Drainage work on Santahamina garrison island halted after human bones found

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Human bones were uncovered last week by construction workers on the garrison island of Santahamina in the eastern part of Helsinki.
      The bones were found during digging for a drainage system on land belonging to the National Defence College. The excavation was taking place near a monument erected for the Russians who were killed during the bombardment of the Viapori fortress during the Crimean War.
      The work was halted immediately, and the National Board of Antiquities was called in to investigate.
      "It is impossible to say before completion of the investigation how many people were buried here. Nevertheless, there are several", says Ulla-Riitta Kauppi, a researcher at the National Board of Antiquities.
      She added that the origin, and age of the bones is not known, but that the possibilities are limited.
     
"It is thought that Santahamina is the burial place of victims of the plague epidemic of the early 18th century, Russian soldiers killed in the Crimean War in 1855, as well as Russian soldiers who died in a Cholera epidemic at the beginning of the 20th century, and Red prisoners from the Civil War in 1918", Kauppi explains.
      She says that more detailed information will be available when laboratory results on the bones are ready in about two weeks.


Links:
  National Board of Antiquities
  National Defence College

Helsingin Sanomat