From Bronze Age Hillfort to Capital City New Radiocarbon Dates and the First Archaeobotanical Investigation at the Vilnius Castle Hill

Abstract

The ‘Castle Hill’ represents the core territory of Vilnius, around which gravitated urban development, eventually culminating in the foundation of the capital of Lithuania. However, we know very little about the earliest occupation on Castle Hill ‐ how it developed over time, and what the activities were of the people that inhabited the site. While the study of plant remains can provide a crucial insight into human staple foods, agricultural activities and the palaeoenvironment, previous attempts of archaeobotanical investigations of such an important cultural heritage site was cut short due to the outbreak of World War II. Here is presented the first archaeobotanical analyses from the territory of Castle Hill together with new radiocarbon dates stretching from the 8th century BC until the 14th century AD. The primary archaeobotanical analyses in combination with published datasets from adjacent regions around Castle Hill show that the diversification of crops and the introduction of various crop rotation practises during the 8‐13th centuries AD. Here, for the first time, attention is drawn to the agricultural strategies in medieval Vilnius that likely played a pivotal role in the formation and development of the city.

A Brief History of Broomcorn Millet Cultivation in Lithuania

“…Macrobotanical remains of millet were identified in the layers of Vilnius Castle Hill dated to between AD 400 and 900, and between AD 1200 and 1400 [52]. The archaeobotanical research in the Lower Caste territory of Vilnius also yielded very well-preserved waterlogged millet paleae and lemma remains found in an animal stable dated to the mid-13th century, which is clearly indicative of millet use not only as human food but also as animal fodder [59].…”

“…An important landmark in Vilnius City in eastern Lithuania is Castle Hill, which served as a Late Bronze Age settlement where millet grains were also found together with other crops of the Bronze Age package [52].…”

Hidden landscapes of the Earliest Iron Age: Excavations at Kakliniškės 7 reveal an overlooked settlement phase in southern Lithuania

“…The context of the Mijaugonys date is clear: the settlement was shortterm and contained a single type of pottery -thin-walled with a striated surface and decorated with parallel cordons of triangular cross-section (Piličiauskas et al forthcoming). Three further dates used are from Vilnius Castle Hill (Šmigelskas 2018;Motuzaitė Matuzevičiūtė et al 2020). The chronology of this hillfort is broad, but these dates mark the earliest phase of its occupation, which includes thin-walled pottery with a striated surface and triangular cross-section cordons, similar to the Mijaugonys pottery.…”

“…This pottery is slightly earlier than the Kakliniškės Ware, according to the radiocarbon dates from Mijaugonys and Vilnius: ca. 800-400 cal BC(Šmigelskas 2018;Motuzaitė Matuzevičiūtė et al 2020; Piličiauskas et al forthcoming a)…”