Journal:Archaeologia Baltica
Volume 11 (2009): The Horse and Man in European Antiquity (Worldview, Burial Rites, and Military and Everyday Life), pp. 305–313
Abstract
Abundance of horse graves and very expressive horse-offering rituals are well known in the Central region of Lithuania. But principally the new material has been obtained after the investigations of burial ground in Marvelė. Horse graves are usually found separate from human graves, composing special parts of “horse graveyards” in the cemeteries. Arrangement of these parts with horse graves are related to local micro-landscape. The natural and cultural elements with memory signs embody the environmental cosmology and are involved into the mythology. The horse burial places suggest the ceremonies of public displays. The horse becomes a contributor which helps to cross the border between mythological spaces.