Archaeologia Baltica

The article discusses the question of palaeolandscapes of cemeteries from the Roman Period and the Migration Period in the area of the Masurian Lakeland. The primary purpose of the multidisciplinary study was to answer the questions: 1) whether the natural features of the palaeolandscape were important for the choice of location for a cemetery; and 2) whether the inside landscapes of cemeteries were consciously shaped and lasted long. An analysis of the locations of several cemeteries from the Roman Period and the Migration Period uncovered in the study area showed clearly that there was a close relationship between the location of the cemetery and palaeo environmental conditions, especially the relief, bodies of water (lakes, rivers and streams), and the plant cover. Of particular importance were elevated isthmuses between two lakes. The specific habitat conditions of these areas conditioned the specific and diverse plant cover. All of these elements of the natural palaeolandscape made the sacred place clearly visible in the settlement area. Case studies of the cemetery in the village of Paprotki kolonia (northeast Poland) showed that the layout of the cemetery lasted long, and was clearly visible to the local community in the first centuries AD. It enabled the precise location of the next cremations, horse sacrifices and other ritual activities in the area of the cemetery.

The Grebieten burial ground, situated in the former Kreis Fischhausen of the German Empire’s province of East Prussia, (currently in the Zelenogradskii district of the Kaliningrad oblast’, Russian Federation), represents a reference monument of Sambian-Natangian culture, and at the same time is one of its best investigated archaeological sites. However, a recent comparative analysis of the available sources of information showed that the modern state of knowledge is incomplete, while the research potential of the monument is far from being exhausted. This article gives an overview of the state of research, as well as of the open questions and gaps in our knowledge. Along with a description of the currently available sources of information and their limitations, the publication informs readers about recently conducted archaeological studies, performed both on the partially preserved prewar archaeological material and on the monument. Besides the actual reintroduction of Grebieten into scientific research, the authors point out its role and its significance in the much more complex archaeological context. The results of recent research suggest strongly that the Grebieten burial ground is part of a much larger complex of archaeological monuments situated along the western coast of the Sambian Peninsula, in the close vicinity of amber collecting areas. This settlement complex played an important role in the collection and trade in amber, which defined the nature of Sambian-Natangian culture in the Roman Iron Age and Migration Period. Further multilateral investigations of the Grebieten burial ground should lead to a clearer view of the settlement system, the social structure, everyday life and contacts of the population of Sambia in the Roman Iron Age.

The article deals with characteristics of the cultural landscape of archaeological sites of Dollkeim-Kovrovo (Sambian-Natangian) culture dating from the Roman Period. The study is based on a spatial analysis, and is built on the currently known information, drawn from prewar archives, publications, research from the second half of the 20th century, and on the results of field surveys conducted by the author. GIS-based techniques were applied. The archaeological sites from the Roman Period located on the eastern border of Dollkeim-Kovrovo Culture in the valleys of the River Pregolja and the River Dejma are the focus of attention. In order to carry out a comparative analysis, information on the burial grounds of the ‘cultural core’ on the Samland Peninsula is used. The spatial layout of the burial grounds and settlements is analysed. As a result, a pattern for the spatial evolution of Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture in the Roman Period and the testing of the hypothesis of the existence of ‘contact zones’ in the West Balt cultural circle are proposed for consideration.

In October 2014 and June 2015, a team of scholars and students from the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw featuring the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, made an underwater survey in the unnamed lake (formerly Herrn-See) in the village of Lubanowo (formerly Liebenow) in Western Pomerania. During the underwater research, weapons, tools and horse harness parts (including chain reins) were found. They are dated mainly to the Roman Period, but also to the Middle Ages. Some items bear traces of ritual destruction. Parallels may be pointed out with weapons in Przeworsk culture, and to some extent also in Scandinavia. The site should be attributed to sacrificial military deposits. Its extraordinary character lies in the fact that so far it is the only site of its type which is still in its ‘lake stage’, i.e. not a marsh or bog. Most probably it was used by local inhabitants, the people of the Lubusz group.

The article describes the possibilities and limitations of ancient DNA research on organic materials that are usually not the focus of archaeogenetics, because of their low preservation potential and thus rareness in archaeological settings. These are remains from fish and birds, animal hairs, and coprolites. Several of the author’s own key studies from different regions and time periods are presented.

The Neolithic site of Priedaine in Jūrmala was excavated on a small scale in 2007–2008, yielding an assemblage of Comb Ceramics, along with unique wooden implements and fragments of pine-lath fishing structures. The environment and subsistence resources are indicated by plant macrofossil remains and a small faunal collection. Located by a palaeolake and also very close to the sea, the site, dated to c. 3700–3500 cal BC, would have been oriented towards aquatic resource exploitation. However, it had a wider range of functions, as indicated by the evidence of flint and amber processing.

The paper analyses maiolica ceramic dishes from the late 16th and early 17th centuries found in Vilnius’ Old Town. The items in question were the first imported maiolica dishes in the town. They are classified and their production sites are identified on the basis of their technical and stylistic characteristics, and in accordance with foreign analogies. Thus, five plates are assigned to the Antwerp production centre, while the stylistic and manufacturing characteristics of another plate are found to be similar to the Haarlem and Antwerp maiolica production centres. One small bowl with religious inscriptions is assigned to the Faenza production centre in Italy. A fragment of a berrettino-type plate is associated with the Liguria region or Venice. The paper attempts to assess the significance of the first maiolica dishes in daily life in Vilnius in the late 16thand early 17th centuries. The relationship between the find spots and historical data suggests that four dishes could be associated with Catholic monasteries. During the period in question, maiolica ceramics were a rarity: they performed both an aesthetic and a luxury function; on three pieces of bottoms of plates, holes were found for hanging the plate on the wall. The information presented in the paper provides an opportunity to deepen our knowledge about maiolica dishes in Vilnius’ Old Town, which have not been investigated much, and to identify the prospects for further research.

In the course of archaeological excavations and supervision work in the historical centre of Rīga (Old Rīga), revetments built at various times along the former River Rīga or Rīdzene have so far been discovered in at least 11 sites, and revetments along the bank of the River Daugava have been found in at least three sites. The absolute age of stretches of revetment along both banks of the River Rīga (Rīdzene) and along the right bank of the River Daugava, discovered in the course of recent archaeological excavations, has been determined using the dendrochronological dating method. This article brings together the results obtained thus far in the dating of these structures. Although only some of the discovered stretches of historical waterfront have been dated, this information has given a significantly more precise picture of the building history of the waterfronts along the banks of both rivers, and thus also of the development of the historical ports of Rīga. This indicates the importance and necessity of continuing this research.

The aim of this article is to briefly introduce not only the history of the Historical Society of the Province of Posen (Prowincija Poznańska; Historische Gesellschaft für die Provinz Posen), and to show its historical context, but also to clarify the question whether its foundation was not only for purely historical interest in the past of Greater Poland, but also whether the anti-Slavic feeling at that time formed the intention to participate in current events. It looks at the extent to which this organisation was another factor that contributed to the Germanisation of the country. The Greater Poland area is particularly appropriate for the study, since German and Polish residents here were anchored in the past, the region has roots and decided independently to pursue a scholarly review of its history. At first, however, the rival parties were dominated by Poles: in 1857, a Polish organisation was founded called the Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk Poznańskiego (Poznań Society of Friends of Science, TPNP), along with a small museum. But the German residents in Greater Poland became more and more interested in archaeological discoveries in the province of Posen, too. The opening of a permanent exhibition at the Museum of the Society of Friends of Science led German circles to establish a similar institution, whose main founders were Rodgero Prümers and Adolf Warschauer, employees of the Poznań State Archives. On 5 March 1885, the Historische Gesellschaft für die Provinz Posen came into existence. Among their most important tasks was the investigation of German history in the province, studying culture and history, publishing scholarly papers, and also the preservation of monuments and the collection of antiquities. The ultimate goal was a museum of their own in the province of Posen. In 1894, the Provinzialmusem opened. The Provincial Museum of Historische Gesellschaft formed the basis for the later Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, and for today’s Archaeological Museum in Poznań, and is therefore irrevocably linked to the professionalisation and institutionalisation of German and Polish archaeology. It would be unthinkable to offer an archaeological scene in Poznań without the Historische Gesellschaft, as long as Poland was divided and occupied by the Germans. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance, from a historical research perspective, that the history, political activity and collection are processed and presented, in order not to lose this chapter of German history of research in the oblivion of contemporary Poland.