Preliminary results of the hyperspectral analysis of three of the Jokiniemi figurines

Below is a link to SPECIM:s preliminary report of the results from the clay-idol scanning.

http://www.specim.fi/index.php/about-us/news/243-hyperspectral-imaging-shines-light-on-the-early-finns-life-in-the-stone-age

The surfaces of the figurines found in july-august 2014 showed no traces of blood or seal blubber. The figurines were made of the same clay that can be found approx 10 m:s from were they were found. It´s possible that the fats have dissolved in the acidic soil  of the site.

Clay composition of figurines

Blood/seal blubber on figurines.

The analysis of the "naturalistic clay figurine" (in the diagram called "clay from elsewhere") found years earlier but reported after the 2014 excavation showed very different results than the other two!! More about the continued analysis of this unique figurine very soon!

Turku coin hoard display from Turku castle

Enjoy :)

Jokiniemi clay figurine hyper spectral analysis in Oulu tomorrow!

My lovely flat smells of seal blubber and my own (oven dried) blood :). No worries though,  I´m only preparing the comparison samples for tomorrow when we will  use hyper spectral analysis to look for residues of different organic materials on the neolithic  zoo- and anthropomorphic clay figurines from Jokiniemi. I will be  bringing the clay figurines to Oulu myself so fly safe "Norwegian" :D

From top to bottom part of the comparison samples for tomorrow (blood, seal oil and seal blubber)

As my home already smells like a stone age hut I lit a crude imitation of  a seal blubber lamp. This was a huge revelation in itself. Let´s see if we can share this experiencefor the public at HEUREKA on "Archaeology Night" 4.12.2014. The play of the flickering flame on the "face" of the figurine is totally spellbinding.

Let there be light!

11th century coin hoard found near Turku SW Finland

Not a very large amount of coins by European standards, 26 silver coins in all. The mostly western and anglosaxon coins  date to the 11th centure and is said to include coins of Ethelred II and Otto Adelheid as well as one Scandinavian imitation of western coins..

Ethelred II coin similar to the one found in the hoard

The hoard was found by a geology student and amateur metal detectorist Emil Nygård at a depth of 10-20 cm:s The finds stretched over an area 7m:s in length along a forest path that may have it´s origin in medieval times. This is the 16th coin hoard found in the larger Turku region although the previous one was made quite along time ago (in 1949).

Otto Adelheid coin similar to the one found in the Turku hoard.

The coins will be on display in the castle  of Turku on sunday the 21.9. before being sent to the National Museum in Helsinki for further studies.

More about this nice find in Finnish in Kaponieeri:s blog:

http://kaponieeri.blogspot.fi/2014/09/melkein-30-hopearahaa.html

Jeremy Freeston "Medieval Dead" series episode filmed in Finland.

The "Janakkala Swordsman" will be included in the TV series "Medieval Dead". This is great news, I think the find deserves all the attention it can get!

Today the find of an 11th century silver coin hoard was reported to have been found in SW Finland. More about this interesting find here tomorrow.

Neolithic clay figurine site inspection

Good news!!! The area were the anthropomorphic clay figurine was found in 1989  looks almost "undisturbed" (at least since 1989) and we recovered quite a substantial amount of  surface finds (mainly neolithic pottery) during our short visit.

Satomäki 

With the large community housing looming overhead and a busy street (Tikkurilantie) to the south I find these kind of stone-age town sites especially intriguing. It´s amazing that sites like this exist after decades of extensive town planning and building.

 Tikkurilantie

I will return to the site to take more pictures (also of the decadence) of the site but also in order to document what the forest surrounding the stone age site might actually have looked like ca 3800 BC. 

If You look very carefully You may still get a feel of  the forest although in a heavily constructed area...

The stone age in 2014

Below are some pics from our visit to the site today, A beach some 5500 years ago (24 m.asl. today) And no... sorry we didn´t see any trolls today ;)

Neolithic clay figurine site, first inspection this thursday (18.9)

Next Thursday we will visit and document  the exact site where this amazing anthropomorphic clay figurine was found in 1989. Here are a few more detailed pictures of the "Shaman" himself.

Sovjet bunker uncovered. The archaeology of the cold war in S Finland.

Warning! Do not attempt these kind of excavations without proper safety measures!

Today was an interesting day indeed when I visited a bunker site from the so called "Porkkala Parenthesis" 1944-1956 in Siuntio S Finland. The landowner had decided to uncover the roof a  huge Soviet bunker (ca 25 x 20 m in diameter and approx 4-7 m:s deep).

Near the bunker entrance.

The "Porkkala Parenthesis" was a period when the Soviet Union de facto occupied an area very close to Helsinki the capital of Finland. Nikita Chrusjtjov in an act of "goodwill towards the West" returned the area to Finland in 1956. At the time of the "Parenthesis" some 50 000 Soviet troops were assigned to the area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2pzvXa8IfU

For general safety reasons it was agreed on not to venture outside the limits of the roof of the bunker. Also the inside was off limits for the students of Ekenäs Gymnasium who watched the event from a safe distance with their teacher Sture Lindholm. On the roof the project unearthed a large round anti-aircraft battery position. Below some are pictures from today.

The bunker "mound" before removing of the topsoil which covered the entire concrete roof.

The team assembles to discuss security issues.

7 m deep shaft on the western perimeter of the bunker.

Air shaft.

The pupils and the landowner watch with interest from the far.

"Finds"

The sharp angle of the bunker roof in the northern perimeter.

Airshaft holes in the bunker roof.

A peek into the bunker after the entrance has been cleared.

Interior of the bunker as seen from the entrance.

Same as above

The conrete foundation for a large anti-aircraft piece on the roof of the bunker.

Peace in 2014. The bunker is situated in the middle of the picture (to the left of the two larger trees).

The tragic story of an important Roman silver treasure

Watch this one very carefully if You didn´t see this a couple of years ago.The general issues raised here by "Time Team" are still very valid in 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaG8GFdCROk

I would like to once more take the opportunity to thank all You responsible people people here in Finland for Your co-operation and for reporting Your amazing  finds. Archaeology belongs to everyone!

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread973677/pg1

Diving on an unknown beautifully preserved 18th century wreck

The waters of the Gulf of Finland are exceptionally clear this autumn. As a result a professional marine archaeology team diving in the waters outside of  Porvoo Finland took some very good pictures of the "Man-of-War" wreck at a depth of some 60 meters  a couple of days ago. The team documented the find (measured it, photographed and filmed it). Congratulations!!!

Also heck out Badewannes excellent page on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/badewanneteam?ref=profile