Dating of the Cultural Layers from Vilnius Lower Castle, East Lithuania

Implications for Chronological Attribution and Environmental History

Bibliographic Data

ID9241779
AuthorsJ Mažeika, P Blaževičius, M Stančikaitė, D Kisielienė (0000-0003-1563-5175)
Year2009
Volume51
Issue2
Pages515-528
Publication date2009-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRadiocarbon (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-8222 • E-ISSN: 1945-5755
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0033822200055892
OpenAlexW1833637190
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited9

Complex interdisciplinary studies carried out in the territory of the Vilnius Lower Castle, E Lithuania, were used to construct a chronological framework based on radiocarbon data and archaeological information. Bulk samples (wood and sediment) were collected from an approximately 3-m core that crossed cultural layers and underlying strata. 14 C dates indicate that the underlying bed possibly formed during the 6th century AD, although no archaeological finds were discovered there. Paleobotanical (pollen and plant macrofossil) investigations reveal evidence of agriculture that points to the existence of a permanent settlement in the area at that time. The chronological data indicates a sedimentation hiatus before the onset of the deposition of the cultural layer in the studied area. The 14 C dates showed that the formation of the cultural bed began during the late 13th–early 14th centuries AD, that is, earlier than expected according to the archaeological record. The ongoing deposition of the cultural beds continued throughout the middle to latter half of the 14th century AD as revealed by the archaeological records and confirmed by well-correlated 14 C results. After some decline in human activity in the middle of the 14th century AD, a subsequent ongoing development of the open landscape, along with intensive agriculture, points to an increase in human activity during the second half of the 14th century AD. The first half of the 15th century AD was marked by intensive exploitation of the territory, indicating a period of economic and cultural prosperity. The chronological framework indicates that the investigated cultural beds continued forming until the first half of the 16th century AD

Archaeology · Geography · Holocene · Macrofossil · Radiocarbon dating · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Historical and Archaeological Studies · Geology

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