Archaeologia Baltica

The grave goods from Linkuhnen (Rževskoje/Linkūnai) indicate continuous usage of the cemetery from the Roman Iron Age and the Migration Period to the Viking Age (second to 11th century AD). A closer look at the fibulae from Linkuhnen offers an overview of the changing cultural relationships with the neighbouring areas during the 1,000 years of occupancy of the site. The interpretation of Linkuhnen is closely linked to its topographical position close to the River Nemunas (Neman/Memel). The hypothetical alteration of the course of the River Nemunas, suggested by V. Žulkus, has to be discussed for its potential impact on the site of Linkuhnen and its relations with neighbouring areas at the end of the first millennium.

The article discusses the rapidly changing geocultural situation from the fifth to the seventh century in east and southeast Lithuania. As chiefdoms with strong leaders were taking shape from the fifth to the seventh centuries, the demonstration of power by means of exceptional weapons and other cultural elements became a highly important factor.

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

In Oberhof (Aukštkiemiai, western Lithuania) cemetery, several groups of weapon furnishings can be distinguished. “Sword graves” occupy the central positions when charted on a reconstructed plan of the burial site. Graves are located further away from these centres as the number of weapons contained decreases. Weapon equipment is a key to deciphering the spatial structure of the cemetery.

The author shows traces of the influence on the Baltic shafted weapon from the territory of Poland (Bogaczewo Culture, Sudovian Culture). These cultures present completely different views of the shafted weapon. In the former, the “Przeworsk” cultural impact prevailed, in the latter the Lithuanian influence is noticeable.