Kalnuvėnų kapinynas

LTKalnuvėnų kapinynas, esantis Sendvario sen., Klaipėdos raj., išaiškintas dar 2001 m. Kadangi jis smarkiai apnaikintas ruošiant vietą degalinei, tai 2002 m. buvo pradėti suardytos kapinyno dalies tyrimai, kuriuos vykdė archeologė Rėdą Nemickienė. Jų metu ištirtas 200,25 m2 plotas, aptikta 13 apardytų griautinių kapų, datuojamų IX-XI a. 2004 m. tyrimai buvo tęsiami žemės judinimo darbų suardytoje kalvos dalyje, kur iškastos 2 perkasos (4, 5) ir ištirtas 94,75 m2 plotas [p. 105].

ENIn 2004 in Kalnuvėnai burial ground an area of 94.75 m2 was investigated. Four inhumation burials datable to the 10th-11th century (3 female and 1 of a child) and one post hole were found. The child was buried next to the mother; their burials were linked at their feet. At the head the burial pits were rectangular getting narrower and rounding up towards the foot. The child burial was 1.80 m long and 0.78-0.5 m wide. The adult burials were from 2.66 to 3.04 m long and from 1.04-0.78 to 1.14-0.9 m wide. Tops of the burials had been destroyed when levelling the hill, so it was impossible to identify the debt. The filling of the pits contained cinder, which implies that the funeral rituals involved fire. Decadent fragments of skeletal remains and position of burial items imply that individuals were laid down on their backs in a straight position; arms stretched along the sides, heads orientated W, S and NE. Burial items were random and in a very poor condition. It seems that most of the items were broken during the burial ritual and only few fragments were put into the graves. In the trench No. 4 a post hole having 0.24 m in diameter was investigated. The post hole and clay daub discovered in the burial No. 17 suggests that prior to the burial site there could have been a settlement.