Akamella, Ancient cemetery and monument in Pajala civil parish, Sweden

Akamella is a burial ground on the west bank of the Muonio River in Pajala Municipality, about six kilometres north of Muodoslompolo. It holds around fifteen grave pits, an older memorial stone and one gravestone. A timber wall once enclosed the site, and a new memorial stone was unveiled in 2026.

Akamella was founded in 1663 as the first burial ground of Muonionniska, serving the Markkina church district; before that, the dead were carried to Matarengi. After the Finnish War of 1808–1809 the new border along the Muonio River left the cemetery on the Swedish side, and burials ended in 1823, when Muonio became its own parish and a churchyard was laid out beside the church.

Akamella's name comes from a story that a deceased Lapp woman chose the site herself: first buried in a riverbank slope, she appeared to the living and asked to be moved to a lower bend of the Muonio River. The cemetery lay on the Swedish side after the 1809 border split the Muonio parish, and the last burial, around 1902, was the district police chief Forsström, a trained priest nicknamed "pikkupappi".

Access to the cemetery requires local guidance since the site sits on an island in a remote area. Visitors should wear appropriate footwear and be prepared for uneven terrain.

Archaeological records show that timber structures once stood here where bodies were stored during winter months until the spring thaw. This practice was necessary because the frozen ground made burials impossible.