net of Antrea
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The Antrea Net is one of the oldest known
fishing nets A fishing net is a net used for fishing. Nets are devices made from fibers woven in a grid-like structure. Some fishing nets are also called fish traps, for example fyke nets. Fishing nets are usually meshes formed by knotting a relatively thin ...
in the world, found from Karelian isthmus in Antrea, in Korpilahti village in 1913. It is dated to 8540 BCE. The net was found by farmer Antti Virolainen in Antrea, Finland (today
Kamennogorsk Kamennogorsk (russian: Каменного́рск; known before 1948 by the Finnish name of Antrea (russian: А́нтреа; sv, S:t Andree)), is a town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus on the left ...
, Russia) in autumn of 1913 at his home farm Ämmä-Mattila. While he was ditching a swamp meadow, he found several stone and bone objects which got his attention. The site was excavated by the Finnish archaeologist Sakari Pälsi in July 1914. In his excavation, Pälsi found 18 bobbers and 31 net weights and parts of the net. He also found several stone and bone objects, some birchbark and pieces of
tinder fungus ''Fomes fomentarius'' (commonly known as the tinder fungus, false tinder fungus, hoof fungus, tinder conk, tinder polypore or ice man fungus) is a species of fungal plant pathogen found in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. The species prod ...
. All the items where found in a relatively small area, and they had likely come to the scene at the same time in one piece. The items were sunk to the bottom clay of the
Ancylus Lake Ancylus Lake is a name given by geologists to a large freshwater lake that existed in northern Europe approximately from 9500 to 8000 years B.C being in effect one of various predecessors to the modern Baltic Sea. Origin, evolution and demise The ...
that existed during that period, most likely in an accident that made the fisherman's boat capsize and caused him to lose all his equipment. The net is made out of willow and it is estimated -- based on the number of parts found -- to have been ca. 27 to 30 metres long by 1.3-1.5 metres wide, with a 6 cm mesh. The size of the mesh is suitable for fishing salmon and common bream. The net is laced with a knot called Ryssänsolmu, which has been in use until much later dates in Estonia and areas of
Baltic Finns The Baltic Finnic or Balto-Finnic peoples, also referred to as the Baltic Sea Finns, Baltic Finns, sometimes Western Finnic and often simply as the Finnic peoples, are the peoples inhabiting the Baltic Sea region in Northern and Eastern Europe ...
.


References


Additional sources

* Miettinen, Arto, Kaarina Sarmaja-Korjonen, Eloni Sonninen, Högne Junger, Terttu Lempiäinen, Kirsi Ylikoski, Jari-Pekka Mäkiaho, Christian Carpelan & Högne Jungner. (2008
The palaeoenvironment of the Antrea Net Find
''Iskos'' 16, 71-87, (Journal of the Finnish Antiquarian Society). 1913 archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in Finland Archaeological discoveries in Europe History of the Karelian Isthmus History of fishing Prehistoric sites in Russia {{europe-archaeology-stub