The hillfort that gave way to the railway

Aknystėlių piliakalnis is an oval hillfort located in the Utenos district, in the Leliūnų eldership near the village of Aknystėlė. The courtyard is approximately 20 metres long and 15 metres wide, with steep slopes rising about 10 metres high. From the north, the site faces a lake, while the south is bordered by a railway trench, and the east and west sides face the lowlands of the lake shores.

In 1899, the southern part of the hill was excavated to make way for the Švenčionėliai–Panevėžys railway, meaning its original appearance is unknown. Later, in 1985, an unfinished project to widen the tracks saw the top of the hill compressed by another 2 metres. What remains is a 57 by 27 metre base covered in grass, reaching a height of up to 6 metres.

In 1983, archaeologist Algimantas Merkevičius conducted archaeological investigations on the site. He examined a 72 square metre area - a quarter of the remaining courtyard - but found no cultural layer. To the northwest of the hillfort, about 400 metres away, there is a barrow with a V-shaped grave.

Today, the site remains an archaeological monument. Visitors can see the remaining earthworks near the village of Aknystėlė, which were partially destroyed by the railway construction over the last century.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons