Construction in Šilainis stopped: fragments of old masonry were found

“After evaluating the masonry structure and dating archaeological finds found nearby – a tile fragment, pot fragments, a drinking comb, a tile, tile fragments – we assume this may be the 17th century. Basements on the other side of the building. It is very likely that one of the Kaunas suburban mansions was in this location, ”said Andrius Liakas, the chief specialist of the Kaunas branch of the CRD.

Heritage conservationists contacted the director of a construction company on the site and demanded that no earthworks take place near the excavated basement fragments for 15 days. During this time, the site will be visited by archaeologists from the Center for Cultural Heritage. Based on your findings, a decision will be made on including the newly discovered archaeological site in the Register of Cultural Heritage.

If during construction or other works valuable archaeological or real estate finds are discovered, those responsible or persons who carry out the works must notify the municipal department of heritage protection. In this case, the excavators did not report the basement fragments detected. It is likely that they did not realize that the masonry fragments are so old and did not realize the archaeological finds in the lands. Žemalės street is not located on the territory of a cultural heritage object or area, and so far no knowledge of the archaeological cultural heritage object has been found at this place.

“If you find finds that are similar to archaeological ones or unearth old red brick masonry, we always urge you to contact your municipal department of cultural heritage or directly with the department of cultural heritage. Even from the uploaded photos, it is possible to draw preliminary conclusions about the value of the find in a few minutes, said A. Liak. – Since no further excavation work is planned near the excavated basement fragments, we have only stopped the basement excavation. Now it is not possible to determine if part of the masonry was demolished during the excavation works and if there were archaeological finds in the excavated lands ”. Next to the open masonry cellars, a 17th century building. shard of white glass, s. XVII. fragment of the second half of the tile, 17th – 18th century. Square ceramic floor.