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On Friday, recent excavations carried out on the Kukuliškė mound, which have taken place since 2017, and the findings were presented. This year alone, archaeologists say they have excavated around 6.5 kg or 560 different finds from a small area, mostly ceramic fragments from the dishes in which the food was prepared. In some, archaeologists have even seen remains of ruined food. However, perhaps the greatest joy was caused by the detected pieces of amber.
“We also found amber in 2017, when we investigated percussion, but there were small pieces, nothing impressive. This year there were not many smaller ones, large pieces were found. And we came up with the idea that it is an amber settlement, ”said M. Urbonaitė-Ubė.
The former KU rector archeologist Professor Vladas Žulkus, who attended the presentation, joked that it was clear where Jūratė and Kastytis could live, and this mound would be a great place to restore legend.
This place received mound status only in 2017. According to Darius Nicius, the head of Seaside Regional Park, since this mound was not known anywhere in the written sources, no one sought it out. A few years ago, a geologist, who had discovered several dozen mounds in Lithuania, discovered several findings on a cliff during his hobby walk. Then a more detailed investigation began.
There are only a couple of mounds on the shoreline. One of them on Birutė hill, the other, the Kukuliškė mound.
VIDEO: Archaeological finds on the Kukuliškės mound
Research has helped clarify
The archaeologist told the audience that she began investigating with her husband on the mound in 2017. According to E.Ubio, since the year of the mounds was announced at that time, it was decided to work at this location.
In the first year, the only wish was to find out what period this place was, whether it was the Curonians, or the Middle Ages, or any other period. The couple says they didn’t even think the works would twist them this way.
When we got the lab dates, it turned out to be the Bronze Age.
“We were lucky from an archaeological point of view, we discovered a building with a chimney and stake fortifications. It was shown that there was a dwelling surrounded by wooden stakes. Then the question arose why it developed here, near the sea, where it was cold , it was wet. When we got the lab dates, it turned out to be the Bronze Age. Then we took the environment around a hill covering more than 3 acres. We studied with geophysical instruments and archaeological methods. A geophysical device is a traction machine with a computer in your hands that allows the waves to fall and show layers. It showed an interesting situation that what is here was not 2,500 years ago. The entire terrain was one meter lower than we are now, there were swamps with streams, humid places Bounded by a mound of trenches The trenches are 3-4 meters deep, now flooded by winds from the 17th-18th century, are now almost invisible in relief. There was a closed area, occupied 1 hectare. The agreement was established in the Bronze Age, – said M. Urbonaitė-Ubė. – The Bronze Age is a very interesting period. At that time in southern Europe there was also the culture of Mycenae, the civilization of Egypt, and here a completely different life. Already in Scandinavia there is a different life: gold, helmets with horns. We have a strange image in Lithuania and the Baltic countries, we really don’t know what it was like. And suddenly we have such an object, which is a period. In archeology, it is rare that the fortified places on the mound are used only for a period, for a relatively short time. ”
Bronze was extremely expensive
According to the archaeologist, social differentiation begins during this period, people become completely sedentary, work the land, become farmers, raise livestock, begin to accumulate wealth, and no longer travel like reindeer in the Stone Age and change camp every six months. During this period, the first mounds were recorded in Lithuania and settlements were established.
“When we discovered that the inhabited area was larger, we realized that we could no longer talk about the fact that there was a mound and a settlement, there was only one large settlement on the hill, which were Bronze Age mounds: the settlements were surrounded by certain defensive fortifications. ” Castles and other defensive fortifications are found much later than the people who lived here. We have a community that has lived in a changing world, when hoarding begins, storage begins, more bronze emerges. Traveling to central Europe or even to the south was an incredibly expensive thing. “Why did you live here? An unfavorable, cold and wet place,” said the archaeologist.
J. Andriejauskaitė / 15min photo / E. Ubis (left), M. Urbonaitė-Ubė and D. Nicius
Prof. V.Žulkus mentioned that the places were by no means very convenient when the sea was nearby.
“At that time the sea water was salty, there were seals, there were fish. Sturgeons have lived on the coast for a long time because it was easier to feed since the Stone Age. What type of agriculture could have been there? they took advantage of what the sea gave. Since the Mesolithic, they lived where the currents flowed towards the sea, “said the professor.
“Or where the amber changed,” said the archaeologist.
“And where did you get the bronze from?” E. Ube continued the discussion.
According to the latter, archaeological research has shown that crops that required fields were grown here, so there was agriculture. Later, barley, wheat, millet, lentils, peas, beans, raspberries, rowan, apples and hazelnuts were already grown. The bones found indicate that the cattle raised are pigs, sheep, goats, horses, it is not known if they are wild or native. Detection of moose and deer bones indicates that there were haji hunts. Only the large bones have survived, but they also collapse under the archaeological spatula. Archaeologists have said that no fish bones have been found due to inadequate soil, which contains a lot of air.
“It just came to our attention then. He said,” Fog, you have to discover a seal this year, “said the archaeologist. It is believed that the inhabitants of that time mythically sealed the seals and used their fur.
He said, “Fog, you have to find a stamp this year.”
Raw amber
The amber artifacts are found here in pieces, unprocessed. There was no tradition of making amber in the Bronze Age. Amber is believed to have been used for the exchange.
“The Scandinavians did recent research. The bronze fountains found in them coincide with the places where amber artifacts are found in southern Europe. Probably an object of exchange. It may be that a similar situation could have been here. But this is just a hypothesis, “said M. Urbonaitė-Ube.
When asked how archaeologists determine where to dig, M. Urbonaitė-Ube said that much work is done using special geological drills. The meter length drills dig into the ground and reveal layers.
Soon the spouses will start working not on the hill, but 150 meters to the side, closer to the trail where the area was found to be inhabited.
A finding of great importance.
Prof. V.Žulkus stated that, in a scientific sense, it is a very interesting find, that it has survived quite well, because the area has not been plowed, excavated, the construction has not been disfigured.
“Anyway, I don’t know much about that period, there are Neolithic and earlier findings. The sand in the mouth when the ferry was built collected several findings. This year, our colleagues have to dig in Svencelė, but it is also a Neolithic period, in the Ronžė stream it is also a Neolithic period. To have a mound, we would know what the settlement that appeared in the Bronze Age at that time was like … said V. Žulkus – A finding of great importance, great to be We don’t have much on the beach, the closest Birutė hill in Palanga, the oldest footprints from Roman times, it’s even older here. “
J. Andriejauskaitė / 15min photo / E. Ubis (left), M. Urbonaitė-Ubė and D. Nicius
Amber was also found while exploring Birutė Hill in Palanga, and was kept in a well. Contains more than 70 pieces of amber.
There are ideas to make this mound, which is still open to the public, more convenient to visit.
“We have seen the mounds of Medvėgalis and Šatrija. Many associate that this mountain seen from afar can create such emotion. We receive questions from people who said that it is still a disappointment that they have not seen any image. Here is a situation where it is covered of trees. Without knowing the situation to find the findings, the mound would be difficult to identify. Our task is to try to give this place an image, even if in glass, of an engraved character. We did not rule out the possibility that the castle of amber is rebuilt if we collect amber, “said D. Nicius to those who were serious and laughed.
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