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The word sauna is the only word the English
language has borrowed from Finnish.
The exact original meaning of the word is unclear.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the sauna
was used in Finland already during the stone age. The oldest saunas were
probably covered pits dug in the ground and used primarily as dwellings in
the winter and secondarily for bathing. Stones were heated in the pit's
fireplace and water thrown on them to produce more heat.
Although there are other ethnic variations--the sweat lodge of
the Native Americans and the Eskimos, the Turkish bath, the Russian bania,
the Japanese mushiboro and the Mexican temescal--the Finnish sauna is
probably the most common modern steam bath.
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