Thursday 11 September 2014

Sovjet bunker uncovered. The archaeology of the cold war in S Finland.

Warning! Do not attempt these kind of excavations without proper safety measures!

Today was an interesting day indeed when I visited a bunker site from the so called "Porkkala Parenthesis" 1944-1956 in Siuntio S Finland. The landowner had decided to uncover the roof a  huge Soviet bunker (ca 25 x 20 m in diameter and approx 4-7 m:s deep).

Near the bunker entrance.

The "Porkkala Parenthesis" was a period when the Soviet Union de facto occupied an area very close to Helsinki the capital of Finland. Nikita Chrusjtjov in an act of "goodwill towards the West" returned the area to Finland in 1956. At the time of the "Parenthesis" some 50 000 Soviet troops were assigned to the area.



For general safety reasons it was agreed on not to venture outside the limits of the roof of the bunker. Also the inside was off limits for the students of Ekenäs Gymnasium who watched the event from a safe distance with their teacher Sture Lindholm. On the roof the project unearthed a large round anti-aircraft battery position. Below some are pictures from today.

The bunker "mound" before removing of the topsoil which covered the entire concrete roof.

The team assembles to discuss security issues.

7 m deep shaft on the western perimeter of the bunker.

Air shaft.

The pupils and the landowner watch with interest from the far.

"Finds"

The sharp angle of the bunker roof in the northern perimeter.
Airshaft holes in the bunker roof.

A peek into the bunker after the entrance has been cleared.

Interior of the bunker as seen from the entrance.

Same as above

The conrete foundation for a large anti-aircraft piece on the roof of the bunker.

Peace in 2014. The bunker is situated in the middle of the picture (to the left of the two larger trees).

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