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

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.