The vast majority of Estonian Bronze Age (1800–500 cal BC) large metal items (axes, spearheads, sickles) are single stray
finds. In contrast, bronzes from settlements are mostly associated with on-site metal casting (casting waste and broken objects),
and burial sites have yielded objects of a personal nature, e.g. tweezers, razors, and clothing-related items such as buttons.
Some of the stray finds have been linked to possible settlement sites. Deposition in bodies of water has been suggested as an explanation for a couple of items. Although deemed to have been precious prestige items, the reasons for their seemingly contextless find situation have until now not been systematically explored. This study addresses the character of the find locations. To infer the original deposition environment, archive material and topographical and geological data were combined. The results indicate site-specific patterns in the distribution of artefacts, with a preference for wet contexts (especially rivers). This is particularly well illustrated by two regions with bronze items from both the Early and the Late Bronze Age: Kumna in northwest Estonia, and Reiu in southwest Estonia. The patterns noted suggest intentional human activities, possibly related to the phenomenon of depositing bronzes on the landscape, as is identified in other parts of Europe.
Journal:Archaeologia Baltica
Volume 17 (2012): People at the Crossroads of Space and Time (Footmarks of Societies in Ancient Europe) I, pp. 46–59
Abstract
The article describes a newly found deposit of natural amber in Estonia. The deposit was discovered in the village of Vintri on the Sõrve peninsula, on the island of Saaremaa. It is the first time when the site has been fixed and documented; the find site has been fixed and documented. All earlier literature on the natural sciences and archaeology claims that natural amber is not found in Estonia, or is only found occasionally as marginal stray finds. The article describes the newly discovered deposit of natural amber, and also refers to other possible find sites that are known, mainly based on oral information. The Vintri deposit is dated according to two different methods, and the article explains both results. The article gives an overview of archaeological amber finds in Saaremaa at the time, and discusses their possible origin and use.
Journal:Archaeologia Baltica
Volume 14 (2010): Underwater Archaeology in the Baltic Region, pp. 100–119
Abstract
Between 2000 and 2010, the Asaviec 2 and Asaviec 7 settlements of Kryvina peatbog (Vitebsk region) were excavated. At Asaviec 2 the excavations concentrated on the northern part, where pure materials of Usvyatian culture were found, and also several fragments of a Globular Amphora culture vessel. The excavations of the new Asaviec 7 settlement (up till 2007) gave us pure materials of Northern Belarusian culture, too. Among them are bone, antler and flint items, made mainly according to local Neolithic traditions. There are two 14C dates for this settlement: 3770±90 ВР and 3870±40 ВР.
Journal:Archaeologia Baltica
Volume 13 (2010): At the Origins of the Culture of the Balts, pp. 153–161
Abstract
This paper discusses Bronze Age exchange contacts in Latvia. Changes in the directions of contacts and the nature of the exchange are investigated, looking back at the Neolithic for comparison, and at developments in the Early and Late Bronze Age, focussing on the routes by which bronze arrived and the mechanisms by which objects spread. In the Late Neolithic, directional commercial trade is observable, something that is no longer characteristic of the Early Bronze Age, but which appears again in the Late Bronze Age, when bronze-working centres, which had an important role in the regulation of social relations, developed along the River Daugava. During all of these periods, a prestige chain remained in existence.
Journal:Archaeologia Baltica
Volume 13 (2010): At the Origins of the Culture of the Balts, pp. 140–152
Abstract
The fortification character of the double-ring palisade-structure of Ridala is discussed here. A crucial factor is the legend of the decline and desertion of the site, due to an outside attack. Bone arrowheads as possible explanations for this attack theory are examined, and the events behind the palisade-structure and inhabitation (formation, duration and break-up) are reconsidered. In the end, the function and purpose of the palisades are regarded as being of a symbolic character (religious and political) rather than sanctioned by military threats.
This article reviews current scientific evidence of food resources exploited in the Lithuanian Stone and Bronze Ages and presents the new direct, biochemical stable isotope evidence. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were performed on 75 Stone and Bronze Age animal bone samples and 23 human bone samples. We discuss how the obtained values relate to diet and other evidence of diet, compare the obtained values with regional stable isotope data, and consider sociocultural implications.
New data from archaeological, zooarchaeological and palynological studies of the archaeological sites around Lake Kretuonas (in eastern Lithuania) show that environmental conditions had a great influence on the formation of the economy, settlement and cultural life of its inhabitants. This paper analyses the causes of the changes in environmental conditions and their influence on the population in the Lake Kretuonas area in the Stone Age and Bronze Age.
Journal:Archaeologia Baltica
Volume 8 (2007): Weapons, Weaponry and Man (In memoriam Vytautas Kazakevičius), pp. 32–38
Abstract
A characteristic of the Bronze Age in the area of present-day Latvia was a fairly wide range of bronze, stone and bone weapons. The possibility of military clashes, too, is indicated by the building of fortified residential sites, hill-forts. A whole corpus of evidence testifies to the new way of life adopted by the elite of Bronze Age society, where the ideology of warfare also played a certain role.
The article describes the Vaškai hoard, found in the 19th century. The hoard consists of a Mälar-type axe, a shaft-hole axe and a miniature dagger. At present, the Vaškai hoard is kept in the State Historical Museum in Stockholm and can be dated to the beginning of the first millennium BC or the Bronze Age V (Montelius – period IV).