Archaeologia Baltica

The history of the founding of the Kaliningrad region, as part of the USSR, is one of the most vital issues for Kaliningrad historians. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, this problem is actively investigated. The article presents the background and history of these investigations, draws the characterization of them, defines the main historical documents published on this issue, point out the progress of the regional researchers and gives general characteristics of contemporary Kaliningrad historiography.

Unique findings, wells with wooden constructions and buckets made of lime bark in them, were detected recently in the Lieporiai 1 settlement near Šiauliai (in northern Lithuania). These objects were parts of an iron smelting site dated to the fourth to eighth centuries. Reconstructions of the well and the technique of producing lime bark buckets were made by B. Salatkienė and A. Šapaitė. A detailed description of the artefacts and their environment constitutes the first part of this paper, and the technique of reconstruction and producing lime bark buckets forms the second.