Archaeologia Baltica

Briefly presented in this paper are the results of the 2007 and 2008 excavations at the complex of ancient sites at Ogresgala Čabas. Particularly significant discoveries were made in the Liv cemetery site, which presented a surprising diversity of grave practices, among which particularly significant are the stone circles surrounding the graves, the offerings of artefacts, the sacrifice of a horse and possible sacrifice of a woman. Considering the horse graves at Ogresgala Čabas, in the cemetery adjacent to Daugmale Hillfort and the offerings of horse body parts at cemeteries in the Lower Daugava area, it seems that the horse played a greater role in Liv mythological belief and ritual than has been assumed hitherto.

Authors present problems connected with horse sacrifices in Early Middle Ages in Prussia. Discoveries nearby Poganowo site IV hill-fort, create new possibilities to discuss about Prussian religion in Early Middle Ages. Stone statue, cairns, hearths and remains of sacrificed horses have similarities to numerous cult places in Europe and in Asia.

Abundance of horse graves and very expressive horse-offering rituals are well known in the Central region of Lithuania. But principally the new material has been obtained after the investigations of burial ground in Marvelė. Horse graves are usually found separate from human graves, composing special parts of “horse graveyards” in the cemeteries. Arrangement of these parts with horse graves are related to local micro-landscape. The natural and cultural elements with memory signs embody the environmental cosmology and are involved into the mythology. The horse burial places suggest the ceremonies of public displays. The horse becomes a contributor which helps to cross the border between mythological spaces.

Apart from being a status marker with strong ritual connotations it is suggested that the horse in prehistory is a liminal agent between sea and land. As gender he represents land. The ship is as female as the sea. But the gender is contextual and culture specific. The connections of the horse with the ship are attributed to the opposition between the two elements. Since this opposition belongs to maritime cultures in the North the structural “cosmology” in question may have filtered over also to inland agrarian conditions. Symbols are polysemic and may even have represented different things to different social classes, like in recent times.

Naturalistic figural art is rare in the Merovingian period. However, during the period of Christianisation (late sixth/seventh century AD) one can observe a considerable increase. One of the motifs – a victorious equestrian – arrived north of the Alps in the late sixth century, most probably with Frankish warrior groups who took part in the wars in northern Italy. Image carriers were part of prestigious horse equipment. However, north of the Alps the motif was transformed completely from that of the warrior’s world into the female world.

Burials of riders accompanied by horses are of special significance for the Prussian antiquities. This mass tradition roots back to the early Roman time and existed, slightly modified, in this area till Prussia was conquered by the Teutonic Order in the 13th century. In other words, this tradition existed in the Baltic region for over 1000 years. A horse takes an outstanding position in the Baltic mythology similarly to that of other Indo-European peoples. Numerous documents prove the important role that a horse played in Ancient Prussians’ life. Wooden saddles were found in three horse graves in Aleika-3 cemetery. Two saddles were preserved in the form of wooden fragments with carved images, which were covered with polychromatic pictures (yellow, red, brown, and black colours were used in the painting). Rear saddle arch found in the grave 521 is painted with solar rosettes, but the main accent of the saddle arch is two horses galloping to symbol of the World Tree or anthropomorphic figure in the centre of the composition. The unique artefacts found in Aleika-3 burial ground provide principally new information for understanding the details of burial ceremony and daily life of the medieval Prussians.

The article discusses the horse’s role as a building deposit in historical times. The focus is on Finland but a short overlook on the custom elsewhere in Europe (mainly Southern Scandinavia and the British Isles) is also given. The possible meanings attached to the horse in deposits are also presented.

The paper analyses a horses’ behaviour in Lithuanian narrative folklore texts: a horse’s reaction towards unusual environment, a horse as a predictor and a horse as a sign of wealth. Horse’s connection with burial and wealth – keeping beliefs as well as relationship with the beyond is emphasized too.

The article is devoted to examine the importance of horse image in the poetic texts of various genre Lithuanian folk songs from different local ethnic regions. We find different meanings of the biological horse here, such as riding-horse, working horse, mare and jade here as the representatives in the special social context here. The general conclusion is made about horse as very important symbolic object with wide and deep its meanings in the poetic texts of Lithuanian folk songs.