Mia Lempiäinen-Avci

University of Turku | UTU · Biodiversity unit

Archaeobotanical analyses together with historical records can provide unique information about the cargoes and histories of sunken ships, which are found as wrecks at the bottom of the seas all over the world. An interdisciplinary research project was undertaken on the Vrouw Maria (Lady Mary), a Dutch wooden two-masted merchant ship that sank on O...

Ecofacts from a wooden structure and its surrounding area at the medieval Cathedral School site (Medieval period in Finland AD 1200-1520) were used to compliment the archaeological data from Turku, the oldest town of Finland. The site is of primary importance to the study of Turku’s past. The analysed ecofacts consisted primarily of vascular plant...

This project develops theoretical as well as methodological tools for the study of ancient wood, focusing on wood-use in North-eastern Europe within the period AD 1100–1600. The authors approach wood within the framework of object biographies and link the study of wooden artefacts with broader archaeological under- standings of formation processes...

ABSTRACT Plant remains are derived from archaeological contexts and therefore they provide an interesting source material for investigating the role of economic plants and environments in the past. Plant remains can reflect past activities such as cultivation, consumption, trade and migration. Plant remains provide data and information for a number...

In Northern Europe, barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) has been cultivated for almost 6000 years. Thus far, 150-year-old grains from historical collections have been used to investigate the distribution of barley diversity and how the species has spread across the region. Genetic studies of archaeobotanical material from agrarian sites could potentially c...

Garden history has primarily been studied in Finland through historical sources, with archaeology playing a lesser role, although its importance has been noted. The aims of this paper are to review garden archaeological research in Finland in the context of garden archaeology and garden history research in general, to demonstrate a selection of res...

Several urban medieval sites in Finland (ad 1000–1500) have been archaeobotanically investigated, but until now only a few rural medieval settlements have been studied. Therefore, many aspects of the crops and agricultural methods of medieval villages in Finland still remain unknown. At the 12th to mid-16th century medieval village of Mankby, Espoo...

This poster provides an introduction to the activities of the herbarium TUR.

Plant remains from graves shed light on the usage of plants as part of the burial customs, economy or diet of the past. The aim of this interdisciplinary study was to examine what new information can be acquired from graves by combining archaeobotanical and pollen data with archaeological results. The study material consisted of soil samples from 1...

In archaeobotany, plant remains from latrines have been used to derive information on historical food consumption. In this interdisciplinary paper, we present new archaeological and archaeobotanical data from the 1790s sea fortress of Ruotsinsalmi in Kotkansaari, Finland. Archaeological research revealed the remains of an infantry barracks and a we...

This article concerns carbonised plant macrofossils from the medieval village of Mankby in Espoo. Macrofossil analyses were carried out on soil samples collected from different archaeological contexts, the most important and fruitful of which were the building contexts and the fossil field layers. The datings of the contexts range from the 13th cen...

Agriculture formed the basis of the economy in medieval Finland. Traces of agriculture and cultivation were revealed from the medieval village of Mankby during the excavations between 2007 and 2013. Several cultivation layers and ancient field plots dated to the 13th century were found. Ancient fields are known from several sites in Finland, but da...

Historiallisissa arkistolähteissä hyvin tunnettu Ruotsinsalmen merilinnoitus on ollut arkeologisesti tutkimaton aina 2000-luvulle saakka. Viimeisten kymmenen vuoden aikana on linnoitus kuitenkin vihdoin saanut osakseen ansaitsemaansa arkeologistakin huomiota, ja sen alueella on suoritettu tiheässä tahdissa parisenkymmentä erityyppistä kaivaustutkim...

Ruotsinsalmen merilinnoituksen kasarmialueen 1970 -luvun ulkohuussista otetuista lantakikkareista löytyneet kasvijäänteet antavat suoraviivaista tietoa varuskunnan ruokavaliosta. Analyysien perusteella sotilaiden ruokavalio on ollut voimakkaasti painottunut erilaisiin viljatuotteisiin, mutta myös kotimaisia keräilykasveja, pienikokoista kalaa ja jo...

Arkeobotaniikka eli kasviarkeologia on poikkitieteellinen tutkimusala, jonka tutkimusmateriaali saadaan arkeologisilta kaivauksilta. Havaintoja kasvijäänteistä haudoissa on tehty Suomessa jo yli sadan vuoden ajalta. Varhaisimmat maininnat hautojen kasvijäänteistä ovat Theodor Schvindtin (1892) väitöskirjassa. Kalmistotutkimuksissa arkeobotaniikkaa...

Tutkielman aiheena ovat myöhäisrautakaudelta uudelle ajalle ajoittuvien hautojen kasvijäänteet. Arkeobotaniikka on poikkitieteellinen tutkimusala, jossa yhdistetään arkeologian ja kasvitieteen menetelmiä. Tutkimuskohteina ovat Lappeenrannan Kauskilan Kappelinmäen, Ulvilan Liikistön kappelinpaikan, Pälkäneen Pyhän Mikaelin rauniokirkon ja Hämeenkosk...