{"id":37778,"date":"2025-11-20T18:23:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T16:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/?p=37778"},"modified":"2025-11-20T18:42:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T16:42:34","slug":"kaarma-hill-fort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/en\/kaarma-hill-fort\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaarma hill fort"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Kaarma hill fort. On the right, part of the presumed moat filled with water in autumn. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Kaarma hill fort is\u00a0<\/span>located<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>220 m<\/span>\u00a0northeast of\u00a0<\/span>Kaarma<\/span>\u00a0church.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>It was built on a former river island, where the\u00a0<\/span>P\u00f5duste<\/span>\u00a0River has since split into two. This meant that the stronghold was surrounded by water on all sides. The stronghold is part of a ridge, with\u00a0<\/span>Kaarma<\/span>\u00a0church at its western end and sandy areas to the east. According to folklore, one of the most important cult sites of the islanders,\u00a0<\/span>Kaarma<\/span>\u00a0sacrificial hill, was\u00a0<\/span>located<\/span>\u00a0near the stronghold. Judging by the descriptions, it was\u00a0<\/span>located<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>500 m<\/span>\u00a0east of the stronghold.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Map of Kaarma hill fort and the surrounding landscape. Geoportal of the Land and Spatial Development Board.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The stronghold was built at approximately the same distance from the most important manors in the surrounding area<\/span>, at the center<\/span>\u00a0of the best farmlands<\/span>\u00a0that belonged to<\/span>\u00a0the elite\u00a0<\/span>of<\/span>\u00a0prehistoric times. The most important manors in the vicinity include Loone (Klausholm), Meedla (Mehelen), and Vana-Kaarma (Karmelhof). It can be assumed that the elite residing in these also controlled the stronghold. There is a bog immediately north and northeast of the stronghold. The P\u00f5duste River, which runs alongside the stronghold, flows into the sea at Kuressaare, into what was once a bay, which in the Middle Ages was located about 7 km from the stronghol<\/span>d.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Kaarma hill fort on the map of 1794 (EAA.2072.3.426a leht 16e foolio 5, fragment). <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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P\u00f5duste river. View of the eastern side of Kaarma hHill fFort. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The\u00a0<\/span>shape of the stronghold<\/span>\u00a0is approximately semicircular, measuring\u00a0<\/span>around<\/span>\u00a0140 \u00d7 120 meters. The courtyard area is nearly 4800 m2. The<\/span>\u00a0stronghold\u00a0<\/span>has only been excavated by J. B. Holzmayer in 1860. According to his\u00a0<\/span>research<\/span>, there is a stone-lined well in the courtyard, the ramparts are piled up with soil and stones, and they had additional log fortifications, which have burned down. The few preserved finds probably date from the 13th century. It is not known whether the stronghold was<\/span>\u00a0also<\/span>\u00a0in use\u00a0<\/span>during\u00a0<\/span>earlier<\/span>\u00a0period<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The ramparts of Kaarma hill fort from the west. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Since 2022, Osiliana has been working with H. T\u00f5nisson and O. Harjo to study Kaarma hill fort using ground-penetrating radar. It has been found that, similar to other large hill forts on Saaremaa, Kaarma is also surrounded by a lower circular rampart, the remains of which can be seen on the LiDAR map. Buildings can<\/span>\u00a0also<\/span>\u00a0be seen on the horizontal sections of the ground-penetrating radar inside the fort.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ramparts of Kaarma hill fort. Geoportal of the Land and Spatial Development Board.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Cross-section of the western side of Kaarma hill fort made with ground-penetrating radar. Drawing: Hannes T\u00f5nisson, Olav Harjo. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Finds from Kaarma Hill Fort or its vicinity, dating from the 12th\u201313th centuries: cross-headed brooch (AI-K 59:1) and bracelet (AI-K 59:2).<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Kaarma hill fort in written sources<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Kaarma\u00a0hill fort\u00a0is first mentioned in written sources in the\u00a0<\/span>Livonian Rhymed Chronicle<\/span><\/i>\u00a0under the name \u201c<\/span>einen hagen …\u00a0Carmele<\/span><\/i>.\u201d\u00a0In 1261, the Teutonic Order\u00a0with allied forces attacked Saaremaa,\u00a0whose inhabitants were said to have renounced Christianity.\u00a0The\u00a0forces reached the\u00a0<\/span>hagen<\/span><\/i>\u00a0\u2013 a wording that has caused quite a confusion. It\u00a0refers more to a wooden fortification or palisade than to\u00a0a hillfort.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Based on\u00a0our\u00a0current knowledge, there were “towns”\u00a0situated\u00a0around or near the Saaremaa strongholds. These were\u00a0probably semi-seasonal settlements or gathering places, which were sometimes fortified, but only weakly, for example, partly with stone and partly with wooden fences. Henry of Livonia\u00a0used the word\u00a0<\/span>urbs\u00a0<\/span><\/i>to refer to them. It is possible that only such a “town” was plundered in Kaarma, which would also explain the subsequent negotiations with the local nobles, who, according to the\u00a0Rhymed\u00a0Chronicle, were staying in a safe place nearby \u2013 perhaps in the stronghold itself. It is also possible that the term<\/span>\u00a0hagen\u00a0<\/span><\/i>referred to the wooden fence on the lower rampart surrounding Kaarma’s hill fort, which had been broken through. However, the exact location and nature of Kaarma’s “town” still requires further research.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tREAD MORE ABOUT KAARMA<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kaarma hill fort. On the right, part of the presumed moat filled with water in autumn. Kaarma hill fort is\u00a0located\u00a0220 m\u00a0northeast of\u00a0Kaarma\u00a0church.\u00a0It was built on a former river island, where the\u00a0P\u00f5duste\u00a0River has since split into two. This meant that the stronghold was surrounded by water on all sides. The stronghold is part of a ridge, …<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[267,1562],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-https-osiliana-com-en-page_id8881previewtrue","category-kaarma-hill-fort"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37778"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37802,"href":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37778\/revisions\/37802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osiliana.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}