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 article is devoted to the role of military activities in socio-political developments in Latvia during the Late Iron Age (tenth to 12th centuries). The topics of weapons as prestige items, warrior burials and their relation to the retinue, as well as military symbolism and warfare as the source of power, are discussed on the basis of archaeological material of the Livs, Curonians*, Semigallians and Latgallians.

The battle-knife is quite a familiar weapon in Lithuanian archaeological material. The functional characteristics are more important than the length of knife for making decisions about the battle-knife. By appreciating the archaeological material from Marvelė cemetery (central Lithuania), we can observe the process of change in the form of the battle-knife during the Late Roman Period.

The authors recall their reconstruction of the Wielbark Culture cemetery at Krosno grave 27 furnishing. One of the most interesting elements in the grave is a boat-shaped fitting, probably the pommel of a sword typical of Scandinavia. The chronology of the grave corresponds to the dating of such boat-shaped pommels.

This article introduces rosette-headed pins found at Pavirvytė cemetery (in the Akmenė district) in the rich female grave 138. Rosette-headed pins were quite well known in Semigallia. However, most of the ornaments in this grave are more typical of Curonian culture than of the Semigallians. Some decorative elements or ideas probably penetrated from Curonia to Semigallia at the end of the 11th century.