Impilties piliakalnio gamtinės ir kultūrinės aplinkos raida: kompleksinio tyrimo rezultatai

Abstract

The Impiltis Iron Age hill-fort complex consisting of three hill-forts is located in north-western Lithuania. The cultural layers of the Impiltis hill-fort I and its adjacent foot settlement were subject to analyses of pollen, siliceous microfossils (mainly phytoliths) and metal concentrations. A master core was collected in a meander bow within the nearby rivulet and studied by pollen and diatom analyses. Three radiocarbon dates were performed on this sediment core. The palaeoenvironmental studies were combined with small-scale archaeological investigations of the adjacent settlement area, as well as the interiors of the hill-fort. The results indicate substantial environmental changes from the end of the 11th to the 14th century AD. Evidences of permanent arable cultivation and animal husbandry have been registered throughout the period. The most obvious human activities date to the 12th - beginning of the 13th century. A drop in human activities, registered during the second half of the 13th century AD, coincides with the destruction of the hill-fort by the conquest of the German Order in 1263. Further environmental development suggests intense agriculture and animal husbandry, was continue practising in the area even so when the hill-fort was abandoned.