Archaeologia Baltica

In Oberhof (Aukštkiemiai, western Lithuania) cemetery, several groups of weapon furnishings can be distinguished. “Sword graves” occupy the central positions when charted on a reconstructed plan of the burial site. Graves are located further away from these centres as the number of weapons contained decreases. Weapon equipment is a key to deciphering the spatial structure of the cemetery.

Viešvilė cemetery, situated in the Jurbarkas district (the lower Nemunas region in Lithuania), belongs to the Scalvian Baltic ethnocultural group and has been investigated for the last six years. The site contains archaeological material characteristic of ninth to 11th-century Scalvians. The research material gathered during the excavations would allow us to state that those who were buried in the cemetery were related to a dominant part of Scalvian society of that time.

Weapons and warfare played an important role in Baltic society. The aim of this article is to examine the weapons and weaponry of the Semigallians, to look at what weapons-related burial customs existed in Semigallia, and to compare them with those of the other Baltic tribes. The geopolitical situation of the Semigallians determined that weapons had a special importance. Certainly not all weapons were placed in graves. We do not find any arrowheads. Although we have found many weapons, nevertheless the weaponry itself was not very diverse. Only spears and close combat weapons, battle-knives, were placed in graves. Spearheads of several types were used. The battle-knives used in Semigallia had a very unique form, and, most importantly, they were placed in a grave in an order characteristic only of Semigallians.

The excavation of a princely grave of the early seventh century at Prittlewell, Essex, in 2003, is the starting point for a review of the development of kingship in early Anglo-Saxon England. Emphasis is placed upon the equally important contributions of history and archaeology. It is also argued that it is essential to balance the attention given to the immediate contexts in England with the long-term development of kingship amongst the Germanic peoples. Valuable supplementary evidence is found in the terminology of kingship and lordship in Germanic philology, as well as the comparative study of Continental Fürstengräber of the Roman Iron Age.

The battle-knife is quite a familiar weapon in Lithuanian archaeological material. The functional characteristics are more important than the length of knife for making decisions about the battle-knife. By appreciating the archaeological material from Marvelė cemetery (central Lithuania), we can observe the process of change in the form of the battle-knife during the Late Roman Period.

Several different cultural traditions stand out in Long Barrow Culture. Some of them are characteristic of the Baltic Finno-Ugrians, others of the Balts and Slavs. The aim of this work is to distinguish all these mentioned traditions that are manifested in warrior horseman’s accoutrements and riding gear of the fifth to seventh centuries. From the armament point of view, both Slavic tribes and the inhabitants of the Byelorussian and west Russian forest belt, whose ethnocultural affiliation remains disputed (Balts, Slavs, Balto-Slavs, Finno-Balts, Finno-Ugrians?), comprise an integral continuum from the River Danube to Lake Ladoga. The work also discusses the migrational processes that affected the people in the forest belt in the fifth and sixth centuries.

The article is devoted to the role of military activities in socio-political developments in Latvia during the Late Iron Age (tenth to 12th centuries). The topics of weapons as prestige items, warrior burials and their relation to the retinue, as well as military symbolism and warfare as the source of power, are discussed on the basis of archaeological material of the Livs, Curonians*, Semigallians and Latgallians.

The article presents an overview of burial customs on the Estonian island of Saaremaa from 1000BC up to Christianisation, discussing the social organisation behind the archaeological material. Special attention is paid to collective attitudes displayed in cemeteries where bones of different burials were completely mixed, and on transformation periods, which at times brought individual burials or the custom to deposit weapons in graves.

During the Late Iron Age, the southeastern part of Latvia, particularly the upper and middle course of the River Dubna, was one of the most densely populated areas of Latgallian habitation. In the course of archaeological research at Late Iron Age cemetery sites, various burial practices have been observed that have not been encountered at Latgallian burial sites outside this area. Here, in addition to evidence of the familiar Latgallian burial practices, horse-trappings have been found in several tenth to 11th-century male grave inventories.

Female graves, which contain a wholly unfeminine or male-related grave inventory, and not only a single item, are discussed in this paper. The main intention is not to describe in great detail these graves, but rather, by removing them from the context, to approach them as possible archaeological evidence of cross-dressing. Drawing on different historical parallels, a tentative explanation is suggested following two supposed inspirations for cross-dressing: cross-dressing by military consideration, and cross-dressing by cultural consideration.