Piliakalnis prie Merkio upės

LTKPC archeologai 2009 m. rudenį žvalgė Merkio aukštupyje, į ŠV nuo Turgelių esantį Vilkiškių piliakalnį. Žvalgymo metu buvo nustatyta piliakalnio teritorija, GPS prietaisu užfiksuotos teritorijų ribų posūkio taškų koordinatės, piliakalnis apžiūrėtas ir nufotografuotas. Piliakalnio aikštelėje išraustuose kurmiarausiuose vietomis pastebėtas tamsesnės rusvai pilkos žemės sluoksnis-neaišku, ar tai piliakalnio kultūrinio sluoksnio pėdsakai, ar tiesiog armuo. Į Š nuo piliakalnio esančioje natūralioje, jį nuo likusios aukštumos dalies skiriančioje įduboje pastebimas kaimavietės kultūrinis sluoksnis. Pagal išvaizdą šį apardytą piliakalnį, matyt, reikėtų datuoti I tūkst. [...] [p. 455-456].

ENIn the autumn of 2009, KPC archaeologists surveyed the upper reaches of the Merkys and Vilkiškiai hillfort located to the NW of Turgeliai. During the survey, the area occupied by the hillfort was determined, the coordinates of the area’s waypoints were recorded using a GPS receiver, and the hillfort was inspected and photographed.Vilki kiai hillfort was created on a highland spur which is bounded on the SW, S, and SE by the Merkys valley, on the W and E by combes ending in the river valley, and on the N, by a natural depression that separates it from the remaining part of the highland. The scarps are steep, from 3–4 m high on the NW, N, and NE sides to 10–12 m high on the SW, S, and SE sides. The scarps on the combe and Merkys valley sides were partially covered with deciduous trees and bushes, only on the NW and N sides has the soil been worked. The S scarp has considerably collapsed after being undermined by the Merkys, while the N, NE, and E scarps have been damaged by the potato cellars dug into them. The flat hilltop is an irregular N–S oval, almost a crescent shaped, roughly 45 m long and about 25 m wide, with the centre up to 2 m higher and the W part lower. The hilltop’s NW, N, and NE edges are bounded by an earthwork about 30 m long, up to 10 m wide, and up to 1.2–1.5 m high (at the NW end). The earthwork’s E-SE end slopes down to the level of the hilltop.This earthwork’s steep, roughly 3–4 m high external scarp descends to the natural depression separating the hillfort from the remaining part of the highland. At the top of the earthwork are seen a pair of old, now almost filled in pits; its E-SE part was apparently flattened out through ploughing, and its external scarp was damaged through the potato cellars dug into it. A ditch up to 3–4 m wide and up to 0.5–0.7 m deep, which, like the earthwork, becomes narrower and shallower at the SE end, is seen just inside the earthwork. A layer of darker, brownish grey soil was noticed in the molehills dug in the flat hilltop; it is not clear whether this is traces of the hillfort’s cultural layer or simply arable topsoil. To the N of the hillfort in the natural depression separating it from the remaining part of the highland, a village cultural layer was noticed. According to the appearance of the damaged hillfort, it should apparently be dated to the 1st millennium.