{"id":4932,"date":"2026-10-02T15:08:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T14:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=4932"},"modified":"2026-10-02T15:13:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T14:13:00","slug":"a-fossil-discovered-in-an-iron-age-excavation-by-archaeology-students-in-lot-oland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=4932","title":{"rendered":"A Fossil Discovered in an Iron Age Excavation by archaeology students in L\u00f6t, \u00d6land"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Nur Esin Karaosman<\/strong>, Visiting PhD student at the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures, Linnaeus University<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During an archaeological excavation in L\u00f6t, \u00d6land<\/a>, conducted as part of a large research project on ringforts on \u00d6land<\/a> and of Linnaeus University\u2019s archaeology program, what may be the oldest find of the excavation was brought to the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was found on 17 September 2026, during a conversation among the students about how to distinguish a fossil from \u201cjust-a-stone\u201d. Helena Deller, a Master\u2019s student in archaeology, noticed the fossil and, just before removing it from the trench, showed it to Esin Karaosman, a visiting doctoral student at the Chair who was taking part in the excavation that day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was important enough for Esin to keep, but not important enough to be archived as part of the Iron Age excavation. The find has been documented at the Chair, where the investigation continues.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Fig.1: The documentation of the find, including its speculative future. (Photograph by Esin Karaosman.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is very possible that the find was already here when the Iron Age settlement was inhabited. Esin considers the find an important object for archaeological practice. \u201cPerhaps someone living here in this Iron Age house picked it up too, because it reminded them of something,\u201d she says. \u201cThen we would be looking at the same stone or the same fossil, only making sense of it in different ways today.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether or not the fossil was a part of the history of the site, therefore the past human lives, it has already become an archaeological find. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A conversation with a geologist at Linnaeus University, Christopher Allen, confirmed that it is a fossil. The find holds the traces of an animal that was once alive in the same place, but in a sea that covered \u00d6land 450 million years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Esin recalls a quote from Cornelius Holtorf which he said at another Iron Age site nearby, on 12 September at around 3.19 pm: \u201cWe are looking at the same sky as people in the Iron Age, sitting in the same place. We will probably look at the same sky, also in the future.\u201d The fossil, too, will be looked at again, and its story will continue to unfold in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Fig.2: The re-enactment of the moment when the fossil became an archaeological find. (Photograph by Esin Karaosman.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The find is already evidence of a life that reaches far beyond the site\u2019s Iron Age. It is also the evidence of the very recent past: of archaeological sensibility and of students being trained how to see; of the class that took place that day; and of the conversation between Helena and Esin about what counts as evidence for the story of a site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only these stories change the life of the find, but also the finds and their stories change how the site will be remembered, known and imagined. Having escaped the Iron Age archive, the find continues its travels and transformations. (1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: This article is inspired by the following article: Holtorf, C. 2006. \u201cA silver ring discovered by Swedish archaeologists in Portugal.\u201d<\/a> World Archaeological Congress eNewsletter<\/em> no. 12, and The European Archaeologist<\/em> no. 26, 16<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(1) This endnote is left for the texts that will change the enduring life of the artifact, and of the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nur Esin Karaosman, Visiting PhD student at the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures, Linnaeus University During an archaeological excavation in L\u00f6t, \u00d6land, conducted as part of a large research project on ringforts on \u00d6land and of Linnaeus University\u2019s archaeology program, what may be the oldest find of the excavation was brought to the UNESCO […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[72296,72468,72470,72469,72402,72456,72471],"class_list":["post-4932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogg","tag-excavation","tag-fossil","tag-iron-age","tag-life-history","tag-oland","tag-rewilding-archaeological-excavation","tag-speculative-future"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nA Fossil Discovered in an Iron Age Excavation by archaeology students in L\u00f6t, \u00d6land - UNESCO<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=4932\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Fossil Discovered in an Iron Age Excavation by archaeology students in L\u00f6t, \u00d6land - UNESCO\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Nur Esin Karaosman, Visiting PhD student at the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures, Linnaeus University During an archaeological excavation in L\u00f6t, \u00d6land, conducted as part of a large research project on ringforts on \u00d6land and of Linnaeus University\u2019s archaeology program, what may be the oldest find of the excavation was brought to the UNESCO […]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=4932\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UNESCO\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-02T14:08:01+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-02T14:13:00+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/209\/files\/sites\/209\/2026\/10\/image-1-885x1024.png\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cornelius Holtorf\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cornelius Holtorf\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=4932\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=4932\",\"name\":\"A Fossil Discovered in an Iron Age Excavation by archaeology students in L\u00f6t, \u00d6land - UNESCO\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-02T14:08:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-02T14:13:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/#\/schema\/person\/cf9ab1a3667493a95a6ffb7d71976847\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?p=4932\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/\",\"name\":\"UNESCO\",\"description\":\"Chair on Heritage Futures\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogg.lnu.se\/unesco\/#\/schema\/person\/cf9ab1a3667493a95a6ffb7d71976847\",\"name\":\"Cornelius Holtorf\",\"description\":\"In 2017, Linnaeus University in Kalmar, Sweden, was awarded a UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures. 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