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
Artefact fragment, bronze.
Ure
Artefact fragment, bronze.
Ure
Fragment of nick ring, bronze. Circular cross-section and from one side covered with diagonal filing.
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).
Propeller-shaped belt fitting, bronze.
See also Ure finds SM10862: 1, 4, 33, 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.
Photo: Jaana Ratas.
Bead. Blue glass and spherically shaped.
Photo: Jaana Ratas.
Bead. Blue glass and spherically shaped.
Ure
Iron rod, one tip is sharp. Perhaps the shaft of a pin?
Photo: Jaana Ratas.
Iron rod, one tip is sharp. Perhaps the shaft of a pin?
Ure
Piece of silver, melted.
Ure
Crossbow brooch, bronze + silver + iron, and a fragment of burnt pipe bone. Triangular foot. The brooch has a small spring cord with relatively long knobs with ring decoration extending to either side. It has a flat arc and the foot is flat, shaped into a trapezoid. On the top of the foot was a silver plate which had been fastened with two pins. The back of the leg had a remnant of bronze mount, with a small bronze rivet attached to it – probably a pinhole had been attached to the leg with bronze mounts. The needle is missing.
First photo: Jaana Ratas.
Crossbow brooch, bronze + silver + iron, and a fragment of burnt pipe bone. Triangular foot. The brooch has a small spring cord with relatively long knobs with ring decoration extending to either side. It has a flat arc and the foot is flat, shaped into a trapezoid. On the top of the foot was a silver plate which had been fastened with two pins. The back of the leg had a remnant of bronze mount, with a small bronze rivet attached to it – probably a pinhole had been attached to the leg with bronze mounts. The needle is missing. It is a local brooch, that type was common in coastal Estonia in the 4th-5th centuries (Rohtla 2005, 130-131).
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.
