This article presents burial rites of State of Lithuania in the 13th and 14th centuries, reveals its features and searches for the interaction between the burial rites and the development of the society. Burial rites are analyzed in a broad context of processes: the spreading of the cremation, the reformation of the religion, the unification of the material culture, the disappearance of regional differences and the establishment of the Lithuanian nation. Furthermore, the data of anthropology and genetics is examined. In the article, the burial rites of the 13th and 14th centuries are seen as an integral part of the evolution of State of Lithuania.
Journal:Archaeologia Baltica
Volumes 21-22 (2015): Horizons of Archival Archaeology, pp. 58–70
Abstract
The micro-region of the lower reaches of the River Šventoji in the Roman Iron Age falls into the range of flat cemeteries surrounded by stone circles. The territory to the north of the River Šventoji is considered the periphery of this culture, which has characteristic burial rites, one of which is the absence of stone circles. This peripheral culture in the territory of Latvia is described by using the results of the Mazkatuži (Rucava parish) cemetery investigations. The surviving research material and archival data about artefacts found in the lower reaches of the River Šventoji allow us to review and revise the data about burial rites and settlement structures in Kurzeme during the Roman Iron Age.
Journal:Archaeologia Baltica
Volume 8 (2007): Weapons, Weaponry and Man (In memoriam Vytautas Kazakevičius), pp. 214–222
Abstract
Weapons and warfare played an important role in Baltic society. The aim of this article is to examine the weapons and weaponry of the Semigallians, to look at what weapons-related burial customs existed in Semigallia, and to compare them with those of the other Baltic tribes. The geopolitical situation of the Semigallians determined that weapons had a special importance. Certainly not all weapons were placed in graves. We do not find any arrowheads. Although we have found many weapons, nevertheless the weaponry itself was not very diverse. Only spears and close combat weapons, battle-knives, were placed in graves. Spearheads of several types were used. The battle-knives used in Semigallia had a very unique form, and, most importantly, they were placed in a grave in an order characteristic only of Semigallians.