Tarpdisciplininiai vėlyvojo bronzos amžiaus Kukuliškių gyvenvietės (Klaipėdos r.) tyrimai: metodika ir pirminiai rezultatai

LTŠio straipsnio tikslas yra pristatyti svarbiausius 2017-2020 m. Kukuliškių gyvenvietės (Klaipėdos r.) archeologinių tyrimų rezultatus. Per tris tyrimų sezonus ištirtas 45 m2 plotas, sukaltas 101 geologinis grąžtas, georadaru skenuota daugiau nei 3 ha teritorija. Nustatyta 15 AMS 14C datų iš skirtingų gyvenvietės vietų ir stratigrafinių sluoksnių. Nustatyta, kad gyvenvietė vienalaikė ir buvo apgyventa apie 800-400 m. pr. Kr. Atliktų tyrimų kompleksiškumas ir apimtis atveria galimybes pažinti šios vėlyvojo bronzos amžiaus pajūrio bendruomenės gyvenseną. Aptiktos medinės konstrukcijos, organiniai artefaktai ir ekofaktai rodo, kad čia susidariusios puikios sąlygos organikai išlikti, o tokių priešistorės objektų Lietuvoje yra vos keliolika. Tad šis objektas ir tyrimų duomenys atveria išskirtines galimybes tirti bronzos amžiaus gyvenseną ne tik Lietuvos pajūryje, bet ir visame pietryčių Baltijos regione. Reikšminiai žodžiai: vėlyvasis bronzos amžius, pietryčių Baltijos regionas, piliakalnis, kalvos gyvenvietė, keramika. [Iš leidinio]

ENKukuliškiai archaeological site (Klaipėda district, Lithuania) was discovered in the summer of 2016 and has been systematically analysed since 2017. Site consists of the Kukuliškiai hillfort and hilltop settlement. The archaeological complex is located on a promontory of the Littorina Sea terrace, just 400 metres from the Baltic Sea, bounded by deep headlands and two unnamed streams on both the northern and the western sides (Fig. 1). The southern part is separated by a deep ravine and the western slope is on the border between the dunes and the sea. Archaeological investigations at the hillfort showed that it is a Late Bronze Age site. During the 2017-2018 and 2020 excavations, new data on the previously little researched Bronze Age communities of the coastal Lithuania was obtained. The various methods used during the research have provided important and diverse information on the lifestyle of this community and palaeoenvironmental features. The aim of this paper is to present the research methods and the primary results of the 2017-2020 excavations. Aeolian sand layers are one of the most essential stratigraphic elements of the northern coast Lithuania. They have been found during archaeological investigations in Klaipėda, Palanga, part of Šventoji and Būtingė. The most significant sand deflation took place in the 18th century, when the coastal stretch from Klaipėda to Šventoji was covered by the aeolian sands of the Curonian Spit (Fig. 2-4). The sand changed not only the natural landscape but also the cultural landscape. Therefore, the landscape of the Kukuliškiai has been significantly altered and visual surveys here are ineffective method. Thus, GPR and borehole drills were used to survey the environment of Kukuliškiai.In 2017 and 2018, 101 boreholes were drilled on the hillfort and in the surrounding area. GPR surveys were carried out in area of 34 000 m2 and 36 geophysical profiles were obtained (Fig. 5). The information of drilling allowed to create preliminary stratigraphy of the hillfort and to discover a hilltop settlement. The layers on a hillfort were forest soil, a 10-100 cm thick aeolian sand, an archaeological cultural layer and subsoil. The hill to the north of the hillfort and the area along the regional road Klaipėda-Dargužiai-Karklė were scanned with GPR and inspected with drills. On the northern hill, neither geophysical profiles nor geological drills showed any signs of prehistoric human activity. A definite archaeological cultural layer was recorded to the south of the hillfort: right next to the Littorina Sea nature trail, at the edge of the terrace. The GPR revealed that territory in concern before the sand deflation was a hill bounded with deep gullies. These landscape elements are now buried under 3-4 metres of aeolian sand and not visible in the terrain. This hill settlement was occupied by the same community and at the same time as the hillfort. The locations of the excavations were chosen on the basis of the previous survey data. In 2017 and 2020, trenches 1 and 2 were excavated on the hillfort, and trench 3 was excavated on the hilltop settlement in 2020. During the excavations, soil samples for macrobotanical analyses, zooarchaeological material, samples for tree species analysis, and tracer analysis of bone artefacts were taken from all the excavated enclosed objects. In addition, 15 AMS C14 dates were carried out and 1062 archaeological finds were collected (Fig. 8).In trench 1 (2 × 5 m in size), an archaeological cultural layer of 25-80 cm thick was found under a 50-70 cm thick layer of aeolian sand, and a mound edge reinforcement and a fragment of a building were recorded in the ground (Fig. 6-7). Trench 2 (5 × 5 m) was investigated in the northern part of the hillfort, where there is no preserved cultural layer and the subsoil is covered by the forest floor. Immediately after the start of excavations artefacts from Second World War and Bronze Age were collected. This fact demonstrates that the aeolian deposits and the archaeological cultural layer have been eroded and the cultural layer has been essentially destroyed. However, defensive and utilitarian features have been uncovered in the subsoil (Fig. 9-10). The defensive ones include the postholes. All of them were filled with grey sand mixed with loam. The pits of various sizes were classified as utilitarian. They were distinguished by their size, oval regular section and intense black or dark grey sand fill. These pits are associated with a former dwelling adjacent to the fence surrounding the hillfort. Trench 3 was investigated in the hilltop settlement, on the edge of the Littorina terrace. The cultural layer here lies beneath a thicker aeolian sand bed (about 70-80 cm below the ground surface), which is more than 2 m thick and the ground water is high. The organic and osteological material is therefore well preserved. The north-western and south-eastern walls of the excavation contain fragments of well-preserved wooden structures [...] Keywords: Late Bronze Age, southeastern Baltic, hillfort, hilltop settlement, potter. [From the publication]

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