Joniškio senamiestis

LTJoniškio senamiestyje 2020 m. atlikti archeologiniai tyrimai: Upytės g. 6 žvalgytas 2,7 m2, o Žagarės g. 10–12 tyrinėtas 38,8 m2 plotas. Seniausi rašytiniai šaltiniai apie Joniškio miesto gatvėse esančių sodybų (dūmų) skaičių siekia 1651 m. Išsamiau dūmai pagal kategorijas suklasifikuoti tik 1775 m. Žemaičių kunigaikštystės padūmės tarifuose Joniškio miesto dūmai suskirstyti į atskiras 4 kategorijas: užvažiuojamieji – 16 (domy wiezdne, turgaus aikštėje, vaito namas ir smuklė), amatininkų (?) – 10 (domy pokątne, „neregistruoti“), žemdirbių – 113 (domy rolnicze), privačios trobelės – 15 (chałupy prywatne, visame mieste, gatvės neįvardytos) (LVIA, f. 11, ap. 1, b. 678. SA–3341, l. 16v). 1780 m. Joniškio mieste nurodyti 239 sklypai, kurie pagal kategorijas (minimi tik krikščionių (chrescianie)) suskirstyti į laisvųjų (wolni) – 78, žemionių (ziemianie) – 8, tiaglų (ciągli) – 153. Paminėti ir Žagarės (daugiausia valakų – 4 ir 2/3), Šiaulių, Upytės skersgatviai. [...] [p. 371-372].

ENIn Joniškis Old Town (North Lithuania) 2.7 m2 were surveyed at Upytės St. 6 and 38.8 m2 excavated at Žagarės St. 10–12. Historical data has survived about the settlement of these streets in the Modern Age. An undisturbed 16th–17th-century layer of black soil (with small areas of charcoal and burnt clay) that contained finds (thrown pottery, glazed oxidation ceramics, and fragments of ‘pot-shaped’ stove tiles, panel stove tiles, and roof tiles), i.e. a suspected building site, was unearthed at a depth of 70–80 cm at Upytės St. 6. At Žagarės St. 10–12, 3 test pits and 3 trenches were excavated, revealing at various depths under 10–100 cm thick (thickest in trench 3) layers of fill sod and rubble, a 20–165 cm thick, 17th–19th-century cultural layer with abundant finds and structures (5 wooden building sites and 4 foundations, the remains of 3 ovens, 3 hard surfaces (outdoor and indoor), 6 storage pits, and 2 postholes). Sterile soil: brown clay, loam, and sandy loam was reached at various depths: 64–245 cm. Three horizons were distinguished at the investigated site: 1. 17th century (residential building site with stove and packed earth floor remnants); 2. 1790–1860 (an inn, its outbuildings, and a courtyard with storage pits); and 3. 1860–1979. The investigation yielded traditional old town finds (a total of 2210 items), the bulk of which consisted of ceramics (906 items) and animal bones (548 items), the categories or types of some of which are a first in Joniškis. The site yielded a valuable late 18th – first half of the 19th-century ceramic collection that reflects everyday life in Joniškis at that time.The 1790–1860 layers contained a large glass artefact collection: pieces of various dark and clear bottles (106 items including 2 shards with manufacturer marks and the dates: 1814 and 1856) and engraved clear glass tumblers. It also yielded 17th-century and late 18th – first half of the 19th-century ‘pot-shaped’ stove tiles (with round mouths) and ‘bowl-shaped’ stove tiles (with square mouths, a total of 93 units) as well as green (less) and white – yellow (more abundant) glazed and unglazed panel and cornice stove tiles (272 items). The exceptional items worth mentioning include a 17th-century armorial stove tile with the Syrokomla family coat of arms (?), the fragments of white – yellow glazed panel and cornice stove tiles, which were found in the 1790–1860 layers and are a first in Joniškis, and the unglazed, smooth-surfaced panel stove tiles, which were collected in first half of the 19th-century layers but are better known in a later period. Various individual metal and ceramic artefacts and considerable 17th-century and late 18th–19th-century construction materials were also discovered. The 2020 archaeological investigation supplied valuable material about the 17th–19th-century urban development of the city of Joniškis and the material culture of Žagarės Street (the formation of plots 10–12).