Ballast pebbles

For centuries (1600-1900) Finland (at that time the name of the area under Swedish and Russian rule) was a major tar producer and exporter. Tar was distilled by burning huge wood piles called as tar kilns. Then the tar was hauled in barrels to harbor towns like Christinestad (Krisitiinankaupunki), and shipped abroad and used to protect wooden sailing vessels against rot.

Because there was not much else to ship back, except salt and some luxury items, the ships transporting tar had to be ballasted with something on their journey back home. The ships were then balanced with sand and stones hauled from the shores of destination countries like Denmark and England. Then the ballast got emptied on the shores of Finnish towns, and finally got used as a fill material for roads and buildings. Along with the ballast came also all kinds of plant seeds. Therefore around the harbor towns there can be found flowers that are not usually growing in Finland.

Nowadays one can find round and smooth "ballast pebbles" all around the Finnish harbor towns. These in the picture are collected from Christinestad. The size of the stones vary from 1 to 2 centimeter.

More to read
• Tar, what it is and how it is made? - www.puuvene.net/phuhta/artikkelit/tar.html
• Ballast: Loads with history - cas.oslo.no/read/ballast-loads-with-history-article2238-1167.html
• Finland under Swedish rule - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland_under_Swedish_rule
• Grand Duchy of Finland - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchy_of_Finland

Camera details
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ60
Exposure: 1/6 sec.
Aperture: f/8.0
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 9.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 52.0 mm)
Editing: Straight out of the camera, except frames added on PicMonkey.

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