Itämuurit

Itämuurit is a Merimetsästäjä campsite on the high and rocky eastern tip of Whalebone Isle. The site takes its name from a series of ruined stone walls which mark an ancient Beadmaker site. In spite of the passage of years and the lashing winter gales of the Encircling Sea, the characteristic geometric layout of the settlement is still discernible. Stones still peek out, here and there, from beneath the dirt and debris of centuries, tracing the outline of buildings and a single main avenue of broad flagstones. The paving ceases beyond the walls, but remnants of a road can be seen angling off toward the west. The Merimetsästäjät use the walls and their loose stones as crude windbreaks, to shelter themselves and their belongings during storms.

Excavation amid the ruins uncovers a good deal of broken pottery—painted shards of crockery that sometimes contain depictions of the daily life of this lost culture—and thick-walled stone kilns in which the ancient Bcadmakers heated and fired their loitsuhelmet. On the northern side of Itämuurit is a unique structure whose walls form a circular pattern. There is a great deal of rubble in and around the fallen edifice, testifying to a much greater size than the other buildings of the settlement. The buried floor of the enclosure consists of a single round slab, carved and etched with complex geometric patterns and designs. Unmistakable among these are representations of the sun and moon, perhaps suggestion some astronomical or calendrical function.