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).

Shallow streams of water still run through the landscape where the sea once used to be.

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.

Part of the site is situated in a field while part of it has been preserved in the nearby forest.

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.

A few of the over 100 Corded Ware Culture potsherds that were found during the first excavation day.

A Comb Ceramic rimsherd that possibly dates to the early Typical Comb Ceramic Culture (Ka II:1 ca 3900-3800 BC) or very late Early Comb Ceramic Culture (Ka I:2 ca 4000 BC)

Below a few more photos from the sunny and warm excavation day. Thumbs up for more interesting finds during the days to come!