Location and description

The hillfort is situated about 1.9 km north-east of the village of Domkowo, on a high and steep edge of the Dylewka River valley, within a forest complex.

The hillfort is oval-shaped and measures 65 x 40 m at the base. The maidan sized 33 x 22 m is surrounded by a wall of 5 m in height. In the north-western part of the rampart, there is a distinct depression, a remnant of a gate opening. In the southern part of the site, there are remains of a dry moat of about 6 m in width. Traces of an ancillary settlement were recorded to the south and east of the hillfort.

History

The structure has not been subject to excavation. Based on archival material and surface surveys, it was dated to the early Middle Ages (7th-13th centuries).

The site was recognised and registered by German researchers in 1827.

Condition and results of archaeological research

The site has never been subject to excavation. So far, only documentation and survey work has been conducted at the site (by J. M. Guise in 1827); and surface verification surveys by J. Gąssowski in 1949, and by M. Hoffmann and A. Mackiewicz in 2002). In 1973-74, excavation surveys were conducted in the ancillary settlement neighbouring on the hillfort.

Access to the hillfort is possible only from the east - from the ancillary settlement which is now an arable field.

Compiled by Hanna Mackiewicz, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Olsztyn, 2.09.2014.

Bibliography

• Crome H., Verzeichnis der Wehranlagen Ostpreussen, Prussia, t. 32 (1939), s. 302.
• Antoniewicz J., Z zagadnień ochrony zabytków wczesnośredniowiecznego budownictwa obronnego na Warmii i Mazurach, [w:] Sprawozdania P.M.A., t. III, 1950, s. 69.
• Hoffmann M. J. Mackiewicz A., Średniowieczne założenia obronne powiatu ostródzkiego, 2004, s.11-12.