We are now half-way into this years excavation. With the weather still on our side it is very probable that we are about to hit the part of the find layer with most the best finds tomorrow. The fine sandy soil makes the excavation work easy and also helps out in the spotting of finds.
Thursday 30 June 2022
Day 4/8. Excavating the Kläppkärr (Early Comb Ceramic and Corded Ware Culture) stone-age dwelling site in Espoo S. Finland
Wednesday 29 June 2022
Day 3/8. Excavating the Kläppkärr (Early Comb Ceramic and Corded Ware Culture) stone-age dwelling site in Espoo S. Finland
Today we finally got to excavate the top of the find layer. As the finds are quite plentiful and we have a steady work force of 20 people/day we extended the excavation area with 8 more square meters.
Despite a fierce (but short) thunderstorm the excavation proceeds according to plan. Todays finds inclded many well preserved items from the later stage of the Early Comb Ceramic period. The over 200 finds included a slate chisel, fragments of whetstones and numerous potsherds, quartz and slate flakes as well as burnt bone.
Slate chisel (right) and Ka I:2 rimsherds with traces of red ochre paint and charred organic remains.
Tuesday 28 June 2022
Day 2/8. Excavating the Kläppkärr (Early Comb Ceramic and Corded Ware Culture) stone-age dwelling site in Espoo S. Finland
The warm and sunny weather continues so we yesterday we decided to start this day one hour earlier than usual to take advantage of the slightly cooler morning air. This proved to be a good decision as we managed to open up and remove the topsoil of the entire excavation area in a couple of hours.
While excavating the surface layer (layer 1)many small finds like potsherds, fragments of polished stone tools, as well as quartz and slate flakes kept turning up. This indicates that almost the entire area will be quite rich in finds in layers 2-4.
Tomorrow and with the help of our experienced excavation crew of 20 +3 we will probably reach level 2 over the entire excavation area. Many more exiting and happy moments lie ahead during the next 6 days <3
Monday 27 June 2022
Day 1/8. Excavating the Kläppkärr (Early Comb Ceramic and Corded Ware Culture) stone-age dwelling site in Espoo S. Finland
Ever since its discovery in the 1930´s the beautiful stone-age dwelling site at Kläppkärr has been left somewhat in the shadow of the nearby more "famous" dwelling sites Sperrings I and Sperrings II. The site dates to the Early Comb Ceramic Culture (Ka I:1 and Ka I:2 ca 5000-4000 BC) and the Corded Ware Culture (ca 3200-2300 BC).
The dwelling site that during the early Comb Ceramic Culture lay on a sandy seashore is now forest and farmland. Earlier excavations by me and archaeologist Stefan Wessman in the late 1990´s showed that part of the dwelling site has been destroyed by cultivation but that significant parts of the site still remained untouched in the forest area. In 2019 me and archaeologist Janne Soisalo continued where me and Stefan Wessman had left off in the 1990´s. This years excavation is the sixth archaeological dig of the site.
Although today we were just starting some 200 nice finds from both periods of occupation turned up during the first five hours of the first excavation day. The Corded Ware culture potsherds were especially abundant.
Tuesday 21 June 2022
A huge thanks to our fantastic 2022 excavation team in Jäkärlä
This years excavation in Jäkärlä ends tomorrow and me and archaeologist Janne Soisalo would like to taket the opportunity to thank each and every member of our excavation team. A nice mix of people of very different ages, language groups and backgrounds. The laughter and the joy of discovery could be felt (and heard) every single day.
Friday 17 June 2022
Day 3/8. Excavating the Jäkärlä (Jäkärlä Culture) stone-age dwelling site in Turku SW. Finland
Today we finally hit the jackpot when we found two large concentrations of well preserved potsherds from the Jäkärlä culture. Finds of potsherds of this type are rather rare in Finland so we were all very exited about the find which may make it possible for us to restore two or maybe three complete pots.
According to archaeologist Petro Pesonen "Jäkärlä Ware appears to be a short-living and quite a isolated group with possible coexistence with Middle Neolithic Typical Comb Ware in the turn of the Early and Middle Neolithic of eastern Fennoscandia" (Pesonen P. 2019) . Jäkärlä ware can be dated to a short 200-300 year long period around 4000 BC.
Thursday 16 June 2022
Late Iron Age bronze penannular brooch found during excavations of the stone age dwellling site in Jäkärlä, Turku SW Finland
A complete late Iron Age penannular brooch was found today during archaeological excavations of the Jäkärlä stone-age dwelling site in Turku SW Finland. Although iron age finds from stone-age sites are known from before the find provokes interesting questions.
Horsehoe shaped Fibula found during the excavation in Jäkärlä on June 6th 2022.
This particular type of brooch was a common part of the female dress during the Viking Age and Early Crusade Period in Finland.and was and worn in the upper chest area of the dress.
The brooch was found in untouched sandy soil at a depth of some 15 cm:s below ground surface. It is therefore possible that it was lost by its owner but of course other options also remain. We will be excavating the find site with utmost care during the following days and also conduct a metal detecting survey of the find area.
And yes... we also found many nice stone-age finds attributable to the Jäkärlä culture today :)