Jaunas arheoloģiskās liecības par Alūksnes Tempļa kalna pilskalna apdzīvotību.

This article analyses the archaeological data regarding habitation on the hill-fort of Alūksnes Tempļa kalns. The hill-fort is significant in that it lies within the area where, on the basis of 12th and 13th century written sources, the ancient Latgallian land of Atzele (German Atzel, Adsellen) was located. Based on stray finds and pottery, the hill-fort has previously been dated to the Late Iron Age and the beginning of the historical period. Archaeological excavation undertaken on Tempļa kalns in 2017 permits reassessment of the chronology of the hill-fort. Excavation has been undertaken in the centre of the hill-fort plateau in an area of 30 m2. A cultural layer 1.4-2.25 m thick has been observed. The lowermost horizon of the cultural layer consisted of several sand layers dif­fering in colour and thickness, mixed with charcoal, along with black layers in between, which have yielded only hand-formed pottery (mainly rusticated). In previous research, typical rusticated pottery in East Latvia has been dated to the second half of the 1st millennium AD. A sample from the site of a burnt structure with rusticated pottery has been dated to the 8th century AD, whereas a sample from the lowermost layer indicates habitation on the hill-fort already in the 6th century. The upper horizon (0.8-1.2 m thick) is homogeneous, intensively black. Building remains are poorly preserved. The archaeological finds from this part of the cultural layer are characteristic of two periods. The majority of artefacts represent forms encountered on sites in East Latvia from the 13th- 14th century, which indicates that after the subjugation of the Latgallian lands and the division of the land of Atzele between the Bishop of Riga and the Livonian Order in 1224, life on the hill-fort continued, and it was still inhabited in the 14th century. Certain finds (including a coin) point to habi­tation already in the Late Iron Age. It is thought that the small number of finds can be explained in terms of the arrangement of the buildings along the edge of the plateau, next to the fortifications, a characteristic feature of this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]