Bandužių, Žardės senovės gyvenvietės tyrimai 2016 m

LTBRIAI 2016 m. rugpjūčio-spalio mėnesiais vykdė detaliuosius tyrimus Bandužių, Žardės senovės gyvenvietės (UK 31842) teritorijoje (Klaipėdos miestas). Pirmiausia tirtas sklypas 4.3 Jūrininkų prospekte (plotai 1–7), vėliau tirta žemės sklypo Jūrininkų prospekte 27A ŠR dalis ir laisva valstybinė žemė tarp sklypų Jūrininkų prospekto 29, 27A ir 27 (plotai 8, 9). Bandužių, Žardės senovės gyvenvietė priklauso Klaipėdos miesto P dalyje ir Klaipėdos rajono Š dalyje esančiam archeologiniam kompleksui greta Smeltalės ir Kretainio upių. Kompleksą sudarė 3 piliakalniai – Žardės, Kuncų piliakalnis su gyvenviete (UK 23762), Laistų, Liliškių piliakalnis su gyvenviete (UK 23767) bei sunaikintas Gibišių piliakalnis; 6 gyvenvietės – Bandužių, Žardės senovės gyvenvietė (UK 31842), Bandužių senovės gyvenvietės I–II (UK 31757, 31843), Žardės senovės gyvenvietės I–III (UK 17132, 17133, 17134) ir Laistų (Liliškių) kapinynas (UK 5175). [...] [p. 52-54].

ENIn 2016, BRIAI conducted an excavation in the territory of Bandužiai, Žardė Ancient Settlement. Plot 4.3 on Jūrininkų Avenue (areas 1–7) was excavated first (Figs. 1, 3) and then the NE part of the plot at Jūrininkų Ave. 27A and the available state land between the plots at Jūrininkų Ave. 29, 27A, and 27 (areas 8, 9). In 2016, roughly 10669 m2 were excavated during the investigation at Bandužiai, Žardė Ancient Settlement. This was done in several stages and the methods were employed by taking into consideration the practices of the earlier 2006-2015 investigations, the special nature of the settlement (sunken structures and objects predominate and fragments of the cultural layer have been recorded only near some of the archaeological structures), and the possible elements of the palaeorelief. 59 archaeological structures, some of which had been disturbed or destroyed during 20th–21st-century economic activities, were discovered and excavated during the investigation. The majority of the structures were concentrated at the foot of the hill, in an area closer to a former swamp and in the NE and SW parts of the investigated area (plot 4.3). The structures were distributed evenly in the area between the plots at Jūrininkų Ave. 27, 27A, and 29. The structures encountered during the investigation were connected with economic–manufacturing activities, some with metallurgy, others with extraction of the land’s resources and the like, and yet others with food production.Based on the preliminary data from the 59 structures, it is possible to identify 12 fire sites and 14 hearths but the purpose of 29 has so far not been determined. Three structures connected with metallurgy were discovered in the SW part of plot 4.3 and in area 6: two pits with slag fragments (objects 509 and 512) (Figs. 5, 6) and a log lined well (object 510). Metalliferous natural soil with bean-sized fragments of natural ore or ore accumulations was recorded at places in the investigated areas. During the investigation, tens of sherds of hand built pottery: with brushed, grainy, rough, and smooth surfaces and with openwork were collected from 15 structures. Fragments of broken pots were found at five structures (objects 488, 490, 499, 501, 539). One whetstone was discovered (at object 494) and 14 handstones and handstone fragments at eight structures. A flat, openwork bronze brooch dating to the 8th-9th centuries was discovered in a hearth (object 531). Two small corroded iron hooks were found at object 510, a fragment of a small knife scale at object 531, and fragments of burnt clay at 13 objects. The finds were mainly collected at object 518A. Metallurgy-related finds were discovered in the well’s fill soil and nearby structures, especially in object 509 (roughly 3 kg). Pieces of charcoal and organic samples were retrieved from 30 objects and soil samples were taken from 15 objects. About 270 animal bone fragments were collected from 20 structures and studied, leading to the identification of 59 of them. All of the identified bone and tooth fragments belonged to domestic animals: 42 (71.2 %) to cattle, 7 (11.9 %) to pigs, and ten tooth fragments to horses. Based on the initial data, the settlement dates to the 1st millennium bc–early 2nd millennium ad. The discovered and studied structures are definitely connected with Bandužiai, Žardė ancient settlement.