Tyrimai Miesto aikštėje

LT2012 m. balandžio–lapkričio mėnesiais buvo tęsiami (pradėti 2011 m.; ATL 2011 metais, V., 2012, p. 544–551) archeologiniai tyrimai ir žvalgymai Žagarės Miesto aikštės vietoje (buvusioje Naujosios Žagarės turgavietėje) (UK 30333) (Joniškio r.). Jų metu žvalgytas iki 40–50 cm gylio nukasamas supiltinis žemės sluoksnis. Bendras žvalgytas plotas apėmė 9460 m2. Detalieji archeologiniai tyrinėjimai vykdyti lietaus kanalizacijos trasų, elektros apšvietimo stulpų vietose (tirtas bendras 281,3 m2 plotas), papildomi archeologiniai žvalgymai-elektros kabelio trasų vietose (žvalgytas bendras 320,5 m2 plotas). Miesto aikštėje 15 žvalgytas plotas 1 buvo 22x9,5 m dydžio-iš viso 209 m2 plotas. Čia 20–50 cm gylyje atidengtas pastatas su pamatais, spėjamomis 6–7 patalpomis (pagal 1775 m. Naujosios Žagarės gaisro liustracijos kitų pastatų analogijas-gerosiomis trobomis, alkieriais, špižarne, bakavaja arba užpečine) su lentinėmis grindimis, stikliniais vitražiniais (2003 m.) langais, duonkepe ir kokline krosnimis, 2 pusrūsiais (įrengimo data nenustatyta), čerpiniu ("olandiškos") stogu. Nustatyti pastato dydžiai-15x9,5 m, tai sudaro bendrą 142,5 m2 plotą. Jis pagal koklių stilistiką buvęs statytas XVIII a. II–III ketvirčiuose. Surinktos monetos liudija, kad šioje vietoje stovėjęs pastatas su krosnimi galėjo būti nuardytas arba, mažiau tikėtina, sudegęs (1775 ar 1805 m. gaisro tikimybę patvirtina tyrimų metu atidengti apdegę rąsteliai, lentos, kartu su kitais radiniais fiksuoti suvirtusių čerpių fragmentai; paneigtų aplinkybė, kad nėra ištisinio degėsių sluoksnio, mažai radinių, keramikos, akmenys neperdegę) XVIII a. pabaigoje. [...] [p. 555, 565].

ENIn 2012, the survey and excavation begun in 2011 was continued at the site of the Žagarė Miesto square (former Naujoji Žagarė marketplace) (Joniškis district). Test pit 1 (2.25 m2) was excavated in the courtyard at Miesto sq. 23 and the digging up of the surface layer was monitored at the site of a building demolished in 1980 (Miesto sq. 15) (209 m2). A total of 507.65 m2 was excavated and 9460 m2 (including 416.6 m2 in trenches) were surveyed in Miesto square in 2012. The investigation yielded data about the development of the Naujoji Žagarė market square during the 16th–20th centuries. The foundations of two rows of masonry stalls burnt during the city fire after 11 August 1881 and soon rebuilt (demolished 1947) were recorded in Miesto square. During the 16th–18th centuries, the market square, which was in lower locations, must have become swampy, especially after a heavy rain. Orderly field and dolomite stone paving dating to the 17th–18th centuries was discovered at only one place, in test pit 2. A boggy depression in the square was recorded in front of the building at Miesto Sq. 8. Depending on the relief, paving (early, mid, and late 19th century) was recorded in 1–3 or even 4 (test pit 2, 8, 20) horizons. A mid 19th century drainage gutter was unearthed in trench 2 near the post office. It and the paving-pavement attest to the intentions to not only put the square in order but also to dry out the dampest site. Part of a wooden roof (?) structure lost in the wet soil in front of the house foundation in the 18th  early 19th century (?) was discovered at a depth of 1.12 m in test pit 25 (Miesto sq. 5).The site of an inn, which had a semi-basement and a hard-packed earth floor and which burnt down in the second half of the 18th century (fires having been mentioned in Naujoji Žagarė in 1757–1758, 1775), was unearthed and studied in area 8 (35 m2) near the building at Miesto sq. 25 in the S part of the square and was dated to 1710–1765 on the basis of coins. An abundance of potsherds, stove tile fragments, glass shards, small copper beaker fragments, knives, etc. were collected at this site. Data were collected during the excavation about the structure, shape, and direction of the square. The aforementioned unearthed inn and a concentration of isolated finds in the NW part of the square allows one to think that at least isolated economic – public buildings, i.e. inns or homes, existed in the square in at least the 18th century. 17th–19th century mass finds were collected: hand thrown rustic, modern era oxidation glazed and unglazed faience, porcelain, and stoneware pottery from the se cond half of the 18th–19th centuries, jars and bowls from the 17th–18th centuries, black glazed and unglazed rococo panel (Blattkacheln) and corner (Eckkacheln) stove tiles, white glazed strip and unglazed cornice (Gesimskacheln) stove tiles from the first half of the 18th century, animal bones, various 17th–19th century iron hardware (door hooks, hand-forged nails with oval, round, and square heads), etc. were collected.16th–19th century ornaments, 17th–19th century leather footwear, two 17th–18th century iron heel plates, a knife with a full tang, a decorated scale from another knife, pieces of knives with a push tang, half of a 17th–18th century stave vat (or bucket) with the bottom, three brass thimbles from the second half of the 18th-19th century, two needles, pieces of two iron awls, pieces of two pairs of scissors, brass buttons, a 17th–18th century cast cannonball, four lead musket balls, a brass book clasp, a 20 pound iron weight from the reign of Nicholas I in the first half of the 19th century (in a pavement from the first half of the 19th century), a bipyramidal weight, etc. should be mentioned among the individual finds. 123 17th–19th century coins of various denominations (mostly shillings and kopecks) and states were also collected (not including from Miesto sq. 15) along with 44 lead corporate, factory, merchant, customs, and post office seals from the 18th  first half of the 20th centuries. Several 13th century artefact fragments (bron ze penannular brooches with knob terminals) were found in a 17th–18th century layer. Area 1 (22x9.5 m) was surveyed at Miesto sq. 15. A 15x9.5 m wooden building that stood there in the second half of the 18th century and had a foundation, suspected 6–7 rooms with board floors, a bread oven and tile stoves, two semi-basements (creation date undetermined), a (Dutch) tile roof, finds (hand thrown rustic, oxidation, faience, and stoneware pottery, panel, cornice, and strip stove tiles; 27 coins; hand-forged iron nails; window glass shards; etc. were unearthed at this site at a depth of 20–50 cm. [...].