Archaeologia Baltica

The vallum in lacu (rampart by the lake) mentioned in 15th-century written sources as part of the Medieval landscape of Ostrowite (East Pomerania) has been researched by archaeologists and antiquaries since the 19th century. A wide range of noninvasive archaeological prospection methods were applied at Ostrowite in 2010-2015, including magnetic gradiometry, earth resistance, aerial photography, intensive field-walking, geochemical (phosphate) prospection, and the analysis of Airborne Laser Scanning. They were supplemented and verified by small-scale excavation work. This vast set of prospection methods was integrated into a Geographical Information System (GIS), and combined with an analysis of written sources, and allowed for the identification of a previously unknown ring-fort, which for the last 15 years has gone unnoticed by researchers conducting annual excavations in its vicinity. Its discovery and identification were only possible due to the integration of results from various methods, particularly non-invasive ones.

The Virumaa province in northeast Estonia is the area with the biggest concentration of ‘Hanseatic bowl’ finds in Europe. The finds originate mostly from deposits, often consisting of sets of numerous items. This article suggests a connection between these finds and the Danish crusade to Estonia in 1219, interpreting the bowls as the king’s gift to new subjects for their loyalty, also looking at a possible broader context, and drawing hypothetical parallels with the Danish crusade to Samland and Prussia in 1210.

Finds of decorated hammers or axes made of elk antler are rather rare in Estonia. One axe comes from the River Pärnu, and another from the Otepää hill-fort and later episcopal castle site. In addition, there are two almost identical hammers: one was a stray find from Harju county, and another was found in the Medieval town of Tartu. The two stray finds have no connected items that would enable their dating. The other two examples originate from contexts that cannot be dated exactly. The aim of this research is to find parallels to help us date the Estonian items, to ascertain the material and tools used for producing these items, and to discuss on the basis of the former, and an analysis of the find contexts, the probable areas of usage and meanings of these items. Although it is not possible to date these antler objects precisely, they probably come from the end of the Estonian Prehistoric period or the Middle Ages: the 11th to the 15th centuries. The function of the items is also not definite. Tools in the shape of a hammer were probably used as hammers. It was not possible to use any axe-shaped object as an axe, so assumptions about their function are still just speculative.

This article brings together the main research findings of recent years relating to tenth to thirteenth-century trading equipment from present-day Latvia. Finds of collapsible scales and weights from all regions of Latvia have been mapped and investigated. These include finds from archaeological sites in the Zemgale and Kurzeme regions that have previously not been extensively analysed. Issues relating to the chronology of the scales and weights are discussed. The main trade routes and the dynamics of trade contacts are determined, based on the distribution of the material in different regions.

Although hill-forts from the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age associated with Lusatian culture appear in vast areas of modern Poland, they are absent in Pomerania beside the Lower Oder region. This scarcity is surprising, especially taking into account the relatively numerous appearances of hill-forts in Greater Poland, the region directly neighbouring Pomerania to the south. On the other hand, investigations conducted in the 1960s and 1970s to verify Pomeranian hill-forts described as originating from the Early Medieval and Medieval periods resulted in the detection of at least a dozen sites with material from the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age.

The vast majority of Estonian Bronze Age (1800–500 cal BC) large metal items (axes, spearheads, sickles) are single stray

The Okhta 1 Neolithic-Early Metal site is the first archaeological object in the St Petersburg region with a well-preserved wooden construction. The site was occupied by ancient people several times during the Neolithic Age, in the Early Metal Age periods, from 7,000 to 3,000 years ago. The remains of wooden structures (stakes, treated wooden slats and rails, and piles) were found. Features of the micro-relief of the site, its stratigraphy and archaeological observations have allowed us to locate an earlier coastal fishing zone located on the shore of the gulf, and a second fishing and living area connected to river channels. The archaeological collection includes archaeological finds: pottery, stone tools, products of organic matter and wood, and amber ornaments.

Ships are no Flying Dutchmen! They need a harbour. Therefore, the development of ship construction is pretty much connected with that of harbour construction, and beyond this, they influence the topography and infrastructure of a harbour. The transition between the Medieval period and the Early Modern Age is a period of great change in the development of larger ships, even in the Baltic. Furthermore, the internationalisation of Baltic trade took place. In Medieval times, ship construction followed conditions in the harbours. In the Early Modern Age, it was the other way round. Now, harbour construction, topography and infrastructure follow the development of ship construction. The paper focuses on the deep impact that larger multi-mast sailing ships had on the development of Baltic harbours.

The remains of a Medieval harbour were discovered in Puck in 1977. Preliminary research was conducted the next year by Wiesław Stępień. The site consists of a set of timber construction remains, located on the ground and strengthened with fascine, between which fragments of ceramics appear, especially in the area of the base of the pier. There are also a lot of pieces of simply processed trunks and branches stripped of bark nearby. Also, some scattered pieces of oak logs with yoke openings have been found lying distributed between the piles. Some help in attempting to reconstruct their arrangement comes from the mooring piles, which have a characteristic rectangular cross-section, and are still located on the sea bed. Pieces of five wrecks (one log boat, and four made from planks) have been found between the harbour constructions. Looking at the chronological arrangement of the site, created slowly on the basis of results obtained from dendrochronological analysis, and supplemented with radiological research, we can assume that the harbour was in use between the tenth and the 14th centuries.