This week at the Kernavė archaeological site Vilnius University (VU) Archaeologists from the Faculty of History, together with scientists from other institutions and partners, have been investigating what Kernavė and its surroundings looked like in the past. The data obtained has already helped to discover archaeological objects invisible to the naked eye, such as burial mounds.
VU archaeologists, together with their partners, participated in an international practical research seminar for specialists from various scientific fields "Kernavė Paleolandscape, Possibilities of Interdisciplinary Research". During the seminar, interdisciplinary research, using non-destructive and minimally destructive research methods, aimed to reveal the peculiarities and dynamics of the formation of the paleolandscape of the area.
"We paid special attention to the old bed of the Neris River in the Pajauta Valley and the small lake that used to be there. The research used borehole methodology, and the existing terrain was also scanned using LiDAR." Light detection and ranging") technology - 3D laser scanning of the surface was performed using an unmanned aerial vehicle. The collected abundant soil samples will be examined in several Lithuanian and foreign laboratories, sedimentological (component composition of sediment particles), radiocarbon dating and other studies will be performed," says archaeologist Assoc. Prof. Gintautas Vėlius, who participated in the seminar.
Explaining the novelty and importance of the research, the archaeologist says that during the practical research seminar, extremely high-resolution images of the surface relief of the Kernavė Cultural Reserve and the nearest surroundings were obtained using LiDAR technology. They helped to reveal previously unknown burial mounds hidden in the forest and other archaeological structures that are difficult to see with the naked eye.
According to Assoc. Prof. G. Vėlius, the detailed LiDAR data obtained are also very important from a heritage protection point of view. They allow monitoring of the Kernavė archaeological site and recording possible changes in the terrain in the future. The results of the work carried out during the research workshop are planned to be presented to the wider academic community in the autumn at the VU and Kernavė Cultural Reserve Directorate.
In the study organized by the Directorate of the State Kernavė Cultural Reserve, in addition to scientists from the Faculty of History of Vilnius University, archaeologists from the Directorate's Research Department also participated, as well as a large group of Polish researchers representing the Department of Geology and Geomorphology of the Faculty of Geographical Sciences of the University of Lodz, the Institute of Archaeology of the Faculty of Philosophy and History of the University of Lodz, the Toruń Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.
