Community archaeology excavation of a stone-age dwelling site on Åland coming up in 2021

Ever since I was a young archaeology student in 1987 I have dreamed of excavating a stone-age dwelling site on the Åland islands. Now one is scheduled for July 26th throuh July 30th 2021!

Picture from the excavations of the stone-age dwelling site at Jettböle in 1911. The excavation revealed many well preserved human remains. Photo Björn Cederhvarf

The whole idea of conducting a community archaeology excavation on the islands started in the autumn of 2019 when me and my colleague Janne Soisalo visted Åland and met with local archaeologists Jenni Lucenius and Niklas Stenbäck for a couple of days. Janne is currently working on his PhD about the late neolithic "Kiukais culture" and in this aspect the finds from the Åland islands are very interesting indeed. During our visit both Jenni and Niklas were extremely friendly and showed us around the exiting stone-age dwelling sites especially in the areas around Jomala and Långbergsöda .

Three archaeologists visiting the Långbergsöda stone-age dwelling site area in the rain (left to right Niklas Stenbäck, Janne Soisalo and Jan Fast).

In the autumn of 2020 i contacted the local adult education centre MEDIS (to ask them if the would be interested in organizing a community archeology field course in archaeology on the islands in 2021. The answer was an overwhelming yes! After some very good communication with Jenni the date for the excavation was set to 26-30.7.2021 and the maximum number of participants per day to 20. Children under 14 years of age are allowed to participate but only if accompanied by an adult.

Late neolithic pitted Ware rimsherd from Åland. Photo Jan Fast.

Yesterday Jenni informed me that registration for the excavation had started and today I learned that the excavation already had 16 participants in all. What a success!! Now Jenni has started looking for a suitable place for us to excavate and we hope we will find one during the upcoming month. It is important that the excavation will be located in a scientifically interesting location worthy of publication. We also wish that the excavation can help protect the site in the future.

Archaeologist Jenni Lucenius is working on finding the best spot possible for the upcoming community archaeology excavation

Needless to say both me and Janne are very exited but also very humble to have been granted this unique opportunity to conduct archaeological excavations on the beautiful Åland islands. Let´s hope this will only be the beginning of community archaeology here. Please follow our research on FB by clicking on the link below.

Discover the stone-age of Åland

JFA toisen maailmansodan arkeologiaa 2021

 Toisen maailmansodan sota-arkeologiaa - WW2 battlefield archaeology

1.  Hanko 1941 projekti huhtikuu 2021        

Sotavainajaprojekti yhteistyössä Sotavainajien muiston vaalimisyhdistys ry:n ja Venäjän suurlähetystön kanssa.  Poikkitieteellinen tutkimusryhmä, ei ilmoittautumista!                                                                                           

 

2. Hanko 1941 ja "Durchgangslager Hanko 1942-1944" projektit 5.5. - 9.5.2021 (ke-su)

Hangon toisen maailmansodan sota-arkeologiaa

Järj. Hangö Sommaruni. Ilmoittautuminen ei vielä alkanut.

 

3. Hanko 1941 projekti 10.5. - 13.5.2021 (ma-to)

Sotavainajaprojekti yhteistyössä Sotavainajien muiston vaalimisyhdistys ry:n ja Venäjän suurlähetystön kanssa. Poikkitieteellinen tutkimusryhmä, ei ilmoittautumista!

 

4. Hanko 1941 ja "Durchgangslager Hanko 1942-1944" projektit 19.7-23.7.2021 (ma-pe)

Hangon maarintama.

Järj. Hangö Sommaruni yhteistyössä Hangon rintamamuseon kanssa. Ilmoittautuminen ei vielä alkanut.

 

5.  Hanko 1941 ja "Durchgangslager Hanko 1942-1944" projektit 26.7-30.7.2021 (ma-pe)

Hangon maarintaman taistelupaikka-arkeologiaa.

Järj. Hangö Sommaruni yhteistyössä Hangon rintamamuseon kanssa. Ilmoittautuminen ei vielä alkanut.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/364312290705639

https://www.hanko1941.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1392847977683622

 

 

JFA kivikauden arkeologiaa harrastajille v. 2021

Kivikauden arkeologiaa - Archaeology of the Stone Age 

1. Espoo, Monikko 20. - 23.5.2021 (to-su)

Ilmoittautuminen ei vielä alkanut.

Järj. Leppävaara seura            

 

2. Raasepori, Malmkulla 27. - 30.5.2021 (to-su)

Ilmoittautuminen ei vielä alkanut.

Järj. Karis Hembygdsförening ja Sällskapet Natura.

                                                                                   

3. Porvoo, Vävarsbacka 2. - 6.6.2021 (ke-su)

Kaivaus on loppuunvarattu mutta voit ilmoittautua varasijoille.

Järj. Borgå Medborgarinstitut.

 

4. Kirkkonummi, Kolsarby 9.6. - 13.6.2021 (ke-su)

Ilmoittautuminen käynnissä muutamia paikkoja vielä jäljellä!

Järj. Kyrkslätts Medborgarinstitut.

 

5. Turku, Jäkärlä 16.6. - 20.6.2021 (ke-su)

Kaivaus on loppuunvarattu mutta voit ilmoittautua varasijoille.

Järj. Åbo svenska arbetarinstitut.

 

6. Espoo, Kläppkärr 28.6 - 3.7.2021 (ma-la)

Kaivaus on loppuuvarattu mutta voit ilmoittautua varasijoille.

Järj. Esbo Arbetarinstitut.

 

7. Vantaa, Jokiniemi 7. - 11.7.2021 (ke-su)

Kaivaus on loppuunvarattu mutta voit ilmoittautua varasijoille.

Järj. Helsingin seudun kesäyliopisto.

 

8. Ahvenanmaa 26.7. - 30.7.2021 (ma-pe)

Puhelinilmoittautuminen käynnissä (puh. 531 620).

Järj. Medis (Ålands Medborgarinstitut)                                                                             

 

9. Kemiönsaari, Ölmosviken 9.8 – 17.8.2021

Ennakkoilmoittautumisia otetaan vastaan.

jfarchaeology@gmail.com

Ei osallistumismaksua! Tutkimusrahoitus/väitöskirjatutkimus.

 

10. Kouvola Ruskiasuo 21.8.-22.8. ja 27.8.-29.8.2021 (koululaiskaivaus 23-26.8.2021)

Ilmoittautuminen alkaa elokuussa 2021! Koululaiskaivaus vain Elimäen koulujen oppilaille.

Järj. Kouvolan kansalaisopisto ja projektirahoitus.

 

11. Lohja Kittiskoski E (syys-lokakuu 2021)

Ilmoittautuminen ei vielä alkanut.

Järj. Hiiden opisto ja projektirahoitus.

Practicing our social media skills prior to the 2021 field season

In my younger years in the late 1970´s and way before I knew anything about archaeology I was a punkrocker. So a couple of days ago I got an idea for a new logo that would resonate my past ;)

JFArchaeology will be conducting many community archaeology excavations during the upcoming (2021) field season. Next year we will be trying out several new approaches when communicating our research over social media and winter is a good time to practise these skills.

One thing I´m very interested in is getting pictures of finds as they come out of the ground and live videos fom the digs distributed over the internet. Let´s hope we get funding for this during the upcoming months. 

If you have similar interests or would like to help us out with this please contact us via email at jan.fast@helsinki.fi.

Vantaan Jokiniemen kivikautisen asuinpaikan kaivaus varattiin täyteen ennätysajassa!

 

Varasijoille voi ilmoittautua ainakin vielä tämän viikonlopun ajan.

Ilmoittautuminen Vantaan Jokiniemen v. 2021 arkeologiselle kaivaukselle alkaa huomenna 1.12.2020 klo 8.00!

Vantaalla sijaitsee yksi Uudenmaan hienoimmista ja runsaslöytöisimmistä kivikautisista asuinpaikoista. Aikaisemmissa kaivauksissa alueelta on löytynyt useita ainutlaatuisia ihmiskasvoisia 5500 vuotta vanhoja savi-idoleita. 

Kaivauksen järjestää Helsingin Seudun Kesäyliopisto.

Ilmoittaudu täällä!

Fresh pictures from the newly found stone-age dwelling site in Espoo!

Today both archaeologist Janne Soisalo and the finder had an opportunity to visit the newly found stone-age dwelling site in Leppävaara Espoo (S. Finland). During the early comb ceramic period the dwelling site was situated on a small level cape close to the seashore. Due to the land uplift the area were the finds where located is now approximately 25-30 m:s above sea level. The area was also suitable for habitation during the corded ware culture.

The sea level 7000 years ago. The approximate location of the newly found dwelling site is marked in red. Map by courtesy of Espoo City Museum.

Sadly the site has been badly damaged by a ski track but we remain cautiously optimistic that at least the uppermost part of it might still contain some information about when people used  the site.

Panoramic picture of the scarred site. Photo Jemina Rajamäki 19.11.2020.

In order to asssess the status of this intriguing site a trial excavation of the site will be arranged in August 2021. Registration to this will begin shortly.

Wiew towards North (the site is to the right). Photo Jemina Rajamäki 19.11.2020.

                            Wiew towards the south (the site is to the left). Photo Jemina Rajamäki 19.11.2020.

Previously unknown stone-age dwelling site found in Leppävaara, Espoo S. Finland!

In the midst of the November darkness a bright ray of light in the form of a discovery of a previously unknown stone-age dwelling site in Leppävaara Espoo  part of the larger Helsinki region!

Leppävaara is a suburb in Espoo or actually more like the second centre of the town. It´s quite amazing that despite the very large scale construction work in the area signs of the 6000 year old stone age settlements in the area are still to be found in 2020.

The previously unknown stone age site was found by "Jemppa" Rajamäki. A very gifted amateur archaeologist who has participated in community archaeology excavations with me and MA Janne Soisalo for a couple of years already.

Jemppa knows what she´s doing so she just photographed the quarts flake finds in situ and immediately reported them to us. JFArchaeology will make a trial excavation of the new site with financial support from the local community in 2021. Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow.