From Bronze Age Hillfort to Capital City New Radiocarbon Dates and the First Archaeobotanical Investigation at the Vilnius Castle Hill

Abstract

The ‘Castle Hill’ represents the core territory of Vilnius, around which gravitated urban development, eventually culminating in the foundation of the capital of Lithuania. However, we know very little about the earliest occupation on Castle Hill - how it developed over time, and what the activities were of the people that inhabited the site. While the study of plant remains can provide a crucial insight into human staple foods, agricultural activities and the palaeoenvironment, previous attempts of archaeobotanical investigations of such an important cultural heritage site was cut short due to the outbreak of World War II.Here is presented the first archaeobotanical analyses from the territory of Castle Hill together with new radiocarbon dates stretching from the 8thcentury BC until the 14thcentury AD. The primary archaeobotanical analyses in combination with published datasets from adjacent regions around Castle Hill show that the diversification of crops and the introduction of various crop rotation practises during the 8-13thcenturies AD. Here, for the first time, attention is drawn to the agricultural strategies in medieval Vilnius that likely played a pivotal role in the formation and development of the city.