Today I visited Kannelmäen peruskoulu

The school is situated in northwestern Helsinki. Today all the students were 7th graders but I will be lecturing to the younger kids next spring. Especially the first group asked some very good questions . We talked a lot about stone age grave rituals and human bones in general. Here´s a very good new documentary on this topic that I would like to share with all you students fom the school. Thanks for making me feel so welcome :)

http://areena.yle.fi/tv/2225526?ref=leiki-arp

heres a link about the find in english!

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/stone-age-skeletons-sahara-130307.htm

3D rotating images of the neolithic clay figurines from Jokiniemi, S Finland

For all of You to "rotate and enjoy"  :). These images were made for HEUREKA for Archaeology Night (4.12.2014) by Versoteq Oy http://versoteq.com/ Thanks guys!

3D scanning makes the world go round :)

http://versoteq.com/content/heureka

The Neolithic meets WW2

Sry for not updating my blog for a while but believe me :)  I have been very busy doing archaeology. I hope that´s a good excuse... ;)

Yesterday we visited the archives of the Finnish Defense Forces and managed to look up some interesting and  apparently "previously unknown" flight recon pics of Hanko in july of 1942. The pictures (very crisp and clear in every detail) showed the first signs of German military presence in Tulliniemi 1942. Building materials stacked on the beach and some interesting track marks in the soil near the "Ukrainer Lager" among lots of other stuff. We will be combining these with up to date LiDar pictures in the near future thanks to funding for the project from "Sparbanksstiftelsen i Hangö".

Hanko Tulliniemi "Entlausungsdorf area" july 1942. 

Picture by courtesy of the Finnish Defence Forces.

Today photoshoot at Sanoma OY Tiede Magazine in connection to my upcoming publication of the three anthropomorphic neolithic clay figurines from Jokiniemi (1989-2002). Over two hours of intense professional work payed off, the results of which can be seen in TIEDE magazine in the spring of 2015 (february or april). The picture below is from an earlier session which was done for  the upcoming "Archaeology Night @ HEUREKA".

Photoshoot of the neolithic anthropomorphic clay figurine "Tuima". 

Picture by Riku Koskelo (TIEDE magazine) 

Interesting conflict archaeology documentary

This one was new to me and I liked it a lot, hope You like it too.


"DIGGING UP THE TRENCHES OF WWI"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y33b_e-cqGM

WW2 "Deutsches Lager Hanko 1942-1944" project news

Snow was slowly falling but I just had to take one more drive to Hanko and have a last look at the site before winter. Maybe the reason for this was that we managed to get funding for excavations here in 2015 maybe it was just "the Rocker in me" looking for inspiration before the long cold winter sets in here in S. Finland.

Map of the German transition camp area in Hanko after I did some archive research and pulled all threads together Thanks Niinu for the patience <3

The visit was of course about surveying the site once more. We looked for possible WW2 dump areas and  located a huge one at the westernmost limit of the camp grounds. 

Hanko Tulliniemin in the spring of 1943, Finnish officer A. Breithotz adressing a Wehrmacht Unteroffizier..

As  small scale community archaeology excavations of the site are planned for may/june we looked a bit closer at two special areas. namely the area of the "Offiziersspeisesaal" and the "Ukrainerlager" area. We weren´t going for finds but merely surveying to be able to address the right excavation methods here in 2015.

Canned food makes the world go around.

Despite the finds not being exactly over the expected the site holds what must be regarded as great promise when it comes to documenting the daily life of a WW2 German camp situated between the Vaterland and the Eismeerfront.

Broken glass and porcelain from a dump near the "Offiziersspeisesaal" area of the camp.

Letter home from Hanko "Hier traf ich fünf Urlauber meiner Einheit...Hier sind sehr viele Wanzen...

I´hope to be able to research the forgotten  histories of the tens of thousands of German soldiers who stayed here from 1942-1944. Historical documents such as letters, personal photos  and archaeological finds will be combined to tell the stories of the young soldiers  who passed here on the way to the Eismeer front or back home to their loved ones.

View towards the Baltic Sea from the "Offiziersspeisesaal" area.

Wish me Luck :)

Community Archaeology in Hanko WW2 conflict archaeology project dig in 2015

Thanks to funding from Sparbanksstiftelsen in Hanko the plans for trial excavations of the German WW2 transition and Ukrainian prisoner of war camp in Hanko S Finland will come true next year. The excavations will take place in may/june 2015 and will involve local schools (Hankoniemen Lukio and Hangö Gymnasium) as well as up to 20 enthusiasts in the field of WW2 conflict archaeology.

I will be looking for additional funding for the project this month but it feels good to have this part of the project to look forward to already :). Letters of interest are most welcome if you would like to participate in the project! Send an email to joneij@gmail.com 

Soldiers on the march through the camp area (1943?).

 Now and then...

A few of the barracks are still standing the test of time (barrack of Wehrmaht Betriebstoff Kolonne)

3D scanning of neolithic clay figurines

As part of the work around the upcoming "Archaeology Night" at Heureka the Finnish Science  Centre (4.12.2014) this day was dedicated to 3D scanning of three of the stone-age figurines found on the neolithic dwelling site of Jokiniemi  (Vantaa S. Finland).

The mobile equipment and staff came from Versoteq but the printing will be done at Heureka.

The idea is to give the visitors a "hands on experience" of the figurines as well as a chance to see and rotate the figurines in 3D on screen.

3D scanning in progress.

With the good lighting in the room I managed to take a few more pictures of the figurines myself :)

"Tuima"

"Pappa"

Fingerprints from the neolithic on "Poika".

A true diamond in exhibition design

I have always had high hopes for archaeologist (PhD) Anna Wessman (Wickholm), in her younger years she worked with me on several excavations in S. Finland.Still... I have to admit I felt "fatherly" anxieties when I stepped into her world of exhibitions today.

Glims museum entrance

The theme of the exhibition is about the world of metal detecting and archaeology and is the first of it´s kind in Finland. The entrance suggested this would be another one of those exhibitions in an old house (not suitable for exhibitions). The happy sight of her welcoming us today will never leave me, Congratulations Anna and the staff of Espoo City Museum.

"Come on in" 

Hands on detecting

Clear presentations...

and lots of interesting finds :)

http://www.espoonkaupunginmuseo.fi/fi-FI/Talomuseo_Glims

Courtcase. Illegal diving and recovery of items from an 18th century shipwreck in Finland

Well preserved cannon on the ships gundeck (picture copyright Badewanne)

And this one goes to court... It will be very interesting to see what the courts decision will be as this is the first case of it´s kind in Finland.

Four very experienced divers (ages 30-40 yrs) stand accused of stealing artifacts from a  18th century shipwreck located outside of Porvoo S Finland. The divers have worked as guides and arranged legal diving tours.

The 40 meter long wreck wreck lies at a depth of around 60 meters. The ship has had two gun decks and is in a remarkable state of preservation

The police (who previously were doing nothing) were tipped off by another diver and a reporter who is making a documentary about the looting of shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea region. The accused divers claim that they are innocent.

(Source Helsingin Sanomat)

http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/a1413868553264

NEW “NAZI WAR DIGGERS” ALLEGATIONS... Introducing "The Pipeline" !

http://thepipeline.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Facebook-Dainis-Dilba-ammunition-24-October-2013.jpg

Interesting new Archaeology website here with some quite scary although by no means unexpected "breaking" news about the recently pulled National Geographic TV-series "Nazi War Diggers". Allegations.

Mixed "finds".

"REPRESENTATIONS OF SHIPWRECKS AND MARITIME TECHNOLOGIES" Interesting seminar at the University of Helsinki next week

The seminar is free of charge and open to all with an interest in Maritime Archaeology.

Place: Porthania (Yliopistonkatu 3, Helsinki)
Time: 10.00-18.00

The programme looks very interesting indeed!!!

- Mars (1564) - shipwreck and battlefield (professor Johan Rönnby, Södertörn University)

- Presenting a 16th Century Ship in a new 21 st Century Museum: The Mary Rose (Head of interpretation Christopher Dobbs, Mary Rose Trust, UK)

- The art of emptying a dry dock-the use of 3D to enchance understanding of 1700s technology (Tom Ohlsson, Senior Curator, The Karlskrona Dockyard Historical Society)

- In Situ Representations? Diver Trails and the Iona II Paddle Steamer (Victoria Cooper, Project Manager, Wessex Archaeology, UK)

- A Rembrandt lying on the Balticum Seabed: The Dutch Ghost Ship (Drs B.A Tilburg, Ministry of Education and Culure and Science, The Netherlands)

Wise words about metal detecting by Suzie Thomas

She calls this "scribbling", I call it genious. Read it here!

http://theconversation.com/discovering-a-viking-hoard-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-metal-detectorist-32972

Totally amazing Viking hoard unearthed in Scotland

Although the info of this find still is rather limited this one certainly seems to be of great importance. A true "closed find"  with some 100 items!!!  WOW!

Video here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e4tAqmAWCA#t=45

Golden pin

Large silver ally Carolingian lidded vessel with textile remnants.

9th or 10th century Christian cross!

Read more about the find here

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-29582866

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2790197/metal-detectorist-finds-britain-s-biggest-haul-viking-treasure-hundreds-artefacts-including-ancient-silver-cross.html

Planned community archaeology in S Finland 2015 (JFArchaeology)

Field course "Metal Detecting and Archaeological Surveying"

8-.9.5.2015 in Karis (Raseborg, SW Finland) in association with Karis Musei- och Hembygdsförening and Sällskapet Natura.

Archaeological excavation and field course "Graves and Grave Cult in the Neolithic"

22-28.5.2015 in Karis (Raseborg, SW Finland) in association with Karis-Billnäs Gymnasium, Ekenäs Gymnasium, Karis Musei- och hembygdsförening and Sällskapet Natura.

Trial excavation "WW2 1941-1944 Conflict Archaeology"

Late may 2015. One week of WW2 conflict archaeology of the German transito camp, the site of  a "Lotta Svärd" cantine and an Ukrainan  pisoner of war camp with Hankoniemen lukio and Hangö Gymnasium.


Archaeological excavation "Vantaa Jokiniemi 2015" 

22.6-12.7.2015 Community archaeology excavation of a magnificient central neolithic dwelling site in the larger Helsinki region. Organized by HEUREKA the Finnish Science Centre participation is limited to 25 persons/day. Registration is to start shortly, more info here soon.


Trial excavation and documentation project "Kimito Telegrafberget 1854" 

July 2015. Site of an optical telegraph station from the Crimean war in association with the Museum of Sagalund and Hembygdsforskarna i Kimitobygden". Possibly also an archaeological excavation in Västanfjärd.


More to come soon :)

Another schoolvisit to SYK

This time for approx one hundred 6th graders (11-12 year olds) in the schools marvelous auditorium. What a lovely crowd! Some ten of the children had access to a metal detector, not quite as many knew one or more archaeologists but every single one had visited HEUREKA the Finnish Science Centre which proves how important this institution is for schoolchildren.

SYK was built in 1972 (architects Kaija and Heikki Siren) 

The auditorium has excellent acoustics!

I was quite surprised about the many really good and poignant questions after my lecture too! Thank You so much for making me feel so welcome today. I´m looking forward to seeing at least some of you guys at some of my excavations next summer!

Very nice visit to Jokiniemi with reporter Anne Hietanen from FST5 (Kollektivet)

Just when You thought the archaeology season of 2014 had definitely come to an end here in Finland I received a telephone call from the TV show "Kollektivet" who wanted to make a small but "a little different story about archaeology and the archaeologist "as soon as possible".

Kollektivet (Anna on the far left)

http://svenska.yle.fi/program/kollektivet

Very good reporter and very good cameraman, the result of our endeavours will be aired soon here on Finnish national television (probably already next friday). Some great new ideas came up today so I really hope we will be able to work together in the future too!

Preliminary results of the hyperspectral analysis of three of the Jokiniemi figurines

Below is a link to SPECIM:s preliminary report of the results from the clay-idol scanning.

http://www.specim.fi/index.php/about-us/news/243-hyperspectral-imaging-shines-light-on-the-early-finns-life-in-the-stone-age

The surfaces of the figurines found in july-august 2014 showed no traces of blood or seal blubber. The figurines were made of the same clay that can be found approx 10 m:s from were they were found. It´s possible that the fats have dissolved in the acidic soil  of the site.

Clay composition of figurines

Blood/seal blubber on figurines.

The analysis of the "naturalistic clay figurine" (in the diagram called "clay from elsewhere") found years earlier but reported after the 2014 excavation showed very different results than the other two!! More about the continued analysis of this unique figurine very soon!

Turku coin hoard display from Turku castle

Enjoy :)