Aukštupėnų (Kupiškio) piliakalnis

LT2018 m. buvo tęsiami tyrimai Aukštupėnų (Kupiškio) piliakalnio (UK 23819) aikštelėje. Tyrimai atlikti Kupiškio miesto savivaldybės užsakymu moksliniais pažinimo tikslais, siekiant gauti duomenų apie piliakalnio vertingųjų savybių išlikimą, chronologiją, užstatymą ir gyvenseną. Planuoti keli darbų etapai. 2017 m. įgyvendintas pirmasis etapas – atlikti geoarcheologiniai ir geofizikiniai žvalgymai (ATL 2017 metais, 2018, p. 106–109). Remiantis žvalgymų metu surinkta informacija, 2018 m. atlikti detalieji tyrimai. Piliakalnio aikštelės R pakraštyje ištirta 1 perkasa (20 m2 plotas). Tyrimų metu nustatyta, kad piliakalnis įrengtas kalvoje su aikštele iškiliu viduriu ir nuožulniais pakraščiais. Perkasos R dalyje aptikti piliakalnio įtvirtinimai, suformavę pylimą ir pastatinę šlaitą. Pylimą sudarė keli supiltiniai sluoksniai, tarp kai kurių jų ryškūs degėsingi tarpsluoksniai, žymintys gaisro epizodus. Išlikusi tik pylimo V dalis nuo aikštelės pusės. R (išorinis) pylimo šlaitas greičiausiai nukastas vėliau įrengiant griovį, dabar juosiantį aikštelę. Bendras išlikusios pylimo dalies plotis – 4–5 m, aukštis – maždaug 2 m nuo kalvos paleopaviršiaus. [...]. [Iš teksto, p. 75]

ENOn the E edge of the Kupiškis-Aukštupėnai hillfort’s enclosure, one trench was excavated (20 m2). The investigation determined that the hillfort was inhabited during the period between the 5th and mid-8th century ad. From its very creation on the hillfort, the enclosure was encircled by a sand, wood, and stone structure, which during that time and afterwards burnt several times and was rebuilt. The earliest hillfort finds are brushed pottery. At the turn of the era, grainy pottery with inverted rims and corner articulation appeared, sherds of burnished pottery and several of rough pottery being discovered together with it. The largest collection of various types of pottery was found in the slipped sediments of the palaeorelief in a depression between the bank and the hill, where intermixed late finds (glass shards, sherds of hand thrown pottery, and a nail) were also discovered, which shows that this location was strongly affected by bioturbation, digging, and hillfort management work. Certain activities could have occurred in the 1st millennium ad, although only one better dated sherd was found from that period. Based on the AMS 14C data (2 dates) the community on the hillfort was active during the 5th–mid-6th centuries. The hillfort probably did not have a residential purpose during that time, perhaps functioning as an inhabitant assembly site during war or peacetime. The hillfort was not inhabited during the 9th–10th centuries, although during that period the bank was reinforced again using the cultural layer from earlier periods (3 dates). That was final episode of the hillfort’s use, which ended with a fire at the investigated location. Finds from the historical period (several 16th–17th-century coins, a small sandstone whetstone, and a 19th-century seal) are not directly connected with life on the hillfort, but show that the hillfort was visited. [From the publication]