Ella Kivikoski, Professor of Finnish and Nordic Archaeology, felt that her professorship brought many accompanying duties. Nevertheless, she found them very pleasant, whether they were in the form of publications or teaching. Kivikoski felt that it was a serious deficiency that the field of archaeology lacked a general work covering the whole of Finland, and writing such a book became one of her greatest undertakings. The book was finally published in 1961 under the name Suomen esihistoria (‘Finnish prehistory’).

Kivikoski was wont to emphasise that archaeological research results were not set in stone but changed with the emergence of new data. The artefacts themselves are permanent, which is why Kivikoski stressed the utmost importance of documenting them carefully. One example of this from her own work is the two-volume tome on Finnish iron age artefacts, Suomen rautakauden kuvasto I-II (‘Catalogue of the Finnish iron age I-II’) (1947, 1951). She also published many bibliographies of Finnish archaeology.

In her free time, Kivikoski read detective novels and did crossword puzzles, which she considered similar in many ways to archaeology, since both concerned assembling a coherent whole from small hints and clues.

Matti Huurre described Kivikoski as a “diligent and demanding, but humorous” teacher. The professor’s lectures were clear and to the point. On the other hand in a 2001interview in Ylioppilaslehti, Kaari Utrio remembers Kivikoski as an absent-minded professor. While editor of the journal Suomen Museo, she also enjoyed providing guidance to novice writers in academic writing.

Kivikoski kept in contact with her students outside lectures and office hours. After student seminars, she would hold evening gatherings at her home or in the English Tea Room. Kivikoski also organised numerous seminars, both in Finland and abroad. A close bond was formed between the professor and her students. Kivikoski never married or had children, and instead preferred to think of her students as her children.

References

• Matti Huurre, Kivikoski, Ella, National Biography online publication. Accessed May 7, 2015. Available for free on the Nelli portal
• Kirsikka Saari, Kirjailija Kaari Utrio, (‘The Author Kaari Utrio’) Ylioppilaslehti online publication October 5, 2001. Accessed May 7, 2015.