Tyrimai Vilniaus Pilies kalne

LTIki šiol archeologiniai tyrimai (įvairaus pobūdžio ir apimčių) vykdyti įvairiose Vilniaus piliavietės, vadinamos Gedimino kalnu, Pilies kalnu, Aukštutine ir Žemutine pilimi (UK 141), vietose. Dalis ankstyviausių, XX a. vykdytų tyrimų medžiagos neišliko. Ankstesni tyrimai ir jų rezultatai jau ne kartą apžvelgti (ATL 1982 ir 1983 metais, 1984, p. 25–26; ATL 2003 metais, 2004, p. 155–157; ATL 2011 metais, 2012, p. 199–204; ATL 2014 metais, 2015, p. 209–210; ATL 2016 metais, 2017, p. 174–183; ATL 2018 metais, 2019, p. 171–182; ATL 2019 metais, 2020, p. 157–163, 177–184). 2020 m. toliau rengiant Vilniaus piliavietės, teritorijos sutvarkymo projektą, įvairiose piliavietės vietose atlikti detalieji tyrimai, kurių metu ištirta 12 perkasų – 286,94 m2 bendras plotas [p. 253].

ENIn 2020, in further preparing a project to manage the grounds of the Vilnius castle site: i.e. Gediminas Hill, Castle Hill, the Upper Castle, and the Lower Castle, excavations (12 trenches totalling 286.94 m²) were conducted at various places on the grounds. No archaeologically valuable cultural layer was discovered in trenches 1–6, 8, 9, or 12. Trench 7 yielded a masonry wall fragment preliminarily dated to the 14th–15th centuries as well as preserved 20th and 13th – first half of the 15th-century cultural layer horizons, trench 11 a continuation of the counterfort as well as a disturbed cultural layer preliminarily dated to the 3rd–15th centuries. Trench 10 revealed the S–SE parts of the tower discovered in 2019 as well as parts of the defensive wall attached to it. Based on the surviving parts of the wall, it is possible to judge that the SE part (wall) of the tower must have been 10–10.5 m wide. The SW wall is 8.2–8.3 m long and the NE wall could have been 8.5–8.6 m long. Defensive walls from two different periods were distinguished during the investigation: a SW one, continuing towards the SW from the tower and a NE one, continuing NE from the tower to the top of the slope. The wall continuing to the NE was laid using the rubble-fill principle (and had mortar characteristic of the late 14th – early 15th centuries). By continuing the discovered defensive wall’s sides to the NE, the defensive wall’s continuation, with a certain error, coincides with what is depicted on the Von Fürstenhoff plan. The SW part of the defensive wall consists of upper (narrower) and lower (wider) parts. The upper part can be dated to the late 14th century, the lower, wider part to the 14th century. The assumption was made that after the 1396 landslide or during the castle’s 1415 reconstruction, the defensive wall to either side of the tower and the top of the tower itself were rebuilt in two stages.A 10–20 cm thick, first half of the 14th-century cultural layer with partly thrown pottery and metal artefacts was recorded in the SW part of the trench.