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Ship burials are a well-known feature of Scandinavian Viking Age archaeology, but the discovery of 41 individuals buried in two ships in Estonia belongs to the Pre-Viking period and is the first of its kind in Europe. The two crews met a violent end around AD 750, and were buried with a variety of richly decorated weapons, tools, gaming pieces and animal bones. The rich grave goods suggest that this was a diplomatic delegation protected by a cohort of elite warriors. They were armed with swords of Scandinavian design, possibly from the Stockholm-Malaren region, and stable isotope analysis is consistent with that being the probable homeland of the crew. Keywords: Estonia, Pre-Viking Age, isotopic analysis, ship burial, grave goods, Introduction Salme is a small coastal village on the island of Saaremaa in western Estonia, on the eastern side of the Baltic Sea (Figure 1). In the summer of 2008, [...]

Archaeological fieldwork at Estonia Avenue 6 in Tallinn uncovered evidence of human occupation dating back to the Iron Age, with significant deposits and structures spanning from the 3rd to the 18th century AD. The research revealed medieval agricultural practices, post-medieval fortifications, and various artifacts like pottery fragments and stove tiles. The findings shed light on the historical development of the area, offering insights into past human activities and material culture, including trade networks in the region. [Extracted from the article]

The article presents the discussion on Archaeological research taking place in 2020–2021. Topics include relation to the renovation of the water, canalization and drainage pipes of the whole Roosikrantsi street; and cultural layers being preserved around and between old pipes so archaeological manual excavation needed to be conducted.

AbstractThis paper presents the results of dietary stable isotope analyses performed on Migration Period (450–550 AD) and Pre-Viking Age (550–800 AD) populations of Lepna and Viidumäe, Saaremaa Island, Estonia. To date, research on dietary stable isotope analysis in Estonia has mainly focused on populations from other historical periods with an exclusion of material from the fifth to ninth centuries AD. Moreover, the research has been mainly conducted on populations from mainland Estonia, with three Stone Age groups from Saaremaa Island previously studied. The results of this paper suggest that the individuals buried at Lepna and Viidumäe had a diet of mainly terrestrial resources with minimal input from fresh- or brackish-water fish and marine resources. These results are supported by previous zooarchaeological material from Saaremaa, as well as additional analysis of the animal bones found in the Lepna grave. Although the dietary isotope values of Lepna and Viidumäe are similar to previous Estonian data from the Bronze Age (1750–500 BC) up to the Medieval Period (1225–1550 AD), the isotope values of these two populations show variations from the data collected from Iron Age sites in Latvia, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland thus far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lietuvos Archeologija is the property of Lithuanian Institute of History and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Lietuvos Archeologija is the property of Lithuanian Institute of History and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present paper discusses the results of archaeozoological analyses of materials collected from the settlements of Linnaaluste and from the hill fort of Keava. Also the issues concerning the anatomical composition of bone material and the age of animals at slaughter are examined. The prevailing part of bone fragments belong to domesticated animals. The sheep/goats are dominating species in the materials of the Viking Age settlements (I and III). The percentage of sheep/goat is somewhat smaller and the percentage of pig is greater in the material of Final Iron Age hill fort. The relative importance of pig is even more prominent in the material of II settlement, which is mixed with bone fragments of later period. The percentage of cattle is approximately the same in all materials. The bones of game are few, the represented species are beaver, elk, fox, hare and bear. The comparative analyses of results are conducted; for comparison the archaeo- zoological data of other Estonian settlements and hill forts from Viking Age and Final Iron Age are used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archaeologia Baltica is the property of Archaeologia Baltica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this study is to survey developmental anomalies of teeth and bone pathologies in the medieval and postmedieval domestic animals from Estonia. The paper is compiled on the basis of the material collected during several archaeological excavations in Estonia. The most numerous pathologies are dental anomalies. However, to a greater or lesser extent, all these collections contain bones deformed as a result of fractures and joint inflammations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]