Kurmaičių pilkapynas

Kurmaičių pilkapynas is a group of burial mounds in Kurmaičių village, in the southwestern part of Kretingos rajono savivaldybės, on the right bank of the Akmenos River near the Padvarių tvenkinys. The cemetery includes solitary mounds and groups of mounds spread between the Akmenos and Bažnyčios kalnas hills. Fourteen mound locations were known, and 10 mounds were investigated.

The investigated mounds were 6–18 m across and 0,6-1,5 m high. They were covered with one or several stone rings, and most were paved with stones. Each contained 2–7 cremation graves, with the burnt remains placed in clay urns or without urns. The urns were hand-built and had smooth or slightly roughened surfaces. One black, bowl-shaped urn with a smooth surface and a handle was characteristic of the Lužitėnų culture. A woman’s grave included brass head ornaments: 2 coiled temple rings and 6 spiral looped temple rings.

The mounds and one separate grave outside them are dated to V–I a. pr. m. e. Research was carried out in 1940 by Pranas Baleniūnas, in 1948 and 1950–1951 by Pranas Kulikauskas, and in 2010 by Algimantas Merkevičius. The finds are held by Vytauto Didžiojo karo muziejus and Lietuvos nacionalinis muziejus. Other investigations were made in 1959, 1982 and 1992.

Several mounds were damaged or destroyed. In 1924–1927, Nikodimas Tamošauskis dug a trench through the mound called Pilalė and found 3 stone-built graves, cremated bones and ceramic vessels. Two mounds near the junction of the Akmenos and an unnamed stream were destroyed for building stone, and 2 mounds were dug out in 1941 for a military installation. Local people traditionally called the mounds Pilalės; legends associated them with Swedish soldiers, hidden church treasures and a priest who celebrated services there.

Kurmaičių pilkapynas is a megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones) in Kretinga Municipality, Lithuania. No English Wikipedia article exists for it; the full text below is the Lithuanian article "Kurmaičių pilkapynas", shown in the original language.