Uncovering the WWII Hanko, week I

After six weeks in Pori, it was time to move on and relocate myself to a bit more familiar area - Hanko, the southernmost city of Finland. There I was to spend the following three weeks excavating the remains of a German transition camp from the WWII. It was a site that had seen a considerable amount of research for the past four field seasons, and now it was time to wrap up the excavations for the time being. The expectations and hopes were high and the first week truly didn't disappoint!

The German camp in Hanko served as a transition camp during the Continuation War, receiving and sending off German soldiers on their way to Lapland and back. It was a massive complex with thousands of soldiers flowing through every day, and while most of the buildings have since been demolished, a few barracks still remain. However, even if the area has since been mostly overtaken by nature, lots of remains of the activities are still hidden underneath the topsoil and the stories that these objects tell are what interest archaeologists such as Jan Fast, who organizes the excavations for the purpose of his dissertation.

The focus of the first week was on two separate themes - the presence of the German Red Cross, which had operated in the camp during the war, and the material remains left at the Ukrainian prison camp. For the daily recaps and photos of the most intriguing finds, I refer you to Jan Fast's blog, as I'm only writing weekly posts of my own experiences.

One of the finds from the first test pit I opened on Monday.

As a person familiar with the history of the site, my duties during the first excavation week consisted mostly of supervising one of the trenches, but I also had time to work with the Garrett At Pro metal detector, that I had acquired some time ago. While there are many ways to use a metal detector for archaeological discoveries, some of them doing more harm than good, I aimed for a bit more systematic approach by using the device to locate potential spots for small test pits, which I then opened traditionally with a shovel and a trowel. As metal detectors only spot metal, I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't just follow the signals and end up missing other potential finds, such as paper or glass.

Out of these test pits, the most interesting one was within the Ukrainian prison camp. Right outside a former dwelling area, I spotted very clear signals that piqued my curiosity. I opened a test pit for one square meter and started to dig down without knowing what exactly would I find. After a while, I reached a layer of decomposing wood rich with iron signals. While still not knowing what I was truly excavating, I systematically continued to dig around the layer and discovered more wood, metal and ultimately some leather. Finally, the context started to look more clear. What I had uncovered was a decomposing barrel, which had stored only a single shoe. As the shoe was very small in size, we immediately assumed that it might belong to a female.

After the shoe was cleaned and we had time to look for more information on it, Jan was able to confirm that it indeed belonged to a female member of the German Red Cross - making it the first object that could be clearly connected to the presence of the Red Cross. The location and context of the find add a hint of mystery to it - why was the shoe within the prison camp and why was it left alone inside an otherwise empty barrel? Was it perhaps stored for the purpose of reusing the leather and lost it's importance after the site was abandoned?

While the shoe might still be the only find connecting the German Red Cross to the site, the excavation continues next week and there are still more possibilities for similar finds and much more!