Tallinn reviews boundaries of protected archaeological zones

Estonia's National Heritage Board is preparing changes to the boundaries of Tallinn's historic protected archaeological zones that would reduce their total area by almost 140 hectares. Some plots closer to the Old Town, however, will be placed under protection for the first time thanks to new archaeological research. Archaeologist Ragnar Nurk discussed the changes on Radio 4's programme "Просто лето".

According to Nurk, the board is responsible for preserving the cultural heritage left by previous generations, ranging from historic buildings to archaeological cultural layers. Human settlement in the Tallinn area spans thousands of years; large-scale excavations at Vabaduse Square, which uncovered Stone Age finds, remain widely remembered. Finds from later prehistoric periods have also been discovered near the Old Town, between the "Kosmos" cinema and Vabaduse Square, along with a cultural layer formed after Danish and German colonists founded Tallinn in the 13th century.

Protected status does not bar construction

Nurk emphasised that placing an area on the protected list does not amount to a total ban on building there. If construction is planned on a plot with archaeological monument status, the project must be approved by the Heritage Board, which then sets conditions for the work. The main requirement for developers is to carry out archaeological research before or during construction, so that information contained in finds is preserved rather than destroyed without documentation.

Why the boundaries are changing

Most of Tallinn's archaeological monuments are not individual objects but areas of ancient settlement where a cultural layer has survived. Most of today's protected zones were defined back in the 1970s–1980s, and after Estonia restored its independence their boundaries were re-confirmed in the mid-1990s with almost no changes, at a time when far less archaeological research had been done.

Over recent decades, excavations carried out ahead of various construction projects have given archaeologists a much clearer picture of where cultural layers actually lie. This revealed that some protected zones were too large, while other plots containing valuable finds had no protected status at all. Zones in the Kalamaja, Kelmikula, Kassisaba, Tõnismägi and Uhkentali districts were found to be excessively large, while areas near the Old Town — including around Roosikrantsi street and near Estonia and Rävala boulevards — have been proposed for state protection.

Nurk added that the review of archaeological monument boundaries in central Tallinn has been under way for about five years and is not yet complete.