246-year-old boundary stone found during Rail Baltica works moved to central Iecava
A boundary stone carved with the year 1780, found during Rail Baltica railway construction in Iecava parish, was moved to Iecava's Count Square in late October. The builder has also reported other historical finds along the route.
A historic boundary stone carved with the year 1780 was uncovered during construction of the Rail Baltica railway line near the Žigļi farmstead in Iecava parish, Latvia. In late October it was moved to Count Square (Grāfa laukums) in the centre of Iecava. Rail Baltica is the planned European standard-gauge railway line that will link the Baltic states.
The idea of bringing the stone to the town centre came from Aivars Mačeks, chairman of the Bauskas novads council, and the move was carried out by the route's builder, ERB Rail, the Iecava united administration said.
First recorded in 2009
The archaeology and history department of the National Cultural Heritage Board (NKMP) said its predecessor institution received information about the stone back in 2009, after an expedition organised by the public organisation Latvijas petroglifu centrs found it. The stone was not added to the list of state-protected cultural monuments, because it was not in its original location when found and its context could not be reliably determined. The NKMP suggests that in 1780 it may have marked the border between estates of the Iecava parish district, possibly the Iecava and Misa estates.
Historian Raitis Ābelnieks believes the stone most likely marked the boundary between the Iecava and Dzimtmisa estates. He notes that boundary markers in the 18th century were usually smaller, so this one probably stood beside a road. In his view, it was moved during the Soviet occupation so it would not obstruct field work, and ended up at the edge of a drainage ditch.
Because the stone is not a protected monument, the move did not need NKMP approval. Judging by photographs, the NKMP considers the relocation to have been careful. It recommended installing an information sign explaining the circumstances of the discovery.
Other finds along the route
Miks Lūsis, a public relations representative of ERB Rail, said archaeological supervision between Iecava and the Lithuanian border has identified traces of several periods: a flint flake from the late Palaeolithic, an Iron Age burial site, and medieval and possibly Great Northern War-era finds. The remains of three people killed in the Second World War were also found in one section. Unexploded wartime ordnance has been detected at construction sites, so areas are surveyed for explosives before earthworks. Exact find locations are not made public, to protect them from illegal digging.
