Archaeologia Lituana
Not a member yet
398 research outputs found
Sort by
Vakarų Lietuvos kapinynų laidosenos ypatumai vėlyvuoju romėniškuoju laikotarpiu
Get PDFIn his description of the Aestii in Germania Tacitus makes the important observation that the customs of the Aestian tribes are related to those of the Svebii. In practical and even aesthetic matters ethno-culturally different communities change more easily than they can adopt a new custom. Thus the appearance of the same burial trends in various groups of funerary sites is very interesting, because in burial practice ideas are not necessarily adopted for material advantage or aesthetic charm. It is known that there are spatial and temporal differences between the customs, folklore of different peoples or even among tribes of the same ethnic origin. The development of these specifics is also different. In their research of Barbaricum in Roman-age Europe, archaeologists look for the influence of Roman ideas on funerary rites and in southern areas they seek Sarmatian influences. Of equal interest in the search for translation of ideas in funerary practice from one barbarian tribe to another.The aim of this article is to draw attention to certain aspects of burial rites in stone circles in the grave sites of (what is now) Western Lithuania. These aspects could be regarded as common to the region. Most evidence is taken from the graves of Baičiai/Baitai (formely Baiten) in the Klaipėda District. These date from the second half of the Old Iron Age (or the later Roman Age).In graves in this area stones often do not only surround the area of the burial pit but also lie on top of the pit, on its in-fill or base. Investigation of grave goods in Baitai has shown that in the end of the Old Iron Age the method of placing stones in the pit ore above it has quite varied. In the middle of “classical” (circular or oval) stone rings single stones were placed (e.g. child’s grave 9) or a layer of several stones was set down; often reaching the bottom of the pit. Thus in Baitai woman’s grave 24 (ill. 1) a compact stone floor covers the area of the pit contours, covering all except the place reserved for the top of the head. Stones covered a depth of 0.35–0.70 m, reaching the bottom of the pit. Similarly a great part of the pit-infill of Grave 31 comprices stones of various size which do not form a complete base on the level marking the top of the grave pit (ill. 2) . However, in a depth of 50–65 cm the base “spread out” across the whole area of the pit. A part of the small decorations of the horse or corpse were pressed down by the stones or fell among them. The teeth of the person and 2 horses which were sacrificed in his honour spread over quite a wide area at varying depths. These “variations” in laying down stones were in use at more or less the same time since the chronology of graves investigated hitherto in Baitai is not broad (the end of C2 and the C3 period). However, examining material from other stone circle graves in Western Lithuania, we notice that the irregular covering in the middle of the pit floor with stones or the casting of stones into the burial pit, thereby more or less weighing down the corpse, is typical of the later stages of grave use. Changes in the ways of using stones as grave equipment over the Roman period is noticeable in Ugro-Finnish graves in Estonia, where burials with stones took place from the Bronze Age to the late Iron Age. In Tarand graves on the end of the fourth century we note a degeneration in Tarand stone constructions – stones from the grave walls begin to differ slightly from other stones, the dead are buried in the middle or in the edge of earlier Tarands. Having examined available Scandinavian material the author notes the possible hypothesis that in the end of the period “traditional” stone layers above the grave pit, inherited from earlier periods began to disappear everywhere. Perhaps this process took place at the same time as the gradual dissapperance of the barrow tradition in certain areas of Jutland and Scandinavia. In archeological material from the Sambian peninsula we also notice during the late phases of Dollkeim–Kovrovo culture that barrows disapear and more stone-floor graves appear. Thus in all Northern Baltic graves in the Roman period we find the gradual decline of earlier “grandiose” and “ideal” stone form constructions (such as large barrows with accurately – laid concentric stone circles-bases or carefully laid massive stone boxes (bearing in mind primarily those regions where such stone constructions were built before the Roman period). In graves in Western Lithuania we note that in the course of time the form of grave equipment becomes “personalised” for each corpse (see stones’ setting form in Baitai Grave 3: ill. 3), surrounding the grave with a separate ring or joining it to another.This study also examines several other aspects of stone circle grave burials in Western Lithuania which are to be found in the Baitai graves site; viz. the use of layers of branches/stakes and clay in grave pits and the dual-layer burial of corpses. However in Baitai Grave 30 marks of wooden stakes or branches are highlighted by blackered sand (ill. 2, below). It is difficult to tell whether these stakes, similar to branches of trees or bushes, were laid down by the grave pit as a base for the circle or covered the pit. The fact that it was not uncommon for such ordinary material as branches, twigs to be used for grave construction is shown by the exceptionally rich grave goods of a woman’s grave, dated AD. 300 in Sweden (Tuna/Badelunda in Västmanland). The bottom of this grave pit was covered with a layer of twigs. On this “bedding” lay a wooden box-staped coffin or a wooden stand/platform with a covering of thick planks above the pit. A similar form of pit construction was noted in Rostołty – type barrows, which spread across the Narew area (in what are now the Polish wojewodstwa of Białystok and Bielsk).Clay is used in constructing grave pits in Baitai in two ways, like in the Marvelė grave site (Central Lithuanian grave site group) – to frame the grave pit (see ill. 1, Baitai Graves 22-22A,26) and in separate pieces (see ill. 4 Bailai Grave 38). The “strengthening” of the grave pit with clay is also to be found in the Dauglaukis site (Nemunas area). In graves of the Sambia/Nadrovia cultural groups too there are examples of the special use of clay.This article draws special attention to Baitai grave 38–38A whose finds incline one to think that 2 corpses were buried here. Since skeletal remains are almost not found from this grave site of uncremated burials, most often the position of the corpse is estimated from the form of the pit and the position of grave goods. The supposition that at last 2 corpses were buried in Grave 38–38A the pit (with an orientation of 25° NE–205° SW) is conformed not so much by the unusualy long, quite narrow (3.4–3.5 x 0.8–0.9 m) pit or its uneven depth and differing intensity of its burned sand, as by the fact that the human teeth found in the southern end of the pit and fragments of finger bone near brass rings in the middle near the pit could not, anatomically, belong to the same person – they are separated by a distance of approximately 1.15 m (ill. 4). The wires – elements of clothing decoration found near the teeth are more typical of women’s graves. Therefore we suppose that in the southern / sourth western end of the pit a female corpse was interved. She would have been buried partly above the other corpse, remnants of whose fingers were found near the rings. If skythe and glass bead found at the northern end of the pit and were placed there for the corpse-owner of the rings, then we should assume that the “Iower” burial was male. In Lithuania archeological material several skeletal graves from the second half of the Old Iron Age where one body was buried above another have been found among the barrows of the Marvelė grave site, and the graves site at Kalniškiai. Although they are not common, similar “2-storey” double burials are found during the Roman period in that areas of the European Barbaricum. According to material available to the Author, such graves are found in Poland (Vistula river basin and in Masłomęcz culture group), the Scandinavian peninsula and Gotland. Two or even more corpses buried in one pit are regarded by reserches as an effect of various disasters or epidemics. The Polish archeologist A. Kokowski thinks that the burial of the remains of women and children at different times in a common pit (found in Masłomęcz) most likely bears witness to the living tradition of reburying a mother’s remains several times in order with the deaths of her children. A sixth-century Greek historian Procopius described the strange custom of the Herules (a branch of the eastern Goths) for widows to kill themselves (by changing) beside their husband’s grave. Even if such a tradition really did exist among one of the Barbarian tribes it still remains not unclear whether the spouse-suicide was buried in her dead husband’s grave or was burried in a grave dug separately for her. Thus widow-sacrifice can be unrecognisable in archeological sources.The variety of equipment in Baitai graves reveals a similarity of burial custom (in its detail) with more distant areas of the European Barbaricum. Similarity of grave layout does not necessarily indicate ethnic identity. Perhaps this is a part of those customs, on the basis of which, at the end of the first century A.D. Tacitus attributed the Aestian tribe, which researchers identify with the maritime Balts, to the Germanic world
Labanoro lobio Prahos grašiai Lietuvos muziejų rinkiniuose
Get PDFIn this article, the author discusses the hoard of Prague groats of Wenzel IV and the early Lithuanian coins, found in Labanoras (Švenčioniai district). The hoard consists of 5 Prague groats of Charles I, 393 Prague groats of Wenzel IV and I forgery of Prague groat of Wenzel IV. Currently, 2 groats of Charles I, 141 groat of Wenzel IV and the forged groat are in the National museum of Lithuania, 2 groats of Charles I, 180 groats of Wenzel IV – in the Nalšia museum (Švenčionys) and 1 groat of Charles I and 72 groats of Wenzel IV – in the museum of Utena.The Prague groats of Charles I are classified according to the typology of V. Pinta. Only latest varieties, dated 1370–1378, are found in this hoard. The Prague groats of Wenzel IV are classified according to the system of S. Veselý. Thus, the system of three ordinations is used. I ordination is dated 1378–1386 and in the Labanoras’ hoard consists of 5 coins; II ordination is dated 1405–1407 and consists of 27 coins; III ordination is dated 1407–1419 and consists of 61 coin. The mintage of the coins from III ordination could probably been continued by Hussits in 1419–1430. The author states that the process of “seigern” – thesauration of heavier coins and putting into circulation lighter ones – did exist. This process in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania could begin about 1405–1407, but ended about 1407–1419. This could be proved by the presence of forgery with a weight of 3.18 g, i.e. imitating heavy coin.The hoard is dated of 7-ies of the XV century according to the presence of deniers of Vytautas and Kazimieras. The author doubts if this hoard was hidden in the 3-ies of the XV century, when the situation the Grand Duchy was in the state of civil war – in that time the deniers of Kazimieras did not exist.Finally, the author discusses the circulation of the Prague groats in the teritory of Lithuania. He finds that the Prague groats of 1405–1407 and 1407–1419 emissions were wide spread throughout the Lithuania. Groats of earlier emissions did not spread wide due to their good quality
К вопросу об исчезновении культуры штрихованной керамики в бассейне Нерис (городища и селища в Кярнаве)
Get PDFBrūkšniuotosios keramikos kultūros vėlyvojo etapo ir išnykimo datavimą sunkina skurdi archeologinė medžiaga. Kai kurie autoriai, bandę datuoti vėlyvąjį kultūros etapą, pateikė plačią galimų datų tarp III ir Va. po Kr. chronologiją. Vėlyvosios datos “tempimas” iki V a. pagrįstas nusistovėjusia tradicija, bet ne konkrečiais datuojančiais radiniais. Nustatyti kultūros išnykimo laiką svarbu dviem aspektais: 1) ar kultūros nykimas vyko kaip jos vidinės raidos išdava, ar ji lėmė gyventojų etninės sudėties pasikeitimas; 2) ar nauja Rytų Lietuvos pilkapių kultūra – tai tiesioginis brūkšniuotosios keramikos kultūros palikimas, ar jos atsiradimą lėmė daug sudėtingesni etniniai procesai.Daugiamečių tyrinėjimų Kernavėje duomenys, sugretinus juos su kitų Neries baseino paminklų medžiaga, leidžia aptarti iškeltus klausimus naujais aspektais. Aukuro kalno piliakalnyje Kernavėje brūkšniuotosios keramikos kultūros etapo pabaigą žymi gaisro ir sugriovimo sluoksnis su tokiais datuojančiais radiniais kaip Djakovo tipo svareliai (1:3–5 pav.), plokštinio antsmilkinio liejimo forma (1:1 pav.). Analogiška situacija Aukštadvaryje, kur sunykimo etapą žymi taip pat Djakovo tipo svareliai, geležinis ritinis smeigtukas, įvijinis antsmilkinis ir kt., bei Nemenčinėje – plokštinis antsmilkinis (1:2 pav.). Su panašiais reiškiniais susidurta ir kituose vėlyvojo etapo brūkšniuotosios keramikos kultūros piliakalniuose Rytų Lietuvoje – tik kai kurie piliakalniai dar naudojami III a., o objektyviai datuojančių kultūrą IV–V a. radinių tiesiog nėra.Brūkšniuotosios keramikos kultūros paminklus keičia naujos gyvenvietės, kurioms būdinga grublėtoji keramika. Joje ryškiai išsiskiria trumpas pereinamasis etapas, kai naudojami turintys abiejų keramikos tipų bruožų puodai. Tai neabejotinai įrodo vietinio substrato buvimą tarp naujų gyventojų. Naujos kultūros formavimosi pradžią Kernavėje žymi tokie radiniai kaip romėniškas sidabrinis 161–162 m. po Kr. Marko Aurelijaus denaras (2 pav.), geležinė lankinė segė lenkta kojele (C1b–C2) (3:3 pav.), importinės stiklinės taurės (C2–C3/D, tipas E 230) fragmentas (3:1 pav.). Tai rodo, kad jau tūkstantmečio po Kr. antrąjį ketvirtį galima laikyti naujos Rytų Lietuvos pilkapių kultūros pradžia, bet ne vėlyvuoju brūkšniuotosios keramikos kultūros etapu. Archeologinės ir antropologinės medžiagos analizė rodo, kad formuojantis naujai kultūrai labai svarbus vaidmuo tenka vakarų baltų etniniam elementui. Vadinasi, brūkšniuotosios keramikos kultūros žmonės nebuvo tiesioginiai Rytų Lietuvos pilkapių kultūros protėviai
Kai kurie latgalių ir sėlių viduriniojo geležies amžiaus dirbinių chronologijos klausimai
No full textStraipsnyje apžvelgti kai kurie latgalių ir sėlių dirbinių chronologijos klausimai, nes iki šiol nemažai įvairių dirbinių formų Latvijos archeologinėje literatūroje yra datuojamos VIII a. Taip yra datuoti Kivtų kapinyno I fazės, Kalniešų II kapinyno kapai, nors akivaizdu, kad dalis Kalniešų II kapinyno kapų yra ankstesni nei Kivtų I fazės kapai. Kita problema yra ta, kad Lietuvos archeologai daug viduriniojo geležies amžiaus dirbinių datuoja kiek ankstesniu laikotarpiu nei latvių archeologai. Todėl autorius, išanalizavęs viduriniojo geležies amžiaus latgalių ir sėlių kapinynų dirbinių formas, priėjo išvadą, kad dalis dirbinių datuotini kiek ankstesniu laikotarpiu, nei yra tradiciškai priimta – VII–VIII a. Tikslinant dirbinių chronologiją, latgalių kapinynų raidoje išskirtina ankstesnė – VII a. datuojama fazė. Ši, šiek tiek ankstyvesnė chronologija sutampa su Lietuvos archeologijos duomenimis.Kartografuodamas chronologiškai ankstyvų dirbinių radimvietes, autorius priėjo išvadą, kad ankstyvų latgalių plokštinių kapinynų ir šioje teritorijoje ankstesniu periodu datuojamų pilkapių, apjuostų akmenų vainikais ir su kolektyviniais kapais, paplitimo arealai sutampa. Tai leidžia manyti buvus etninį ryšį. Šią galimybę patvirtina tokie dirbiniai, kaip apyrankės storėjančiais daugiakampiais galais, juostinės apyrankės kiek paplatintais galais, geležiniai ramentiniai smeigtukai, trikampio formos pakabučiai, kurie buvo rasti tiek pilkapių, tiek latgalių plokštinių kapinynų kapų kompleksuose ir susieja ankstyvesnių pilkapių palaidojimus su plokštiniais latgalių kapinynais. Tai dar kartą įrodo pilkapių kultūros, kaip vieno iš komponentų, buvimą latgalių etnogenezėje
