Archaeologia Baltica

In this article, a Neolithic anthropomorphic clay figurine from the Ģipka dune settlement in the littoral of Northern Kurzeme is examined as a versatile source of knowledge, forming an idea of the activities of the ancient individual in the field of ideology. This original figurine is analyzed by discovering the many-sidedness of its informative content, which lies not only within the originality of this find, but also in its significance in the examination of so far unsolved questions in the archaeological literature of the Eastern Baltic. These are questions concerning the role of the rite in the everyday life of the Neolithic individual. The scientific significance of the examined figurine is emphasised by the conditions of its finding at the fortified dune settlement, which was visited only during a particular season due to the yearly performance of an undertaking of a ritual character. The special conditions of the finding of this anthropomorphic clay figurine are dealt with in this article (the placement in the pit dug under the palisade), its gender affiliation and time of manufacture have been determined, as well as the possible cultural source, the character of the modelling of the figurine, the manufacturing technique, the design and style, decoration, its symbolism, the fragmentation (breakage) of the figurine, and the aim of its usage within the common procedure of the performance of the ritual action. The originality of the find is also stressed among other Neolithic anthropomorphic figurines that have been found so far in Northern Kurzeme and among Neolithic anthropomorphic finds of a similar style in the Åland Islands (Finland) found at the beginning of the 20th century. Attention is paid to the fact that for the first time in the field of Neolithic research of the Eastern Baltic there is a situation when the spatial context of religious (mythological) or cult practice can be perceived. It is characterised by five interrelating zones or elements: place, where the cult (rite) was practised, imagery that is connected to the cult practice, devices, participants in the cult and the actual action of the cult. The examined figurine from the Ģipka A site is only one of 20 found here in the dune settlements of Northern Kurzeme. These settlements are places for the performance of rites, where specially manufactured anthropomorphic figurines can personify the spirits of ancestors of different generations, for the cult of ancestors, was among the most evident cults practised by aborigine communities. The “shadows of the ancestors” were those that could give descendants different benefits, or take them away. Here at the Ģipka dune settlements, and in no other place, these figurines were broken and placed in specially dug pits, where big and small fireplaces were also burnt. This was carried out by particular persons, the elder or the soothsayer of the community, and these procedures were regulated strictly during the performance of the rite, when a contingent of other interested

Lake dwellings are a well-known phenomenon in European prehistory. Two submerged sites in Lake Luokesai (Luokesai I and Luokesai II) are the only known lake dwellings from the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in Lithuania. Soil analysis methods aimed to answer some crucial questions connected with Lake Luokesai’s inhabitants during the period of the occupation of Luokesai I.

New data from archaeological, zooarchaeological and palynological studies of the archaeological sites around Lake Kretuonas (in eastern Lithuania) show that environmental conditions had a great influence on the formation of the economy, settlement and cultural life of its inhabitants. This paper analyses the causes of the changes in environmental conditions and their influence on the population in the Lake Kretuonas area in the Stone Age and Bronze Age.

Current advances in science allow us to survey and investigate archaeological sites without destroying them. This article presents the results of integrated archaeological research in the Eketė locality. The object of study is the Iron Age/Early Medieval hill-fort and ancient settlement complex. The aim of the research is to recreate the development of the formation of the hill-fort and settlement using widely applied non-destructive remote sensing methods of landscape archaeology: the analysis of aerial photographic images and geophysical prospecting research data.

The rescue excavations of the Virbaliūnai ancient settlement have unearthed an iron production site of the middle of the first millennium AD. Nine slag-pit type furnace bottoms with the slaggy mass in situ, pieces of iron-smelting slag, potsherds and other finds have been excavated here. An attempt at a metallurgical interpretation of both the furnace structure and the iron smelting process at the site is discussed in this paper. The results of a metallographic examination of crude iron clot as well as the data from chemical analyses of the smelting slags are also presented here.

In Lithuania, iron smelting furnaces dating back to the Roman Iron Age and the Migration Period have been found in 20 places, not

The subject of this paper is the inlay technique, namely the hammering of fine silver to an iron object specially grooved for the purpose, and early medieval Semigallian and Couronian military equipment decorated in this technique. This includes sword hilts, strap dividers and mounts made by Baltic smiths, and a unique armour plate. The study of the inlay technique permits the former silver decoration on objects to be reconstructed. The ornate Couronian sword hilts provide grounds for hypothesising that there was a specialist weaponry workshop at Talsi hill-fort.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the incidence of traumatic bone lesions among the population of the River Daugava area in Latvia. A total of 804 skeletons from four cemeteries were analysed. The data obtained indicates that the frequencies of cranial trauma in all the series are similar. Within each population there was a significant difference between males and females with regard to the frequency of traumas. Skeletal traumas of the inhabitants of the Daugava area are not connected exclusively with military conflict.

The Rėkučiai defence installation is in the eastern part of Lithuania between two lakes in wooded country. The installation was comprised of a rampart and a ditch in front of it. This defence installation from the 12th and 13th centuries belongs to the most important fortified area of the newly developing Lithuanian state. It extended about 50 kilometres from east to west, and was built as a defence against the Polotsk-Pskov duchies and the Livonian Order. Analogous defence installations include Kovirke (“Cow Wall”), a lesser fortification within the well-known Dannevirke earthwork fortification complex, as well as the ramparts left by Prussian tribes.