Petro Tarasenkos indėlis į Lietuvos piliakalnių pažinimą

LTStraipsnio tikslas – įvertinti Lietuvos archeologo ir kariuomenės karininko, rašytojo Petro Tarasenkos (1892–1962) indėlį į piliakalnių pažinimą. Jame atskleidžiama, kokiomis jo veiklos priemonėmis piliakalniai tapo visuomenėje pastebimais kultūros paveldo objektais. Straipsnis parengtas panaudojus naujausią istoriografiją, archyvinius duomenis, išanalizavus P. Tarasenkos grožinę kūrybą. Jį rengiant naudoti istorinis, analitinis, aprašomasis, statistinis ir turinio analizės metodai. P. Tarasenkos veikloje piliakalnių pažinimo srityje išskirtos 3 tarpusavyje viena kitą papildančios kryptys: duomenų rinkimas bei apsauga, tyrimai ir populiarinimas. Straipsnyje atskleisti P. Tarasenkos naudoti būdai aktualinant piliakalnių tematiką gali būti taikomi ir kitoms paveldo rūšims. Esminiai žodžiai: Petras Tarasenka, piliakalniai, archeologija, archeologiniai tyrimai, kultūros paveldo apsauga, grožinė literatūra. [Iš leidinio]

ENPetras Tarasenka (1892–1962), a well-known Lithuanian archaeologist, heritage conservationist, museologist, Lithuanian army officer, writer, and teacher, focused on hillforts. His activities in this field can be divided into 3 parts: data collection and protection, research, and popularisation. His archaeological activities began in the 1930s with the collection of data on hillforts. Through his first books “Native Antiquity” (1925) and “Prehistoric Lithuania” (1927), Tarasenka tried to involve the public in collecting data about them. In 1928, 722 hillforts were already known in Lithuania. The surveys in central Lithuania and Užnemunė were continued in the early 1960s. Tarasenka had planned to write a multi-volume publication on all the hillforts in Lithuania, of which only one was published – “The Hillforts of the Užnemunė Region” (published in 1997). Tarasenka excavated hillforts in 1931, 1933, 1936, and 1951, during which 10 hillforts were excavated. Most of them were small (3.6–40 m²), and only at Velikuškės and the settlement at the foot of the hillforts did he investigate a total area of 1564 m², and at Vosgėliai – 144 m². Although the surveys were carried out rapidly, their recording was quite meticulous for those times. Tarasenka’s investigations were widely reported in the press and in the archaeological literature.His works on hillforts of a general nature include “Lithuanian Hillforts”, published in 1956, an article on the ceremonial purpose of hillforts, and articles in Russian and Polish for foreign readers. The research of the Velikuškės hillfort became a source for Tarasenka to reveal the problems of hillforts in his fiction. Of the six books he wrote and published between 1935 and 1958, five are set in full or in part on hillforts. The orientation of these fictional works towards young people made it possible to popularise Lithuanian hillforts among the public and encourage their protection. Tarasenka’s activities in the knowledge of hillforts have contributed significantly to highlighting and consolidating their importance in the region’s past. [From the publication]

• Iš "Lietuvos archeologijos medžiagos" istorijos / Vykintas Vaitkevičius. Lietuvos archeologija. 2009, t. 35, p. 53-70.
• Karininko Petro Tarasenkos tarnyba Lietuvos kariuomenėje / Vytautas Jokubauskas. Lietuvos archeologija. 2015, t. 41, p. 169-184.
• Lietuvos piliakalniai : atlasas. T. 1, Akmenės-Kupiškio rajonai / sudarytojai Zenonas Baubonis, Gintautas Zabiela ; redakcinė kolegija. Vilnius : Lietuvos Respublikos Krašto apsaugos ministerija, 2005. 493 p.
• Valstybės archeologijos komisija ir jos veikla / Kazys Misius. Kultūros paminklai. 2004, 11, p. 3-32.