In search of the earliest habitation on Brunskär SW Finland

Brunskär is an island in the outermost and very scenic SW Finnish archipelago. The island was  permanently inhabited in the 16-17 th centuries (but possibly much earlier). The multidisciplinary research project "Brunskär Förr" (Brunskär in the Past) suveys, documents and excavates the materiality of the early inhabitants of the island. A very unique and exiting project indeed.

Stormy seas in the outer SW Finnish archipelago.

During the past two days we surveyed an mapped an area with several old well preserved house foundations on the island. The remains were first documented by historian John Gardberg in 1929 but the importance of his find became evident much later when the descendants of the early inhabitants of the island contacted me and asked if we would be interested in conducting archaeological research of the site.

Brunskär (to the left) on an early 19th Century map. 

During the work between May 4th-5th 2023 the remains of at least two well preserved houses were found and documented by us. The finds were not plentiful (which was no surprise) but our observations indicated hundreds of finds inside the old house foundations one of which will be excavated in August 2024.

A find and one of the old house foundations on Brunskär (the remains of the oven to the right).

After a day of hard work out in the cold it was time to enjoy some of the traditional hospitality of the landowners 💓😊 Thank you so much!

Evening barbeque.