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. 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.
Ure
Melted piece of silver.
Ure
Melted piece of silver.
Ure
Double-propeller-shaped mount, bronze. The upper part has been plated with silver. From one end it has been attached to a 2-mm-thick strap.
First photo: Jaana Ratas.
Parallels:
Mounts of sword belt from the weapon sacrifice Ejsbølgård D (Andersen 2003, 251, fig. 8. Photo Hadersel Museum/ Steen Hendriksen).
Reconstructed belt from Nydam fyretree boat (Jørgensen & Petersen 2003, 267, fig. 8; photo National Museum/ John Lee).
Double-propeller-shaped mount, bronze. The upper part has been plated with silver. From one end it has been attached to a 2-mm-thick strap.
See also Ure finds SM10862: 1, 33, 90, 117.
Such propeller-shaped fittings that hanged from a belt are normally considered Germanic, but were clearly influenced by Roman fashion. They decorate so-called ‘officers belts’ found near the pinetree-boat at Nydam sacrificial place in Denmark. Very similar belt ornaments, plated with silver and gold, are known from Ejsbølgård sacrifice, e. g. weapon offering D, dated 250-300 AD (Andersen 2003, 251-253).
Sword-belts decorated with propeller-shaped fittings have been also found in other sacrificial places, e.g. Skedemosse on the island of Öland (Monikander 2010, 46) and in South-Scandinavian elite graves, e. g. in a chamber grave at Lilla Jored (Sweden), Lærkenfeld (Denmark), or Sætrang (Norway) (Rau 2014).
In the Eastern Baltic, propeller-shaped mounts have been recorded so far in two sites: Kambja in Southern Estonia and Lejas-Kleperis in Northern Latvia (Moora 1929, pl. XXX: 14; 1938, 477). Five specimens are recorded in Ure. As suggested by the parallels mentioned above, they may originate from the same belt as the mount SM10862:9. The propeller-shaped mounts in Ure represent two different sizes, possibly indicating two sacrificed belts.
Belts decorated with propeller-shaped silver or silver-plated fittings are considered to belong to the commanders of the armies.
Literature:
Andersen, H. Chr. H. 2003. Nye undersøgelser i Ejsbøl mose. – Sejrens triumf. Norden i skyggen af det romerske imperium. Ed. by L. Jørgensen, B. Storgaard & L. Gebauer Thomsen. København, 246–256.
Jørgensen, E. & Petersen, P. V. 2003. Nydam mose – nye fund og iagttagelser. – Sejrens triumf. Norden i skyggen af det romerske imperium. Ed. by L. Jørgensen, B. Storgaard & L. Gebauer Thomsen. København, 258–294.
Monikander, A. 2010. Våld och vatten. Våtmarkskult vid Skedemosse under järnåldern. – Stockholms Studies in Archaeology, 52. Stockholm. Read the article: here.
Moora, H. 1929. Die Eisenzeit in Lettland: bis etwa 500. N. Chr. Tafeln zum I. Teil. Tartu-Dorpat.
Moora, H. 1938. Die Eisenzeit in Lettland: bis etwa 500. N. Chr. II. Teil : Analyse. Tartu.
Mägi, M. 2021. Scandinavian chieftains in Saaremaa? Archaeological investigations in Ure, a probable Roman Period sacrificial place. – Archaeological Fieldwork in Estonia 2020, 73-90. Read the article: here.
Rau, A. 2014. Spätkaiserzeitlich-frühvölkerwanderungszeitliche Kammergräber der Sætrang-Lilla Jored-Gruppe. – Kammergräber im Barbaricum. Zu Einflüssen und Übergangsphänomenen von der vorrömischen Eisenzeit bis in die Völkerwanderungszeit. Ed. by N. Lau & A. Abegg-Wigg. Wachholtz, 145-166. Read the article: here.
Ure
Fragment of nick ring, bronze. Circular cross-section and from one side covered with diagonal filing.
Ure
Crossbow brooch fragment, silver. A spiral coil wound around an iron rod with the fragment of a spring cord. The silver spring cord cross-section is otherwise rounded, but flattens out at the end of the cover – it must have been attached to an arch.
Ure
Neck ring fragment, silver. Circular cross-section, without decoration.
Ure
Bracelet fragment, bronze. Flat-convex cross-section, with equal width. The preserved end is decorated with four cross tripes, next to which are two dashes forming a triangle and three circles that in turn are arranged in a triangle. Bracelets of this type were commin the Roman Iron Age Saaremaa and surroundings.
A bracelet similar to the Ure specimen from Roman Iron Age grve in Proosa near Tallinn (Lang 2007, 135:2).
Fragment of bracelet, bronze. Flat-convex cross-section, with equal width. The preserved end is decorated with four cross tripes, next to which are two dashes forming a triangle and three circles that in turn are arranged in a triangle. Bracelets of this type were commin the Roman Iron Age Saaremaa and surroundings (Lang 2007, 212-213).
Literature:
Lang, V. 2007. The Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Estonia. – Estonian Archaeology, 3. Tartu. Read the article: here.
Ure
Fragment of artefact, bronze. Higher loop for a belt to pass through. The longer part is decorated with long lines. The tip turns downwards at a perpendicular angle and ends with an oval plate that is situated crosswise to the rest of the artefact. On both parts of the plate, there has been a small bronze rivet, and one of these is snapped. It has been attached to either a wooden or leather object, e. g. a belt or a sword scabbard.
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Parallels:
Similar mounts on the officer belts from Nydam (Jørgensen & Petersen 2003, 267, figs. 8, 9, fragments; photo National Museum/ John Lee).
Fragment of artefact, bronze. Higher loop for a belt to pass through. The longer part is decorated with long lines. The tip turns downwards at a perpendicular angle and ends with an oval plate that is situated crosswise to the rest of the artefact. On both parts of the plate, there has been a small bronze rivet, and one of these is snapped. It has been attached to either a wooden or leather object, e. g. a belt or a sword scabbard. Possibly from the same belt or from one of the belts from which Ure propeller-shaped fittings come (Jørgensen & Petersen 2003, 267).
Literature:
Jørgensen, E. & Petersen, P. V. 2003. Nydam mose – nye fund og iagttagelser. – Sejrens triumf. Norden i skyggen af det romerske imperium. Ed. by L. Jørgensen, B. Storgaard & L. Gebauer Thomsen. København, 258–294.
Ure
Crossbow brooch fragment,, iron. The curved part of the arc and fragment of the spiral axis. The cross-section of the arc is quadrilateral, but on the bottom part aka on the foot it is at the beginning flat and wider from the side (perhaps there was a backward-leaning needle store there?).
Fragment of crossbow brooch, iron. The curved part of the arc and fragment of the spiral axis. The cross-section of the arc is quadrilateral, but on the bottom part aka on the foot it is at the beginning flat and wider from the side (perhaps there was a backward-leaning needle store there?).
Literature:
Rohtla, M.-L. 2005. Crossbow fibula as a reflection of social status and relations. – Culture and Material Culture. Interarchaeologia, 1. Ed. by V. Lang. Tartu – Riga – Vilnius, 121–145.
