Researching the Hanko Front, Part III

Another peculiar and important excavation trench of the 2020 Hanko field season was placed over the "Hillock of Death", which is an ominous name given for a hillock where 17 Finnish soldiers lost their lives. On the hillock lied observation and listening posts and those unfortunate enough to peek too far from the safety of the trenches were shot from the Soviet side.

SS-Kriegsberichters observing the frontlines in 1941. Photo: SA-Kuva.

What's peculiar about the site, is the fact that the observation post could possibly be linked to a photo of German SS-Kriegsberichters in 1941 (above). While the photo as taken at the Hanko Front, the exact location of the observation post in question is unknown.

We approached the site by preparing a four meters long test trench over the remains of an old observation post. Our goal was to create a section, through which we could observe the shape and depth of the features left behind by dismantled constructions. However, the plans changed as we soon noticed that at least some of the wooden constructions still remained underground.

After a small extension of the excavation trench and observing the depth of the wooden planks, we realized that we had to leave the work for another year along with the Hamster's Nest dugout. While we could have fast dug through the soil, it wasn't possible to preserve the wooden parts for the time being. Thus, we thought it was better to cover the trench and return prepared next year.

While the discovery of such constructions was already a pleasant result alone, the trench came with some finds as well - eg. Italian rifle cartridges, which we had not yet seen before at other sites in Hanko. Also our metal detector warned us of a potential grenade left under a huge boulder, but luckily it was soon reveled to be just a large shrapnel.

As the bigger sites of the excavations were left unfinished, it was time for me to return to Pori. However, the era will remain the same, as we'll finally launch the first ever conflict archaeological excavations in Pori!

More photos of the site will be added soon!

Location: Hanko, Suomi

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