Database
Our database is free to use for all history and archaeology enthusiasts. If you use our database, please do not forget to cite correctly:
Mägi, Marika; Palm, Piia Sandra; Niinesalu-Moon, Maris; Rannaäär, Karin; Leiman, Lisanna Lee. Archaeological Artefacts of Saaremaa. Foundation Osiliana / Tallinn University. Accessed: date.
The Osiliana Archaeological Database presents artefacts from Saaremaa and the surrounding small islands.
The database contains mainly Iron Age and Medieval finds that can be classified.
Undated metal or other pieces were generally excluded from the database.
Ceramics are represented by isolated examples.
The database is a work in progress and is constantly being updated.
Viltina
Penannular brooch with thickening terminals, copper alloy.
Penannular brooch with thickening terminals, copper alloy. Possibly imported from Couronia, where such brooches have been found in 11th-13th-century burials (Griciuvienė 2009, 317, 339).
Griciuvienė, E. (prepared by) 2009. Kuršiai. Genties kultūra laidosenos duomenimis. Baltų archeologijos paroda. Katalogas. The Curonians. Tribe Culture According to the Burial Data. Baltic Archaeological Exhibition. Catalogue. Lietuvos nacionalis muziejus, Latvijas Nacionālais vēstures muzejs, Vilnius – Riga.
Viltina
Penannular brooch with knob-shaped terminals, copper alloy.
Penannular brooch with knob-shaped terminals, copper alloy. Such brooches have been found in stone graves with cremations, where they can belong to the late 12th century. They are more widespread in inhumation graves or found as stray-finds. In Siksälä Cemetery, SE-Estonia, such brooches are dated, depending on the shape of the ring and pin, to the 13th-15th centuries (Valk & Laul 2014, 102-103).
Valk, H. & Laul, S. 2014. Siksälä kalme I: Muistis ja Ajalugu. Tartu ülikool, Ajaloo ja arheoloogia instituut, Tallinn.
Viltina
Penannular brooch with spiral finger ring, copper alloy.
Penannular brooch with bi-conical poppy-shaped terminals, copper alloy. Brooches with such terminals were widespread, in addition to Saaremaa, especially in Couronia, Livic areas and Gotland, where they are dated to the 10th–11th centuries (Mägi 2002, 100–101; Vaska 2019, 198).
Spiral finger-ring with a widening middle part, copper alloy. Rings of this type were worn in the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea and NW Russia. According to the Finnish archaeological evidence, such finger-rings were used in the 7th-11th centuries (Lehtosalo-Hilander 1982, 122-128; Mägi 2002, 108). In Estonia, they are normally found in the 10th-11th-century sites, because 7th-9th-century sites, especially graves, are rare or absent.
Lehtosalo-Hilander, P.-L. 1982. Luistari II: The Artefacts. SMYA 82: 2. Helsinki.
Mägi, M. 2002. At the Crossroads of Space and Time. Graves, Changing Society and Ideology on Saaremaa (Ösel), 9th–13th Centuries AD. (CCC Papers, 6.) Tallinn.
Vaska, B. 2019. Rotas un ornaments Latvijā no bronzas laikmeta līdz 13. gadsimtam. Latvijas Nacionālais vēstures muzejs. Rīga.
Viltina
Penannular brooch with bi-conical poppy-shaped terminals, copper alloy.
Penannular brooch with bi-conical poppy-shaped terminals, copper alloy. Such brooces were widespread in Saaremaa and Couronia, as well as in the Livic areas and in Gotland. They are dated to the 10th-11th centuries (Mägi 2002, 100-101; Vaska 2019, 198).
Mägi, M. 2002. At the Crossroads of Space and Time. Graves, Changing Society and Ideology on Saaremaa (Ösel), 9th–13th Centuries AD. (CCC Papers, 6.) Tallinn.
Vaska, B. 2019. Rotas un ornaments Latvijā no bronzas laikmeta līdz 13. gadsimtam. Latvijas Nacionālais vēstures muzejs. Rīga.
