Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis

The period from the 16th to the 17th century is known for changes in material culture, especially in dining traditions, as different tableware appeared, replacing the dominant pottery of the medieval period. New types of technologically and functionally advanced vessels and dishes including Dutch and Italian tin-glazed earthenware, German stoneware, and a variety of slipwares were changing dining traditions across Europe. All this can be observed from the archaeological material uncovered in what is today Vilnius old town. Tableware from both western European and Ottoman manufacturers was found during archaeological excavations in Vilnius. Compared to the Middle Ages, the total number of imported wares increased significantly. Medieval tableware was very rare in Vilnius and available exclusively to individuals of high social classes but during the early modern period the situation changed. Imported pottery of the 16th and 17th centuries showed that inhabitants of the town were influenced by western dining traditions and usage of imported tableware in their everyday rituals had grown significantly. Focusing on this change traced from Vilnius old town archaeological material, the paper will examine whether imports

The process of the recolonisation of northern Europe after deglaciation is related to groups of hunter-gatherer societies called

The paper discusses the territorial-geopolitical aspect of the Lithuanian policy during the First World War, which is still not sufficiently studied or properly understood. It concerns the strategic line proposed by members of Lithuania’s conservative elite. The visible side of the line was a game of orientations: first pro-Russian, then pro-German. However, these orientations were based on an ethnographic principle, which created preconditions for the practical development of the Lithuanian nation. On the other hand, the ethnographic principle was related to the idea of national self-determination, raised by the democratic thought, which paved the way for Lithuanian national statehood. Therefore, the strategic line offered by some of the Lithuanian elite went beyond party ideology and became national.

The aim of our article is to discuss a rather well-known artefact from the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius. Although the bracelet has been somewhat widely published and exhibited, the information that usually accompanies it is little more than modest. Although it is generally pointed out that the bracelet is adorned with an Arabic inscription, there is still a question mark present. In this article, we will offer a transcription and a translation of the inscription on the bracelet, along with some parallels, which will allow us to determine the origin of this unique find in Lithuanian archaeological material.

The article concentrates on the role and importance of the intellectual culture of contemplative female orders in the societies of the onetime Vilnius. The article depicts the use of normative liturgical texts and the preaching creativity in the religious activity of the order. What was emphasized were the books functioning in the characterised environment as well as the individual and collective religious reading matter and the organisation and contents of the monasterial libraries.