Archaeologia Baltica

The article deals with burial customs in culturally varied regions in the eastern Baltic, comparing them with an interpretation of Late Prehistoric society. Social analyses, which up to recent times were predominantly based on written sources and evolutionary ways of thinking, suggest somewhat different social systems for the culturally diverse regions of the eastern Baltic. However, at first glance, this cannot be seen in the archaeological evidence, including burials. The discussion in this article subjects some particular features of burial customs to closer consideration: representativeness, collective versus individual attitudes, and gender aspects. The results suggest that societies were hierarchical both in the southern and northern parts of the eastern Baltic, but power was arranged in different ways.

The Early Medieval Scalva region, situated on the Lower Neman,* was, it seems, already relatively densely populated in the Migration Period. The concentration of Migration Period cemeteries on the eastern outskirts of the later city of Tilsit might indicate this. The Am Philosophengang necropolis was one of these sites. Completely unknown until recently, the cemetery is now being ‘rediscovered’ on the basis of archive records

The paper presents the problem of archaeological, archaeozoological and anthropological interpretations of horse burials from the Roman Period cemeteries from the Bogaczewo Culture (Masurian Lakeland) territory. It is presented on the basis of the multidisciplinary research of the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia located in the heart of Bogaczewo Culture territory.

When tree ring dates at Mesa Verde National Park were plotted as a function of time along the lunar standstill cycle, a correlation was evident, leading to the hypothesis that architectural features and construction phases were timed according to the lunar 18.6 year cycle. A detailed architectural analysis at Sun Temple and tree ring analysis support the sub-hypothesis that lunar maximums were observed over Sun Temple from the Painted Tower area of Cliff Palace. Tree ring dates at Balcony House and Square Tower House suggest a similar relationship between construction of specialized architecture such as kivas and the lunar maximum cycle.

The aim of this article is to define the wooden building types, identification issues, problems of dating structures built in the 16th – 18th century, and to determine the beginnings of masonry construction in Klaipėda. The identified development of Klaipėda construction from wooden towards masonry buildings as well as chronological definitions of the building types and construction materials used, enables review of previously conducted archaeological and the dating of findings.