest manuscript is Song about murder of St. Henry, which is claimed to date from the 17th century but is probably more recent. The rest of the collection can largely be attributed to Elias Lönnrot, compiler of the Finnish national epic Kalevala, and his contemporaries' collections from the 1830s. The Kalevala Jubilee Folklore Collection Contest of  1935 established the basis of the collection. The collection of sound recordings consists primarily of oral history. In geographical terms, the cultural information is primarily from Finland and Karelia.

The collections are mostly the work of individual collectors. Competitions and research surveys generate much of the material that enters the collection. The Archives maintains an online network of fve hundred men and women of different ages who belong to different social groups and reside in different parts of Finland. In all, several tens of thousands of people have sent material to the Archives during its period of operation.

The traditional and oral history materials are catalogued in several ways. The main card index and Archives information system can reference most of the collections. In order to facilitate a more accurate search, you may utilize manual catalogues, directories and databases. Furthermore, the online resources are linked to entire digital texts and catalogues.