Made by History

While it's winter now and the ground is frozen for a few more months, it's again a good time to look back on past excavations. While I've written about many of my devours past summer, there's a particular one that I still want to share with you. It also serves as a good example of the endangered past that slowly erodes and escapes our grasp. Excavation in progress. In June, I took a little detour from my work in Satakunta to join archaeologists Jan Fast and Janne Soisalo in Kouvola. There they had planned the first public archaeology project in the history of the city and had 15 participants ready to sink their hands into the soft sand of Ruskiasuo dwelling site. While the site had never been excavated, it was already known to archaeologists since its discovery in 1980s. Based on the finds made at that time by a local archaeology enthusiast, the site was dated to the time of Early Comb Ceramic culture ca. 5200–4450 BC. Early Comb Ceramic pottery. As t...

Before it was time to leave the field work for a long winter break, I had still time for one more gig back in the province of Satakunta. As stated before , we have started a new research project in cooperation with the Satakunta Museum regarding wartime history of the province. As the project is going to be running for a long time, we're now in process of intensive background work in order to focus our resources properly. And as a part of this groundwork, it was time for me to finish the survey around the Pori Airport. Buildings left behind by the retreating Germans in September 1944. Photo: SA-kuva. I was already familiar with the site from before, as I had already started the field survey before and photographed a plenty of WWII aircraft shelters among others. However, this time I was able to bring in some extra help, as I had received a grant by Suomen Muinaistutkimuksen tuki ry  for a field survey conducted by archaeology students. With the assistance of students f...

After excavating one of the earliest Stone Age dwelling sites in Finland for eight weeks, it was finally time to pack up and take the research into laboratories. However, it was also a great time to sum up, what had happened over these past weeks and what we had managed to discover so far. With this idea in mind, I held a public lecture about our research at the municipal hall of Savukoski and now I'll share some of the same insights here. The last test pits were dug through snow. Photo: Jussi-Pekka Hiltunen As mentioned earlier, our excavations were conducted at multiple sites in Sokli area around lake Loitsana in the northeastern part of the municipality Savukoski. The area is fascinating in the sense that there lies major waterways connecting the region to the Russian side and thus it's has always been ideal for the movement of population over various periods. It had also never seen any previous archaeological research besides field surveys. The location of o...

While our excavations at Savukoski are proceeding at their own pace and our apartment is getting filled with finds, these weekends between the workdays have also been fairly fruitful. As I'm always eager to discover new things and explore my surroundings, I haven't been able to stay still, and instead I've spent my free days roaming in the nature documenting archaeological and historical sites. WWII fighting positions on top of a hill. My interest in documenting local heritage sites awoke already on the very first day, when I took a walk around our neighborhood in Savukoski and noticed that there were a plenty of WWII fortifications that we're not yet added into the online database of Finnish heritage sites. While walking among the collapsed dugouts and trenches, I took out my camera and started to document everything I saw from collapsed dugouts to trenches filled with trash. As I continued my expeditions deeper into the surrounding forests, I soon realiz...

While each excavation week at Savukoski has been interesting, this one surely trumped them all. It was finally time for me and my colleague to continue with Malmio 1, the second oldest Mesolithic dwelling site known to Lapland. And after days of hard work, the results we're even more exciting than we had anticipated and surely brought a smile on all of our faces! Our picturesque excavation site in Savukoski. As I mentioned in the past, Malmio 1 is the oldest site that we're currently excavating. It has been dated to 8,070 BC, making it the second oldest known archaeological site in Lapland and one of the oldest such sites in the whole country. However, during the first excavation week we already realized that the site had been partially destroyed by earlier land use and a lot of ground had been piled on top of the potential cultural layers. Due to the importance of the site, we were not ready to give up easily though, so me and my colleague we're given a task to...

If the third week in Savukoski had to be summarized using only one word, it definitely would be "documentation". After two weeks of preparations and initial work with the first excavation layers of each trench, the excavations started to suddenly speed up and it was time to carefully document each layer that we had uncovered. It was also time to dig into the potential trapping pit of Malmio 2 using a bit heavier machinery than archaeologists are traditionally known for! Eagerly awaiting what will be revealed. Drawing the podzol. As each archaeological site gets destroyed as it's being excavated, it's vital to pay attention to exact documentation. To get a good overview of what we're excavating and to document all features that we face, it's typical to excavate in thin layers. This means digging 5 cm evenly around the whole excavation trench, revealing an excavation layer which is then documented both by drawing and photographing. When drawin...

Due to some changes in the schedule, planned advances on the oldest site of Lapland were pushed back a bit and instead we focused on the three other trenches we had already opened the week before. In this post I'm giving some insight into the methods we're using to locate the sites we're excavating for the following weeks. As a case study, I will share the first steps we made at the Malmio 10B site by the lush coast of lake Loitsana in Savukoski. Digging the first layer of the Malmio 10B test trenches . Malmio 10B  is a Stone Age site that was found in the 2013 archaeological field survey. Based on factors such as topography and locations of waterways, the survey team visited the most suitable areas for human habitation through time. There were multiple shovel test pits done in such areas and at Malmio 10B, these pits revealed a wide cultural layer rich in quartz flakes and burnt bones. Based on the distribution of these pits, the human influenced area was e...

Last week I once again joined the payroll of the Finnish Heritage Agency, but this time the work was something entirely different. Instead of traveling around the country like last year, I'm stationed in the municipality of Savukoski for two months. By opening twelve excavation trenches around the far eastern parts of the Finnish Lapland, we're hoping to get a glimpse into the life of the first humans who set their foot in Lapland more than 10,000 years ago. Preparing an excavation area with a total station. Savukoski is one of the cradles of early human habitation in Finland and one would think that any archaeologist would be eager to be the one to research it. However, due to the relatively isolated location of the potential sites and lack of funding for archaeological research, the sites have seen very little research and all finds from the area are from field surveys. Thus, our excavation has a plenty of potential to shed light into the distant past of the whol...

In Finland, there are certain sites that every archaeology student hears about during the very first lectures at the university – and surprisingly enough, many of them lie quite close to each other within the borders of Eura. While Eura has put a lot of effort into showcasing their ancient history and there's a plenty of information online to plan a day-trip, I still wanted to share a few prominent sites to get started with. In case you have time only for a few sites, you might want to go with these "big three"! The Kings's Grave – largest burial cairn in Finland. Kuninkaanhauta Kuninkaanhauta, literally the King’s Grave, is the largest burial cairn in Finland. It’s located right along the road, so everyone passing by is sure to notice this pile of stones rising up to 4,5 meters in height. It has never been researched from the inside but based on the location it has been dated to the early half of the Bronze Age 3500 years ago. If you have never seen cair...

There it finally is – the last excavation week at Tulliniemi. Not only is it the last week of this field season, but also the last week of the six years of field work related to Jan Fast's dissertation. Even though I wasn't there from the very beginning, it has still been almost three long years since I struck my trowel into this familiar soil for the first time. It has been quite a ride, but as my work here is complete, I can leave in good spirits and with many warm memories along the way. However, before we reach that moment, I still want to share a few memories from the week itself! German brass matchbox cover from our last trench. After two weeks of excavation on the northern coast of Tulliniemi, it was now time to move a bit inland. Our task was to excavate the site of a canteen run by Lotta Svärd in the easternmost area of the German camp. Reaching for the mystery box. The work had already started in the previous week when a small task force had opened a ...

When continuing with the less traveled paths of Satakunta, it's only natural to arrive at the outskirts of Huittinen, which also happened to be one of my favorite destinations over the past summer. Besides being the source of one of the most famous Mesolithic artefacts in Finland, the municipality has much more to offer than one might expect. Here, I will introduce a few of my favorites not only based on their historical importance, but also due to the atmosphere that surrounds them. The remains of the old chapel of Tamare. Räätikäsvuori Some remains of the walls. Satakunta might not be blessed with as many hillforts as some other provinces, but it still has two of them and, in my opinion, both of them are definitely worth a visit! Räätikäsvuori lies conveniently by the Turku-Tampere road, so it's a convenient place for a short hike. The path to the top leaves from the south-eastern side of the hill and you can easily find it when following the road. On the o...

Excavations can sometimes have somewhat unexpected results and this week falls into that category. In my previous post, I wrote about a Soviet trench filled with later German waste and mentioned that we excavated all but the far end of it, as the layers of cans and bottles continued far deeper than elsewhere in the area. This week, it was my task to finish up with the site, while the new crew started with another site dozens of meters east. While I was planning on finishing with the work on the first day, I was soon surprised with a wooden construction that got revealed far beneath the topsoil. Soviet ammunition boxes from the bottom of the trench. I soon realized that instead of discovering discarded planks thrown into the dump, we had reached the original Soviet trench constructions. After systematically following the planks, I managed to slowly uncover one of the sides, eastern corner and a possible doorway in the west. It also became evident that the construction only i...

While Satakunta has many famous archaeological sites to offer, sometimes it's fun to diverge from the paved path and seek something entirely different. For me, one of the most memorable trips from this summer was a long drive through the northern parts of the province, where I was met by sites from various periods from the early Mesolithic to the Swedish era and even up to the World War II. As the distances in the north are as great as the gaps between the periods of various sites, I will only concentrate on Karvia, which alone has much to offer to any curious soul. Kyrönkankaan tie - a road that was first mentioned in 1556 and has seen many uses ever since. Pantti The impossible task of taking photos of dwelling sites. A great place to start your Karvia tour is from the very beginning of human habitation in the area. Pantti is a Stone Age dwelling site, which has not yet seen much research and the finds from the first survey include only quartz flakes and bone. Ho...