The Excavations in Aboa Vetus Continue - the Discovery of the Week on Display in the Lobby
Excavations are taking place inside the Aboa Vetus Museum once again this summer. The museum features a part of the medieval Convent Quarter whose inhabitants were mainly rich merchants and their servants. This summer, the backyard of largest stone building in the museum area is being excavated. The building dates back to 1401-1404.
Much is being expected from the excavations of the area because the backyard has been used for various kind of activities in the Middle Ages: animal care, gardening, housework and also the household waste was thrown in a heap in the yard. Therefore, one can presume that remnants of animals and vegetables as well as pieces of various items are found in the area. The manure-rich soil layers of the yard also preserve organic material, such as leather items, better than the ordinary clayey soil layers. In earlier excavations next to the yard, the oldest wooden structures of houses and the finest luxury goods in the museum area have been found. The oldest soil layers date back to the beginning of the 14th century, that is, the earliest phase of Turku.
Each week, a new Discovery of the Week from the excavations is displayed in the museum lobby. The Discoveries can be checked weekly in the museum lobby free of charge. They are on display from June 1st- August 16th
Discovery of the Week week 33 -Fragments of a Beaker with Applied Glass Threads
This summer´s last Discovery of the week are fragments of a fine medieval glass beaker. The fragments belonged to a Bohemian beaker with applied glass threads which is called Fadenrippenbecher in German. It was a beaker made of colourless glass which was decorated with vertical ribs that decreased towards the bottom of the beaker. The upper part of the ribs was usually decorated with blue glass thread spots. Two types of the Fadenrippenbecher were produced of which the wider and shorter one was more common. However, people of the Baltic Sea area preferred the other, slender and tall type from which these fragments are also from.
The glass beakers are fragile and only few of their fragments can be found in the excavations. In the earlier Aboa Vetus excavations, the best-preserved beaker of Turku has been found. It is on display in the museum.
Previous Discovery of the weeks: