The smell of bad eggs.

The Danes have gone back to their studies in Copenhagen. But before they left Theis managed to find another leisterpoint. This one was one of the best preserved, and in my opinion one of the most beautiful that I have seen. The cutmarks, that hint how they are made, are still visible on the leisterpoint.

What a beauty.

I must confess to a mistake that I made last week. The object that I thought was a quarts arrowhead with resin at the base was infact just a quarts debitage. It looked a bit like the quarts arrowheads that I found on Greenland, belonging to the palaeoeskimoic culture the Saqqaq. So I was fooled. But come to think about it, why would anyone use quarts in Skåne when we have so much high quality flint.

The deceptive quarts debitage.

Today Erik and I got to digg a deep trench. When we reached the reedpeat layer, the distinctive and charasteristic odour of bad eggs invaded our nostrils. When your down in a hole there is no real way to get away from the smell. Luckily for me I kind of like the smell, because to me the smell is the promise of great findbearing layers. When I smell "the bad eggs" I know chances are good that I migth stumble across something great. The promises of the smell came trough. I found the sharpened tip of a wooden stake in situ in the detritus layer.

Patrik with the wooden stake.

Clara, found a piece of resin on her very first day at Rönneholm.

I love digging deep holes.

A surprising visit.

Today we had a surprising visit from one of the peatbogs inhabitants. One frog, or perhaps toad ( I´m an archaeologist not a biologist) was taking a swim in one of our waterfilled trenches. It looked just as surprised as I did when it saw me.

Is it a frog or a toad?

The peat bog spirits are still with us. We have found some quite interesting artefacts that will help us in dating the site and some that leaves us standing as big question marks.

First of all we have found two villingebaek arrowheads wich dates back to the middle of the kongemose period, I think that´s about 8000 years ago. Theese are really good indicators of what period of the stone age we are excavating.

One of the Villingebaek arrowheads.

Before lunch Arne lifted a stone that we had been excavating around for about a weeks time. It was not just a stone it was a complete stone axe. I think he left it there for a couple of days, just to test us.

We have also found two fragments of flint edged bone points. Something that could be a quarts arrowhead with resin still attached at the base. This would be a bit of a odd thing, because we mostly find flint artefacts in Skåne. We have also found something that I´m pretty shure is somekind of a flint axe. I´m still trying to find out what kind of type it is. One leisterpoint and one bladescraper is two other nice finds that we have found this week.

Theis leisterpoint marked with a torn Danish flag.

The finds that really excite me this week are all the wooden stakes that we have found in situ. It does not take a lot of imagining to connect these into different structures such as huts.

The most puzzling find of the week must be the 3,5m long wooden artefact that we found a bit north of the main site. The wooden pole is cut in a way so that the wood fibres are not broken. First we thougth it was a bow, but then again it´s a bit too long and thick for a bow. So our next guess is a wooden pole used to manoeuvre a canoe or boat, or it could also be material to make a bow. A pike tooth was found next to the pole.

The wooden pole.

One authumn about 8000 years ago, this leaf fell of a willow tree into the water and sank to the bottom of the lake. Yesterday I dugg it up. It´s not an amazing archaeological find, butt it puts things in another perspective.

Farewells and hellos.

Our colleagues from around europe have all gone back home. Some to continue their studies and some to other excavations. All that remain are our nordic neighbours the Danes, they will stay with us for another week. So far  my life in archaeology has taken me into moments of, amazement, adventure, breathtaking beauty and friendship. So far the Rönneholm excavation has not been an exception. I know a lot of us will keep in touch long after this, and maybe even work together again.

Tomorrow the international crew will be replaced by some Swedish students. So new week, new people, new discoverys but the same old peat bog.

Another day of rain

Today I kept on working the totalstation, and the rain kept pouring down it´s missery over us. Everything gets so much more complicated when it rains. The ground is slippery, the boots get heavy from all the mudd, writing on papper gets a bit tricky, and the mood gets a bit low. Luckily this is counterbalanced by all the nice finds that the bog provides us with. Today we found two pieces of chewed resin. You could clearly see the thoothmarks in the resin. I dont think people chewed the resin as a chewing gum. It´s proparbly to make it softer and easier to work with. But it´s still a bit mindblowing to hold a piece of resin in the hand, with tooth marks made by somebody about 8000 years ago.

The entire excavation area is covered with nails stuck in the ground, marking finds for the measuring crew to pick up. We have so many finds that we eaven ran out of nails at one point, so people used sharpened twigs instead. The total station is at constant work occupying at least three persons at a time. One person on the reflector pole, one person picking up the finds, and one person sorting out the different finds categories and making notes. It´s almost like working on a assembley line in a factory, just a lot more interesting.

Today we found this sharpened stake.

Archaeologists in action.

It´s impossible to say no to those brown eyes, I just have to give him a piece of my cookie.

Black plastic bags and duct tape, now the car is ready for some muddy archaeologists.

Rainy start of the week.

It has been raining really heavily in Skåne (the south region of sweden), so it has been a bit wet on site. However this has not effected  the statistics of very cool things found.

As I mentioned earlier I´m finished with the surveying, so now I´m on the main site. So far I´ve been working the total station, wich I must confess is not one of my absolute favorite things to do on site. It´s not that I don´t appreciate or understand the importance of the total station, I do, and I want to be able to use it. It´s just that it keeps me from getting dirty and muddy.

To me digging holes and getting muddy is one of the most satisfying things in field archaeology. The dirtier I get the happier I am, maybe it´s something that stuck with me since childhood. I love digging deep trenches, unvealing and interpreting the diferent patterns that the stratigraphic layers make. Trying to interpret the stratigraphy is like solving a puzzle.

This is a really nice and deep trench with intresting stratigraphy, and it´s muddy to.

Nice and muddy.

Egis has a nice one man trench, with a big piece of a split logg in it.

Raising the tent, after the weekend.

He he nice and muddy.

What a week it has been

Finally the whole bog has been surveyed. It has resulted in numerous bonepoints of different types, countless flints, a better overview of the area, a bunch of new questions to answer, and me getting in better shape from all the walking. This however does not guarantee that we have found all of the finds. As an example of this, Valdis found a bonepoint on the way back to the cars one afternoon, in an area that we had been walking on a lot. There where footprints next to the leisterpoint, I think their mine.

Valdis holding his leisterpoint.

Setting up the totalstation is a tough job.

On site they are making quick progress and the finds are countless. The measuring team is always one step behind, and can never really take a brake. But as you can see on the picture above there is still time for some horse play.

As I have mentiond before we hardly ever find any postholes at Rönneholm, we only find well preserved posts. But this week Valdis actually managed to find a posthole. At any other site nobody would hardly raise an eyebrow when this happens. But at Rönneholm people where just as excited as kids before christmas at the sigth of the posthole.

The profile of the famous posthole.

A couple of days ago I found a flint edged slotted bonepoint with a couple of microblades attached to it. The bone was well preserved because it was found in the lime sediment layer. Aija also found one of these bonepoints. With the only exception that hers was situated higher up in the stratigraphy, in layers with acidy properties. This resulted in the bone being gone and only the flint and resin remaining. The really cool thing however is that the microblades still are in the same position as when they where attached to the bone.

Aija carefully excavating whats left of the bonepoint.

Some words from Patrik

Hi there, my name is Patrik and I’m in charge of digital measuring on the site. Krister has asked me to write a few words about what I do on the site and my view of it all. First of I can say that this is the first dig I’ve been on where I have any sort of authority something that both fascinates and scares me. I was on the 2009 dig here in the bog and thus have some previous experience with it. I also got to replace the original measuring expert who is on maternity leave and because of my interest in the measuring technology on last year’s dig. And on this year’s first day of digging I came into contact with the brand new total-station we are now using, and of course I had no Idea on how to make it work. But after some luck and a lot of trial and error during day one we got it up and running during day two. So you probably understand when I don’t feel like the expert some on the dig se me as.

"Action" photo from the measuring team.

 But on to other matters, what do I actually do you might wonder? Or maybe you’re wondering what/how we measure? Well mostly I go around and measure in artifacts position as we find them to make a 3D map that will show where everything is found. And we do this by using a total station. Basically it’s a machine that will first calculate where the heck it is on a given grid and then were the prism is. It is then my job to keep the prism over the artifacts we want to measure in, make sure that each artifact has a number that corresponds with its electronic coordinates and that all problems regarding this gets solved. Something that is very important, if not vital, to the excavation but can also be mind numbingly dull at times as it gets very repetitive very fast when no one makes mistakes. On this particular dig the way of measuring differs from most other digs. Instead of dividing the dig into squares like we normally would we measure in every single rock and artifact individually. This is to get a better and more detailed computer model. Since we don't have any clear structures left we have to rely on and pay more attention to artifact placement in the site.
One perk however that usually make up for the monotony is the fact that as measurer on this dig I get to see each and every find. So I see all the cool stuff. And on this dig I’ve also been one of the more popular guys, everyone wants me to come to their trench. Granted it is because people find artifacts faster then I’m able to measure in and remove them, but still!

 As Krister mentioned in his last entry he only gets a vague Idea of what is happening at the site due to the fact that he is of looking for treasure. I can say however that we are slowly excavating what seems to be a small campsite with either one big or two medium fireplaces and quite a few posts (note that its not postholes as the posts are still there! Amazing stuff right there). In the site are numerous flint fragments, charcoal pieces and hazelnut shells. We also have a deep trench next to the site that was meant to help us locate the bottom; it has however given us a lot more interesting results then just that. As an example we found beaver gnawed wood-pieces there last week. If possible I might be able to delegate measuring for a shift or so and sneak down in the trench, fun stuff down there.
On this particular dig the way of measuring differs from most other digs. Instead of dividing the dig into squares like we measure in every single rock and artifact individually. This is to get a better and more descriptive computer model. Since we don't have any clear structures left we have to rely on and pay more attention to artifact placement in the site.

The peat bog spirits are with us.

"Bless you all" with Lars Larssons blessing the survey team left the main site. Todays team consisted of Pernille Foss and her Danish students. The morning gave us the usual finds such as blades, micro blades and blade cores. The most exciting thing that happened was that I split my lucky pair of fjällräven pants when I bent down to lift up an anchor stone.

My split pants, luckily I was wearing clean underwear.

I know this will sound a bit hippy, new ageish but it´s the way it is, so I will write it anyway. I was raised in an animist tradition by my father, I believe in spirits and I believe my ancestor spirits walk side by side with me. My father was the person communicating  with the spirits, in his home village. Some call it shaman or medicin man, but that´s a taxonomic disscussion I leave to the scholars. I love being in the bog, looking for traces of the people that lived there. I guess being an archaeologist is my way of communicating with the spirits. Ask anyone that has found a find that they think is cool, in the bog. And they will tell you that if you truly give your love and respect to the bog, the bog will provide. Today I gave the bog lots of love. And by splitting my lucky pants I "sacrificed" them to the bog, and the bog provided. The bog gave me a wonderfull flint edged bonepoint, and some of the microblades where still attached.

If you see a group of excited grown up people come running, to look at something in the mudd and taking lots of photos. They must be archaeologists. The whole excavating crew came stampeeding to see the flint edged bonepoint.

Ten person looking at a hole in the ground. There must be something exiting down there.

One of the Danish girls with a barbed leister point.

She also found an antler base, with a drilled hole.

I think it´s safe to say that after theese few days, that we have been here, the bog has gotten some new believers.

Week 2

Normally I don´t like mondays, but for this job I can´t wait for the weekend to end. My leggs feel like they are filled with lead and I don´t really feel like walking around staring at the ground. But I just can´t wait to see what´s out there, to see what´s just around the hill.

First leisterpoint of the day.

Preworked leisterpoint.

The guys jumping over a ditch that crossed our path.

This morning Pernille Foss from the Saxo institute in Copenhagen joined us with four Danish students. About two years ago Pernille tougth me how to draw artefacts. I´m happy she´s here, this will give me a chance to ask some questions about artefact illustration, that I´ve been thinking about.

Some of the guys looking at a pile of dumped flint, found in situ.

So far we have found 13 bonepoints during survey, and tons of other cool things. We´re now finished surveying the south parts of the bog, and started surveying the north. Finding all the bonepoints in one area made me think. Why did we find the bonepoints in this area? Was it because the area was good fishing grounds? Or is it because the bonepoints have been preserved better in this area? And it reminds me of one of the most frustrating days of fishing in my life. I once lost 5 rapala fishing lures in one day, I was so frustrated that I almost gave up fishing for ever. What if it was the same unlucky guy that dropped all the 13 bonepoints, just imagine the frustration and the words that came out of his mouth. This is obviously only a strange reflection of mine.

Beesham made a "peat"birthday cake for Arne, complete with a mesolithic torch and flint blade.

After rain comes sunshine

Today I had yet another day of surveying. Which means I´ve been walking 8 hours a day, for five days this week. It´s a bit dodgy to walk in peat because of it´s elasticity. But all the cool artefacts that we´ve found, makes every step worth it.

Sergii joined me for the whole day, and Marius and his son Mikas joined us for the morning. We had a good start, after about 20 minutes of walking Sergii found a barbed leister point made out of bone. And 30 minutes later I also found one, but of another type.

Sergii proud finder of a leister point.

My precioussss. If Erik had´nt gone to Stockholm this day, he would propably had found this.

I don´t have a clue to what´s going on in the main site, cause the only time I´m there is lunch time. But they seem to make a lot of progress every time I go there. I know that Aija found 3 or 4 wooden stakes today. Which is pretty cool, considering they are about 6000 years old.

At the main site the total station is in constant work.

Urax, the site dog doing his thing.

After lunch Alexei joined me and Sergii, we surveyed the most southern parts of the bog. During lunch Lars Larsson called and warned us about heavy rain and thunder closing in from Lund. The bad weather hit us while we where in the middle of the bog. We took shelter in a ditch.

Sergii did´nt have a raincoat. But luckily Sergii is so tough that when it rains Sergii does not get wet, the rain gets Sergii.

After rain comes sunshine. Moments after the rain Alexei found this bone point.

Surveying mile after mile, bone point after bone point.

Erik and I continue the survey. In the morning we where joined by Aija and Eva. We searched the southern parts of the bog in an area that has been heavily harvested. Some areas are down to the lime sediment layers. Theese layers provide great preservation conditions for bone material. And it is in theese white layers that we´ve found the bone points. Sometimes it feels like walking through a dessert while surveying the lime sediments.

Aija, Eva and Erik searching the white lime sediments.

After having enjoyed a great lunch cooked by Beesham, Sergeij and Tatiana joined us on our "treasure hunt". It did not take long untill we found our first bone point of the day, and moments later Sergeij found a beutiful barbed bone point.

Tatiana holding the base of a bone point. The pointy part has been broken of. This has propably been part of a leister.

Our Ukrainian friend, looking very satisfied with his barbed leister point.

There is a special kind of structure that we have at Rönneholm. In Swedish we call them fyndplättar, a direct translation of this could mean "finds pancake" so in English we just call them "a small concentration" Come to think about it perhaps finds pancake is not such a bad word after all. Because pancakes are nice, and finding a "finds pancake" is really nice. These concentrations are in fact small makeshift hearts that consist of gravel, charcoal, torches, flint blades, micro blades, hazelnuts, roasted waterlilly seeds bone and in some cases pendants made of a feeline tooth.

Plan drawing a concentration.

These concentrations are like snapshots from the mesolithic. Imagine 6000-7000 years ago a small group of people had a little break while perhaps nigth fishing with leisters. They made a little fire, cracked open some hazelnuts, ate a handfull of roasted waterlilly seeds, repaired some equipment, told some incredible fishing stories about the big one that got away and then left. All this in perhaps an hour.

At the end of the day Erik found yet another bone point. He seems to find these wherever he looks.

Survey of a life time

Today the two Lithuanian guys Egis and Edvinas joined Erik and me for the survey. This day turned out to be a really good day. We found lots of nice artefacts, had great conversations and told each other funny jokes. We found lots of the usual flint blades, hazelnut shells, torches and micro blades. All theese finds are fantastic but they where nothing compared to what we would find. After half an hour Egis found a bonepoint that was pointed in both ends. About 10 minutes later Edvinas found another bonepoint. Half an hour later Erik found yet another bonepoint, this time made out of a ribb and with barbs. All of this before lunch.

Three very happy archaeologists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we where getting a bit tired, so the topics of the conversations got a bit abstract, we started talking about how it would be to catch a fish with a fishing pole while scuba diving. In the middle of this intellectual discussion Erik found the fourth bonepoint of the day. Today I found nothing, but tomorrow is going to be my day....

Arne is filming Erik and the fourth bonepoint.

Excavations at the main site.

Day one.

Finally the anual excavations at Rönneholms peat bog have started. I have waited eagerly for this day since last year, when we wrapped up last years excavations. So join us on a journey back in time, about 6000-7000 years back, to the mesolithic stone age.

Lunch brake at Rönneholm.

During the three first weeks of the excavations we are joined by an international crew of students from Latvia, Germany, Ukraine, Denmark and Sweden. They will excavate structure number 10, wich is dated back to the Villingebaek phase of the Kongemose culture. When archaeologists normally excavate stone age structures we look for post holes. But because of the exceptionall preservation circumstances we are looking for the actual wooden posts. For more information about the site go to Arne Sjöströms home page http://www.stenalder.se/

Erik found a beutiful flint blade, during survey.

The First day consisted of organizing the site. After lunch some of the students started the shafts at number 10. Two of the Lithuanian students joined me and Erik on a survey. The bog is harvested during the summer, by big machines. During the survey we look for new finds and structures that we  quickly excavate so that the peat company can continue their harvesting.

Ieva taking Gps coordinates on an anchor stone, while getting photographed by me, Erik and Marcis.