Tamula settlement site
In the summer
of 1938 a woman from Võru, Ida Kepnik, looked for a ring which had fallen
into the river and found an auroch's horn and some other items. Head of
archeology department of University of Tartu Richard Indreko found from
the same location lots of animal bones and some items, which indicated to
a stone age settlement.
In 1958 auroch's horns with parts of the scull (preserved in the
exhibition of Museum of Võrumaa), pottery and some other items were found
during deepening works of River Võhandu and bridge construction work.
Exact location of the settlement was identified by joint expedition of
Institute of History and Inter District Local Studies Museum. Using
radioactive carbon method the age of Tamula settlement was identified as
approximately 4500 years, settlement came into being in the second half of
III millenary B.C. Tamula Settlement has been archeologically studied
eight times. Excavations took place in 1942, 1943 (R.Indreko), 1946 (Harri
Moora), 1955, 1956 (53 finds), 1968 (Lembit Jaanits) and 2001 (Mirja Ots).
During the excavations of 2001 286 stone and 443 horn and bond, 47 amber
items, 763 crock splinters and 6 wooden or bark items were found.
Distinctive features and interesting traits of Tamula settlement:
1. Remarkably numerous occurrences of fish bones, which indicate to net
2. Biggest amount of amber finds than in any other settlement in Estonia
3. The oldest latent find in Estonia was found here (7 amber pendants,
decorated horn dagger, polished bone pinnacle and dozen of teeth
4. Big cemetery right in the settlement location, corpses were presumably
buried into the dwellings (24 skeletons were found).
5. Pendants-sculptures made of bone sheets for purposes concerning beliefs
have been found from the settlement.
6. Oldest clay wheels, which indicate to flax spinning, were found from
7. Settlement is founded on turf surface and equable cultural layer (30-40
cm) is totally inside the turf surface (bone and horn findings are well