New: Wetland Settlements of the Baltic, A Prehistoric Perspective

Dear NewsWarp Members:

I am Elena Pranckenaite from Lithuania, I am working with wetland objects – lake dwellings in Lithuania.

A few weeks ago we have published a book, concerning wetland archaeology in the Baltic region. I think, that researches can find some interesting material from this region

Thank you very much,

All the best,

Sincerely,  Elena Pranckenaite
Center of Underwater Archaeology

To see Table of Contents:  Table of Contents

About this Publication:  This is the first publication to provide an overview of the archaeological investigations of wetland sites throughout the entire Baltic region. The book aims to provide a thorough historiography of its subject by presenting the specifics of this region through a discussion of ongoing and already completed investigations, as well as presenting the concise results of these reports and the types of objects that have been discovered. This collection of articles consists of chapters prepared by experienced researchers, as well as younger scholars from Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Russia, Poland and Germany, all of whom specialise in wetland archaeology objects. The separate chapters of this book analyse the prehistorical archaeological objects of waterlogged places that have previously been investigated and also provide information about ongoing investigations. Moreover, under discussion in these articles are the specific problems relating to the preservation of the objects’ themselves, the investigative methodologies applied, the separate types of object under analysis, as well as reconstruction of natural environment and potential for the future perspectives.

Sinchangdong Wetland Site in Gwangju, KOREA

The following Wetland Site report is provided by NewsWARP Pacific Coordinator Professor Akira Matsui, Nara, Japan:

Sinchangdong Wetland Site in Gwangju, KOREA

By:  Cho Hyun-jong, Ph.D.–Gwangju National Museum

The Sinchangdong Wetland Site(新昌洞低濕地遺蹟), located in Sinchang-dong,  Gwangju City(韓國 光州市) and designated as Historic Site No. 375(史蹟375号), is an archaeological site containing an abundance of agricultural remains originating from the period between the late 2nd B.C. to 3rd A.D. century. The site consists of an inselberg-like hilly mass rising to about 30 meters in height, and is part of the alluvial valley formed along the riverside of Yeongsangang(榮山江). There are around the site in a number of Sinchang-dong villages including Banwol(半月), Banchon(班村) and Sinchon(新村), and the Honam Expressway and National Highway No. 1 pass through the site’s central area.

In 1963, 53 ancient jar tombs were found in the area, thereby introducing the Sinchangdong site to the wider world. A survey and excavation project conducted by a Gwangju National Museum team in 1992 unearthed the remains of an earthenware kiln, ditched enclosures, dwellings, and farming fields, revealing it to be a large multi-period archaeological site containing relics related with agricultural production, daily life and burial practices from around the beginning of the Common Era. Its importance as a low wetland site containing a variety of organic materials led to its inclusion on Korea’s Historic Sites list (September 9, 1992), and earned its reputation as the first site of its kind to undergo full-scale survey and excavation activities. A series of research and excavation projects conducted by the Gwangju National Museum(國立光州博物館) unearthed a range of artifacts including wooden and lacquered vessels which greatly contributed to expanding our understanding of the prehistoric societies formed in this part of Korea.

The archaeological features and relics, which include a jar coffin, an earthenware kiln, a circular ditch, and a farming field, were discovered around four hillocks and the low-lying land between them. Archaeologists also found the remains of a Songgungni-style dwelling(松菊里型住居址) and five square and rectangular dwellings(四柱式竪穴住居址) dating back to a later period near the wetland site.

Geographical features as well as the remains of freshwater snails and shells discovered in the silt layer under of the site show that it was originally a lake or marsh that was later filled with sediment transported from the upper reaches of the Yeongsangang River. The sedimentary layer is as thick as 350cm in places and consists of sandy mud, rice straw and husks, woody materials and leaves transported by floods, and burnt clay, black and gray ash produced by a nearby earthenware kiln, and other vestiges of human life. One of the most significant features of the site is a dark brown layer of organic matter similar to a peat layer that is as thick as 155cm in places, and which contains rice husks, woody materials and leaves.

The site also contains three ditch features with a U-shaped cross-sectional view, one of which one contains large wooden posts measuring 25cm in diameter erected at regular intervals, along with a door panel. Archaeologists believe that they are the remains of a raised-floor building used as a storage facility or workshop. Found in another ditch were a line of smaller wooden posts measuring 5 to 10cm in diameter, which were probably used to set a net for fishing.

The artifacts discovered at the site are largely divided into three groups: earthenware, wooden wares, and animal and plant remains. The earthenware vessels include mounted cups, jars, pots, bowls, steamers and dishes made sometime in the first century before the Common Era. The wooden wares, which include lacquered vessels, consist of weapons such as a sword and a lacquered scabbard; kitchen wares such as a mounted cup and a ladle; farming tools such as a sickle and a pick handle; household objects such as fire-making tools, shoe last, and hammers; and objects used to carry things such as a cart wheel and a barrow; as well as objects related with weaving such as reeds, reels, whorls and fabrics, a lacquered vessel with a whirlwind pattern, bird-shaped vessels and stringed instruments. Among them, the discovery of a lacquer container, a lacquer paddle and some hemp cloth used to polish wooden objects before lacquering them are particularly highly regarded as they offer tangible evidence that the art of lacquering was already being widely practised in this part of Korea.

Among the animal remains discovered at the site are fish and shellfish such as oysters, clams, carp, snakehead mullet and gold bream; the remains of mammals such as cows, deer and wild pigs; and the remains of birds such as pheasants, ducks, crows and wild geese. The discoveries also include bone artifacts, bone needles and oracle bones, and the shoulder blades of cows, deer and wild pigs, which were used for divination.

As for the plant remains, rice (carbonized rice, husks, plant-opal and pollen), millet, wheat, melon (or cucumber), gourds, perilla, hemp, wild millet, goosefoot, sedges, acorns, wild peaches, walnuts and other wetland plants and nuts constitute the main discoveries. Analyses of the carbonized rice and husks revealed that they were of the short-grain rice (Oryza sativa L. var. japonica) variety and grown in both dry and wet fields.

Most of the archaeological remains of the Sinchangdong Site date back to the first century before the Common Era, although the ceramic jar coffins and dwellings reveal that the site continued to be inhabited by people after that period. Its location in the midstream region of the Yeongsangang River as well as the wealth of relics discovered there make the site a very important tangible resource regarding the farming culture which developed in the south of the peninsula during the early history of Korea.

Dr. Ole Crumlin-Pedersen, founder of the Viking Ship Museum, has passed away

We are sad to report that Dr. Ole Crumlin-Pedersen, Viking Ship Museum, passed away after a long period of illness, at 76.  Some of you remember how Ole helped host  the Silkeborg, Denmark WARP international conference in 1996.  He gave a brilliant tour of the Viking Ship Museum exhibits (below) and facilities, and we were able to appreciate the amazing work involved in recovering, preserving and displaying Viking vessels by Dr. Crumlin-Pedersen and his team.  He will be greatly missed as a WARP Associate.

Dr. Ole Crumlin-Pedersen

1996 WARP Denmark International Conference participants being shown the Viking Ship Museum by Dr. Ole Crumlin-Pedersen

Akira Matsui provides first hand update on Japan Tsunami Heritage Site Disaster….

We are currently working on a way to fundraise to help with the major impact to Heritage Sites caused by the Japanese Tsunami–The PayPal account address can be reached through this address to help:  

heritage@nabunken.go.jp

Akira Matsui, NewsWARP Asia Coordinator, provided this first-hand update, including wet sites impacted by the Tsunami.  Here is a slide-show that reflects the extent of the disaster and provides visual for Akira Matsui’s report below:  https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AWPkNNKTY-n5ZGQ3ZzM1c25fMjExYzVmZDN4Zzk&hl=en_US

In a recent BBC Akira Matsui provides a audio and video presentation of current rescue work:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00kxdxt

Rescuing Cultural Heritage: for what?  The need for questioning ourselves in the aftermath of disaster

Akira Matsui, WarpNEWS Asia Coordinator

The earthquake and tsunami that hit northern Japan on 11th March 2011 caused enormous damage to cultural heritage within the disaster area as well as terrible loss of life. At the request of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (NNRICP), for which I work, together with the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Heritage, undertook an assignment for a project rescuing cultural property in the area affected by the disaster. In late April, I went to the disaster area in the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan as leader of the NNRICP rescue team, and engaged in the project for six days.

The first target of our rescue project was the Ishinomaki Cultural Centre in Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture, which houses the important　Mouri Collection. This collection, accumulated by a very wealthy local resident, Sohichiro Mouri (1888 – 1975), includes more than 20,000 archaeological relics unearthed from the Numazu Shell Midden in Ishinomaki City, some of which have been designated Important Cultural Properties by the government, and from other shell middens throughout the Tohoku region, in addition to various articles from the Medieval and Premodern periods found at the remains of the Ishinomaki Mint of the Date feudal clan, mirrors, netsuke carvings, yatate (portable writing sets in the shape of tobacco pipes) and cosmetic kits.

As we entered into the cultural centre, we saw cars that had been carried by the tsunami that had smashed into the building and now sat in the entrance and lobby. The first floor was completely covered with a massive amount of sand from the sea bed and heaps of all kinds of debris. At first we could not even get close to the relics to check their condition because of all manner of obstructions. An ancient cart and document cases exhibited in the lobby before the disaster had been pushed by the force of the wave into a storage room, breaking through door.  Everyone in the rescue team spent the first full day to removing these obstacles. At last, by the afternoon of the second day, we could begin moving items, including register books, drawings, and ancient documents from the storage rooms, pitch-black because of electricity cuts, to better-lit conditions where we could very carefully sort through them very carefully, while continuing to remove more of the debris.

We had to call out a locksmith to open up the storage room for the most valuable items, as the door lock was clogged and corroded by saltwater. Fortunately though, once inside, we found that most of the Mouri Collection had survived the disaster.  There were still rooms in the Ishinomaki Cultural Center that it was not possible to enter and find secure footing because of the collapsed piles of storage containers and items scattered everywhere. Further rescue activities need to be carried out in a systematic and cautious manner.

After Ishinomaki we went on to Miyato Island, in Higashi-Matsushima City, Miyagi Prefecture, and the cities of Rikuzen-Takada and Ofunato, in Iwate Prefecture. The Satohama Shell Midden, a National Historic Site, is on Miyato Island. When I was a student at Tohoku University, I participated in the excavations of this site. Neighboring this shell midden is the Historical Museum of the Oku-Matsushima Jomon Village. Although the people living on the island were cut off and isoloated for more than two days after the disaster as the access bridge had collapsed, damage from the earthquake and tsunami was relatively small. Although many cracks caused by the quake could be seen around the area of the Satohama Shell Midden, fortunately no large-scale landslides had occurred. Importantly, the tsunami did not reach the residential area of the shell midden itself.

To this day, I have often wondered why almost all the shell midden sites in the Kanto and Tohoku regions were located only on top of small hills, with very few sites being found on the low-lying land near the coast. In the course of our rescue activities, I have been made painfully aware of the reason for this while exploring some of the areas flooded by the tsunami. The ancient Jomon inhabitants of the area obviously chose the higher ground for their habitation space, safe from the reach of tsunamis. For the same reason settlements from after the Jomon period, dating to the Yayoi (300BC-300AD) and Kofun (300-710 AD) periods on the Sendai Plain, inland from Miyato Island were not damaged at all by the huge tsunami. This may prove that since the Jomon Period, ancient coastal dwellers chose to live on higher ground, thus avoiding the danger of tsunamis.

People living near the coast must have passed on knowledge of the threat from tsunamis, generation to generation, and the awareness that even a small tsunami could easily wipe out anything on the coastal plain. In addition, historical documents of the Edo Period (1603-1868) record the extent of damage caused by earlier disastrous tsunami, describing the number of houses swept away. I found myself wondering when it was that people began to live on low-lying land despite the risk from tsunami, even though the danger tsunamis posed was passed on from generation to generation.

It was raining heavily when we arrived in Rikuzen-Takada City in Iwate Prefecture in the heavy rain. At the remains the Library next to the Rikuzen-Takada City Museum, which was completely destroyed by the tsunami, staff from Iwate Prefectural Museum and other municipal organizations involved in the preservation of cultural properties were struggling with the rescue activity. The walls of the City Museum building that faced the sea had been built with no windows in order to lessen the potential tsunami risk. But this time the waves of the tsunami struck the museum from the other three directions. As it rushed back out to sea, a massive volume of water flooded the second floor, bursting through the ceiling, cascading onto the first floor, and swept away a great number artifacts, including those on exhibition and in storage, together with the lives of all six members of the museum staff.

To be totally honest, confronted by this overwhelming catastrophe, I kept asking myself, “For what purpose should we protect these cultural assets?” I justified our project of rescuing these cultural properties in the following way: “It is surely axiomatic that if we just leave irreplaceable historical materials such as ancient documents, handed down to us through the centuries, to be scattered, lost, and decayed, we will desperately regret our behavior when the areas directly affected by the disaster begin to recover”.

Archaeology is of further, perhaps unexpected, concern for some of those victims who survived disaster. In the near future, some coastal hamlets may collectively decide to move their habitation areas to higher ground, rather than restoring their homes on the lower ground where they had lived before the tsunami. A large number of archaeological sites are located on the many small hilltops that are found in these areas. Even if these survivors hope to rebuild their individual houses, buildings, or even entire hamlets to these new upland locations as quickly as possible, the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties requires that archaeological investigations be carried out prior to any construction taking place.  It will be up to archaeologists and related authorities to ask people who desperately hope to begin living a normal life again as quickly as possible to understand the necessity for these investigations, and to be patient while the surveys and excavations required by law are undertaken.

“What should the role and mission of archaeology be in cases such as this?” I will continue to question myself and others about this while our project of rescuing cultural properties continues.

Circum-Alpine Lake-Dwellings added to UNESCO World Heritage List!

On June 27th 2011, the prehistoric lake-dwellings of the Circum-Alpine region were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List!

Switzerland (as the leading country) Germany, France, Austria, Italy and Slovenia have managed to have 111 of the most important prehistoric lacustrine settlements of the Circum-Alpine foreland designated as World Heritage sites.

The promoters hope that the UNESCO label will not only trigger new incentive for more archaeological research and make the protected sites (and indeed the entire lake-dwelling tradition) known to a wider public, but it will also result in more effective preservation initiatives to protect that precious cultural heritage!

Read more: http://www.anhourago.eu/show.aspx?l=8738941&d=504

Submitted by NewsWARP European Coordinator, Dr. Francesco Menotti