Excavating Korsholm Castle in Vasa W. Finland. Day 1/6.

Korsholm Castle was probably built in the 1370´s and very little is known about how it was construvted and/or extended ofer the years. By the late 18th century the castle lay in ruins, and new buildings were built on the mound. Korsholm Castle is known to have functioned as one of the bases of the notorious Victual Brothers pirates who terrorized the Baltic Sea region in the Middle Ages. By the late 18th century the castle lay in ruins, and new buildings were built on the mound. During the upcoming five days we will conduct the first ever archaeological excavation of this historic site with schoolchildren from local schools.

School children from Haga skola look for finds using a pinpointer.

The first day of the excavation started early in the morning when the topsoil was skillfully removed using a digger to a depth of around one meter below ground surface, From here on the excavation continued manually. Many finds especially from the 19th and 18th centuries were found in the uppermost part of the find layer. The undisturbed soil underneath this seeems to hold artefacts from the 17 th century and maybe as far back as Medieval times.

A few of todays finds a mouth harp, a roof tile, lots of cattlle bones, glass fragments and fishbones including a part of the lower jaw of a big pike.

The excavation is financed by Suomen Kulttuurirahasto and arranged by Svenska Österbottens förbund för utbildning och kultur (SÖFUK).