The archaeological history of Kerelių piliakalnis

The Kerelių piliakalnis is a hillfort and archaeological site located in the Kupiškis district municipality, north of the village of Kereliai on the left bank of the Kupa river. This site dates back to the second half of the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 2nd century AD. The quadrilateral enclosure measures 30x19 meters, and in the northwestern slope, a 1.2-hectare plot contains a hillfort settlement where coarse ceramics and two bronze bracelets were found.

In 1955, the site was heavily disturbed by sand mining. In 1984, Vytautas Daugudis excavated four individual 1 square meter trenches in the enclosure, identifying a cultural layer between 45 and 70 cm thick. From 1984 to 1985, Elena Grigalavičienė excavated the entire 568 square meter surface area, uncovering a cultural layer up to 2 meters deep. This deposit consists of three distinct horizons.

In the oldest horizon, the enclosure was surrounded by a 2-meter wide and 0.5-meter deep ditch. This ditch featured a wooden barrier made of dug-in posts with a diameter of 30 cm, reinforced with stone boulders at the base. Later, the ditch was filled, and buildings with post constructions were built along the edges. Archaeological finds include fragments of stone axe handles with holes, weights, bone yokes, hooks, arrows, spears, daggers, bronze buckles and sagtelės, molded clay forms, and both striated and smooth pottery. Other horizons yielded iron tools, jewelry, and further pottery, with the artifacts preserved in the National Museum of Lithuania.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons