An Archaeological Study of an Underwater Cannon Site in the Sea Fortress Suomenlinna, the Baltic Sea

Minna Koivikko; Tuomas Aakala; Sami Brchisky; David Cleasby; Kari Hyttinen; Jesse J. Jokinen; Xavier Le Rudulier; Liisa Näsänen

doi:10.4324/9781003699408-7

An Archaeological Study of an Underwater Cannon Site in the Sea Fortress Suomenlinna, the Baltic Sea

Minna Koivikko
, Tuomas Aakala
, Sami Brchisky
, David Cleasby
, Kari Hyttinen
, Jesse J. Jokinen
, Xavier Le Rudulier
, Liisa Näsänen

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Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Abstract

Material culture around warships can be addressed in multiple ways. One well-preserved group of items consists of iron cannons. They can be discovered on the seabed as stray finds, missing the original context of a ship, or as part of a wreck site. Our study focuses on the sea fortress Suomenlinna, known from the reuse of cannons as a fence around Suomenlinna's church. The same cannons could have been used either on the fortress or on board a ship. We studied one barrel and carriage, and our primary question was to discover if the original location of the cannon was on the shore as part of a coastal defence system or on board a Swedish warship localised 50 metres away from the cannon site.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Material Culture in the Swedish Navy, c. 1450-1850
Editors	Simon Ekstrom, Niklas Eriksson, Anna Maria Forssberg, Leos Muller
Place of Publication	London
Publisher	Taylor and Francis - Balkema
Chapter	7
Pages	139-165
Number of pages	27
Edition	1
ISBN (Electronic)	9781040840283
ISBN (Print)	9781041182559
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003699408-7
Publication status	Published - 2026

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Arts and Humanities
General Social Sciences

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10.4324/9781003699408-7Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Koivikko, M., Aakala, T., Brchisky, S., Cleasby, D., Hyttinen, K., Jokinen, J. J., Le Rudulier, X., & Näsänen, L. (2026). An Archaeological Study of an Underwater Cannon Site in the Sea Fortress Suomenlinna, the Baltic Sea. In S. Ekstrom, N. Eriksson, A. M. Forssberg, & L. Muller (Eds.), Material Culture in the Swedish Navy, c. 1450-1850 (1 ed., pp. 139-165). Taylor and Francis - Balkema. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003699408-7

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abstract = "Material culture around warships can be addressed in multiple ways. One well-preserved group of items consists of iron cannons. They can be discovered on the seabed as stray finds, missing the original context of a ship, or as part of a wreck site. Our study focuses on the sea fortress Suomenlinna, known from the reuse of cannons as a fence around Suomenlinna's church. The same cannons could have been used either on the fortress or on board a ship. We studied one barrel and carriage, and our primary question was to discover if the original location of the cannon was on the shore as part of a coastal defence system or on board a Swedish warship localised 50 metres away from the cannon site.",

author = "Minna Koivikko and Tuomas Aakala and Sami Brchisky and David Cleasby and Kari Hyttinen and Jokinen, \{Jesse J.\} and \{Le Rudulier\}, Xavier and Liisa N{\"a}s{\"a}nen",

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Koivikko, M, Aakala, T, Brchisky, S, Cleasby, D, Hyttinen, K, Jokinen, JJ, Le Rudulier, X & Näsänen, L 2026, An Archaeological Study of an Underwater Cannon Site in the Sea Fortress Suomenlinna, the Baltic Sea. in S Ekstrom, N Eriksson, AM Forssberg & L Muller (eds), Material Culture in the Swedish Navy, c. 1450-1850. 1 edn, Taylor and Francis - Balkema, London, pp. 139-165. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003699408-7

An Archaeological Study of an Underwater Cannon Site in the Sea Fortress Suomenlinna, the Baltic Sea. / Koivikko, Minna; Aakala, Tuomas; Brchisky, Sami et al.
Material Culture in the Swedish Navy, c. 1450-1850. ed. / Simon Ekstrom; Niklas Eriksson; Anna Maria Forssberg; Leos Muller. 1. ed. London: Taylor and Francis - Balkema, 2026. p. 139-165.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

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AU - Näsänen, Liisa

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AB - Material culture around warships can be addressed in multiple ways. One well-preserved group of items consists of iron cannons. They can be discovered on the seabed as stray finds, missing the original context of a ship, or as part of a wreck site. Our study focuses on the sea fortress Suomenlinna, known from the reuse of cannons as a fence around Suomenlinna's church. The same cannons could have been used either on the fortress or on board a ship. We studied one barrel and carriage, and our primary question was to discover if the original location of the cannon was on the shore as part of a coastal defence system or on board a Swedish warship localised 50 metres away from the cannon site.

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Koivikko M, Aakala T, Brchisky S, Cleasby D, Hyttinen K, Jokinen JJ et al. An Archaeological Study of an Underwater Cannon Site in the Sea Fortress Suomenlinna, the Baltic Sea. In Ekstrom S, Eriksson N, Forssberg AM, Muller L, editors, Material Culture in the Swedish Navy, c. 1450-1850. 1 ed. London: Taylor and Francis - Balkema. 2026. p. 139-165 Epub 2026 Apr 2. doi: 10.4324/9781003699408-7

An Archaeological Study of an Underwater Cannon Site in the Sea Fortress Suomenlinna, the Baltic Sea

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