The Papravalės piliakalnis is a prehistoric hillfort and settlement located in the Ignalinos district. It sits on a high point on the northern shore of a lake, where the layout reveals a specific system of defense dating back to the first millennium.
A 4-meter deep ditch separates the northwest part of the fort from a neighboring height. The main courtyard is a triangular area 35 meters long and 32 meters wide in the northwest, where archaeologists have found pottery shards. On the southeast slope, the ditch and ramparts are better preserved - a 10-meter wide ditch is followed by an 8-meter wide rampart, then another 6-meter wide ditch, and finally a third rampart measuring 5 meters wide.
Right next to the fort on the eastern slope sits a settlement covering a plot of about 1.2 hectares. About 200 meters to the northwest is the Papravalės pilkapynas, which was first studied in 1907.
Today, the site is a protected state monument covering an area of 58,000 square meters. Visitors can see the slopes reaching up to 30 meters in height, which have remained as a testament to the construction and erosion of the site over the centuries.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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