The Late Neolithic Grave at Gyvakarai in Lithuania in the Context of Current Archaeological and Anthropological Knowledge
Volume 6 (2006), pp. 8–21
Pub. online: 28 September 2006
Type: Article
Open Access
Open Access
Received
12 February 2006
12 February 2006
Published
28 September 2006
28 September 2006
Abstract
The paper discusses a rare archaeological and anthropological find – a Late Neolithic grave, found in the year 2000 in Gyvakarai village (Kupiškis region). The site was discovered by chance, when local inhabitants were digging gravel from the slope on the left bank of the Žvikė creek. Radiocarbon dating (two separate samples of bone analysed): 3745±70 bp (right tibia, Ki-9470) and 3710±80 bp (left ulna, Ki-9471) confirmed the initial supposition of Late Neolithic, and actually falls to the very end of this period. The following grave goods associated with the inhumation were found: boat-shaped polished stone axe with shaft-hole; hafted axe, produced from flint of a greyish colour; a blade knife, produced from flint of a greyish colour; a hammer-headed bone (antler?) pin, found among disturbed bones of the burial (to our knowledge this is the first hammer headed pin in Lithuania).
The osteological analysis of the burial revealed that the bones belonged to one fragmentary skeleton. Bone fragments are well preserved, and were from parts of the skull vault, both maxillas, the right side of the mandible, five cervical, twelve thoracic, five lumbar vertebrae, fragments of ribs, the handle of the sternum, both clavicles and scapulae, humeri, ulnae, right radius, right and left hand bones, fragments of both coxal bones, femora, tibias, fibulas and bones of the feet. The skeleton belonged to an adult male that died at the age of 35-45 years. The skull vault was too fragmentary for measurement, visually it can be evaluated as hypermorphic, dolichocranic, with an average or even a broad face. The postcranial skeleton is hypermorphic, with marked muscle insertions. The reconstructed stature is 173-176 cm. Such a massive skeleton is typical of other Lithuanian Corded Ware/Boat Axe culture people, and similar to those found in Estonia, Prussia and later the Fatyanovo people from the Central Russian plain.
This new case forces us to revive the long-lasting discussions about the origins of Indo-Europeans and the Balts. Summarising the current empirical facts and hypotheses based on archaeological, linguistic, anthropological and genetic data, we can find support for both migration and acculturation models. All known Corded Ware/Boat Axe burials in Lithuania are singular, contain individuals of adult/mature age, are associated with a particular set of grave goods and characterised by a very specific phenotype – these facts would support the hypothesis of immigration. However, some facts would also speak for the acculturation hypothesis: probably the adoption of the Indo-European language was earlier, via cultural transfer, and migrants of Kurgan people already found communities with whom they could communicate. However, they left no significant impact on the local anthropological substrate.