Archaeologia Baltica

In Oberhof (Aukštkiemiai, western Lithuania) all forms of horse burials or offerings can be found: complete horses, horse skulls or the skull and the limbs. In every case where a description is preserved the horse parts were placed to the left of all other items or to the left of the human body, which might be a sign that the horse was used for riding. Horse remains, bridle bits or spurs usually occur in men’s burials that contain weapons. In the community of Oberhof it was not necessary to be on top of the military hierarchy to be a rider or to receive riding gear as grave goods. On the other hand bridles, spurs or horse parts are found quite often in very well furnished graves. So even if theses offerings are often connected with warriors, it has to be considered that they might be not only an indicator for the doubtlessly existing cavalry but also for different social phenomena.

According to the data of 2008, eight horsemen buried in grave pits with complete horse skeletons had been discovered in only four of the East Lithuanian barrow cemeteries of the second half of the fifth century. The majority of these graves already were pillaged in antiquity. The barrows with graves of men interred with horses are concentrated in a small territory between Lakes Tauragnas, Žeimenis, and Vajuonis, in an area that does not exceed 50-60 sq. km. Particularly rich burials with silver and silver artefacts, most of which originated in the middle Danube and Carpathian Basin, are found in this small region. Such burials are associated with supreme rulers and high ranking military leaders. Burials of well, but standardly armed, horsemen and infantrymen also are found in the region. They can be associated with the retinue of supreme rulers. Current data suggest that while multi-ethnic groups of people reached the East Lithuanian micro-region between Lakes Tauragnas, Žeimenis, and Vajuonis during the Migration Period, the newcomers vanished from the local population over the course of four generations. This small region’s concentration of great wealth and military power, along with marked differences in social structure emphasized even in the structure of the barrow cemeteries, would suggest that a form of government identical to that of a chiefdom had been created in the region.

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.