The Pike´s Gut – an Ancient Archipelago Guest Book

By the farthest point of the Hanko Peninsula you find two little islands. The narrow inlet between them is called Hauensuoli, meaning The Pike´s Gut. On these rocky islands some 340 rock carvings have been identified, the oldest dating back to 1508.
These carvings are Hanko´s foremost ancient monument from the times, when the Kingdom of Sweden reached the entire coastline of the Baltic Sea.

Sweden waged several wars in the Baltic area. Troops were transported by sea. The sailing vessels needed protected harbours, when waiting for favourable winds. The Pike´s Gut was an important strategic mustering place for crossing the Gulf of Finland.

The wait could be long, and a popular pastime was carving a memento on these rocks. They are mostly simple marks or initials, but many are coats of arms of noble or wealthy merchants´ families. Besides officers and soldiers, merchants and sailors would carve their marks in this guest book.

Through centuries many carvings were covered by moss and lichen. During the last century they have at intervals been cleaned out by various methods, but the vegetation has always returned. To protect them from erosion, all manners of cleaning them was ruled out in the year 2000. However, lately they have been subject to very tender cleaning, and may thus again illustrate our forefathers´ history of the past centuries.

The Friends of the Hanko Museum have since 2023 charted and cleaned a selection of carvings in accordance with a detailed plan of care and maintenance for the Tulliniemi ancient monument. By “Adopting an ancient monument”, local volunteers maintain and oversee historic monuments under the guidance of museum professionals.