Abstract – Historical bear ritual and skull trees as archaeological sites In the Finnish folk tradition, the bear hunt ended with a feast in which the animal was ritually “returned” to the forest. The ritual included hanging a bear skull on a pine tree. This article examines the skull tree ritual sites from archaeological and historical perspectives. These sites can often be identified by place names. Although most of the ritual trees have already disappeared from the landscape, the material remains of rituals may be archaeologically detectable. In theory, the sites may contain bear skulls, teeth and bones, and coins that have been left in the sacred places. However, based on literature review and fieldwork, finding bones from these sites is unlikely. Coin finds from two examined skull tree sites are dated to the 18th century. Based on the coin finds as well as certain features of settlement and hunting history, and literary sources, the bear skull tree ritual mentioned in the historical sources likely dates to the 16th-19th centuries. Bear traditions are layered, and the skull tree sites known from literary sources probably represent only the youngest layer of these traditions. Keywords: bear, folk belief, folk traditions, sacred trees, place names, archaeological sites. Asiasanat: karhu, kansanusko, kansanperinne, pyhät puut, paikannimet, muinaisjäännökset