Karaliaus Mindaugo prospektas 18

LT2017 m. buvo tęsiami po ilgesnės pertraukos 2016 m. pradėti archeologiniai tyrimai sklype Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 18 Kauno senamiestyje. Kauno archeologinių tyrimų duomenis apibendrinęs archeologas Mindaugas Bertašius teigia, kad senamiesčio PR pakraštys tarp Puodžių gatvės ir Nemuno pakrantės apgyvendintas seniai, tai liudija Kauno senamiesčio 22 kvartale, esančiame į V nuo numatyto tirti sklypo, aptikti gana seni medinio užstatymo pėdsakai (Bertašius M., Dingęs miestas. Viduramžių Kaunas archeologinių tyrimų duomenimis, Kaunas, 2013, p. 84). Prie Nemuno gatvės rasta medinio užstatymo liekanų, skirtinų XV-XVI a. Senamiesčio R dalyje, prie Nemuno nuo XV a. būta kaimo. XIX a. įrengto Karaliaus Mindaugo prospekto ir Druskininkų, Puodžių, Smalininkų gatvių ribojamame senamiesčio 26 kvartale nurodoma buvus daug smulkių sklypelių, kurių gyventojai vertėsi odos apdirbimu-kvartalą iš Š ribojanti Puodžių gatvė seniau vadinta Odminių gatve (Bertašius M., Dingęs miestas. Viduramžių Kaunas archeologinių tyrimų duomenimis, Kaunas, 2013, p. 118). 2017 m. tyrimų metu daugumoje perkasų fiksuotas santykinai plonas (10-40 cm storio) neintensyvus XVI-XVIII a. datuojamas archeologinis sluoksnis su pavieniais radiniais. Didesnė radinių koncentracija fiksuota įgilintuose objektuose. 2017 m. atlikti tyrimai iš esmės patvirtina M. Bertašiaus prielaidą, kad archeologiniu laikotarpiu šioje miesto dalyje užstatymas buvo retas, čia buvo įrengti miestiečių daržai. [...] [p. 298, 305].

ENIn 2017, an investigation (1 test pit and 18 various-sized trenches, a total of 1052 m2 , a metal detector survey and fieldwalking, roughly 1500 m2 was conducted at a future construction site on the plot at Karaliaus Mindaugo ave. 18, Kaunas, near the river Nemunas. In stage I, the site of the foundation of an operating McDonald's restaurant was investigated through the excavation of a 1.5 m wide trench down to natural soil. A 1-1.3 m thick cultural layer, up to 2.5 m in pits, had formed in places on this plot. A 10-40 cm thick archaeological layer with 16th-18th century finds was recorded atop the natural soil. In many places, the cultural layer has been dug up through the laying of various utility lines and in building structures connected with the activities of an alcohol distillery. In stage II, trenches 14–20 were excavated at the sites of various utility lines being laid to the restaurant. A cultural layer, up to 1.2 m thick, in the bottom horizon of which a 10-40 cm thick archaeological layer with isolated 16th-18th century finds had survived fragmentally, was recorded in them. In stage III, the NW part of the plot was investigated through the excavation of trenches 11, 13, and 21 and test pit 1. Test pit 1 went down to the corner of a Soviet fuel oil storage unit, the bottom of which was not reached owing to the oozing fuel oil. A 1-1.2 m thick cultural layer, in which a 10-30 cm thick lower horizon ascribed to the 17th-18th centuries had survived fragmentally, was recorded in trench 11.Paving laid using small stones and dating to the 20th century was unearthed in the E part of trench 12, and foundation fragments from a 19th century building or buildings in trench 13. Trench 21 contained a major part of the remains of a 16th-17th century cellar. The structure was 5.6-5.8 m wide externally and 4.2 m wide internally, the unearthed segment was roughly 9 m long. The investigation ended in the E at a partition wall with an arched entryway because oozing fuel oil halted further investigation. The entrance to the cellar from the stairs was through a roughly 1 m long "corridor", which was likely to have been covered with a vaulted ceiling that was demolished in the Soviet era. The ‘corridor’ led to a formerly arched entryway, beyond which lay the cellar room, which had a partition wall. All of the walls have arched niches. The exterior walls had been created using fieldstones and bricks bound by lime mortar in the Gothic style. The cellar contained 17th-century pottery, stove tile fragments, and iron artefacts and artefact fragments, but interwar and Soviet era finds predominated. It is thought that during the interwar period the entire cellar or only its main room could have served as a storeroom. Upon completion of the investigation, the cellar was backfilled. During the 2017 investigation, a relatively thin (10-40 cm), poor, 16th-18th century archaeological layer with isolated finds was recorded in the majority of the trenches. A greater find concentration occurred in the sunken objects. The 2017 investigation essentially confirmed the assumption of M. Bertašius that during the archaeological period this part of the city had been sparsely developed and that the city’s residents had maintained gardens at this location.