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Journals: Archaeologia Baltica

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Human-induced vegetation change in the Turaida vicinity during the Iron Age and the medieval period

Alise Gunnarssone Aija Ceriņa

Sabīne Krēsliņa All authors (6)

https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v31i0.2666

Pub. online: 27 Dec 2024 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 31 (2024), pp. 83–97

Abstract

A lack of detailed information on pollen from the Gauja River valley potentially limits the

strength of various reconstructions (vegetation composition, human impact, dominant agricultural

activities) for this territory. This study seeks to examine the human-induced changes on

vegetation, in particular with regard to the arrival of the Livs in the Turaida vicinity during the

Late Iron Age. Here, we present the first analyses of pollen data, macroscopic plant remains and

macroscopic charcoal undertaken in the lower Gauja River valley (territory inhabited by Gauja

Livs). The gathered sediment record, or the Roči bog, points to the appearance of the Livs in the

territory during the 10th century. Our results show an accelerating shift in the landscape from

dense forest coverage to inclusion of more open areas, which would be consistent with the clearing

of areas for cultivation.

The human-induced change resulted in a decrease in forest coverage, an increased presence of

cultivated plants and an acute intensification of fire-related events. The sediment record shows

that oat cultivation was dominant during the Late Iron Age and other crops (barley, wheat, rye)

came into sustained use only at the beginning of the medieval period. The sudden decline in all

cultivated crops (barley, oats, rye and wheat) in the mid-14th century could be due to sudden

environmental changes or to the Black Death, but as this data contradicts research from other

parts of Latvia, further study is advisable.

Island settlement of Lake Bėlis: New insights into Late Bronze and Pre-Roman Iron Age living spaces in eastern Lithuania

Rokas Kraniauskas Ingrida Čičiurkaitė Elena Pranckėnaitė

https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v31i0.2665

Pub. online: 27 Dec 2024 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 31 (2024), pp. 63–82

Abstract

In 2021, during underwater archaeological surveys in the lake district of eastern Lithuania, a

new settlement was discovered on an island in Lake Bėlis (Švenčionys district). According to 14C

AMS data, it dates to the 8th–4th centuries BC. The newly discovered Lake Bėlis island settlement

stands out due to its size — it is a very small area of land — and because of its well-preserved

structures and functional zones. A distinctive feature of this settlement is the wooden structures

— piles — found on the underwater slopes around the island, extending along its entire perimeter.

Additionally, the research was conducted in an archaeological layer situated in a wetland

environment rich in preserved organic material. This article discusses the research on the island

of Lake Bėlis, conducted from 2021 to 2023. In recent years, research in Lithuania has produced

a significant amount of original material (new sites or reanalysis of known data) from the Late

Bronze Age to the Pre-Roman Iron Age. The evidence analysed in this article suggests that in this

period, besides common settlement types — hillforts, unenclosed settlements and lake dwellings

— there were also settlements located on natural lake islands.

Adaptability and resilience: farming practices in Lithuania during the Roman Iron Age

Karolis Minkevičius

Rokas Vengalis

Giedrė Piličiauskienė

All authors (6)

https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v31i0.2664

Pub. online: 27 Dec 2024 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 31 (2024), pp. 44–62

Abstract

This paper integrates archaeological, environmental and isotopic data from Roman Iron Age

(1–400 AD) settlements in Lithuania to present an updated framework for understanding the

development of farming and agricultural landscapes during this period. The study dates the introduction

of new crop species, such as rye and oats, to around 100–200 cal AD. Notably, rye

quickly became one of the most economically important crops, coinciding with the adoption

of the infield-outfield cultivation system. This system combined intensively farmed fields in

open, well-irrigated areas near settlements with more distant swiddens used for extensive farming.

Archaeobotanical analysis, along with δ15N and δ13C isotopic measurements of charred crop

assemblages, reveals a high level of diversification in both species composition and cultivation

strategies. These findings suggest that Roman Iron Age farmers employed complex farming methods

aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and expansion while maintaining adaptability

and resilience in response to environmental challenges.

New evidence of contacts across the Baltic Sea : Analysis of Kukuliškiai Late Bronze Age pottery

Miglė Urbonaitė-Ubė

Torbjörn Brorsson

https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v31i0.2663

Pub. online: 27 Dec 2024 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 31 (2024), pp. 29–43

Abstract

The Late Bronze Age (1100–500 cal BC) has been the focus of many recent studies in the Baltic

region. The contacts between societies in the Baltic Sea area are identified by bronze, amber, pottery

and other artefacts, but there is still little evidence of contact between the western and eastern

coasts. This article presents analysis of a pottery assemblage from the Kukuliškiai site (880–400

cal BC) (Lithuania) and its macroscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass atomic emission

spectrometry (ICP-MA/ES) results. Macroscopic examination of the pottery revealed that the

assemblage consists of various vessel surface types: smooth (41%), rusticated (11%), Kukuliškiai-

Otterböte type (4.5%), striated (13%) and burnished (8%). The assemblage has more similarities

with pottery in Scandinavia and northern Poland than with the eastern Baltic Late Bronze

Age pottery.

The ICP-MA/ES analysis of a sample of sherds from Kukuliškiai has shown that the vessels were

most likely made from partly different clays collected in the vicinity of the settlement. This pottery

was locally made but the assemblage’s composition and the presence of the Kukuliškiai-Otterböte

pottery type (KOP) suggests intensive cultural exchange between the two sides of the Baltic Sea.

Vilūnai 5: A Stone Age and Early Metal period site in the western part of Kalviai Lake valley (southern Lithuania)

Tomas Rimkus

Gintautas Zabiela

https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v31i0.2662

Pub. online: 27 Dec 2024 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 31 (2024), pp. 7–28

Abstract

In 2020, extensive archaeological research was carried out in the western part of the Kalviai

Lake valley. New sites were identified, one of which was named Vilūnai 5. It is a sandy open-air

site located on a fluvioglacial hill. The archaeological investigations have shown that the site

was probably visited by people as early as the Final Palaeolithic, but the most intensive episodes

of occupation are seen in the Mesolithic, Subneolithic and Neolithic periods, as well as the

beginning of the Metal period. This paper aims to present the results of these excavations. It

provides data on the flint and non-flint lithic artefacts and ceramic finds. Although the site does

not contain preserved organics, and therefore much data concerning human activity is absent,

this paper aims to integrate the Vilūnai 5 site and its archaeological material into the overall

context of Stone Age sites around Kalviai Lake’s shores.

Preface

Audronė Bliujienė

Pub. online: 27 Dec 2024 Type: Introduction

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 31 (2024), pp. 4–6

Contents

Pub. online: 27 Dec 2024 Type: List Of Contributors

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 31 (2024), p. 3

She is from the 21st century : in memoriam Rimutė Rimantienė (25.10.1920–4.07.2023)

Audronė Bliujienė

Dalia Ostrauskienė Gytis Grižas

https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v30i0.2568

Pub. online: 28 Dec 2023 Type: In Memoriam

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 30 (2023), pp. 144–154

13th century leather footwear from Vilnius Lower Castle

Arūnas Puškorius Jurgita Kalėjienė Medeina Steponavičiūtė

All authors (4)

https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v30i0.2567

Pub. online: 28 Dec 2023 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 30 (2023), pp. 133–143

Abstract

During the archaeological excavations in the territory of the Palace of the Grand Dukes in Vilnius,

the remains of leather footwear dating back to the late 13th century was discovered. These

were only the cut-off lower parts of the footwear, a pair inserted one into the other and stored

in a box together with other exceptional artefacts of that time. The footwear was made of expensive

dyed goat leather. The luxurious leather items of footwear were reconstructed on the basis

of various conducted artefact tests and studies. Based on the construction properties, it can be

assumed that they were intended for indoor wear. Artefacts of analogous construction are only

rarely discovered. Known examples were discovered during the excavations in Velikii Novgorod,

Tver, Hrodna and several other locations to the east of the Baltic Sea. The artefacts from these

territories date back to the late 11th to early 14th centuries.

Plants in the artefacts not used for their original purpose. A remarkable case from the Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis) cemetery in western Lithuania

Audronė Bliujienė

Dalia Kisielienė

Kęstutis Peseckas

All authors (7)

https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v30i0.2566

Pub. online: 28 Dec 2023 Type: Article

Open Access

Journal: Archaeologia Baltica Volume 30 (2023), pp. 116–132

Abstract

This article investigates tinned bronze ornaments found in two graves of the Lazdininkai-Kalnalaukis

cemetery dated to the end of the 2nd century to the first quarter of the 3rd century AD

from the perspective of archaeological materials, intercultural contacts, 14C AMS dating, and

chemical-physical and biological research. These ornaments — a wheel-shaped pendant and a

bead — were originally parts of fashionable necklaces. However, these ornaments went into the

graves as spinning tools. The wheel-shaped pendant from grave 8(1992) contains the first ever

found, or at least officially recorded, use in Lithuania of an aquatic plant for a spinning tool bobbin.

The piece of possible linden tree wood was used to compose the spinning tool bobbin found

in grave 68(2001). These spinning tools are the first to have appeared in Lithuanian archaeological

material from as early as the end of the 2nd century to the first quarter of the 3rd century. In

addition, both spinning tools are unique in the Lithuanian archaeological record so far in that

the copper alloy spindle whorls were used to compose both working tools. The closest analogues

for the wheel-shaped pendant are known from the Wielbark culture and this example should be

considered as an import from that cultural area. Copper alloy beads and various local derivatives,

however, are numerous in the range of the Baltic cultures area. The copper alloy wheel-shaped

spindle whorls from the Migration period cemeteries are the spinning tools created for the specific

purpose of spinning which were produced locally, even possibly in the same workshops.

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