Lietuvos archeologija

The article is devoted to the results of the research of the fortress Tyagin, built by the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas on the territory of the island Bolshoye Gorodishche in the late 14th to early 15th century. The archaeological materials provided valuable information about the syncretism of the complex of monuments on the island, the typology, layout and size of the fortress. It was one of the earliest stone castle-type fortresses on the northern Black Sea coast, a part of the defensive line of the southern borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The fortress’ defensive system included a synthesis of defensive architectural elements, ranging from timber-engineered structures known from Old Russian times to stone walls and buttresses of a new level of fortification in Europe. The fortress was armed with artillery and edged weapons, the main type being crossbows, which were widespread in Lithuania. The fortress of Tyagin was situated at the crossroads of trade routes between the East and the West, at the crossroads of the custom. The artifacts testify to the presence of Lithuanian cultural objects, Genoese influence, contact with Crimea, and trade and economic relations with Poland. The monument is an integral part of the cultural heritage of Lithuania and Ukraine.

The article discusses the model of the spread of cremation in the East Lithuanian barrow culture based on the data of radiocarbon dating. It proposes a review of the model established in literature that a wave of cremation spread from the south of the region to the north between the late 4th century AD and of the early 6th century AD. The stage of the earliest cremations can be dated to 248–335 cal AD, and the stage of the latest inhumations to 420–556 cal AD. This suggests that both inhumation and cremation were practised in Eastern Lithuania for about two centuries from the Late Roman period to the Late Migration period. The hypothesis that the practice of cremation spread from south to north is being corrected rather than refuted. While this process was quite sudden, it was due to the spread of a new tradition alongside the old rather than a wave of change regarding burial rites. Cremation spread early (c. 250–400 cal AD) in the northern part of the region and was an established practice alongside inhumation. The practice of cremation probably became prevalent earlier in Southeastern Lithuania. These processes are synchronous with the emergence of the horizon of the burials of chieftains and warriors in Eastern Lithuania, but the determination of an earlier date for this horizon provides grounds for new discussions about its historical, cultural, and social background.

Gimbutas’ topicalisation of gynocentrism was of great significance in stimulating the study of figurines, influencing the humanities beyond archaeology, as well as a variety of international socio-political movements. The creations have a long tradition of being linked to fertility and suffer a predominantly onesided treatment in research. In this context, the intellectual history of the interpretation of prehistoric social living conditions is analysed, critically questioned and the extent to which historically evolved role models are present in past and recent research is examined. On the basis of selected examples, the methods of ethnological analogy and stylistic analysis are used to contribute to the interpretation of the decorations of the SE European Neolithic material. Additionally, an application-related interpretation is proposed for the Cucuteni-Tripolye figurines of the Poduri set. The second part addresses the impact history of Gimbutas’ opus. Regardless of the justified methodological criticism, its various imprints on e. g. ethnography, feminist studies, as well as outside academia will be acknowledged. The contributions profoundly inspired a variety of societal currents in the USA, Germany and post-socialist Lithuania.

Disc brooches from the Roman Iron Age are very diverse in style and execution throughout Europe. Their diversity in the tarand cemetery areas of modern day Estonia and North Latvia is also very high, with many unique traits and some multidirectional infuences being observable. Therefore, regionality in the tarand cemetery areas will be studied through these diverse brooches in order to see whether some motifs, typological groups, or alloys were more preferred in some areas than in others. A typological and compositional approach has been adopted for this. Based on the distribution of certain groups of disc brooches, their surface treatment, and the direction of the infuences, two distinct areas can be seen: Northeast Estonia and Southeast Estonia–North Latvia. !e study shows how people in the tarand cemetery areas adopted foreign techniques and stylistic features in accordance with local preferences and used them in their local culture.