Kretingos senkapis

LT2004 m. KM atliko projektuojamos miesto magistralinių inžinerinių tinklų trasos, einančios centrine kultūros (archeologijos) paminklo - Kretingos senkapių (IP-2463/A) - teritorijos dalimi, archeologinius tyrimus [p. 122].

ENIn 2004 in the Kretinga cemetery the KM excavated an area of 86.3 m2, in which 4 graves were found. The earliest one (the grave No. 4) dates back to the second half of the 16th century. It contained 2 male and 2 female burials; bodies orientated SW. Among the burial items there were 3 metal crosses, 3 wheel-made pottery shards and 2 silver half-groats struck by Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund Augustus in Vilnius in 1556 and 1564. The grave No. 1 contained 8 skeletons, heads orientated SW, laid in three layers one above another. On the top layer there was only 1 skeleton, 4 skeletons were found in the middle layer, and 2 on the bottom layer; between them there were fragments of one more skeleton: several ribs, humerus and hand-bones. Presumably the man tom to peaces by an explosion or by beasts and his remains were buried in a collective grave. Sculls of some skeletons were deformed: broken in the zone of temple, cheek or ear. Such deformations could be caused by incurred head hits. Specifics of the burials, military-type buttons found next to the skeletons and a round lead bullet imply that these were solders killed in Kretinga village during the Northern War in the first quarter of the 18th century.The grave No. 2 dates to the first half of the 18th century, whereas the grave No. 3 - to the second half of the 18th century. The body in the first burial was orientated head to N, and there was a knife stabbed vertically at the feet. The burial was disturbed when digging the pit for a later burial, in which the individual was buried head W without any burial items. Alongside with the graves in the investigated area a posthole datable to the first half of the 20th century was found; and vessel-type stove-tiles typical to the 16th-18th century and their fragments as well as potshards datable to the late 19th century were collected.