The oldest type of potsherds in Finland! Excavating the Ruskiasuo Early Comb Ceramic Culture dwelling site.

Personally I find nothing more intriguing than the oldest pottery in Finland. The dear potsherds have many names. Over the years it has been called Sperrings pottery, Early Comb Ceramic pottery and/or simply Ka I:1. Radio carbon datings suggest that this kind of pottery was made around 5000-4500 BC. The Ruskiasuo site has been dated to 4900-4950 BC so we are very close to the beginnings of pottery making in the stone-age.

Early Comb Ceramic rim- and other potsherds found today on the Ruskiasuo site in Kouvola.

Todays work started with a lengthy drive from Helsinki to Kouvola. The area in the region close to the dwelling site is monotonous and very flat indeed. Traffic was nonexistent and I reached the excavation site just a few minutes after 10 a.m.

The road to the Ruskiasuo site.

As usual the first task today was to get rid of the topsoil. The weather was very hot but the crew managed to get the job done in a surprisingly short time!

The starting point. The excavation area before excavation and during the removal of the topsoil.

The first finds of small potsherds, quartz- and porfyrite flakes and burnt bone started appearing just 5 cm:s below ground surface. It´s perhaps needless to say this promises a couple of very exiting days when we reach the proper find layer some 10-15 cm:s down.

Focused participants during the first day of the 2022 dig.