Sensational naturalistic Clay Idol from Jokiniemi recovered after + 20 years

What an amazing journey this totally unique  naturalistic anthropomorphic clay figurine has made!

The  figurine was made during the stone age some 5500 years ago and buried or abandoned soon after only to be rediscovered by chance in the late 1980´s near an area of 1960´s community housing in Satomäki, Jokiniemi Vantaa S. Finland.

Satomäki, Vantaa.

The very rare find was kept kept safe for years by the finder in a bookshelf. As a result of the extensive media coverage surrounding the 2014 excavations of the site the finder decided to tell his story and report the find.

I would like to take the opportunity to once more congratulate the finder (who wants to remain anonymous) and all the amazing people involved during the past couple of weeks. The National museum of Finland has a new centerpiece in it´s stone-age exhibition. This is what responsible community archaeology in Finland is all about!


Thank You

Jan Fast

Back to World War two conflict archaeology in Hanko Finland

Next week t´s time to continue fieldwork on the camps and battlefields of WW 2 in Hanko before autumn sets in and the sea gets too rough to visit the main sites of battle in the archipelago around Hanko in 1941.

Autumn in Hanko

During the past week  I have been sorting and analyzing the finds from the trial excavations of the German transition camp of Tulliniemi  (last spring) and now it´s time to deliver them to the Hanko Museum for safekeeping.

Volkswagen made small stove for the "Deutchen Lager Hanko" 1942-1944.

Interestingly enough it seems out that the Volkswagen made stoves (for Organsiation Todt) of the Tulliniemi transition camp in Hanko are exactly the same as a few stoves I documented in the concentration camp Auschwitz II (Birkenau) in 2013. This is of course not a big scientific discovery in itself but serves a a sinister reminder about how industry and war and the holocaust worked together in WW2. The same could maybe be said about the layout of  German transition camps in general in WW2.

Volkswagen made stove in Auschwitz II (Birkenau) in Poland. This stove (photographed "in situ" was the only heating source for a barrack that held hundreds of concentration camp inmates.

Another sensational "human face" naturalistic, anthropomorphic clay figurine from Jokiniemi!!!

YES IT´S TRUE!!

The extensive media coverage of the Science Center  Heureka dig in Jokiniemi 2014 has brought to light  a sensational find made by an amateur geologist (with a great eye for archaeological artefacts) in Jokiniemi some 10+ years ago.

The newly reported and amazingly detailed figurine is very realistic and shows tattoos and/or face paintings very similar to those of the figurine found during the Heureka excavation in 1990. On this new figurine the tattoos below the eye sockets seem to be "net" shaped.

First pictures.

Below is another  of this figurine taken around the time the find surfaced. Some of the features have been enhanced in red. It´s been kept safe and in good hands since then by the finder. I expect to be able to meet the figurine "in person" some day very soon.

First pictures.

Personally I take no credit whatsoever for this sensational find but would  instead like to take the opportunity to congratulate the anonymous finder on this amazing find! This is truly a happy day for responsible amateur archaeology in Finland and for archaeology in the Baltic Sea region and  beyond :)

Looking for co-operation in Lithuania and especially Latvia.

Especially on the subject of anthropomorphic clay figurines and contacts and  trade of amber in the neolithic in the Baltic Sea region. Please contact me asap at jfarchaeology@gmail.com .

I´m planning a doctoral thesis on the subject of contacts via large dwelling sites in the typical and late comb ceramic periods in the Baltic Sea region. At the moment my main focus is on the comb ceramic finds from Gipka and Purciems regions in Latvia. All help is welcome!

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=19902858

Towards new archaeological discoveries in 2014 again!

Feeling totally relaxed after all the media fuss around the Jokiniemi 2014 dig. I guess the traditional Scandinavian "Kräftskiva" helped out here too :).  This year we cooked  enjoyed some 60+ of these gorgeous red beauties.

Good food, good friends good night and good morning again ;)

Tomorrow it´s time to share the preliminary plans and last dates of the last 2014  JFArchaeology digs with You. Stay tuned!

Next WW2 conflict archaeology in Hanko and early stone-age pottery in Raseborg

After the wonderful stone-age (HEUREKA and University of Helsinki) dig in Jokiniemi, Vantaa it´s now time to turn the focus towards Hanko and Raseborg.

First Hanko and the battlefields of WW2 in the unforgiving archipelago. Our conflict WW2 archaeology team will visit the sites of intensive fighting on the islands of  the Bromarv region. No digging here yet, just documenting the remains and planning for 2015.

WW2 Gas mask tube "in situ" in Hanko.

In october we will be excavating the early comb ceramic stone-age dwelling site of Långåmossarna in Raseborg. Another stone-age refuse pit is eroding into the sandpit. I expect some very interesting finds here!

Eroding 4300 B.C refuse pit at the Långåmossarna site.

The neolithic clay Figurines from Jokiniemi "as found" photos

Zoomorphic neolithic clay-idol "son"  from Jokiniemi  (2014) fresh from the ground.

Zoo- or anthropomorphic clay-idol "pappa" from Jokiniemi (2014) fresh from the ground. Interestingly enough the figurine seems to show a human face when looked at from a different angle (upside down). 

It´s over for 2014 but Heureka will continue work here in 2014.

Another AMAZING neolithic clay figurine "Pappa" from the dig at Jokiniemi today!!

Once in a lifetime yesterday! Twice in a lifetime today :). This big (approx 10 cm) was found today during the very last moments of the dig of this extensive neolithic (3300 BP) site in Vantaa S Finland.

Jokiniemen "pappa" 2014

I named the Idol after my dad (or "pappa" in swedish) after all it shows some resemblance with him , tan and all. :) .

The Jokiniemi 2014 excavation has now come to an end. I would like to thank all the wonderful people who participated and especially Mikko Myllykoski from HEUREKA  the Finnish Science Centre!

Jokiniemi 1990

See you all again next year <3.

AMAZING stone-age anthropomorphic clay figurine from Jokiniemi today

The hard work of around 140 amateur archaeologists at the Jokiniemi site really paid off today. Today at 9.05 a.m. amateur archaeologist Kyllikki Rosenström from Ango ry. unearthed an amazing anthropomorphic clay figurine. The figurine was found in an undisturbed cultural layer at an elevation of 22,28 m asl together with large amounts of  neolithic pottery (Ka III:1).

All pictures by Jan Fast

Jokiniemi day 8

The cultural layer is getting thinner and thinner as the excavation is nearing it´s close. Some nice finds today too despite this, nice neolithic potsherds and very good quality quartz flakes and a few artefacts (scrapers) made of flint.

The public seems to finally have noticed the excavation too :) Many children visited the excavation with their parents today. As a result of this I´m planning an  "all kids day" at the Jokiniemi excavation next summer! Below some more photos from the 8:th excavation day!

Jokiniemi day 7

Today was the last day of the Alumni (Helsinki University) part of the dig. This is however not the end of the excavation. Tomorrow local amateur archaeologists from "Ango" will start their work at the site.

This day was as great as all days before. Although the cultural layer is slowly fading the finds are extremely interesting even at this late stage of the dig. The flint artefacts are of course nice but todays "best" find was late neolithic or pottery with a scratched surface.

A test pit at the hight of about 19 m asl. proved extremely interesting too!! A very dark and moist cultural layer showed up underneath some 40 cm:s of topsoil  Now this is what I call a neolithic cultural layer!

Jokiniemi 2014 day six :)

Another sunny day digging this marvelous neolithic stone-age site. The good finds continue, today was pottery day (again). 

The very good crew also recovered some nice very large fragments of burnt bone including bones of pike or salmon.   

Some nice stone artefacts today too, this black quartsite arrowhead is made using a very interesting technique. It´s an imitation of a flint arrowhead.

I have seen the future of archaeology and his name is Jussi.

Living and breathing archaeology in 2014

Another excellent day at the Jokiniemi excavation.  Archaeology really is like "falling in love "over and over again. Wonderful people (miss them already), great finds and wonderful summer weather. The site is at its absolute best in early morning when the mist and morning dew make the landscape even more vibrant.

I will try to get a photo tomorrow morning. Until then here are a few pictures from today. Large pieces of neolithic pottery more amber and many happy faces :)