At first glance, visitors see the beautiful scenery in the environs of Luulampi lakes. Two clear small lakes with bubbling springs glimmer at the foot of the fell. In some places the lakes are lined with sand, in others there is a thin layer of ground vegetation. Lingonberry, crowberry, heather and various lichens cover the hilly landscape. Beautiful!
Beauty was probably not the reason why people settled in this environment in ancient times. The hilly landscape was favourable for wild reindeer hunting, which is probably why people came to live by the lakes.
It was probably the same people who dug a series of hunting pits a couple of kilometres away from the lakes. Wild reindeer hunting was an important livelihood or survival method.
The locations of former deer hunting pits are still visible on the north side of Luuvaara, along the Roopenoja river. People hunted not only wild reindeer, but also other game, while fishing and gathering nature's bounty were important parts of people's livelihood.
The ancient bones found in the area are those of large animals. This suggests that elk and wild reindeer were hunted and caught in times gone by.
There are still moose in the region, but the wild reindeer population has become extinct. The hunting pit was an effective hunting method and the last wild reindeer in the current Urho Kekkonen national park area was seen in the late 1800s. This marked the end of an ancient hunting method that was thousands of years old.
Luulampi and its surroundings are a tribute to the old days. The first inhabitants may have arrived at the site fairly soon after the end of the Ice Age, 9,500 years ago.
When the land was free from ice and fit for settlers, people found their way to favourable places close to water. People may have moved from one residence to another, according to the seasons, and returned to good locations time and again.
Signs of prehistoric dwelling sites by Luulampi can therefore be dated back across a period of millennia.