The Kukuliškiai Hillfort, located just 380 meters away from the Baltic Sea, was discovered in 2016. Since 2017, archaeological excavations have been carried out there almost every year. One of the two coastal hillforts is a true Clondyke of finds for archaeologists looking for signs of history. They contribute to the gradual emergence of the image of the settlement that existed here in the Late Bronze Age (800-400 BC).
Dr. Miglė Urbonaitė-Ubė, archaeologist who has been excavating Kukuliškiai Hillfort for more than one year, says that, under a two-meter layer of sand, archaeologists find relics of the era under study that have perfectly withstood the test of time. The moist soil of the researched cultural layer, whose peace and secrets have been for centuries protected by the drifted sand and reliably “locked” by the vegetation that grew on it, preserved for the researchers not only durable ceramic or amber products, but also various organics. “The collection of seeds found during the excavations is the largest in Lithuania. We have over 30 thousand units of various seeds: barley, lentils, beans, and other grains, which indicate that trade routes already reached this coastal settlement, and cultures of lands far away from Lithuania were at the time known here,” says dr. Urbonaitė-Ubė. According to her, the hypothesis about the active trade relations that existed in this place has also been confirmed by the abundant finds of amber. It is likely that Kukuliškiai was part of the early Baltic amber route, where amber, which was considered as Baltic gold at the time, could have been processed and afterwards travel to Scandinavia or the European continent. Incidentally, during our talk with Miglė, her colleagues discovered another piece of amber while taking samples of wooden structures at the bottom of the test site. During this year’ s excavations, more than 100 pieces of amber have been found here.
Given the data of the previous excavations, archaeologists can describe Kukuliškiai settlement and know its boundaries. That was an residential area occupying approximately 2 hectares of land. It is believed to have been a one-period settlement left by people for unknown reasons, and over time, the area was covered by sand.
During the archaeological excavations carried out so far, 65 square meters have been thoroughly excavated on the hillfort and in the surrounding area. Since the boundaries of the former settlement have already been defined after the geological surveys of the area, the present task is to establish the structure of the settlement as well as to specify the existing hypotheses about what people were doing for their living, what they were eating,. and what kind of life they were leading. “Kukuliškiai is a place that can tell us a lot about the Late Bronze Age. There are only a few well-preserved settlements from this period in Lithuania. A large number of samples have been taken during this year’s excavations. Comprehensive tests of soil, pollen, macrobotany, phosphates, parasitological, osteological, and other will be carried out,” says dr. Elena Pranckėnaitė. She has no doubts that her fellow archaeologists will work here for more than one summer in order to unveil the mystery of Kukuliškiai.
This year, students did their practice and worked together with the team of the BRIAI researchers; they were also assisted by volunteers. For five days, Konstancija, a schoolgirl from Mažeikiai who dreams of studying archeology in the future, worked on the test site. After “trying out” the career of archaeologist, despite the physical workload during the excavations , she stayed determined to follow the said career.
The excavations on Kukuliškiai Hillfort have been carried out in the framework of the research project Local Adaptation Strategies of Coastal Communitiesin the Baltic Region: a Case of Kukuliškiai Settlement, funded by the Research Council of Lithuania.
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