The Gumbeliai hillfort, also known as the Maišymų hillfort, is located in the northwestern part of the Lazdijai district, in the village of Gumbeliai. The fortification is situated on the right bank of the Krokšliarava river and lies on the border between the villages of Gumbeliai and Maišymai.
The site consists of a hill approximately 350 meters long and 145 - 180 meters wide. Its western slope is the highest, reaching over 20 meters, while the others stand between 7 - 9 meters tall. The top of the hill features an oval-shaped courtyard, 18 meters long and 11 meters wide, surrounded by an earthen rampart 0.6 meters high and 7 meters wide. The western and eastern slopes are covered with pines.
Recorded as an ancient monument in 1935, the site was declared a republican archaeological monument in 1972 and added to the register of non-movable cultural values in 1992. Investigations have been conducted by various researchers, including Pranas Kulikauskas and Adolfas Tautavičius in the 1950s and 1960s, and Eugenijus Ivanauskas in 1989 and 2001.
During his 2001 research, Ivanauskas examined a 14 square meter area within the hillfort where no cultural layers were found. The fortification dates back to the 1st - 2nd centuries BC.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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