Day 4/7. Excavating the Vävarsbacka II neolithic stone-age dwelling site in Porvoo S. Finland

Today was the busiest day of the excavation so far. As we are now excavating the part of the cultural layer which is very rich in finds Janne and Katja were very busy handling the tachymeter. The participants of the field course on the other hand were busy with digging up the hundreds of stone-age finds while I was doing photographic documentation and drawing up maps of the excavation area.

Busy, busy, busy.

The star find of the day was a beautiful slate chisel, still as sharp as the day it was last used some 4 500 years ago. Makes you wonder why it was discarded on the site.

4500-5000 year old slate chisel found in the S part of the excavation area today.

Most of the finds today consisted of many well preserved and large potsherds from several different neolithic clay vessels. Some of the vessels have been so large that they must have been placed permanently (pssibly partly dug down) in a specific part of the delling site during it´s last stages of occupation.

Neolithic potsherds from todays excavtion of the Vävarsbacka II site.

More nice finds tommorrow when we will reach the deeper excavation layers, possibly containing older finds.

A neolithic potsherd sees the daylight again after over 4500 years in the ground.

Day 3/7. Excavating the Vävarsbacka II neolithic stone-age dwelling site in Porvoo S. Finland

 Day three and we have finally reached the 2nd excavation layer which means a lot of finds of various different types. The weather is also on our side, providing for superb excavation and documentation conditions. With a happy and talented team the mood during the excavation simply couldn´t be better

Happy participants during the todays excavation.

Todays finds were mostly attributable to the later stages of the comb ceramic culture but we also found sherds of asbestos temepered pottery. Finds like scrapers and fragments of polished stone tools fit chronologically well with the pottery.

Late comb ceramic potsherds found today.

Tomorrow will probably be the busiest day of the excavation. Let´s see what it brings :)

The excavation area phtographed during the final minutes of excavation on the 14th of May 2022.

Day 1-2/7. Excavating the Vävarsbacka II neolithic stone-age dwelling site in Porvoo S. Finland

After the Conflict- and Battlefield Archaeology excavations in Hanko it´s time to focus on the stone-age again. 

The finds are plotted with a Tachymeter.

The first of several excavation sites this year is Porvoo Vävarsbacka II. We have been researching this site since 2018 and found thousands of artefacts dating from approx. 3900-2300 BC. This years excavation is a direct continuation of the previous fieldwork. 

The excavation is carried out in 5 cm thick excavation layers.

The ecavation has only just started and we are currently in the process of excavating the top layers. The finds consisting of neolithic potsherds, flint and quartz flakes and fragments of burnt bone are spread out over the entire excavation area and are so far quite small in size. Only one flint artefact has been found so far.

Flint artefact found during the excavations.

Small comb ceramic (3400-3200 BC)potsherds from the excavations.

Tomorrow we will be excating the middle level of the cultural layer. We expect the amount and the size of the potsherds will increase dramatically. More photos of our work in this blog tomorrow evening.

Day 9/10 of excavating Soviet General Sergei Kabanovs underground command post in Hanko S. Finland.

Today we focused on the documentation of the astonishing remains of the command post. The work was supervised by MA Teemu Väisänen and also included teaching of documentation techniques to the participating students from Ekenäs gymnasium.

The remains of the NW corner of Sergei Kabanovs underground command post. Drone photo MA Teemu Väisänen.

Before the final drone photos were taken a massive effort to clean up the excavation area and the remains of the structure required the help of every participant. 

BA Elisa Melasniemi photographed during the work with cleaning the remains of the N wall of the structure.

Tomorrow we will fill in the excavation area but work on site will continue already in September. Please join us in our work by sending us a letter of interest to jfarchaeology@gmail.com or register for participation in the dig by clicking on the link below!

https://hangosommaruni.fi/studieprogram/22-kurser/ovriga-kurser/arkeologi/66-konfliktarkeologi

Day 8/10 of excavating Soviet General Sergei Kabanovs underground command post in Hanko S. Finland.

Today we reached the floor level of all three rooms in the N. part of the underground command post. The floor was made of woooden planks. In order to preserve the reamains the planks were covered up with soil after documentation.

Thick wooden planks cover the floor of the "Operational Room" of the command post. Photos Teemu Väisänen.

In the NW room the planks were covered with a linoleum (cork) carpet with an interesting floral design (red flowers on a green background). According to memories by people from Hanko the linoleum or cork mats were removed  and reused after the war but at least in thei smaller room the linoleum is still intact.

Floral pattern on the linoleum (cork) carpet of the NW room. Photo Teemu Väisänen.

The hard work in cearing the trial excavation trench of sand and rubble in order to reach the floor level was carried out by hard working students from Ekenäs gymnasium. A big thanks to all who participated today!

Students from Ekenäs gymnasium clearing the floor level of the command post. Photos Teemu Väisänen and Elisa Melasniemi.

Day 7/10 of excavating Soviet General Sergei Kabanovs underground command post in Hanko S. Finland.

Today was the first "School Day" at the site with some 40 students from Swedish speaking schools in Hanko and Raseborg participating. The day was made possible with funding from Thure Galléns stiftelse, Aktia Stiftelsen i Hangö, Luckan Raseborg and Hangö Sommaruni. Our pedagogic work will continue for a full week and again in September (and 2023).

"Law and Order" ruled during todays excavation. Archaeologist Jaakko Ervasti (standing) supervising the excavation work ;)

The excavavation was in two parts with the youngest students excavating during the morning hours and the older ones in the afternoon. The day wasn´t just about digging but also included metal detecting and photographic documentation with a drone. A special thanks to my staff Aleksi Rikkinen, Teemu Väisänen, Elisa Melasniemi and Charles Pauley.

Archaeology student Elisa Melasniemi supervising the excavation of the W part of the excavation area.

The excavation results were also very interesting today and we managed to get a huge amount of information about the layout and constructions of the underground command post. The excavation area covers the area of a total of three rooms of the structure. We also found out that the command post was built on several different levels. We will start work with creating 3D models of the rooms and walls post excavation.

Students from Ekenäs gymnasium excavating near the NW corner of the command post.

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.