Klaipėdos universitetas

Usually, monumentsepigraphs keep a lot of personal and social information about a buried person.This general information may help to better understand the community orresidents of a specific area. This is especially true in the case of Klaipėda region and itsnative population. The results of analysis of survived epigraphs of old Evangelico-Lutherancemeteries in Klaipėdaregion are presented in this article. The research was done using socialstatistical methods, which are usually used to characterize social community.The obtained results allow modeling the stratification organization of formerpopulation.

The article deals with the diversity of herbaceous and ligneous ornamental plant species and their distribution in the old cemeteries of Klaipėda Region. Studies were carried out in 40 cemeteries of Šilutė district, during the vegetation period in 2012. The cemeteries differed in their area, the intensity of their use, and care. In the majority of cases, one to ten species of ornamental plants were found. The largest diversity of ornamental plant species (over 20) were found in the currently used and cared for cemeteries in Mantvydai I and Kukorai. The total number of ornamental plants species established in the cemeteries was under 60. Among the ligneous plants, the common lilacs (Syringa vulgaris L.) and thuja (Thuja occidentalis L.) prevailed. Among the herbaceous ornamental plants, several species and varieties of plantain lily (Hosta L.), common columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris L.), and lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis L.) prevailed.

The article focuses on the state of the old cemeteries in Klaipėda Region and their place in the system of the local culture heritage. All that shall be revealed by actualizing the issue as an outcome of World War 2, when the Region lost almost all local population who were substituted for by settlers with the culture and religion alien to the land. The historical-confessional characteristics of legal evolution of the old cemeteries of the region are discussed by disclosing the transfer of their legal-administrative subordination from church to municipal jurisdiction. General characteristics and problems of the relationship of the new settlers with the old heritage are discussed. The value of the cemeteries in terms of heritage protection is emphasized.

Briefly presented in this paper are the results of the 2007 and 2008 excavations at the complex of ancient sites at Ogresgala Čabas. Particularly significant discoveries were made in the Liv cemetery site, which presented a surprising diversity of grave practices, among which particularly significant are the stone circles surrounding the graves, the offerings of artefacts, the sacrifice of a horse and possible sacrifice of a woman. Considering the horse graves at Ogresgala Čabas, in the cemetery adjacent to Daugmale Hillfort and the offerings of horse body parts at cemeteries in the Lower Daugava area, it seems that the horse played a greater role in Liv mythological belief and ritual than has been assumed hitherto.