Archaeologia Baltica

Hemp is a very valuable plant because each part of it can be used in many ways. It can be used to produce innovative products for building construction, chemical industry, medicine, textile production, consumption, and agriculture. In the article, the authors have aggregated the information about hemp cultivation and processing sector development in the European Union and Latvia and have described its cultivation possibilities, technological processes, and processing capabilities. The aim of the present article was to reveal the topicalities of hemp industry development in the European Union and Latvia. The tasks of the research were to present an overall description of hemp industry development trends in the European Union and to characterize hemp industry development in Latvia focusing on the national support activities and hemp cultivation and processing opportunities. The authors of the article have performed an extensive secondary data analysis to summarize the most important activities that should be done at the national scale to further enhance the development of hemp industry in Latvia.

Material deprivation has recently gained prominence as a topic of debate as its proliferation is reising throughout Europe in particular in the countries hit hardest by financial and economic turbulences what leads to the gap in material deprivation levels throughout Europe. The aim of the study is to analyze material deprivation in the regions of Latvia. Research methods used in preparation of the paper: scientific publication and previous conducted research results analysis, analysis of anonimised data of EU-SILC survey results and European Central Bank conducted survey on Household income and expenses survey results, results are compared with the results of other EU countries. Survey anonimised data are analyzed using indicators of descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations for regions of Latvia, for urban-rural living and analysis of variance – ANOVA are used. The results of analysis have indicated in what situation are regions of Latvia in the context of material deprivation especially in Latgale region and what are the challenges for decision makers to deal with – more attention for several approaches in reduction of income differences in regions of Latvia.

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 site of Celmi in the parish of Užava is the first archaeological site in Latvia where a Kunda culture dwelling has been identified. The site is dated to the Middle Mesolithic (6450–6260 cal. BC), and is a site where tools were made from locally available, poor-quality flint. An analysis of the dwelling depression, and the two hearths and stake-holes associated with it, suggests that a temporary shelter was erected here during the Mesolithic. Two flint-knapping areas, as well as other activity areas, can be identified in and near the dwelling-pit. The conclusions presented in this paper are largely hypothetical, and alternative interpretations are possible.

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.