A great day for conflict archaeology reserch in Finland. Thank you Svenska kulturfonden for believing in this unique research project.

"Conflict Archaeology Research of events and Cultural Heritage Sites from the Finnish Civil War in the Swedish Speaking Regions of Mainland Finland  and on the Åland Islands".

Upcoming Finnish Civil War, Second World War and Cold War Conflict Archaeology projects in Hanko and Western Uusimaa

Spring is coming and with it some very interesting old and new modern conflict archaeology projects.

Already in late April we will kick off the 2025 field season with field surveys and trial excavations of Finnish Civil War (1918) sites in Espoo, Kirkkonummi and Inkoo.

German field artillery in Espoo (Kilo) in April 1918. Photo Espoo City Museum.

In May we will continue our excavations in the area of the Soviet Cold War era tank training gounds in Kirkkonummi. We will also do some field surveys in the larger Kirkkonummi area.

A Soviet Cold War period (tank) traffic sign. Photographer unknown.

In late May we will continue ou research of the battlefields of the Hanko front in co-operation with Thure Galléns stiftelse, Hanko Front Museum, SFV:s somaruni and students from Swedish speaking highschools in the Uusimaa region. 

A Finnish MG post in the archipelago during the battles of the Hanko front (1941). Photo SA-kuva.

Making plans for future conflict archaeology research on the Åland Islands 2025-2026

Today we applied for funding for a unique Modern Conflict Archaeology project on the Åland Islands. If all goes well some 200 schoolchildren from local schools will be able to participate in excavations of First World War sites on Åland in 2026.

German troops landed on the Åland Islands in 1918.

Needless to say I´m extremely proud of all of you who contributed to the application process.

Lecturing about the Modern Conflict Archaeology research of the Finnish Civil War and the Cold War period

On April 23rd 2025 I will lecture about the ongoing modern conflict archaeology research projects in Kirkkonummi and SW Uusimaa. The lecture starts at 6 PM at Kirkkonummen kunnantalo (Ervastintie 2, Kirkkonummi).

During the lecture I will mostly speak about the fieldwork related to the Porkkala 1941-1944 project (2022-2025) but I will also touch briefly on my upcoming post doc project "1918" which studies the conflict archaeology cultural landscapes, events and materiality of the Finnish Civil War.