Archaeologia Baltica

Four rare brooches were found during archaeological investigations in Viešvilė cemetery III (in the Jurbarkas district). Three of them are close to the ‘equal-armed’ brooches, of which the shape recalls a ribbon. The fourth brooch was found in child’s grave 35. It belongs to the group of flat openwork brooches. The brooch was decorated with two stylised animal heads and a weaving pattern. Analogies were not found in Lithuanian archaeological material. In this article, the author discusses the possible origin and chronology of the brooches found in Viešvilė cemetery III.

The article deals with burial customs in culturally varied regions in the eastern Baltic, comparing them with an interpretation of Late Prehistoric society. Social analyses, which up to recent times were predominantly based on written sources and evolutionary ways of thinking, suggest somewhat different social systems for the culturally diverse regions of the eastern Baltic. However, at first glance, this cannot be seen in the archaeological evidence, including burials. The discussion in this article subjects some particular features of burial customs to closer consideration: representativeness, collective versus individual attitudes, and gender aspects. The results suggest that societies were hierarchical both in the southern and northern parts of the eastern Baltic, but power was arranged in different ways.