Wyniki badań archeologicznych prowadzonych w trakcie prac ziemnych na terenie dziedzińca pałacu Pod Krzysztofory oraz w trakcie prac remontowych na posesji przy ulicy Jagiellońskiej 4

Abstrakt

RESULTS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH CONDUCTED DURING EARTHWORKS IN THE COURTYARD OF KRZYSZTOFORY PALACE AND RENOVATION WORKS IN THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 4 JAGIELLOŃSKA STREET IN KRAKÓW

In connection with a planned construction investment,  archaeological excavations were carried out in the courtyard  of two urban mansions located at the Main Market Square  – Krzysztofory Palace and Spiski Palace – in 2008 and 2010.  The aim of the research project was to assess the stratigraphic  situation in the area covered by the outbuildings connected  with the aforementioned historical houses. In the course of  that fieldwork relics of a small building buried in the ground  were discovered in the area. On the basis of ceramic material  found on the site, the building was dated to approximately  the 13th century. Moreover, uncomplete human remains,  probably from an older, damaged, early mediaeval burial  were also discovered in the back-fill of this structure. An accumulative  layer of great thickness (200–300 cm), containing  mainly compost and a humus fraction, as well as relics  of wooden buildings and hard surface utility levels were  also found. Results of dendrochronological analysis suggest  that the wooden structures were probably built around the  middle of the 14th century, whereas the whole stratigraphic  layer was created between the 13th and the 15th century, as  suggested by the fragments of ceramic vessels found within.  Subsequent early modern (16th–18th century) layers that  existed in the area covered by the excavations were to a large  extent damaged in the course of various contemporary construction  and installation works. Still, in one of the geological  boreholes, researchers managed to localize the back-fill  of a cesspit – the privy which, according to historical data,  was used on the site in the modern era. Surprisingly, relics  of theretofore unknown, older brick and stone structures  in the form of buttresses, pillars, and even remnants of a  brickwork arcade were also localized in the course of excavation  works. Moreover, the research revealed the existence  of a 19th-century system of block sewers covering the entire  area of the courtyard.