Traditional craft skills as a source to historical knowledge - Reconstruction in the ashes of the medieval wooden church Södra Råda By Gunnar Almevik, Niklas Alexandersson, Göran Andersson, Anna Johansson, Christina Persson Karl- Magnus Melin and Börje Samuelsson In November 2001 the medieval church Södra Råda burnt to the ground in an act of pyromania. The church had a log timbered structure dating to 1320 and world famous wall paintings by Master Amund from 1494. Among Sweden s 3400 churches and chapels, only 10 medieval log timber churches remains. Hence, the Swedish national heritage board initiated a process, still ongoing, proclaiming that the church should be reconstructed as a pedagogical example to enhance craft practice and historical knowledge of medieval churches. This paper investigates the new findings on medieval wooden church building as well as the methodology in full-scale reconstruction, using craft skills as means of interpretation of historical knowledge. The reconstruction functions as a trans-disciplinary laboratory, testing findings from archaeological excavations, archive studies and in-depth survey and dendrochronology analysis of the remaining medieval wooden churches.
Kaur Alttoa The fortified churches in Estonia as a refuge. Myth or reality? Armin Tuulse was first, who suggested in two articles that in Estonia there have been several fortified churches. Tuulse points to two aspects: - elements of active defence: rampart walks, loop-holes (?) (=ampuma-aukko) etc; - there is an area - as a rule above the vaults - as a hiding-place or refuge. It seems that in some cases that theory needs some corrections.
Aki Arponen: The Medieval Scull Relic in Turku Cathedral The Department of Archaeology / University of Turku began in 2007 a project to study the relics kept in Turku Cathedral since the Middle Ages. Among the relics there is a so-called scull relic. It has been constructed of pieces of bone which have been wrapped into cloth and sewn together. The construction has been covered with additional layers of cloth which can be considered as the reliquary. So far the main issue has been the dating of the separate pieces of the scull relic and the analyzing of the textiles. Some 30 samples have been taken for radiocarbon dating. According to the results the bone material is heterogeneous: the oldest bones come from the time of Christ, and the youngest ones are some 1000 years later. The dating results do not support the assumption according to which the scull relic would contain remnants of either Saint Eric of Sweden or Saint Henrik of Finland. The dating results of the textiles and the threads in the scull relic indicate a fairly short construction period in the beginning of the 14 th century. Among the textiles there is Chinese silk and some 60 fragments of linen or linen/cotton cloth with technical details unique in medieval Finland.
Bertelsen, Thomas From poor village church to prestige project In 2008 rapid erosion of the steep cliff on which the small Romanesque Mårup Church in Vendsyssel in Jutland stands led to a decision to dismantle it. The National Museum assumed the responsibility for the documentation, and thus obtained unique insight into the architecture of the building and the working methods of the craftsmen.
Cistercian and Praemonstratensian Monasteries and their Churches in Cispomerania from an Archaeological Point of View Felix Biermann From the second Half of the 12 th to the 16 th Century existed in Cispomerania North-Eastern German Part of Pomerania west of the Oder estuary several Cistercian and Praemonstratensian Nun s and Monk s Monasteries, which were Important Religious, Economic and Cultural Centres of the Lands at the Baltic Coast in late Medieval Times. Because all of them have been abolished in Reformation Period (1530-1550), none have preserved until our days. Most of the Monasteries are Ruins or completely destroyed and (on the surface) traceless lost. Therefore Archaeological Prospections and Excavations in the Monasteries and in their Churches play a prominent role for the cultural-historical investigation. Several Projects delivered interesting Information on the Building History and Architecture, the religious Meaning and the all-day Live in the Abbeys. Beneath else have been realized excavations in the monasteries of Altentreptow (1193-1204), Hiddensee (1198-1236), Grobe/Usedom (1155-1308/9) and Seehausen/Uckermark (1200-1530ies). The paper will give an overview to the Archaeology of the Monasteries in Cispomerania, with the Focus on the Foundation of the Abbeys in the late 12 th and 13 th Century, the Layout and Construction of the Churches and other Monastic Buildings and the meaning of the Monasteries in the Spatial-Economic System of late-medieval Pomerania.
Auli Bläuer Abstract for: Church Archaeology in the Baltic Sea Region Bones versus paintings: comparing domestic animals in medieval wall-paintings in Finnish churches with zooarchaeological data This paper compares domestic animals in the medieval wall-paintings in Finnish churches with information available from the medieval archeological bone material and historical written sources. Domestic animals are occasionally represented in the wall-paintings. Some are clearly symbolic animals (e.g. winged ox of Apostle Luke), some are present in the scenes of biblical stories (e.g. ass or horse in the escape to Egypt) or in pictures of everyday tasks (e.g. milking the cow). Even if the paintings are often symbolic or even schematic, they still held some details about the medieval animals, especially when compared with data from archeological bone material and written sources. These have revealed plenty of detailed information about the medieval domestic animals, their size, shape and even color. How do the wall-paintings compare to this information? Study of paintings from 17 medieval churches has shown that wall paintings only represent certain, selected aspects of the medieval animals, and cannot be seen as accurate description of all medieval domesticates. However, in some paintings actual details are represented and for example, the presence of Nordic type of short-tailed sheep is evident in the pictures.
THE OLDEST CHURCH IN SCANDINAVIA? Borgehammar, Stephan The church of Dalby in Scania (Skåne) is one of the few extant churches in Scandinavia built in the eleventh century. If the traditional date of 1060 is correct, it may even be the oldest building still standing in our part of the world. But how do we date it? And is its age the most important fact about it? This paper will (a) present the evidence for the date of Dalby, including recent (2012-2013) attempts to date it by C14, and (b) discuss whether the witness of Dalby to the practice and understanding of baptism in early medieval Scandinavia is not perhaps more important than its mere age.
Natasha Bulatovic Trygg PhD Student/Researcher Subject: (Art) Replication in Middle Ages Medieval architecture represents the mastery of craft in artistic production. Art was for medieval man recognized as a system of rules that could be thought. It was believed that a man can only reshape the forms of matter which was already attained by God. In this paper I shall concentrate on the repetition in the construction of the wall art in medieval architecture followed by various types of artifacts which we refer to medieval art. Artistic production within churches and monasteries carried the word of Bible to the wider public where wall art was based on stemmata very similar to the ones governing the texts. This essay will pursue the realm of abundance from certain stemma since their convention suggests that they were not produced by the church per-se but the market and its primary economical stimulus: affiliation of supply and demand. The multiples of books, icons, sculptures and other relic items with all the variety of their utilization was not necessary ordered by the church but by the demands of the market since the collective power and sanctity of iconic archetypes are resided in every copy regardless of medium, style or expense. Furthermore I shall present selected methods and techniques in creating the medieval artistic manifolds.
Frida Ehrnsten Lost, sacrificed or buried? A story of coins found under the church floor The layer of earth under the floor of old churches serves as a depository for coins from the beginning of the Middle ages up to recent times. These coins reflect the monetary history at grass roots level, as they depict the very smallest change used by ordinary people. In the churches on the Finnish mainland over 11 000 coins have been found. In my survey of this material I seek to present a general picture of the coin circulation throughout history. In addition to that, there are many further questions. Why did the coins end up under the church floor? How do they reflect historical events? What where they really worth? The answer to the question why? is no doubt influenced by practical reasons, such as the condition of the floor, the lighting and the crowding. The low value of the coins has certainly affected the inconvenience one was willing to go through for to pick up the coins. Also for the sacrifices only the smallest nominal was used, which indicates that it was the act that meant something, not the offering itself. The coins thereby reflect not only the monetary history, but also cultural and social history.
Abstract Ekroll: New Spring for an Old Saint the Late Medieval Surge of the Cult of St Olav in Northern Europe St Olav (995-1030), the patron saint of Norway, enjoyed a great popularity in Scandinavia during the 11 th -13 th centuries. Like other holy early medieval warrior kings one would expect that his popularity would fade away during the 14 th century, when a new type of saints became dominant in Europe. Quite to the contrary, the popularity of St Olav rose steeply and most of the artworks, guilds, churches and chapels dedicated to him date from the late medieval period. St Olav became especially in the Baltic region, not least in Finland and Estonia. It seems to be the Hanseatic merchants and craftsmen who most actively promoted the cult of St Olav, but countless images of the saint are found in churches from Flanders in the west to Tallinn in the east. Much of the iconography stems from legends that originated outside Norway, and was only introduced to the Norwegian heartland at a later date. My lecture will explore the paradox of why a dusty old saint from a small country experienced such a renaissance, surpassing the other Scandinavian holy kings like St Erik and St Knud, and which forms his cult took in the Baltic region.
Danish church archaeology the potential of redundant churches By Nils Engberg In Denmark only very few and limited archaeological excavation are allowed in our old churches. When dealing with medieval history the information s we can get from churches themselves and churchyards are at present a limited source. But we have an alternative. In a recent study 460 redundant medieval churches a. 400 is no longer visible - has been recorded and they leave us with a rich archaeological source for information regarding the church buildings: parish churches in villages and cities, cloisters, hospitals and chapels. Where do we find wooden predecessors? Etc. In the churchyard and it s nearest surrounding: An aristocratic residence, the priest s residence, school building, a barn for the church taxes and other building with a relation to church life. Of these relations during the middle age we know very little. From the burials a lot of information about the dead persons and whole parishes can be deduced: gender, age, family relations (DNA), immigration (strontium) and more. The paper will present a Danish strategy on church archaeology and discuss problems and potential.
Medieval and early modern market places sites of contacts, trade and religious activities Georg Haggren 1, Timo Ylimaunu 2, Risto Nurmi 2, Paul R. Mullins 3 1 University of Helsinki, 2 University of Oulu, 3 Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indiana, USA Abstract Medieval market places are often located on river estuaries or other sites that were easily approachable places both for the local peasants and foreign traders. One important element of the contemporary everyday life was related religious aspect of the medieval market places. The Roman Catholic churches or chapels were built on or nearby the market places during the medieval period; therefore, we may assume that the religious activities were connected to the trade. The market places along the coast of the Bothnian Gulf were probably the best-known market places in medieval northern Fennoscandia, but the coastal area of the Gulf of Finland in south had also important medieval market places. Trade was naturally the main activity in the market places, but several other activities were taking place in these sites, like commodity production, administrative activities, and religious practices. In this paper our aim is to discuss this two-fold role of market places between trade and religion in medieval and early modern Northern and Southern Fennoscandian contexts.
The Conference on Church Archaeology in the Baltic Sea Region, Turku 2013 ABSTRACT Janne Harjula: Underground literature Archaeological remnants of books from Finnish parish churches An extensive number of finds related to written culture derive from excavations and surveys carried out under the parish church floors in Finland. A majority of these finds are metal parts from book covers (e.g. book clasps, mounts and corner pieces), dating broadly from the 16th century to the 19th century. In addition, organic parts from books (e.g. book covers of wood and leather, leaves of paper) have been preserved in some cases. In this paper some preliminary ideas for the possibilities of research on this material are presented. The suggestion is that these finds when properly analysed could cast light on the poorly known section of written culture, which is related to the use of books and their parts as objects in beliefs and rituals of Christian religion and folk religion in rural, post medieval Finland. The systematic analysis of the find material and the find contexts connected to the different hypotheses concerning the birth, formation and development of this underground book culture, will be in the key role in the analysis.
Herrmann, Christofer Written sources about medieval church building in villages and small towns in Prussia Abstract forthcoming
Tuula Hockman MISSION IMPOSSIBLE? Writing the 16th century history of Rauma churches on the bases of written sources Medieval Rauma had two churches, the parish church and the Franciscan convent church. The brothers had to leave the convent in 1538 during the reformation. After that the buildings of the convent were used as vicarage and as a part of the manor of the crown. The parish church was destroyed in the fire in 1640 and after that the old convent church was used as the church of the parish. How was it used before that? The correspondence with the crown and the accounts of the crown are the main 16 th century sources also in this research because the documents of the parish begin after this time. In earlier research also oral tradition has been widely used. In this paper my aim is to introduce the sources and their information of the church buildings and their use in the16 th century and consider the reliability of the fragmentary information in them.
Hukantaival, Sonja Title: Frogs in miniature coffins and other puzzling finds from churches in Finland Abstract: When the Kuopio Cathedral was repaired during the 1890s almost thirty miniature coffins with the remains of a frog inside were found concealed under the floor. Similar finds were later discovered in the Tuusniemi church and even one in the Turku Cathedral. In Kiihtelysvaara a wooden container with the remains of a cat inside was found in the ceiling construct of the church. This paper discusses these and other similar finds as evidence of folk religion. The interpretation of these puzzling finds is aided by folklore sources that have been collected during the late 19 th century. They illustrate how the sacredness of a church was embraced and utilized in magic practices related to everyday concerns of the common people in the past.
Visa Immonen From Fragments to Spatial Logic Reconstructing the Plan of the Dominican Convent in Turku Humbert of Romans wrote in the 13th century that the Dominicans have nearly as many different plans and arrangements of their buildings and churches as there are priories. This presents a challenge for reconstructing the plan of an individual priory, particularly when the medieval Dominican Convent of St Olof in Turku, Finland is concerned. A number of irregularities, e.g. the almost triangular cloister, make the interpretation of various architectural spaces difficult. Moreover, the research history complicates the situation. The site was identified in the early 20th century after which the convent was excavated a bit by bit with varying degrees of quality in the course of several decades. The first reconstruction was presented in the early 20th century, but later fieldworks proved it to be fundamentally erroneous. The present paper attempts to provide a new reconstruction of the convent, combining all the information available. It is assumed that despite its architectural peculiarities, the convent in Turku displays a certain spatial logic typical of medieval Dominican priories. Not confining to the central building complex alone, the paper also analyses the use of environment around the convent, and the artefacts discovered at the site.
Jansson, Petter Title: Hammarlunda Medieval Church in Scania, Sweden Abstract forthcoming
Church for priests and church for witches a church as a place for inofficial/magical rituals Tõnno Jonuks, Estonian Literary Museum Kristiina Johanson, University of Tartu Churches have traditionally been considered as holy places where only official and dogmatic activities can be conducted under fixed rules. Nevertheless, the actual folk religion is far more complicated and doctrinal rules and beliefs have always been (re)interpreted. As a result of this a church as a holy and powerful place becomes also a place for inofficial rites. We will focus on material remains of different inofficial religious practices. When discussing those, it is mostly coin finds that have been referred to, interpreted often as offerings. Small smooth pebbles, deliberately brought to churches are much less known. We will discuss those and some other examples of the same kind. In addition, symbolic graffity has been found on walls of several churches. Most often they consist of simple crosses carved in plaster or stones but can also result in a single case as a more complicated picture. The main aim of the presentation is to stress the role of a church not only for the official Christianity but simultaneously as a powerful and sacred place to conduct folk religion rituals which often seem to be far away of the original purpose of the building.
Kadakas, Villu Earliest building remains in the monastery of Padise The Cistercian monastery of Padise, situated in north-western Estonia, now the best preserved medieval rural monastic complex in the Eastern Baltic countries, has its roots either in the beginning of the 14 th century, when the proper monastery was established or even in the 13 th century when a hypothetic grange was situated at the site. After recent fieldwork (2010-11) and survey of excavation reports of 1960s, the earliest building stage, this far not touched in publications as a whole or presented only in an out of date version, can now be outlined. Discussion involves form, function and date of the earliest buildings, involving an issue if a part of the buildings originally functioned as a chapel or not. Tallinn University, Institute of History
Heini Kirjavainen Archaeology, University of Turku A DRESS OF A SAINT? A Medieval Textile Find in Turku Cathedral An interdisciplinary The Turku Cathedral Relic Project was launched in 2007. It studies the medieval relics of Turku Cathedral, which were found during the renovation of the cathedral in the 1920 s. A piece of a woollen rag was found among the other relics, human bones, some silk cloth, and silk reliquaries in the relic casket of the Saint Hemming. A piece of a dress is a part of an upper shoulder and bust, of which neckline and armpit, some gussets of the sleeve were preserved. The fabric was radiocarbon dated to the end of the 14 th century. The medieval Turku Cathedral was dedicated to Saint Henrik and Virgin Mary. Due to some specific details in the cut and sewing of the seams of the dress it was fitted better for dressing up a statue rather than a human body. Already in the 1300 s it was a custom to dress up the statues of the Virgin Mary for veneration at the Catholic Church. It is most likely that this practise was also suited for veneration in Turku at the turn of the 15 th century.
Ewelina Kowalczyk (M.A.) Institute of Archaeology and Institute of Art History University of Wroc aw, Poland Title: Church Art in the Late Middle Ages and its influence on everyday items - illustrated with an example of clay figurines from Silesia (Poland). Abstract The aim of my paper is to show how life of ordinary people in the Late Middle Ages was influenced by the Catholic Church and its art. From this point of view Church should be perceived as a powerful institution, not only as an architectural structure. I intend to illustrate this phenomenon with an example of clay figurines which were found at numerous archaeological sites in Silesia. Many of them depict Saints, Jesus Christ and Mary with Child. They were possibly used as devotional objects, especially in home altars. Iconographically and stylistically these figurines were probably inspired by Gothic sculptures and paintings that comprised church furnishings, either as parts of altars or stand-alone works. The biggest similarities can be noticed between figurines and sculptures that represent so-called International Gothic Style which was spreading across Europe at the end of the 14 th and the beginning of the 15 th century. People saw those magnificent artworks in churches but they were not able to afford similar ones. This is the reason why production of clay figurines started. It is commonly known that religion played a very important role in the Middle Ages but my intention is to look at it from a different perspective.
Churches and Pilgrimage in the Baltic Region: assumptions and sources What do we know about the pilgrimage function of medieval churches in Northern Europe? In local histories the importance of the own church as a site of pilgrimage is often taken for granted. Written sources on actual pilgrimages are however in most cases very rare. Is one mentioning enough to proof regular pilgrimages? What can we make out of indulgences granted to churches? Or dedications of patron saints and altars? Are there other types of written sources we can use? In my paper I will try to give some answers to these questions, presenting a number of cases from various regions. Christian Krötzl, Prof. School of Social Sciences and Humanities / History
Continuity or change? Selecting the sites for early churches Finland Ville Laakso Lic. Phil. University of Turku There are two opposite views among Finnish archaeologists and historians on whether the medieval churches of the country were built on the sites of previous pre-christian cemeteries, or intentionally away from them. The present paper reviews the basis for the different opinions, presents a statistical overview of existing material, and introduces fresh case studies that are partly based on recent field-work. Possible differences in continuity between various time periods and areas of the country are discussed. Current research in the neighbouring countries is considered.
dr. Rimvydas Laužikas Vilnius University READING THE CHURCH: COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH FOR UNDERSTANDING OF DUBINGIAI PARISH COMMUNITY AT XV-XVIII CENTURIES The possibilities to apply information and communication paradigms in archaeological research arise from the attitude that heritage is an important source of scientific information. The monuments of archaeology may be treated as texts (when text is considered to be as any orderly system of signs intended for communication and clear difference of which from other systems may be fixed (Lotman, 2004)) and single findings (components), of which they consist, - as signs. The content of paper is based on the communicative interpretation of materials from archaeological investigations at the Dubingiai castle church in Lithuania (Kuncevi ius et. all, 2009). For interpretation was used the content analysis and summaries of a Dubingiai church complex information: the coefficient of graves with findings, the average number of unique finds in a grave, the average number of semantically valuable finds, the complex (text) density index, the complex readability index and information entropy modeling and calculation. The result of this investigation is new knowledge about religion dependence (the burial rites at Dubingiai are close more to the Catholic than to Protestants, although chronologically, Roman Catholic graves can form only 17.51-30.65 percent from all number of graves), urbanization (Dubingiai are a midway between village and city) and microregionality (Dubingiai was the center of microregion) of these community and can be used for investigation of another XV-XVIII century s communities in Lithuania. References: 1. KUNCEVI IUS A., JANKAUSKAS R., LAUŽIKAS R., STANKEVI D., RUTKAUSKAIT I., 2009. Radvil t vonija Dubingiuose. In Lithuanian, The patrimony of Radvilos (Radziwills) family in Dubingiai. Vilniaus dail s akademijos leidykla, Vilnius. 2. LOTMAN J., 2004. Kult ros semiotika. Baltos lankos, Vilnius. The Lithuanian edition of: Lotman J., 2001. Universe of the Mind: A Semiotic Theory of Culture. Indiana University Press, USA.
Lempiäinen-Avci, Mia Plants of the Bible in Hattula church wall paintings. A comparison with medieval archaeobotanical material in Finland. The Hattula church is known for its unique and well preserved wall paintings, which cover the whole church. Paintings depict mainly stories from the Bible from the Creation to the Last Judgment. Plants mentioned in the Bible are made visual in the paintings; this is evident also in Hattula church. Images do not always have a direct link to reality but they represent the effect of reality. Plants depicted in paintings must be estimated against contemporary cultural background; they are a result of different knowledge and experience, their language is symbolic and some local additions or changes can occur. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desire to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate: and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons (Genesis 3:6 7). In the story of Adam and Eve fig (Ficus carica L.) is the first fruit to be mentioned by name in the Bible. In Hattula however, the fig leaves are replaced with a bunch of green leaves, maybe it depicts a Finnish birch (Betula sp. L.) whisk used in sauna. My research points out following questions: Which plants are found in Hattula church paintings and are they same than mentioned in the Bible? I will answer to these questions by comparing plants from Hattula paintings to Biblical stories and to the flora of Old Testament world. Are there local additions or changes in plant images? Where local, contemporary people familiar with the plants depicted in paintings? To these questions I will try to answer by comparing plant material from medieval archaeological contexts from Finland. Plants depicted in paintings opened an exciting door for the local people: through the paintings people in medieval Finland got a sight of Old Testament world and its nature.
Figurine of a Crowned Madonna and Child found in Turku The excavation by The Museum Centre of Turku on the eastern bank of the Aura River in summer 2012 has produced a unique find in Finland, a figurine of a crowned Madonna and Child. The miniature burned clay statuary was found in a medieval depositional layer that was formed by the riverbank. The Madonna is standing on an undecorated pedestal and holding the baby Jesus on her left arm. The figurine is unpainted and unglazed, and has been produced using moulds. It probably dates to the late 15 th to early 16 th centuries. The statuette of a crowned Madonna and Child found in the excavation has most likely once belonged to a private household and thus has had domestic devotional purpose. During the late medieval period small saint figurines were mass produced and it seems that also the figurine found in Turku is mass production. The aim of this paper is to present in Finnish scale an unique find, how it has produced, and what it represents in a wider context. MA, MSc Virva Lompolo Project Archaeologist The Museum Centre of Turku
Guest houses in church yards by Christian Lovén, Varbergs Kulturhistoriska Museum, Sweden There are a few late medieval sources indicating that Swedish parish churches could have a guest house (hospicium) in the cemetery. This phenomenon has not been investigated. Guest houses were established where main roads passed through large unhinhabited areas, but these church yard houses lay in populated farming districts. That the cemeteries were used for more than funerals is well known, and the existence of guest houses further enriches the picture.
Abstract The older Holy Trinity church in Uppsala, Sweden, now extinct and with uncertain localization. By Gunilla Malm The building history of Holy Trinity in Uppsala is complicated. The standing Holy Trinity was founded around 1300 some 100 meters to the south of the Cathedral, founded around 1275. 1. But - a transcription from ca 1350 says that the Cathedral is built on the very spot of Holy Trinity. 2. Furthermore, the standing Holy Trinity and the Cathedral are founded on older churchyards. 3. Signs in the standing Holy Trinity indicates it is built on the very spot of an older church (an older wooden Holy Trinity?). 4. Ground radar investigation of the Cathedral is recently made. An anomaly below today floor level is interpreted as a part of the mentioned older Holy Trinity. The aim of my paper is to present more reliable proves of the older Holy Trinities localization. Litterature: Gunilla Malm: Helga Trefaldighetskyrka i Uppsala. Uppland 1985-86. Årsbok för medlemmarna i Upplands fornminnesförening och hembygdsförbund. Uppsala 1987. Folke Nordström. Studier i Uppsala domkyrkas äldsta byggnadshistoria. Stockholm 1952. Uppsala domkyrka II och III. SvK vol. 228 och 229. Ed. Kungl. Vitterhets-, historie- och antikvitetsakademien och Riksantikvarieämbetet. Uppsala 2010.
Preliminary Results of the Rescue Excavation in St Mary s Churchyard, Tartu Martin Malve University of Tartu, Institute of History and Archaeology, Department of Archaeology The excavation of St Mary s cemetery was one of the most extensive investigations of Tartu cemeteries. In the course of the fieldwork 745 burials were found. Since the excavation took place on the southern side of the church that used to be one of the most preferred burial areas in the churchyard during the Middle Ages, the burial density was high. The churchyard yielded a remarkable number of finds connected to burials: grave-goods, accessories of clothing and wood from coffins. According to the goods from the burials the cemetery has been used from the second half of the 13th century to at least the beginning of the 18th century. The churchyard contained predominantly inhumations, but a single cremation burial was discovered as well. The generous osteological material from the churchyard offers abundant information on the inhabitants of the medieval and early modern town. The south-eastern corner of the southern row of chapels of St Mary s Church and the western wall of the churchyard together with the possible gate opening were unearthed. St Mary s Church, beside St John s Church, was one of the parochial churches in medieval Tartu. The exact time of building St Mary s Church is not known; the first mentioning of the church in the written sources took place in 1319. The church ruins were dismantled in the beginning of the 19th century.
Musin, Aleksandr In the Eastern Neighbourhood: Monastic Practices and Parish Customs in Burial Archaeology of Medieval Novgorod and its Hinterland Abstract forthcoming
Early Christian burials at Saaremaa churchyards: combination of practices and power relations Marika Mägi, Tallinn University In 2010, more than 20 burials were excavated right outside the Valjala Churchyard on Saaremaa. Several of these contained artefacts dating the graves to the 13 th century, that is, to the time when the stone church was standing at its place already. Finds at Valjala indicated that mainly females had been equipped with grave goods, and in considerably bigger amount than men. In several cases jewellery, decorated belts and garments were not found at their natural place, but were literally hidden under a body. In some cases few additional bones, mainly skulls, were found in upper layers of these graves. The burials raise several questions connected with the acceptance of Christianity. Support of local Saaremaa elite families can be seen behind the erection of the first church buildings on the island, suggesting an influence over local priests as well. Were these burials practised with the full content of the local priest, or did he not know about grave goods hidden under the bodies? The finds also point to several questions concerning the gender aspect of Christianisation. Some possible explanations will be discussed in the speech.
context The travelling church of the Klaip da Town in historical and topographical Dynamical territorial development of the Klaip da City determined continuous change on its sacral topography. This is witnessed by an example of the St. Jonh s Church and new locations chosen for it, which shall be subject of this report. Primarily, the previous scientific discussion covering critical evaluation of historical sources spanning from the St. John s Church first mentioning in 1258 till its demolition during the WW2 is reviewed. Correlating historical, cartographical and topographical data the following St. John s Church location shift scheme has been developed. 1) The first St. John s Church of the 13 th the 1 st half of the 14 th century could have stood in the environment of the Klaip da Castle and the Old Town. 2) During the castle fortification system reconstruction the church was relocated to a new town island at the intersection of the Dan old and new watercourse. Historical data implies that it could have happened in 1562-1571. In the early 18 th century when defensive bastions were started to be built around the city the church was cleared off. Archaeological excavations of 2006 have enabled identification of the precise location of the church, its size, construction of the basement, internal layout and the burials. Research of 2010 and 2012 provided additional data on the church yard pavement and plot environment before construction of the church and during its clearance. 3) As the St. John s Church was blocking construction of the defensive fortifications, in 1706 it was moved to another site and continued to exist till the mid 20 th century. Its localisation makes no scientific problem. Its historical location has been proved by historical, cartographical and archaeological data. The later are going to be supplemented in the nearest future due to the St. John s Church planned reconstruction. Raimonda Nabažait Klaip da University, Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology
Rose window a dream or reality? In the summer of 2012 a large painted rose window was discovered in the medieval church of St Mary, Pöide on the island of Saaremaa. Two other painted rose windows have been uncovered in the churches on the island of Saaremaa, but the motif is virtually unknown (or not yet discovered) on the mainland Estonia or in the territory of medieval Livonia. Painted rose windows are relatively rare in Scandinavia or Northern Germany, however real, tracery roses are more widespread in the greater churches of these areas. The paper will discuss the recent find in a wider geographical, historical and artistic context. It will deal with the questions how, why and for whom these paintings were made as well as looking at their later history and touching upon the issues of conservation. Anneli Randla Associate Professor Department of Conservation Estonian Academy of Arts
Ranta, Heikki et co Some Conclusions on Recent Building Archaeological Documentation of Dalby Church Abstract forthcoming
Ratilainen, Tanja At the Dawn of Masonry Architecture Structures at the Medieval Episcopal See of Koroinen, Finland A cathedral and a group of associated buildings were erected after 1229 at the cape of Koroinen in South West Finland. Besides being an ecclesiastical centre, Koroinen was probably also a trading post and centre of a proto-urban settlement. When the town of Turku was founded in the vicinity c. 1300, the see was transferred to the urban area. The site continued, however, to be the residence of the Bishop of Turku throughout the 14th century. In 1898 1902, two pioneers of Finnish medieval archaeology excavated c. 3,500 m² in Koroinen, discovering 3,000 finds. The quality of their field documentation is exceptionally high. Both vertical and horizontal positions of finds were recorded, and the structures were measured and drawn. The documentation is reassessed as part of the on-going project At the Dawn of the Middle Ages. It analyses the old archaeological material of Koroinen with the help of modern digital techniques and scientific methods. The present paper provides preliminary results on the analysis of the site s brick and stone structures.
Henriette Rensbro and Mogens Vedsø Two Medieval Twin Towers. A new tower is found and the tradition of another has been disproved. This information raises once again two fundamental questions: How widespread is twin towers at medieval village churches and how old are they? Snesere Church is an unusually long village church. Two times the choir has been extended and two times a new tower was added to the west. In 1982 Birgit Als Hansen from Nationalmuseet excavated remains of a possible twin tower in the west end of the current nave. Results of recent excavations support the theory of a rectangular tower with an entrance hall and an arcade. In Kirke Hyllinge Church remains of a building was excavated beneath the floor of the current tower. It does not fit into the 18th C descriptions of a medieval twin tower.
Marika Räsänen, MA Cultural history, University of Turku The presence of saint Francis of Assisi in the medieval churches of the diocese of Turku Francis of Assisi became a saint among wealthy Italian town-dwellers. In his saintly image one central theme was poverty; he was perceived as a poor follower of Christ. The cult was successful in the Western Europe, also in those parts of the continent where the message of volunteer poverty could not have had a particular significance as a counterpoint to the luxurious life. Saint Francis of Assisi s memory was also stabilized in the liturgical life of the medieval diocese of Turku. Surviving written sources present different fragments of Francis memory layers. The present paper aims to study the ways to celebrate Saint Francis, to make him present, in medieval church space through liturgy during his feast day on 4 October. In addition to the standardized Dominican based liturgy of the diocese and the image it presents on Francis, I will analyse singular remarks of the parish calendars and church decorations in the diocese and try to understand possible local features of Saint Francis cult and their significance in the area.
Aleksandr Saksa Panu Savolainen The Easternmost Cathedral of the Swedish Empire The late medieval and early modern Cathedral of Vyborg in the light of archaeological data and written records The old cathedral of Vyborg, nowadays a ruin, was built in the beginning of the 15 th century. As a Catholic parish church of the Vyborg town, later a Lutheran cathedral and from 1720 s on an Orthodox church it has witnessed a transnational and trans religious past. The edifice, converted again to a Lutheran church in 1918, was ruined permanently during the Second World War. An initiative to update the research situation of the church and the surrounding cemetery was launched by the Mikael Agricola Society (and notably Markus Hiekkanen) in 2009. The project has an interdisciplinary scope, including the merging of historical archaeology and early modern history. The excavations in 2011 2013 and spatial and material reading of account books from 16 th and 17 th centuries have unfolded new information of the church as a social and spatial milieu of an early modern town community.
Roberts Spir is Latvijas v stures instit ts Latvia Medieval bestiary as a source of Liv Zoomorphic Pendants interpretation. Smolensktyp example. One of the most distinctive characteristics of Liv culture is the great profusion of zoomorphic pendants, which are traditionally considered as pagan symbols. However, zoomorphic symbols are also widely used in Christianity. How to solve this issue? I suggest using medieval encyclopaedias and bestiaries in order to clarify the semantics of, for example, widely distributed plane horse-pendants ( Smolensk-type ). In bestiaries one can find miniatures and descriptions of such animals which correspond to contemporary Liv artefacts. Especially surprising is the similarity between the image of one of the fantastic creatures and that of the horse-pendants. The fantastic creature is leucrota. The leucrota of the bestiaries is derived from the works of Classical scholars. According to the bestiaries, the leucrota lives in India and is a fast runner. It is the size of a donkey, with hind legs like those of a deer, and a breast like that of a lion. It has a horse s head, a cloven hoof and a large mouth stretching from ear to ear, with a single bone in place of teeth. The beast makes sounds similar to a human voice. This new interpretation of the semantics of the Smolensk-type pendants overturns the traditional view of them as horse-pendants linked to local paganism. As is known, the main purpose of the medieval bestiaries was to create impressive images for preaching, and the animal world was the favourite and most easily comprehensible source for didactic comparisons. It was a rich source of imagery that could be used by missionaries. Thus, the leucrota pendants and other zoomorphic Liv pendants can be linked to the arrival of a Christian mission in the East Baltic.
Taavitsainen, Jussi-Pekka Project Relics of the Turku Cathedral Abstract forthcoming
Kaire Tooming PhD student Tallinn University Holy Cross Church at Risti: chapel of Cistercian monastery. The medieval church of Holy Cross at Risti was built by the monks of Cistercian monastery of Padise in the beginning of the 15 th century. Medieval sources mention it as a Holy Cross chapel or a Holy cross church, though never as a parish church. It is the only church building in medieval Estonia known to be dedicated to the Holy Cross. The church of Holy Cross at Risti can be considered as an exceptional building as it has spatial features unknown to other Estonian churches. In autumn 2010 and summer 2011 the archaeological investigations related to the conservation works took place in the church. In the chancel the remains of the medieval high altar and in the nave the remains of the medieval side altars were found. In the paper I will analyse the outcome of the archaeological investigations and information gained from the conservation works in relation to the spatial features of the church building to discuss the space of worship both inside and outside of the church.
PhD Kari Uotila title of docent / University of Turku The church of the Bridgettine convent Naantali / Nådendal in 15th century - archaeological studies in years 1996-2013 In paper will focus the most modern fieldwork which has done in Naantali church in past twenty years. In paper will shortly summaries the results from excavations in 1990 and 2000 to English reading audience. The results were publishing earlier in Finnish and Swedish and this paper is opening material to wider scientific audience. The second and the main target is new information about the building history of the church with based fieldwork and dating s which has done in 2010. Results are focusing specially the western part of the church and its use as a main chorus of the monastery church. In paper will open also question about written sources and other information about the building time of the Naantali church.
Paper proposal Ella Viitaniemi tohtoriopiskelija, Suomen historia Tampereen yliopisto, Yhteiskuntatieteiden ja kulttuurin yksikkö Waking up the tradition The political issue of stone churches in the late 18th century in Finland Since the medieval stone church period ended about 1560 in Finland, the era of the wood churches began. Still the most medieval shapes remained almost unchanged in wooden churches until the 18 th century, for example building the armoury on the south and the vestry on the north side of the church. In my paper, I will discuss how the central authorities attempted to change from the traditional (medieval) church buildings to Swedish neoclassical style. I will also study how the central authorities started to favour the stone churches again. My main focus will be at the development of the building legislation and building authorities in the 18 th century. This was also a great era of population growth and new church building projects. The control for public building projects was tightening up in Sweden, when the office of the Superintendent (överintendentsämbetet) was grounded in 1741. If the parish wished to have financial support, they had to send the construction drawings to Stockholm for the Superintendent who inspected and usually re-drew them. Little by little old fashion medieval shapes were forbidden: the peaked belfry (1759) and the armoury (1764). Consequently, the Swedish neoclassical style started to replace older building traditions. However the building authorities took also a step backwards when suggesting the stone material. In 1776, the wooden churches were forbidden, but this legislation did not totally fulfill in Finland. Kokemäki parish became one of the exceptions although parishioners found the stone church project far too expensive and laborious. Therefore there were many discussions and debates before difficult decision making in the parish meetings. Hence the stone church building projects became a political issue not only at the central administration but also at the local level.
Alina Wilczy ska PhD student Institute of Archaeology University of Wroclaw Warrior s burials in the Polish lands in early medieval period. Demonstration of status, Christian symbolic or pagan tradition? At the end of the tenth century in the Polish lands a breakthrough was began. Creation of the Polish State and the adaption of Christianity initiated a series of transformations in all aspects of human life. The change in the method of burying the dead is particularly visible. Earlier cremation burials were replaced by skeletal burials. Also remarkable is the number of warriors graves in this period. Despite of the prohibition of equipping the dead in Christian tradition, men were buried with the elements of their armament. Whether it was a part of the earlier pagan tradition or the weaponry in men s graves should be treated not as a burial gift, but as an integral part of the warrior s outfit?
Heidi Wirilander, MA in conservation and in museology, PhD student of museology University of Jyväskylä Cultural heritage and conflicting values Arsons and arson attempts in the Evangelical Luthera church and chapel buildings in Finland between years 1990 and 2010 This paper discusses trough cultural research approach arsons and arson attempts that have been targeted in the church and chapel buildings of The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church between years 1990 and 2010. The topic is researched trough six church buildings arson or arson attempts case studies. These cases are: 1. Tyrvää Saint Olavi s church arson (1997), 2. Porvoo cathedral arson (2006), 3. Kaivoksela church arson (2006), 4. Lempäälä Saint Birgita s church arson attempt (2008), 5. Suomenniemi church arson attempt (2009) and 6. Hammarland church arson attempt (2010). This paper analyzes trough the case studies what is culturally happening when church building is targeted act of arson or arson attempt. The topic for this paper rises from the author s doctoral research in museology that examines the protection, rescue, evacuation and aftercare of immovable and movable objects as well as documentary heritage collections in accident and disaster situations in Finland between 1990 and 2010. Author Heidi Wirilander is a Ph.D. student of museology at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. She is trained as a textile conservator (BA 2004), conservator (MA 2008), and also received her masters in museology in 2010. Wirilander works in the area of conservation in Finland and is a member of ICOM (Finland), ICOM-CC, IIC the Nordic group (Finland) and The Finnish Society of Church History. 1