Võllamägi/ Gallows Hill Traditional Geocache
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[EST] Liivalaia 8 hoone taga/kõrval kõrgendikul ja osaliselt ka hoone all asuval territooriumil paiknes 14.–15. sajandist kuni 18. sajandi teise pooleni Võllamägi, kus viidi täide surmamõistetute hukkamisi. Kuna Tallinna linna piires oli keelatud surmaotsuste täide viimine, siis teostati seda sorti "toiminguid" vanalinnast eemal. Surmanuhtlust oli viit liiki – elusalt poomine, rattasurm, elusalt matmine (naistele), poomine ja pea maharaiumine. Surmamõistetud toimetati läbi Harju tänava - Harju väravate - Roosikrantsi tänava üle Tõnismäe mööda endist Vaestepatuste tänavat (praeguses mõistes Kosmose kino ja endise Sõnajala kaupluse vahelt EKE maja - praeguse Swedbanga) ette Võllamäele, kus linna timukas viis otsuse täide. 1994. aasta suvel ehitustööde ajal arheoloog Ain Lavi juhendamisel läbiviidud arheoloogiliste väljakaevamiste käigus leiti Võllamäel kolmnurkse põhiplaaniga kivivõllase paeplaatidest trepi ja müürifragmentide vahelt vähemalt 110 inimese korratult paiknevad luud ning viis meetrit eemal olevast hauast seitse korratult asetsevat luustikku, millest enamikul puudus kolju ning käed olid selja taha seotud. Antropoloogide hinnanguil leidus nende seas 20-25 aastaseid üheksateist, 16-20 aastaseid kaksteist ja 13-16 aastaseid neli. Ligi 350 aastat tegutsenud võllamäe tegelik hukatute arv teadmata
[ENG] It had – like a gallows of a big city should – been built of limestone. On the oval platform three stone columns had been erected, which had been connected by three wooden beams, each of which had space for two condemned. One beam had been placed from a column to the middle of the opposite beam: this had been the place for the main thief. We know that mostly thieves were hanged in the Middle Ages. There were five kinds of executions - hanging alive, death on a wheel, buriyng alive (for women), hanging and cutting off the head.
The gallows was demolished in 1876. The story goes that the last one to be hanged at the Tallinn gallows had been a goat, who had killed a butcher's apprentice who had badly teased it.
In summer of 1994 during construction works decapitated skeletons have been found. More than fifty skulls, probably severed from the body with a sword, and seven decapitated skeletons have been found there. 51 heads were unearthed from the gallows mound. This suggests that decapitation was practiced at the site, which is further supported by numerous cut marks in cervical vertebrae. Fresh cut marks visible in different parts of the cranium (e. g. frontal and parietal bones) and also in other bones suggest that the beheading was sometimes preceded by torture. Seven skeletons were encountered next to the gallows construction, most of which had the head missing and some of which had their arms tied behind their backs. The real number of executed people remains unknown.
Used materials from: http://www.eki.ee/km/place/pdf/KP2_22kalda.pdf http://meeting.physanth.org/program/2014/session17/warmlander-2014-investigation-of-skeletal-remains-from-three-mediaeval-gallows-hill-sites-in-estonia.html
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