Day 5-6/10 of excavating Soviet General Sergei Kabanovs underground command post in Hanko S. Finland.

Last Friday and today and we worked relentlessly with revealing the layout of two of the rooms in the northern part of the underground command post. With very little remaining of the inner walls that once separated the rooms this is a very difficult task indeed.

The first of these two rooms atm seems to be the "Operational or Map Room" of the command post. This is the room that was used to coordinate the battles of the Hanko Front and where a large strategic map of Hanko was found by Swedish volunteers in December 1941. The room was heavily mined with dive bombs by the Soviets but for some resason not detonated. The dive bombs were quickly dismantled by Finnish forces upon discovery in 1941.

Dive bombs on the floor of the "Operational Room" of Sergei Kabanovs underground command post when it was discovered in December 1941. Photo SA-Kuva.

The second room is probably the combined lavatory/bathroom of the construction. Lets hope the original well used toilet stool is still in place ;).

The Lavtory of Sergei Kabanovs underground command post when it was discovered in December 1941. Photo SA-Kuva.

Tomorrow we will be joined by around 50 students from local schools, some 20 of whom will participate in the dig for three full days. This part of the excavation is financed by Thure Galléns Stiftelse, AKTIA Stiftelsen i Hangö and Hangö Sommaruni. Seems like we have some very exiting days ahead!

Day 4/10 of excavating of general Sergei Kabanovs underground command post in Hanko S. Finland.

Today we finally found the southern wall of the command post. This means that we can finally get an idea of its size. According to our research the command post was approximately 8 meters wide and maybe about 15-20 meters in length based on the GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) results.

The outline of General Serrgei Kabanovs underground command post marked with red.

The light was excellent today enabling our cartographer Aleksi Rikkinen to capture some great drone photos of our ongoing research. More drone photos will bet taken next week when we clear more of the wall structures. 

Bird´s- eye wiew of the excavation area from NW. Hanko Casino can be seen in the right hand corner of the picture.

We are not excavating the floor level of the command post until next year when a one month long excavation is scheduled for June and July.  The information of the layout and extent of the remains is crucial for us to be able to plan the 2023 excavation season.

Bird´s- eye wiew of the excavation area from SE. 

Todays finds still included fragments green painted wooden doorposts and several other items that relate to different structures of the command post. I will post pictures of the finds in a separate blog post after the excavation is over.

Day 3/10 of excavating of general Sergei Kabanovs underground command post in Hanko S. Finland.

Today after much hard work we finally managed to find the NW corner of the masive underground command post. This means that we finally know what part of the structure we are excavating.

Archaeologist MA Jaakko Ervasti and Charles Pauley clearing the northern wall of the command post.

It seems we are mostly in the area of the operative room with general Kabanovs sleeping quarters, the radio room and other smaller rooms still burried under over 1,5 m. of sand on the southern side of the underground structure

Archaeologist Teemu Väisänen has just located the NW corner of the underground structure!

With having found the corner of the building it will now be much esier to continue excavating the remains in  2022-2023, Tomorrow we will continue excavating the westernmost part of the buílding as well as digging into its NE areas.

The NE entrance of General Kabanovs underground command post photographed spmetime between 1942 and 1944.

Day 2/10 of excavating of general Sergei Kabanovs underground command post in Hanko S. Finland.

 

The 2nd day of the excavation was much about work with shovels in order to tidy up the large excavation area and prepare it for the actual excavation of the command post. In addition to this I paid a visit to the local school to prep the (30 or so) 11 year olds who will participate in the excavation next week.

Beautiful sea view close to our excavation site in Hanko.

War is an ugly thing but many times fought in beautiful landscapes. This is also true for Hanko were scenic marititime sea views often conflict with the tragic and dramatic events that occurred here during the Second World War and hundreds of years before.

Naval guns from the 18th century pulled out of the waters around Hanko. Photo Tony Hagerlund.

I consider it very important to educate schoolchildren of the larger Helsinki region about war and how it still affects people, the landscape and how memories of war are carried and transferred by generations after war has ended. The Second World War has long dark shadows. 

Students from Hankoniemen lukio and Hangö Gymnasium during excavations of a Second World War German transition camp in Hanko.

Our work with  "The Traces of War near You" project is funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation,  Thure Galléns stiftelse and LUCKAN Raseborg..

Day 1/10 of excavating of general Sergei Kabanovs underground command post in Hanko S. Finland.

The 2022 excavation kicked off early this morning in sunny but chilly weather. In the afternoon very cold sea winds made summer seem like very far away indeed. As last year the topsoil was removed with a digger to adepth of a little over one meter below ground surface.

The digger did most of the hard work today.

Today we also got help from local historian who sent us a picture of the layout of the command post. The sketch was made by the Finnish Lieutenant A. Öhrman and published in 1943. It is very probable that his picture was the source for the much later floor plan and scale model of the command post by Stig Nyström (below right).

Sergei Kabanovs underground command post according to Lt. A. Öhrnberg (left) and Stig Nyström (right).

We hope that the excavations in 2022 and 2023 will reveal the true layout of the command post as well as its size. We also hope to find items that can tell us more about how the general lived while leading the battles of the Hanko Front in 1941.

The excavation area in 2021. This years excavation area will be double this size. Photo Aleksi Rikkinen.

The excavations of Soviet General Sergei Kabanovs underground WW2 command post start on Monday

On Monday we will continue the excavations of the massive underground command post used by Soviet general Sergei Kabanov in 1941 during the early days of Operation Barbarossa. The excavation is finaced by Mr. Kari Karvinen and Hangö Sommaruni. Additional finacial support for excavations of the site with schoolchildren from Swedish speaking schools in the larger Helsinki region has been granted by Thure Galléns stiftelse.

Sergei Ivanovich Kabanov (1901-1973)

Despite (and because of) the ongoing war in Ukraine we feel it is our duty to speak objectively about the realities of war and what it means to live in an indpendent country with a long common border to  Russia. 

The remains of the Soviet underground command post are slowly surfacing during the Conflict Archaeology research of the site 2022-2023. Photo Aleksi Rikkinen.

The Hanko peninsula is and will always be a strategic corner of Finland. Preserving and researching the Second World War remains in the area such as the command post of this Soviet general will hopefully help people understand why things are as they are and to stay concerned about the future.

Hanko in the summer of 1942. Photo SA-Kuva.

 

The women of the Hanko front - Excavating and mapping rear areas behind the frontline

Today we continued the trial excavations and documentation of one of the many military camps behind the frontlines where women plated a major role. Todays area was used by Finnish soldiers and Swedish volunteers during the battles on Hanko peninsula in 1941. 

Female staff from RSHY photographed outside one of their canteens. Phot SA-kuva.

We focused on a dump site associated with one of the canteens in the rear area. The cantine burned to the ground during the battles and offers a glimpse into the materiality of this side of the conflict on the Hanko Front. As evidenced by the porcellain artefacts this particular canteen was run by female staff  from RSHY (Rannikkosotilaiden Huoltoyhdistys).

One of many porcellain cup fragments bearing the marking of RSHY.

Today we only excavated the top laters but found many interesting items. Cap cockades, ink bottles, bakelite cigarette holders, wartime (Arabia) porcellain plates and cups, alcohol bottles etc. etc. We will finish excavating this well preserved dump site tomorrow.

Assorted finds from todays trial excavation of the RSHY canteen area

The foundations of the burnt down cantine can be seen on an air surveillance photo from 1942. Today nothing of it is visible above ground.

Finding the Fallen and researching the battles of the Hanko Front

Today we made our first search in the Hanko archipelago where bitter fighting between Finnish and Soviet forces took place during the summer and autumn of 1941. Our mission was twofold, to search for missing and KIA soldiers and document the remains of the battles. Both of these objectives where successfull today.

80 years after the battles debris of war still litter the islands.

We were transported to the research area with a landing from the Finnish Defence Forces. A very safe, comfortable and speedy ride which greatly helped our research, allowing us to spend more time mapping and excavating the sites.

The lengthy sea journey was undertaken in a landing craft from the Finnish Defence Forces

Today we managed to find at least two final resting places of fallen Soviet soldiers. As we were not there to repatriate the remains we only dug as much as was absolutely necessary to identify the places as graves and plot them on maps for possible future recovery.

Trial excavation of an area with supposed human remains.

The battlefield sites were carefully mapped and no items removed from their original context. We will be back to map the areas in more detail in the near future. 

Gun poistions and other fortifications are plentiful on many of the surveyed islands.

A big thanks to all who participated today, you know who you are. Last but not least we would like to thank the landowner for allowing us to search the islands and speak to us about the memory history associated with these sites.

Looking for a forgotten Second World War German camp site

The winter of 1942 was exceptionally cold in Finland and German Gebirgsjäger needed shelter from the elements when they started arriving in Hanko in January and February that same year. Finding the long lost camp site is crucial for my PhD titled "Deutsches Lager Hanko 1942-1944 - The Modern Conflict Archaeology and History of a Second World War Transition Camp in Hanko S. Finland".

Surprisingly the use of metal detector offered very little information about the location of the camp.

The survey area is wast and today densely forested. All signs of the former "Waldlager" have vanished over the 80+ years sice it was constructed. By using a combination of studies of the terrain, work with maps, GPS and eye witness accounts collecting during the work with my PhD we managed to get on track with finding the site

The search for the lost camp is on.

Work with locating the site will continue on Friday. Tomorrow we are off to the Hanko archipelago where our mission is to "Find the Fallen of the Hanko Front". Stay tuned for an update on this humaitarian forensic work tomorrow evening.

A sign pointing towards the direction of the German camp in January 1942. Photo SA-Kuva archives.

Second World War Battlefield- and Conflict Archaeology of the Hanko Front April 2022

Today we kicked off the 2022 field season by taking a first look at an area were supposedly 12-20 Soviet soldiers were buried (and subsequently forgotten) in 1940-1941.

A forgotten gravesite for KIA Soviet soldiers ?

No signs whatsoever of the low mounds so typical for the Second World War Soviet burial sites in Hanko. Today just the singing of birds in the trees and a cool breeze from the sea on this very peaceful area. We will take a closer look at this area later this week.

Clues to "Finding the Fallen of the Hanko Front"

During the next couple of days we will continue our serach of the Hanko front. Each day will have a different objective and our research will take us to sites on the mainland as well as the archipelago. This time of year safe sea transports are crucial and we greatly appreciate the help from the Finnish Defence Forces "to boldly go" where no conflict archaeologist has gone before. Please follow our research here on a daily basis!

The sea transports will be with Jurmo class landing crafts. Photo Finnish Defence Forces.

Explore the stone-age origins of Helsinki this summer

It´s official! Registration for the upcoming archaeology field course  starts on Thursday the 31st of March at 10.00 a.m. (Finnish time). No previous experience of archaeology or archaeological excavations is required and children under 14 years of age can participate in the company of an adult. The excavation is fully booked but you can register on the waiting list.

Archaeology for all ages.

The excavation site dates to the neolithic stone-age (3700-3300 BC) and has proven very rich in finds. Typical finds include ornate pottery, flint arrowheads and amber pendants among many other things left behind by the stone-age inhbitants.

Well worn flint dagger and a neolithic potsherd found during excavations of the site in 2018.

The excavation is located only 15 minutes from Helsinki city centre and is easily accessible by train or by bus. The excavation is arranged by Helsinki Summer University. 

Register on the waiting list here!

"Porkkala 1944-1956" Field Course in the Archaeology of the Cold War

What could be more relevant in these worrying times in Finland than a Community Archaeology field course in the Archaeology of the Cold War in the larger Kirkkonummi region. Registration starts on June 1st 2022.

The Cape of Porkkala has been a central place throughout history. It is also a strategic place as The Gulf of Finland was crossed at the narrowest point here. As early as in the Middle Ages the Danish King Waldemar II Sejr mentioned a place named "Purkal" in his descriptions and in 1944 the naval base of the Soviet Union was named after this strategic place.

The strategic location of the Soviet military base in Porkkala 1944-1956. Photo Degerby Igor.

After September 1944 the Porkkala region was evacuated and became a closed off area to its former residents. After the civilians had been forced to leave a huge Soviet military base was built in the area. Shelters and command posts providing protection in case of nuclear war and two airports were constructed, one for fighters and another for the frontier guard planes. The small town of Kirkkonummi became the centre of the base.  Soviet civilians also moved to the quite selfsufficient region with their own collective farms, shop, school, cinema and hospital. In 1956 the area with its many massive cold war period constructions was returned to Finland.

By the border to the military base in 1956. Photo Porkkalan Parenteesi.

The Cold War Conflict Archaeology project will start with lectures, a tour to the research areas and small scale trial excavations 30.9-2.10.2022. From here the project continues with yearly excavations  and other associated research until 2026. 

Soviet fortified shelter in Porkkala. Photo Retkipaikka.com.

Registration starts on the 1st of June 2022 at Kirkkonummen Kansalaisopisto https://www.kirkkonummi.fi/kansalaisopisto. The maximum number of participants is only 20 so you need to act fast in order to secure your spot. No previous knowledge of archaeology is required. The multidisciplinary research is done in co-operation with Raseborgs Museum and Degerby Igor Museum.

Newly found stone-age clay figurines from the Åland Islands

Sometimes the most intriguing finds are the smallest ones. The miniature clay figurines made by the neolithic stone-age seal hunting population on the Åland islands around 4 000 + years ago offer a journey into the animistic mindset of our stone-age ancestors but also tests the limits of Scientific Archaeology itself.

Picture from the Jettböle excavations. Photo Björn Cederhvarf. 

In the very early 20th century Finnish archaeologist Björn Cederhvarf made a series of excavations of the Jettböle site on Åland and found many strange clay artefacts until then unknown to the archaeological community. Named "Clay Idols" because of their supposed use in rituals the use of these items have been debated ever since. 

Clay Idol from Jettböle. Photo Finna archives.

Sensational new finds of several fragments of these kind of "Idols" from the Ge 16.9 site situated in Geta in the N. part of the Åland islands in July 2021 may finally shed light on the use of these strange and intriguing items. 

Head fragent of a "Jettböle Type" clay figurine found in July 2021 during community archaeology excavations of the Geta 16.9 site. First photo version Marjo Karppanen. 

The Scientific research of the newly discovered figurines has only just started and will be done in co-operation with local archaeologist and PhD researcher MA Jenni Lucenius (University of Turku) . In  2022 and in the years to come more  archaeological excavations will be conducted on the site.  The community archaeology excavations are supervised by PhD resarchers MA Jan Fast and MA Janne Soisalo (University of Helsinki) with funding fom MEDIS (Mariehamns Medborgarinstitut).  

Another clay figurine fragment. Photo Janne Soisalo.

We can not thank the staff of "Ålands Museum" and especially archaeologists Jan Storå and Niklas Stenbäck enough for making our research of the stone-age of the Åland islands possible. A very special thanks goes out to Siv Ekström MEDIS (Mariehamns Medborgarinstitut) who believed in our idea of starting community archaeology excavations on the Åland Islands  

From the Ge 16.9. excavations in 2021. Photo Jan Fast.