Senkapis Šiauliuose, Vytauto g. 84

LT2008 m. archeologinių žvalgymų Šiaulių senamiestyje (A1738) metu prie Vytauto g. 84 pastato po Vasario 16-osios gatvės važiuojamąja dalimi buvo aptikta žmonių kaulų. Žvalgymai buvo perkvalifikuoti į išsamius tyrinėjimus, kurių tikslas – ištirti kultūrinį sluoksnį ir kapus, dalinai ar pilnai patenkančius į plotą, kur bus vykdomi žemės kasimo darbai. Archeologinių tyrinėjimų metu šioje vietoje iškasta viena perkasa su išpjovomis, ištirtas 17,71 m2 plotas. Rasti 2 kapai su netradiciniais kelių asmenų palaidojimais [p. 159].

ENIn 2008 one trench with projections (a total area of 17.71 m2) was excavated during an excavation of the Vasario 16-osios Street carriageway near Vytauto St. 84, Šiauliai. Two graves with the non-traditional burial of several individuals were found in the trench. Grave 1 (12) contained a beheaded male over the age of 50. Grave 2 (13) contained two females, one thrown on top of the other. The graves discovered in 2008 are part of the old cemetery and connected with the graves that were excavated at the intersection of P. Višinskio and Vytauto Streets in 1934 and located 120 m beyond the excavated trench. The intersection of these streets was probably the edge of the old cemetery. On the basis of the crosses found in 1934 and the radiocarbon test of remains 1 in 2008, the old cemetery can preliminarily be dated to the 16th x 18th centuries. The Byzantine crosses allow the old cemetery to be attributed to the Uniates, Old Believers, or Orthodox believers. On the basis of the historical context, the old cemetery should probably be connected with the first Orthodox believers, who could have appeared in the vicinity of Šiauliai as early as the 16th century. The individuals in the graves excavated in 2008 were thrown haphazardly into the pits. These should be graves from a period of unrest, e. g. war, plague, or famine. The beheaded individual in grave 1(12) was probably an executed criminal or an already deceased man, who was treated this way by superstitious contemporaries.