Stone-age dwelling sites found in Raseborg!

No snow here in S. Finland at the moment, so next week (on Wednesday) me, archaeologist Janne Soisalo and archaeology student Teemu Väisänen will inspect and document newly found stone-age dwelling sites in Raseborg!

It´s high time to take a look at the forested areas in search of new undisturbed stone-age sites! Photo co Mikko Sorsa.

All of the sites have yielded finds of pottery (early comb ceramic and typical comb ceramic period), as well as quartz- and slate flakes from the Mesolithic stone-age. The find sites are located in previously forested areas that have been cleared by the forest industry during 2016-2017.

A stone age rock painting was found in Raseborg in 2017!

The new  finds and the inspections are a result of more targeted co-operation between amateur archaeologists and metal detectorists in the region. As an archaeologist I´m also proud of the co-operation with the National Board of Antiquities Päivi Maaranen and Teija Tiitinen.

With these great news I would like to wish a Happy New Year 2018 to all of You!


Jan

The registration for next years community archaeology excavation in Helsinki has started!

The community archaeology excavation will take place in Pitäjänmäki, some 10 km:s from Helsinki city centre and is easily accessible with both train and bus. The languages spoken during the excavation are Swedish, Finnish. English and German!

Trial excavations underway in Pitäjänmäki (2004).

The excavation site is a neolithic dwelling site. It has proved very rich in finds from the late Comb Cramic period (ca 3800-3400 BC).

Lunchbreak (2004).

The maximum number of participants is limited to 25 per day so please act now in order to secure a place at the dig! Book here!

https://ilmonet.fi/#sv/search/com=4

Late comb ceramic (Ka II:2) potsherds (2004).

There will also be an excavation with local school students from Gymnasiet Lärkan here in 2018 (prior to the community archaeology dig)! 

Join us in the research of stone-age Porvoo next summer! Registration starts January 2nd 2018!

Life in the stone-age. Illustration by Tom Björklund for Borgå Museum.

Thanks to the very active and friendly help from "Borgå Medborgarinstitut" me and archeologist MA Janne Soisalo are now entering the final stage of the preparations for next years community archaeology excavation in Porvoo, only some 50 km:s east of Helsinki. 

Hunting with bow and arrow. Illustration by Tom Björklund for Borgå Museum.

We have not yet decided on which site to start work on. The decision is an important one as we wish to continue the excavations in the area for many years. Excavating and careful mapping is crucial to protect the important stone-age sites for future research. 

A stone-age burial. Illustration by Tom Björklund for Borgå Museum.

A lecture for the participants and others with an interest in the rich stone-age history of the Porvoo region will be held in Porvoo on the 15th of May. The accompanying trial excavation of a stone-age dwelling site will be from the 8th to the 10th of June! No previous knowledge of archaeology is required in order to participate! Registration starts at 11 o´clock on the January 2nd 2018!!

https://www.borga.fi/medborgarinstitutet

https://porvoonmuseo.wordpress.com/museokauppa-museibutik-museum-shop/

Raaseporin linnan rikolliset metallinetsijät, 500 e palkkio luvattu vihjeestä

 Raaseporin linna

Olen pöyristynyt. Raaseporin linnan läheisyydessä tapahtunut ryöstökaivaus (joka ilmeisesti tehtiin syyslomaviikon aikana) on osoittautunut paljon aluksi tiedettyä vakavammaksi. 

Satoja luvattomien metallinetsijöiden kuoppia "Slottsmalmenilla" 

https://www.facebook.com/slottsmalmen/?

Kaikkien apua tarvitaan nyt näiden rikollisten metallinetsijöiden kitkemiseksi arkeologian piiristä! Lasse Nyman on luvannut 500 e palkkion vihjeestä joka johtaa tekijöiden kiinnisaamiseen. Vihjeitä voi jättää myös tämän blogin kautta tai jfarchaeology@gmail.com.

Exciting community archaeology dig near Helsinki City Centre in 2018!

Fantastic news! It now seems almost certain that me and Janne Soisalo will conduct a community archaeology excavation of a neolithic stone age dwelling site in Helsinki (Pitäjänmäki) next summer (probably in May/June). 

Excavating a trial trench on the site (2004)

I have excavated this site previously in 1999-2004 and I can tell you it´s a very intersting place with a multitude of very interesting finds. The dig is part of my upcoming scientific article on community archaeology in the larger Helsinki area 1990-2017. 

Excavating the site in 2004.

The site is very close to Helsinki City Centre and easily accessible by both train and bus.

To make it possible for as many people as possible to participate, the excavation will take place on both weekdays and a weekend. No previous knowledge of archaeology is required.

Boxed potsherds from the 2014 excavation.

If you wish like to participate please email me at jfarchaeology@gmail.com or send me a message on FB.

Happy participants in 2004 :)

Filming our detecting and research of "Durchgangslager Hangö" for the You Tube channel "Terra Germania"

Two weeks ago we ventured on the last field trip of the 2017 excavation season. The main goal of the three days of hard work was to locate new potential areas for scientific archaeological excavations in 2018.

Hans filming our work.

The work was filmed for the You Tube channel "Terra Germania" by the skilled German metal detectorist Hans v. M. Hans and Lasse found two separate very interesting find areas for us to excavate in 2018. Please click on the link below to see Hans video from Hanko.

Two German "Erkennungsmarke"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC8FoqgXiEk

We will be back on researching those spots as soon as the snow melts again here in Finland. Please check in here for regular updates if you wish to be part of our scientific research team in the spring and summer of 2018!

Hans and Lasse in Hanko.

JFArchaeology planned community archaeology excavations in 2018

The plans for our community archaeology excavations in 2018 are advancing rapidly.

It now seems possible that next year (May-July) me and MA Janne Soisalo will be leading community archaeology excavations at least in the towns of Helsinki, Porvoo, Raseborg, Hanko (with Jasmin Gray and Teemu Väisänen), Kimitoön (with Teemu Väisänen) and Vaasa.

I will publish more details in my blog as things progress so check out this blog at least once a week to be ahead of things and secure your spot at the upcoming excavations.

Back home from Hanko after a great weekend documenting a couple of WW2 war graves and exploring "Durchgangslager Hangö".

I guess the 2017 field season is soon over here in Finland. Last weekend it was time for the last leg of fieldwork in Hanko S. Finland were this time we documented a WW2 Soviet war grave and filmed the excavations and detecting of "Durchgangslager Hangö" prior to the large scale excavations of the site in the summer of 2018.

Last view of "Durchgangslager Hangö" in 2017.

There still are forgotten WW2 war graves in Hanko and on Saturday we visited and documented one of them as part of the upcoming conflict archaeology project "Hangö 1940-41". No digging at this site of course but it became quite clear that six Soviet soliers were buried here in 1941. The buried wre possibly victims of an artillery barrage against their dugouts in the summer of 1941.

Soviet 5 Kopek coin (1930)

 The field burial site of six unknown Soviet soldiers.

At "Durchgangslager Hangö" we located and documented a few very interesting areas prior to the community archaeology excavations in June/July 2018. Especially one of the areas proved  very promising with lots of German WW2 finds made outr of a variety of different materials.

"Kriegsmarine" button and 10 "Pfennig" coin.

German uniform button with makers mark and the text "BESONDERS HALTBAR".

German "Erkennungsmarke" (dogtags).

Our hard work was filmed by the well known German metal detectorist Hans v. M. for his YouTube channel "Metal Detecting Germany (Terra Germania)". Have to say I´m very much looking forward to seeing this episode from Hanko, Finland soon :)

Hans filming in "Durchgangslager Hangö".

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY5khWMz1Stm4wTl0gaJo3A

"Durchgangslager Hangö", last field trip of the 2017 excavation season!

It´s been a very rainy autumn here in Southern Finland but the weather seems to clear up for the weekend. It´s time to have a last look at the German transition camp before the winter sets in.

Field made ring found almost exactly one year ago.

During three days (13.10-15.10.2017) me, Mr. Lasse Nyman and Hans v. M. from Germany will make a serious effort to try to search through a couple of very promising and hitherto unexplored areas of the German transition camp as well as the "Lotta-Svärd Kantine" area of the camp.

Finnish Lottas in Durchgangslager Hangö in the summer of 1942.

We will also make limited trial excavations with a team of experienced amateur archaeologists during the weekend. The trial excavations willl be of use when deciding were to place the large scale excavations in the summer of 2018.

Amateur archaeologists and archaeology student Teemu Väisänen at work in October 2016.

The 2017 field season isn´t over yet!

Upcoming community archaeology excavations under my supervision in 2017.


Raseborg Långåmossarna 7-8.10.2017.

Back to the stone-age with Karis Hembygdsförening and Sällskapet Natura. If you wish to participate please read and contact.

http://karis.hembygd.fi/foreningen/


"Durchgangslager Hangö" 3.10.2017 and 13-15.10. 2017.

WW2 conflict archaeology with Teemu Väsisänen and highschool students 3.10.2017 and Hans von Mitzlaff and Lasse Nyman 13-15.10. Please contact me if you would like to help out in either of these two excavations.

The "Deutsches Lager" Exhibition in Helsinki NOW 18.8-10.9.2017

Poetic Archaeology is a group that brings together the expertise of an artist (Jan Kaila), a photographer (Japo Knuutila) and an archaeologist (Jan Fast).

The research project is coordinated by the doctoral programme of the Academy of Fine Arts, and in this exhibition we get to see the results of their project Deutsches Lager – Inside and Beside the Camp. Using an innovative combination of artistic and scientific methodologies, the three researchers have studied a transit camp of the German army that used to be located in Tulliniemi, Hanko, in 1942–1944, both in collaboration and individually.

The camp was used by soldiers in transit to Lapland and back to Germany, and traces of the life in the camp can be found along a hiking trail that was recently opened in Tulliniemi. There are, for example, three barracks, which provide a still picture into the life during the Second World War. 

Numerous artefacts have also been uncovered in the archaeological digs in the area.

https://www.uniarts.fi/en/events/fri-19052017-1209/deutsches-lager-and-other-post-doc-stuff

Tule mukaan kivikautisen asuinpaikan kaivauksille!

Vielä mahtuu mukaan Kemiönsaaren myöhäiskivikautisen asuinpaikan kaivauksille (Ölmosviken 21-27.8.2017). Mukaan voi tulla päiväksi tai useammaksikin, aiempaa kokemusta arkeologiasta ei tarvita!

Tervetuloa mukaan kaivauksille Kemiönsaareen.

Ilmoittautumiset "Kimitoöns Vuxeninstitut" ennen 14.8.2017. 

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

Tiedustelut

jfarchaeology@gmail.com

Well preserved stone age grave unearthed near Lake Burtnieks, Latvia!

The remains of a prehistoric fisherman have been unearthed at the source of the Salaca river by Lake Burtnieks.

Photo from the University of Latvia FB page.

"The deceased had been given a fish meal to accompany him, as testified to by a fish bone layer around the skull. It's known that this place was very suitable for fishing and gathering freshwater mussels as the settlement has food remains from its former inhabitants, mostly fish bones and the shells of freshwater mussels," says archaeologist Valdis Bērziņš. He says that the very fact that the meal was placed in the grave suggests that fishing played an important role in the rituals and beliefs of the ancient people.

 

Photo from the University of Latvia FB page.

The remains were found at the Riņņukalns site, a unique North European Stone Age settlement that may help to shed light on the way people lived around 4,000 years before the common era.

 

Photo from the University of Latvia FB page.

Bērziņš says that currently archaeologists are digging up the deepest layers of the settlement to find out when people first started living at this site and how their lifestyle changed over time. There's a bonfire site located just by the grave and it could be related to funerary rituals as it contains red ocher, often used for funerary purposes, as well as shards of earthenware dishes.

Archaeologist Valdis Bērziņš (Photo LETA).

http://eng.lsm.lv/article/culture/history/stone-age-grave-unearthed-near-lake-burtnieks.a245960/

http://www.lu.lv/zinas/t/47672/

We have started building the Poetic Archaeology exhibition "Deutsches Lager"

Tomorrow we will start work on the border crossing, scientific "Poetic Archaeology" exhibition (Jan Kaila-Japo Knuutila-Jan Fast: Deutsches Lager). The exhibition will open up for the general public in central Helsinki on August 18th 2017.

The project also documents the different historical layers of the German WW2 transition camp. 

Photo Jan Kaila/Japo Knuutila.

I´m feeling both motivated and exited at the moment. Stay tuned for regular posts on our work on this exhibition here.

Archaeological, hygiene related German WW2 finds from Hanko. Photo Japo Knuutila.

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.