But based on the University of Helsinki analysis, the cremation grave finds date to a time that is significantly earlier — during the Viking Age between 775-980 CE, based on their application of AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) techniques.
“The dating results show that the pyres burned about 895cal CE, not during the Crusader period,” says Jouni Jäppinen, a key participant in the excavations. “So, now we are talking about a Viking Age harbor baseline in the Kymi River delta.” Other results indicate that the harbor facilities were used from the Viking Age to the end of the Middle Ages, for as long as 500 – 600 years. Jäppinen and colleagues hypothesize that the harbor could have been a part of the Gotland or Danish operating range during the Viking Age, then after the year 1200 in use by Bishop Hemming of Turku, and beginning about 1350 as an Estonian monastery’s salmon export center.