An Image Dispute Resulting from Pareidolia?

In the 1940’s Nikolai Kaario, an artist and a decorative painter, found seemingly old images from house walls in Turku, Finland. These findings generated considerable interest in the press. The Archeological Commission of Finland evaluated them, concluding that the images were not medieval and were made unconsciously by Kaario. Despite the Commissions’ findings, the dispute did not abate. Several other people also found similar images on the walls of old houses in Turku, even after the death of Kaario. We review the events of this strife and suggest that they reflect the effects of pareidolia.