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.
Viltina
Rectangular buckle, iron.
Buckle, iron. Perhaps part of bridles. This type of buckles usually includes a simple iron belt strap. They have been found mainly in stone graves and are not dated more precisely.
Viltina
Gotland-Baltic type buckle, copper alloy.
Gotland-Baltic type buckle, copper alloy. Previously the buckle type was believed to have developed in Gotland. Later data, however, shows that the buckle form could originate from the Baltics after which it was adapted in Gotland (Lehtsalo-Hilander 1982, 149–151; Mägi 2002, 97; for Gotlandic material see Thunmark-Nylen 1992, Pl. 127–129). The earliest buckles of this type belong to the second half of the 10th century, but the latest variants can also be found in the 13th-century inhumation graves (e.g. Zariņa 2006, 233-237). This specimen is probably the earlier variant.
Lehtsalo-Hilander, P.-L. 1982. Luistari II: The Artefacts. SMYA 82: 2. Helsinki.
Thynmark-Nylén, L. 1998. Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands II, Typentafeln. Stockholm: Kungl.Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien.
Mägi, M. 2002. At the Crossroads of Space and Time. Graves, Changing Society and Ideology on Saaremaa (Ösel), 9th–13th Centuries AD. (CCC Papers, 6.) Tallinn.
Zariņa, A. 2006. Salaspils Laukskolas kapulauks 10.–13. gadsimts. Rīga: Latvijas Vēstures Institūta Apgāds.
Buckle, iron. Perhaps part of bridles. This type of buckles usually includes a simple iron belt strap. They have been found mainly in stone graves and are not dated more precisely.
Viltina
Gotland-Baltic type buckle, copper alloy.
Gotland-Baltic type buckle, copper alloy. Previously the buckle type was believed to have developed in Gotland. Later data, however, shows that the buckle form could originate from the Baltics after which it was adapted in Gotland (Lehtsalo-Hilander 1982, 149–151; Mägi 2002, 97; for Gotlandic material see Thunmark-Nylen 1992, Pl. 127–129). The earliest buckles of this type belong to the second half of the 10th century, but the latest variants can also be found in the 13th-century inhumation graves (e.g. Zariņa 2006, 233-237). This specimen is probably the earlier variant.
Lehtsalo-Hilander, P.-L. 1982. Luistari II: The Artefacts. SMYA 82: 2. Helsinki.
Thynmark-Nylén, L. 1998. Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands II, Typentafeln. Stockholm: Kungl.Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien.
Mägi, M. 2002. At the Crossroads of Space and Time. Graves, Changing Society and Ideology on Saaremaa (Ösel), 9th–13th Centuries AD. (CCC Papers, 6.) Tallinn.
Zariņa, A. 2006. Salaspils Laukskolas kapulauks 10.–13. gadsimts. Rīga: Latvijas Vēstures Institūta Apgāds.
Viltina
Gotland-Baltic type buckle, copper alloy.
Gotland-Baltic type buckle, copper alloy. Later variant that resembles 12th-13th-century two-part female buckles.
Viltina
Round buckle, copper alloy.
Viltina
Round buckle, copper alloy.
Viltina
Two-part buckle with triangle-shaped front part, copper alloy.
Two-part buckle with triangle-shaped front part, copper alloy. Such buckles are known from Gotland, Couronia and Livic area (Thunmark-Nylen 1998, Taf. 127; Griciuvienė 2009, 210; Tõnisson 1974); in Estonia, they have been dated to the 11th–12th centuries (Selirand 1974, 130; Tvauri 2014, 152).
Selirand, J. 1974. Eestlaste matmiskombed varafeodaalsete suhete tärkamise perioodil (11.–13. sajand). Tallinn: Eesti Raamat.
Tõnisson, E. Die Gauja-Liven und ihre materielle Kultur (11. Jh. – Anfang 13. Jhs.). Ein Beitrag zur Ost-Baltischen Frühgeschichte. Tallinn.
Thunmark-Nylén, L. 1998. Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands II, Typentafeln. Stockholm: Kungl.Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien.
Griciuvienė, E. (prepared by) 2009. Kuršiai. Genties kultūra laidosenos duomenimis. Baltų archeologijos paroda. Katalogas. The Curonians. Tribe Culture According to the Burial Data. Baltic Archaeological Exhibition. Catalogue. Vilnius – Riga, Lietuvos nacionalis muziejus; Latvijas Nacionālais vēstures muzejs.
Tvauri, A. 2014. Rahvasterännuaeg, eelviikingiaeg ja viikingiaeg Eestis. Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.
