Žvalgomieji tyrimai Pranciškonų gatvėje 4A

LTIki 2014 m. ši vieta archeologų netyrinėta. S. Aleksandravičius 2009 m. pranciškonų vienuolyno gyvenamajame name Pranciškonų g. 4 ištyrė du bendro 9 m2 dydžio šurfus ir 80 m2 dydžio plotą pastato viduje. Šurfe 1 susiformavęs tamsiai pilkos žemės sluoksnis su XVII-XX a. radiniais. 40 cm gylyje atidengtas juostinio pamato fragmentas, o 80 cm gylyje rastas mūrinio arkinės konstrukcijos pamato fragmentas. Giliau fiksuoti tamsiai pilko grunto horizontai su XIV–XVII a. radiniais. Iki 3,9 m gylio įžemis nebuvo pasiektas. Šurfe 2 po grindimis atidengtas XIX a. krosnies fragmentas. Iki 1,9 m gylio įžemis nepasiektas. Fiksuotas tik pilko grunto sluoksnis su XVI-XX a. radiniais. Tiriant patalpą 1, jos PR kampe 10 cm gylyje buvo atidengtos dvi XIX a. vidurio krosnys. Centrinėje patalpos dalyje rasta XVII a. mūrinių statinių su arkiniais pamatais ir XVI a. pabaigos-XVII a. pradžios grindinio fragmentų, taip pat XVI-XVIII a. ūkinė duobė su to meto radiniais (ATL 2009 metais, V., 2010, p. 394–398). 2014 m. Pranciškonų g. 4 A sandėlio patalpose ir kieme ištirti 6 bendro 24 m2 ploto šurfai. Kultūrinio sluoksnio sandėlio patalpose storis 2,3–3,8 m, šurfai 1, 2, 4. Šurfe 4 kultūrinio sluoksnio storis daugiau nei 4 m. Sandėlio išorėje kultūrinio sluoksnio storis šurfe 5 ir 6 didesnis nei 1,7 m, čia gilesnieji sluoksniai nebuvo tiriami. Galima spėti, kad šioje vietoje išlikęs ankstyviausias XVI a. kultūrinis sluoksnis. [...] [p. 448-449].

ENSix test pits (a total of 24 m2) were excavated in the warehouse rooms and courtyard of the house at Pranciškonų st. 4 A. The 16th?/17th-20th century cultural layer in the warehouse rooms was 2.3–3.8 m thick in test pits 1, 2, and 4. In test pit 4 it was over 4 m thick. In test pits 5 and 6 outside the warehouse, it was thicker than 1.7 m but the deeper layers were not excavated. It is possible to speculate that the earliest 16th-century cultural layer has survived at this location. This hypothesis can be corrected only during an excavation of this area. Owing to the comparatively small scale of the investigation no finds could be discovered in many of the earliest layers. At a depth of 1.3–1.5 m, a 17th century stone paved surface was found (test pits 2, 5, 6). In the first half of the 18th century wooden structures stood at this site (test pit 1). These were destroyed in the second half of the 18th century in erecting an outbuilding (now the warehouse at Pranciškonų st. 4A). The foundations of this building’s NE and SE walls were created using the walls of earlier 16th century masonry structures (test pits 3, 4). In the late 18th-first half of the 19th century an annex was attached outside rooms 4 and 5 of the building (test pit 6). It is likely that its foundation is the masonry foundation of the NE wall of the wooden annex marked in the late 19th century plan. The partition wall of the outbuilding from the second half of the 18th century was demolished in the 19th century and only its foundation has survived in room 5 of the present-day warehouse (test pit 4).The planned structure of the outbuilding-warehouse has not changed significantly since the late 19th century; in the 20th century only part of the partition wall was demolished in room 3 and a 19th century wooden structure in room 4 was filled in (test pit 3). Over 650 finds were discovered during the evaluation, mainly 16th-18th century household pottery vessels, stove tile fragments, 16th-20th century numismatic material, coins, and merchant seals. The rarer finds include an abundant collection of 16th century Renaissance stove tiles, analogies of which are primarily known from the excavation of the Lower Castle, and early 19th century uniform buttons from soldiers in Napoleon’s army (test pit 4).