Torgu Mõisaküla and Koki Stone Age settlement sites on Saaremaa

Abstract

In 2025, small-scale archaeological surveys on prehistoric coastal formations on Saaremaa Island led to the identification of two previously unknown Stone Age settlement sites: Koki in southwestern Saaremaa and Torgu Mõisaküla on the Sõrve Peninsula. At Koki, twelve lithic artefacts were collected between two fossil beach ridges at approximately 18–18.5 m a.s.l. The assemblage comprises quartz, Baltic red quartz porphyry, flint, and quartzite, worked using bipolar and platform reduction. The site can currently be dated only broadly to the Stone Age. At Torgu Mõisaküla, situated at approximately 17.5–18 m a.s.l., a cultural layer containing charcoal, heat-affected stones, lithic artefacts, and bone fragments was documented. The assemblage includes 118 worked stone artefacts and four previously discovered stone axes. Quartz predominates (68%), followed by flint (12%), Baltic red quartz porphyry (7%), and other rock types (13%). Bipolar reduction dominates the assemblage. The stone axes and the proportion of Baltic red quartz porphyry suggest a Late Mesolithic date, around 5100–4470 BC. A seal bone dated to 410 BC – 540 AD represents later activity at the site. Both settlements were probably located near the contemporary shoreline, highlighting the importance of dynamic coastal environments for Stone Age settlement on Saaremaa.