Molavėnai is a small village in the Raseiniai district municipality,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. Two

hill forts A hillfort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late European Bronze Age and Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roman period. The fortific ...

are located in the vicinity of the village. Two nature monuments are protected by the state – an old

oak tree An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the Fagaceae, beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northe ...

near one of the hill forts and a stone called Mokas. According to the 2001 census, the village has a population of 11 people. Molavėnų I hill fort was first erected in the 1st century and consisted of defensive fortifications and a wooden fort. The site is located on a long (350 m), narrow projection into a bend of the river Šešuvis. The site is protected on the northeast and southwest by steep slopes, marshy banks, and the river. To protect it on the northwest, the only known Lithuanian double defensive system that uses earth and wooden

outwork An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponier A caponier is a type of defensive structur ...

s was erected on the projection’s neck. In all, it consisted of five ditches, four earthworks, and three levelled courtyards. A fortified settlement was built at the southeast end. In addition, the levelled hilltop areas were surrounded by palisades of sharpened poles. Artefacts dating from the early 1st century to the early second millennium were found during 21st century excavations. The site was eventually abandoned due to continued erosion and the shrinking hilltop. Molavėnų II hill fort was built 400 m upstream in the 12th century on another projection at the confluence of the river Šešuvis and its tributary, the Jaujupis. Only the northeast and east sides were not protected by natural defences and so were instead guarded by a series of four earthworks and four ditches. A 20 m long earthwork with a corresponding ditch was constructed on the southwest slope. The flat hilltop was ringed by a wooden defensive wall. A tower was erected on the big earthwork, and wooden palisades on the other earthworks. A 2009 excavation discovered pottery dating to the 12th–14th centuries. Dry stone revetting was also found in one ditch.

Sources

‘Molavėnų I piliakalnis/ Molavėnų II piliakalnis’, a flyer published in Lithuanian by the Raseiniai District Municipality Administration, the Society of the Lithuanian Archaeology, and the Cultural Heritage Salvage Group.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molavenai Villages in Kaunas County Hill forts in Lithuania