Archaeologia Baltica

Theophany is the manifestation of a deity, an act of revelation to the world. Traces of theophany (a visit or activity of the gods) are left in stone and dendromorphic features. Therefore, theophany is possible at any time, or at least at some point, for example, in the event of an accident or illness. Sites of theophany are visited in the hope of recovering or preserving health, to carry out therapeutic procedures, or perform ritual actions. This paper analyses data on stone and dendromorphic theophany in 15th to 18th-century written sources, and identifies reflections of it in 19th to 21st-century therapeutic methods of folk medicine, on the basis of archival records and the author’s records of healing beliefs.

Metal spoons from archaeological excavations in Lithuania are a rare find. Therefore, no research has been done on their shape, chronology or provenance. The aim of this article is to identify what types of metal spoons were owned by the residents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, whether the spoons were imported or produced locally, and whether the western European spoon trends had any influence on the material culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Only 19 spoons from the archaeology collection of the National Museum of Lithuania are attributed to the 14th–18th centuries. A morphological typology based on the spoons’ finials and handles was chosen in the current study. The first type is a spoon with a hexagonal ball finial from the second half of the 14th century. The other five types of spoons, from the second half of the 16th century and the 17th century, are characterised by a strawberry-shaped finial, an apostle figure, a twisted handle, a flat handle, and a hexagonal handle, respectively. The last type — a spoon with a rounded top — belongs to the end of the 17th century and the18th century. The spoon types and their chronology correspond to the types of spoons produced in northern, western and central Europe during the same period. This indicates that residents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania not only followed the trends of the European cutlery fashion but also reacted promptly to changes. Although there is insufficient data to say with certainty whether non-precious metal spoons were produced in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it can be shown at least that the goldsmiths there produced silver

The article focuses on problems of chronology and textual development in the Ruthenian translation of the Czech Lucidarius. This translation is known from five published and one unpublished Cyrillic manuscript copies written between the second quarter of the 16th and the early 19th century. A new explanation of the information contained in these manuscripts regarding the time of the translation and the dating of the Czech original is proposed. Particular attention is paid to establishing the initial structure and sequence of the texts in the Ruthenian translation, which reflect its non-extant Czech printed source.

The article examines the political relations between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, especially Žemaitija as a constituent part, and Žemgala (Semigallia), from the beginning of the 1279 Žemgalian uprising against the Teutonic Order until the rule of Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania. The author tries to explain why Gediminas used the title of Duke of Žemgala in his letters of 1323, although in other cases, the title of the Lithuanian rulers does not include the name of Žemgala, and neither do other sources describing the territorial structure of the grand duchy mention Žemgala as part of it. Some historians have already argued that Žemgala was joined to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1279. The article re-examines this argument, and tries to validate it. The cooperation of Lithuania (especially Žemaitija) with the Žemgalians during the war of 1279–1290 shows that the integration of Žemgala into the Lithuanian state was in fact its integration into Žemaitija during the war. The author concludes that this integration was not denied by the time Gediminas took power, despite the fact that the Teutonic Order had already initiated a new phase in the invasion of Žemgala. Gediminas used the title of Duke of Žemgala because he actually controlled most of Žemgala. A substantial part of it remained permanently within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

This paper analyses some interconnected aspects of Lithuanian folk astronomy. The same mythical–poetic images linking sky luminaries, things in the natural world, and mythological beings as well as human beings are present in Lithuanian mythicalpoetic folklore and in the names of textile ornamentations. Their semiotic net generally comprises flowers, plants, wild and domestic animals, celestial luminaries and mythical people as well as human beings and their artefacts. The investigation of images reveals the mythical-poetic linkage between all the celestial luminaries and concepts of light, marriage and fertility that belong more generally to the Sun Maiden mythology complex.