Tuesday 30 December 2014

Sunday 7 December 2014

Archaeology night at HEUREKA the Finnish Science Centre

This event was a much anticipated one. 9 hours (15-24)of different aspects of archaeology and a seminar on rock art all on the same day. The anthropomorphic and zoomorphic clay figurines from Jokiniemi were on display too. The small exhibition will  be on display until the 11.th of january 2015 after which the valuable clay figurines will be delivered to the National Board of Antiquities in Helsinki for documentation and safekeeping. Below are a few pictures from the sucessfull event with great contributions from the Vantaa and Helsinki City Museums (among others).






Tuesday 2 December 2014

Monday 1 December 2014

The Finnish Archaeological Society (SARKS) Archaeology Days in Turku Finland in 27-28.11.2014.

The two day event started on thursday with the theme "Ethics and Archaeology. I participated in day two which was labeled "Community Archaeology". I believe this was the first time ever when community archaeology was the main theme of a seminar among professional archaeologists in Finland. Great theme and the venue was packed with people.

The venue "Turun upseerikerho" (The Officers Club in Turku)

The previous day had seen some hectic debate around the theme of metal detecting and archaeology. Archaeologists Taisto Karjalainen (from Metsähallitus) and Janne Ikäheimo (University lecturer at Oulu University dpt of Archaeology) raising some very critical voices towards metal detectorists in Finland in general. The debate arouse after archaeologist PhD Anna Wessman spoke about her and Espoo City Museums experiences with involving metal detectorists in their work. Sadly I wasn´t around to comment on  the debate but in my opinion the only move forward is co-operation with the metal detecting community in Finland (especially young people who are into metal detecting).

Way to go in Finland (with a professional archaeologist in the middle)?

I spoke about my very positive experiences working in the field of community archaeology since 1986. I must say that it felt very good to talk about the subject after some very "lonely" years doing what I do in the 1990´s. I tried to emphasize the need for reaching out to the public through the media which I feel is an integral part of all community archaeology projects.

JFArchaeology field school Raseborg (Karis Billnäs Gymnasium) may 2014.


BELOW A LINK TO ULLA RAJALAS BLOG WITH A  GREAT ENTRY (7.12.2014)


Thursday 27 November 2014

Today I visited Kannelmäen peruskoulu



The school is situated in northwestern Helsinki. Today all the students were 7th graders but I will be lecturing to the younger kids next spring. Especially the first group asked some very good questions . We talked a lot about stone age grave rituals and human bones in general. Here´s a very good new documentary on this topic that I would like to share with all you students fom the school. Thanks for making me feel so welcome :)



heres a link about the find in english!

Wednesday 26 November 2014

3D rotating images of the neolithic clay figurines from Jokiniemi, S Finland

For all of You to "rotate and enjoy"  :). These images were made for HEUREKA for Archaeology Night (4.12.2014) by Versoteq Oy http://versoteq.com/ Thanks guys!


3D scanning makes the world go round :)

Tuesday 25 November 2014

The Neolithic meets WW2

Sry for not updating my blog for a while but believe me :)  I have been very busy doing archaeology. I hope that´s a good excuse... ;)

Yesterday we visited the archives of the Finnish Defense Forces and managed to look up some interesting and  apparently "previously unknown" flight recon pics of Hanko in july of 1942. The pictures (very crisp and clear in every detail) showed the first signs of German military presence in Tulliniemi 1942. Building materials stacked on the beach and some interesting track marks in the soil near the "Ukrainer Lager" among lots of other stuff. We will be combining these with up to date LiDar pictures in the near future thanks to funding for the project from "Sparbanksstiftelsen i Hangö".


Hanko Tulliniemi "Entlausungsdorf area" july 1942. 
Picture by courtesy of the Finnish Defence Forces.

Today photoshoot at Sanoma OY Tiede Magazine in connection to my upcoming publication of the three anthropomorphic neolithic clay figurines from Jokiniemi (1989-2002). Over two hours of intense professional work payed off, the results of which can be seen in TIEDE magazine in the spring of 2015 (february or april). The picture below is from an earlier session which was done for  the upcoming "Archaeology Night @ HEUREKA".

Photoshoot of the neolithic anthropomorphic clay figurine "Tuima". 
Picture by Riku Koskelo (TIEDE magazine) 


Tuesday 18 November 2014

Monday 10 November 2014

WW2 "Deutsches Lager Hanko 1942-1944" project news

Snow was slowly falling but I just had to take one more drive to Hanko and have a last look at the site before winter. Maybe the reason for this was that we managed to get funding for excavations here in 2015 maybe it was just "the Rocker in me" looking for inspiration before the long cold winter sets in here in S. Finland.

Map of the German transition camp area in Hanko after I did some archive research and pulled all threads together Thanks Niinu for the patience <3


The visit was of course about surveying the site once more. We looked for possible WW2 dump areas and  located a huge one at the westernmost limit of the camp grounds. 

Hanko Tulliniemin in the spring of 1943, Finnish officer A. Breithotz adressing a Wehrmacht Unteroffizier..

As  small scale community archaeology excavations of the site are planned for may/june we looked a bit closer at two special areas. namely the area of the "Offiziersspeisesaal" and the "Ukrainerlager" area. We weren´t going for finds but merely surveying to be able to address the right excavation methods here in 2015.

Canned food makes the world go around.

Despite the finds not being exactly over the expected the site holds what must be regarded as great promise when it comes to documenting the daily life of a WW2 German camp situated between the Vaterland and the Eismeerfront.


Broken glass and porcelain from a dump near the "Offiziersspeisesaal" area of the camp.

Letter home from Hanko "Hier traf ich fünf Urlauber meiner Einheit...Hier sind sehr viele Wanzen...

I´hope to be able to research the forgotten  histories of the tens of thousands of German soldiers who stayed here from 1942-1944. Historical documents such as letters, personal photos  and archaeological finds will be combined to tell the stories of the young soldiers  who passed here on the way to the Eismeer front or back home to their loved ones.

View towards the Baltic Sea from the "Offiziersspeisesaal" area.

Wish me Luck :)

Tuesday 4 November 2014

Community Archaeology in Hanko WW2 conflict archaeology project dig in 2015

Thanks to funding from Sparbanksstiftelsen in Hanko the plans for trial excavations of the German WW2 transition and Ukrainian prisoner of war camp in Hanko S Finland will come true next year. The excavations will take place in may/june 2015 and will involve local schools (Hankoniemen Lukio and Hangö Gymnasium) as well as up to 20 enthusiasts in the field of WW2 conflict archaeology.

I will be looking for additional funding for the project this month but it feels good to have this part of the project to look forward to already :). Letters of interest are most welcome if you would like to participate in the project! Send an email to joneij@gmail.com 

Soldiers on the march through the camp area (1943?).

 Now and then...

A few of the barracks are still standing the test of time (barrack of Wehrmaht Betriebstoff Kolonne)

Wednesday 29 October 2014

3D scanning of neolithic clay figurines

As part of the work around the upcoming "Archaeology Night" at Heureka the Finnish Science  Centre (4.12.2014) this day was dedicated to 3D scanning of three of the stone-age figurines found on the neolithic dwelling site of Jokiniemi  (Vantaa S. Finland).

The mobile equipment and staff came from Versoteq but the printing will be done at Heureka.

The idea is to give the visitors a "hands on experience" of the figurines as well as a chance to see and rotate the figurines in 3D on screen.

3D scanning in progress.

With the good lighting in the room I managed to take a few more pictures of the figurines myself :)

"Tuima"

"Pappa"

Fingerprints from the neolithic on "Poika".

Tuesday 28 October 2014

A true diamond in exhibition design

I have always had high hopes for archaeologist (PhD) Anna Wessman (Wickholm), in her younger years she worked with me on several excavations in S. Finland.Still... I have to admit I felt "fatherly" anxieties when I stepped into her world of exhibitions today.

Glims museum entrance

The theme of the exhibition is about the world of metal detecting and archaeology and is the first of it´s kind in Finland. The entrance suggested this would be another one of those exhibitions in an old house (not suitable for exhibitions). The happy sight of her welcoming us today will never leave me, Congratulations Anna and the staff of Espoo City Museum.

"Come on in" 

Hands on detecting

Clear presentations...

and lots of interesting finds :)


Wednesday 22 October 2014

Courtcase. Illegal diving and recovery of items from an 18th century shipwreck in Finland


Well preserved cannon on the ships gundeck (picture copyright Badewanne)

And this one goes to court... It will be very interesting to see what the courts decision will be as this is the first case of it´s kind in Finland.

Four very experienced divers (ages 30-40 yrs) stand accused of stealing artifacts from a  18th century shipwreck located outside of Porvoo S Finland. The divers have worked as guides and arranged legal diving tours.

The 40 meter long wreck wreck lies at a depth of around 60 meters. The ship has had two gun decks and is in a remarkable state of preservation

The police (who previously were doing nothing) were tipped off by another diver and a reporter who is making a documentary about the looting of shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea region. The accused divers claim that they are innocent.

(Source Helsingin Sanomat)


Sunday 19 October 2014

NEW “NAZI WAR DIGGERS” ALLEGATIONS... Introducing "The Pipeline" !


Interesting new Archaeology website here with some quite scary although by no means unexpected "breaking" news about the recently pulled National Geographic TV-series "Nazi War Diggers". Allegations.




Mixed "finds".

Wednesday 15 October 2014

"REPRESENTATIONS OF SHIPWRECKS AND MARITIME TECHNOLOGIES" Interesting seminar at the University of Helsinki next week

The seminar is free of charge and open to all with an interest in Maritime Archaeology.

Place: Porthania (Yliopistonkatu 3, Helsinki)
Time: 10.00-18.00

The programme looks very interesting indeed!!!



- Mars (1564) - shipwreck and battlefield (professor Johan Rönnby, Södertörn University)



- Presenting a 16th Century Ship in a new 21 st Century Museum: The Mary Rose (Head of interpretation Christopher Dobbs, Mary Rose Trust, UK)



- The art of emptying a dry dock-the use of 3D to enchance understanding of 1700s technology (Tom Ohlsson, Senior Curator, The Karlskrona Dockyard Historical Society)



- In Situ Representations? Diver Trails and the Iona II Paddle Steamer (Victoria Cooper, Project Manager, Wessex Archaeology, UK)



- A Rembrandt lying on the Balticum Seabed: The Dutch Ghost Ship (Drs B.A Tilburg, Ministry of Education and Culure and Science, The Netherlands)