Only 22 days to the excavation of the Ölmosviken neolithic/early bronze age dwelling site 21-27.8.2017 (Monday to Sunday)!!

I have to admit I am very excited about this excavation. Our presumption is that this was a major dwelling ste in the middle archipelago some 5000 years ago. It was possibly at least partly simultaneous to the large dwelling site in Salo (Uskela) Sinivuori which I excavated with the late Anna-Liisa Hirviluoto in 1997!

The dwelling site in the pine forest to the right.

Finds from the area (potsherds and tens of quartz flakes) have previously been found in area some 135 m:s in length along the roadside of the narrowroad that cross the excavation site. No archaeological excavations have been carried out on the site so far.

I picked up a few quartz flakes during my last visit.

The vegatation is pine forest, no serious damage seem to have been caused to the site exept for the narrow road.

Light grey coloured cultural layer in the road profile.

It is still possible to join the excavation, just send an email to me  jfarchaeologya@gmail.com or contact Kimito Vuxeninstitut! No previous knowledge is required and you can participate for one  or more days depending on your situation.

https://vuxeninstitutet.kimitoon.fi/kurser/visa/919-130105-faltkurs-i-arkeologi

"Durchgangslager Hangö". Day 14/15 of the 2017 excavation season.

Todays excavation was interrupted by rain. Due to all the very fragile (paper) and small finds in the ground we can´t conduct  excavations when the soil is wet.

Rain in Hanko, photo Henrik Gahmberg

Better weather is expected tomorrow :)

"Durchgangslager Hangö". Day 13/15 of the 2017 excavation season.

Not that much digging on this beautiful summers day.  Instead we ventured on lenghthy tour looking at the different activity areas of the German transition camp. We looked closely at the "Entlausungsdorf" area, the "Stammofiziersunterkunfte" and "DRK schwester" area as well as the "Ukrainer Lager".

We found a large stash of Finnish messkits today. The messkits were reburied after documentation.

The digging today consisted of excavating the bottom layer of excavation area 5. and filling up of excavation area 4. At some distance from our main excavation area we located a large stash of Finnish WW2 messkits that quite possibly could belong to "V raivaajaosasto". The unit was responsible for clearing mines in the waters around Hanko directly after WW2. There might of course be more possibilities of why and by whom the messkists were buried but we will be a lot wiser after we excavate this area in autumn this year.

Clearing the many seamines after the war was a dangerous task.

"Durchgangslager Hangö". Day 12/15 of the 2017 excavation season.

Grey skies but no rain in Hanko today despite this mornings weather forecast that predicted terrible weather. This ment that we were able to extend excavation area five and dig all day.

The finds appears to extend over several hundred square meters but because this is a nature reserve area we are only excavating  small parts of it. Below you can see pictures of a few of todays finds!

Field made (1944) love trinket with the letters HW inside the heart.

Another ring!

A womans hair comb (a memory from a girlfriend back home?)

Porcellain figurine.

A fragment of a "Sterbebild"or a death notice from a newspaper.

A few surface finds.

"Durchgangslager Hangö". Day 10-11/15 of the 2017 excavation season.

Last Friday we were mostly covering up excavation areas but today it was time to dig again. This day started off with a new excavation team, but a very effective one, so the dig got a really good start today. We opened up two new excavation areas and will probably start a third one tomorrow!

Wonderful sunny and warm weather too, can´t complain :)

Large gilded KRIEGSMARINE button.

Text on the backside, "KRIEGSMARINE"

Makers mark FLL for Friedrich Linden, Lüdenscheid, 1938.

New excavation area!

 Fig coffee label from "Voglsanger" in Innsbruck!

 Patriotic brass matchbox cover.

Lüger or Parabelum cartridge. The cdp makers mark is for Theodor Bergmann &co. Waffen und Munitionsfabrik Berlin.

Welcome to join the Ölmosviken late stone-age/early bronze age settlement site excavation 21-27.8.2017 (Monday to Sunday)!

Neolithic flint sickle blade (from nearby Perniö). Photo NBA.

You are now invited to join us in the excavation of this very promising dwelling site from ca 2300-1500 BC. No previous knowledge of archaeology is required! Please sen email to joneij@gmail.com if you wish to particapate for one or more days. The excavation is organised by Kimitoöns Vuxeninstitut.

Potsherds attributable to the so called "Kiukais Culture" have been discovered at the site in 2011. Photo NBA.

The site is situated in SW Finland on Kimitoön near Dragsfjärd. Part nature reserve the area is both scenic an rich in animal life. There are many prehistoric sites here too! The dwelling site was found by locals in 2011 but no previous excavations has been carried out until now!

http://100luontohelmea.fi/helmi/purunpaa

Sites with finds from the "Kiukais Culture" in Finland.

"Durchgangslager Hangö". Day 9/15 of the 2017 excavation season.

Slightly warmer weather in Hanko today and not quite as windy as during the previous excavation days this week. The second week of excavations is drawing to it´s close but the site keeps on giving...
Below are just a few of todays finds but I think you see what I mean.

 Small mirror with an interesting image on the reverse.

 Excavation area two, layer 2.

 Hand painted small flowers on a comb fragment.

 Lots of interesting finds in this third excavation area.

 A pipe.

 A glass container that once held "VIKING" shoe cream.

Lid to a "Heer Butterdose".

"Durchgangslager Hangö". Day 8/15 of the 2017 excavation season.

Once again a very hectic day  at the excavations. Archaeology student Anu Varjo finished her work on documenting the German barracks for her MA degree while the rest of us dug three separate excavation areas simultaneously. Lots of small fins today two plus the traditional bottles and food ration cans .

My trustworthy companion since 1990 an "Old school" levelling instrument.

Todays finds included many gaming pieces, many combs, medic realated items, many different types of shaving mirrors and of course lots and lots of uniform realated items.

 Part of a "Heer" cap cockade from "Schirmmütze"

 Ornate ring.

 "Eismeerfront" badge (Kirkenes-Petsamo-Murmansk)

 A dice.

 A pair of broken eye or sunglasses.

 Ornate comb.

Tooth implant.

"Durchgangslager Hangö". Day 7/15 of the 2017 excavation season.

A few finds from the odder side today, a dental prosthesis and a picture still inside it´s original picture frame, a calendar  from the year 1943 an much, much more!!

A picture of an elderly man still inside it´s original picture frame.

This could possibly be classified as the strangest item discovered so far during the excavations. A dental prosthesis (lower jaw). It´s very, very worn.

Dental prosthesis.

A German comb, partly swallowed up by a tree root.

 The excavation work continues.

 1943 calendar on the backside of a shaving mirror.

An eraser.

Presenting the crew: Lasse Nyman metal detectorist technician

Hello everyone

My name is Lasse Nyman, I´m the Chairman of the Finnish Metal Detecting Association (Suomen Metallinetsijät ry). I’ve been working very hard to locate new areas for the archaeologists  to excavate in “Durchgangslager Hangö” together with archaeologist Jan Fast since 2015.

Lasse Nyman.

When I’m not in Hanko, you will find me somewhere along the Eastern border of Finland looking for MIA soldiers from the Second World War. You will also find me in auditoriums talking about the laws and ethics of metal detecting.

Like Mr. Young used to say “Earth is a flower and it's pollinating” – peace!

"Durchgangslager Hangö". Day 6/15 of the 2017 excavation season.

Here we go again. New week, some 20 new participants and a new excavation area. This one seems to be deepest dump pit so far and it has already proved very rich in finds..

The 2x2m trial pit at the site of the German WW2 dump.

Comb fragment, Gas mask canister strap end, and a medical tube "Frostschutzsalbe"

The sort of things German soldiers leave behind... At times it feels like excavating a culture of it´s own, the finds are so very typical to the time period in different regions of Europe. The German "Heer" left it´s tell tale marks everywhere they fought or stayed.

Buttons, hundreds of them.

 Huge amounts of used combs.

 Medical stuff.

 Toothpaste tubes and more toothpaste tubes.

 Uniform details.

 Small coins from different parts of the theatre of the Second World War.

The excavations continue!!