Remarkable 14th century gold ring found in Espoo

Sadly it seem to be lacking its gemstone but nice ring even without it. According to Tryggve Gestrin at the Espoo city museum it dates to the 14th century and is the first of it´s kind in Finland.  It was found by a metal detectorist near  Espoo manor situated by "The Kings Road" and connecting Oslo, Stockholm and Wyborg.
Read more here:

http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article17386738.ab

http://www.espoo.fi/fi-FI/Keskiaikainen_sormusloyto_Espoosta(37338)

http://www.lansivayla.fi/artikkeli/252378-aarteenetsija-teki-elamansa-loydon-%E2%80%93-%E2%80%9Dtaysin-ainutlaatuista-suomessa%E2%80%9D

http://www.iltasanomat.fi/kotimaa/art-1288594729290.html

Espoo Manor.

 Happy archaeologists from Espoo city museum (Tryggve Gestrin to the left and AnnaWessman to the right) with Antti Hirvinen the lucky guy who found the ring  in the middle!

Public picture taken from Antti Hirvinen's Facebook page.

Public picture from Antti Hirvinen's Facebook page.

                                            Public picture from Antti Hirvinen's Facebook page.

Some ideas for 2014

When it comes to archaeological fieldwork in 2014  I´m currently planning a couple of small scale rescue excavations in Raseborg SW Finland (early comb ceramic sites ca 5000 BC) - I´m also planning a project to locate bronze age dwelling sites in Espoo, Vantaa and Helsinki (in april-may) and WW 2 battlefield / conflict archaeology on the islands outside Hanko (including Bromarv). If you are interested in participating  or have good ideas about what areas to concentrate on, feel free to contact me anytime.

Best,

JAN

Educating and presenting archaeology in 2013 and 2014

Students from Ekenäs Gymnasium excavating a 6000 year old stone age dwelling site in Raseborg SW Finland (copyright JFA 2013)

In a couple of months JFA will announce the first preview of trial excavations, educational opportunities and everything else for people interested in archaeology in Finland ages 8 and up.

The first update will be online here on 1st of October. The info will be updated on a monthly basis but feel free to ask any questions via email at:

joneij@gmail.com

Best,

Jan

TODAY! A find of a beautiful neolithic flint sickle from S Finland

My good amateur archaeologist friend today informed me about this wonderful new find!! A bronze age Scandinavian type flint sickle! Thought of as a fossil (maybe a sharks tooth by the owner)... until now.
Sadly the item has no provenance but was found in a scrapbox in the old farmhouse but still... what a beautiful object it is!!

Summervacation is over and it´s time to start blogging again

I´ll start with this nice find of a previously unknown bronze age cairn from Porvoo (SE Finland). The cairn has been partly destroyed revealing a stone "chamber or coffin" in the center. The preserved part of the cairn is approx 4 x 10 m:s and of a clearly elongated form. The cairn and the coffin are orientated approx E-W.

Read more about archaeological research by the National Board of Antiquities in Finland (sadly only in finnish) on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/arkeologisetkenttapalvelut

http://bbl.fi/nyheter/2013-07-31/480751/3-000-ar-gammal-grav-hittades-pa-kalvon

Irish archaeology

Recent bog finds from Ireland!

http://irisharchaeology.ie/2011/08/irish-bog-bodies-recent-discoveries/

Fantastic grave find from Motala!

Hello friends, I´m still on vacation (back in august) but stumbled upon this excellent short video from the Motala excvations were past and present connect, enjoy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOD-VAVLB1M

http://verkstadsvagen.arkeologiuv.se/#page2

Final visit to the National Board of Antiquities today...

drawing the Jokiniemi and Maarinkunnas (thanks Sirpa Leskinen) clay figurines for publication and cataloguing mesolithic finds from the Lill-Ingåla dwelling site in Espoo (excavated in 2007). The Lill-Ingåla finds mostly consist of fragments of burnt bone, a few quartz artefacts (mainly scrapers) and quartz flakes but the elevation of the site points it out as being the oldest in the area. Actually the site may be as old as 9000 B.C. Now that´s nice :)

Lill-Ingåla dwelling site (photo Tryggve Gestrin Espoo city museum)

Clay figurine torso from Maarinkunnas 

(drawing courtesy of Jan Fast)

Nice video from excavations in Blekinge Sweden

Here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2VHrLQBf-g

Reunion (and drawing) of the subneolithic anthropomorphic clay figurines from Jokiniemi

I spent most of the day drawing these guys :)

 Box full of figurines (and memories).

Head fragment

Head fragment

Fragment of the torso

Fragment of the torso

I own the rights to my own work so please ask before you repost any of the scetches above!

Finds from Långåmossarna

Here I will post a selection of the finds from the excavation. This area will be updated as work with cleaning the finds progresses, be patient...

Stone implements

Oval shaped loom weights or hammerstones

Potsherds

Vessel 1

Ka I:2 rimsherd  (ca 4000 B.C.)

Decoration on the rim of the pot.

 Interesting rare rim profile

From the same vessel

Seam imprint.


Vessel 2.

Ka I:2 rimsherds (older style) ca 4200 B.C.

As above.

Almost straight rim profile.

This vessel was painted red (faint traces of red ochre on the rim).

Burnt bone

Seal

Complete seal "flipper" bone

Finally to the National Board of Antiquities tomorrow

to do some microscopic research of the anthropomorphic clay figurines from the subneolithic stone age dwelling site at Vantaa Jokiniemi. After this the publication should be 95% ready. My approach to the figurines will be mostly chronological and comparative and I will be focusing on studies of realistic anthropomorphic clay figurines found in Western Russia, Latvia, Finland (including the Åland islands). In my upcoming article I will also discuss some aspects of the possible use, ornamentation and issues concerning the supposed gender of the figurines.

Features and more

Below some more photos from Långåmossarna as you can see there were some very marked stone age features... I will start posting pictures of the ceramic finds tomorrow when they are dry enough to be cleaned!

 Juuso taking photos of the eroding soot and charcoal feature

Soot and charcoal 4000 B.C.

Careful excavation of layer 2.

Juuso keeping all tools at hand.

Teachers lunchbreak.

The dig continues...

The soil gets darker as the dig progresses.

In "the pit".

Layer 3.

Soot and charcoal in the profile.

From above (layer 4).

... and the same in the eastern profile..

Cultural layer in the northern profile.

Fantastic day at the Långåmossarna excavation

Just got home after a mere 12 hour working day.

View from the command center

Me and Juuso would like to thank all the participants of the trial excavation at Långåmossarna. What an amazing day and great finds too! Below are some pics from this wonderful summers day in Raseborg, more to come (including detailed pictures of the finds) in the days ahead as I get them edited (and cleaned)! A full collection of pics can also  be seen on my Facebook page Jan Fast (Archaeology).

Media links here (in swedish)

http://vastranyland.fi/

http://svenska.yle.fi/artikel/2013/05/28/unika-stenaldersfynd-i-karis

Excavating layer one

Careful work in progress

By the "table"

Hotspot

Worn tools "since 1990"

Sieving in progress

"Early comb ceramic potsherd ca 3900 BC.