Publications on hillforts, like those in other areas of archaeological research, serve as important sources of knowledge. Their significance has grown in recent years as the number of new hillfort excavations has decreased considerably, and accordingly earlier publications are now referenced more frequently. By 2024, a total of 48 works on hillforts had been published. The question is, however, whether these studies meet the definition of a ‘comprehensive publication’ and whether the data they present is reliable and provides a suitable basis for future research.
A comprehensive publication is a presentation of research material, usually in printed form, containing sufficient data in case the original material is lost. It is in the context of this definition that we here evaluate the Soviet-era publication of excavation results, using the excavations at the hillfort of Narkūnai (eastern Lithuania), conducted between 1976 and 1978 (Lietuvos Archeologija [Lithuanian Archaeology], vol. 5, 1985, pp. 5–49), as a case study. The material from these excavations is well preserved. Due to various restrictions during the Soviet period, the publication of excavation results was very limited. This can be seen from the fact that there are no photographs of the excavations and very little attention is paid to the pottery. Since the scope of research publications is determined by a variety of factors, in order to determine how comprehensive it is, the Narkūnai publication was compared with other works on hillforts published in the recent past. The coefficient obtained shows that the publications from the Soviet period are not comprehensive and do not cover all the research material. Therefore, it is necessary to republish studies on the major hillforts, applying the current advances in archaeological science in the fields of research and dissemination.
Journal:Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis
Volume 46 (2025): Nexuses of Interaction in the Borderland between Lithuania and Prussia in the Pre-Industrial Period = Sąveikos mazgai Lietuvos ir Prūsijos pasienyje ikiindustrinėje epochoje, pp. 111–135
Abstract
Although Janusz Radziwiłł (1612–1655), the Voivode of Vilnius and Grand Hetman of Lithuania, managed to acquire the Tauragė estate on the Lithuanian border with Prussia in the early 1650s, it was just before his death. His granddaughter Ludwika Karolina (1667–1695), who inherited the titles from his daughter Anna Maria (she passed away at an early age), was raised in Berlin and married the son of the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm (1620–1688) there in 1681. The Elector of Brandenburg decided to use this connection to renew his claim to the Tauragė estate (his father Georg Wilhelm had sold it in 1639). In 1688, Ludwika Karolina signed a document in Potsdam renouncing her inheritance rights to the Tauragė estate in favour of the Elector, and this was confirmed in 1691 by a court in Lithuania. Manfred Hellmann, who published a study on Prussian control of Tauragė in 1940, revealed the ambiguity that arose as a result: although Tauragė continued to belong to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, it was in fact controlled by Prussia, whose monarch became the owner of private land in the Commonwealth and had to pay the usual taxes and duties there. The article examines whether or not this political ambiguity was reflected in the depiction of the Tauragė estate on 18th-century maps. The research shows that this depiction was equally ambiguous: while some maps showed Tauragė as a part of Prussia, others did not emphasise the connection at all, continuing to show that the estate belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
This article examines the attitudeof young people of age 18 to 30 from Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Norway towards the national costume. The aim of this article is to analyze and determine how national costume is appreciated by the youth of countries mentioned before. The article briefly presents the preconditions for the emergence and creation of a nationalcostume; it analyzes what kind of information is lacking about national costume. The research was made in 2017-2018. Information was provided by 156 respondents. In conclusion, the worst situation is between Finnish youth and the deepest traditions of costumeʼs wearing has Norway. The results of Lithuanians reveal that national costume is not very important tradition, Latvians show the growing interest in the costume.
This article analyses how the literary legend “The Queen of the Baltic Sea”, authored by Ludwik Adam Jucevičius, spread in Lithuania and Poland in the 19th and 21st centuries. The literary legend was first published in 1839 in Polish with a Lithuanian text of the sea goddess song. In this article, we focus on the spread of this work in non-academic Polish folklore collections. The research reveals how the text of the legend changed in the collections of legends, tales and fairy tales, how lituanistic details were preserved or lost, and who was referred to as the author of the work. The work shows the significance and problematics of folklore sources and their relationship with children’s literature.
Journal:Tiltai
Volume 93, Issue 2 (2024), pp. 180–198
Abstract
This study examines the influence of historical imprints on attitudes towards volunteering among Lithuanians. Using imprinting theory, we explored how the historically evolved Soviet imprints have influenced modern attitudes toward formal volunteering. Quantitative data analysis (N=358) revealed that some Soviet imprints might have decayed, while some were strong enough to survive until modern times to affect attitudes towards formal volunteering. This study examined three Soviet attitudinal imprints: negative attitudes towards non-governmental organisations, external power primacy, and the authoritarian outlook. The results showed that while some imprints might have decayed, some have survived until today. Our findings underscore the enduring impact of Soviet imprints, and suggest that addressing these historical influences is crucial for enhancing volunteering among citizens of post-Soviet regions.