Lietuvos archeologija

Archaeology, like all sciences, seeks to uncover the unknown by building on existing knowledge and responding to the current situation. The article is dedicated to the description of the current situation of Lithuanian archaeological science. At present, the situation is stable, the system is established and functioning. Research activities are carried out by three institutions with their own publications. Since contemporary Lithuanian archaeology is an integral part of the world archaeological science, it is appropriate to analyse its current state in comparison with the global trends in the development of this science. Two aspects have been chosen for this comparison: the first six editions of the book “Archaeology: Theory, Methods and Practice” by C. Renfrew and P. Bahn and the review of the topics of the last 30th Conference of the European Association of Archaeologists in Rome. They have identified certain features of modern archaeological science. Trends in the development of Lithuanian archaeological science have been identified based on the analysis of articles in three major scientific publications in the period 2006–2023, carried out according to the same criteria. The comparison allowed to identify some peculiarities of the development of Lithuanian archaeological science, the analysis of which has been supplemented by more local issues. The main conclusion of the study is that Lithuanian archaeological science is no longer able to cope with the increasing number of sources.

Within the framework of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, a scientific investigation of the mummified human remains found in Lithuania, the authors of this paper attempted to gather as much information as possible in order to promote and expand the knowledge about the corpses held in the crypt of the Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius. The data collected enabled the history of the church and its burials over the course of time to be reconstructed, providing an original and unique window into Lithuania’s past.

This article analyses the memoirs of Germany’s and Russia’s military and political figures Rüdiger Gustav Adolf von der Goltz, Pavel Bermondt, Gustav Noske and August Winnig, which are first of all analysed as a source for researching the genesis of modern statehood in the Baltic States. All the above authors of these memoirs admit and testify that they did not approve of nor support the emergence of the Baltic States’ statehood. Only Winning, as Germany’s representative for those states, formally gave his recognition when forced to do so by international circumstances, mostly under duress from the Entente countries, while Bermondt, factually supported by R. von der Goltz, tried to compromise the statehood of the Balts using military measures that the minister of war Noske and the entire German government did not even try to contain, whereas the Entente countries were incapable of doing so. Thus, international circumstances after World War I not only created the conditions for the emergence of the Baltic States’ statehood but also acted as obstacles for this statehood to exist, as the imperial aspirations of Germany, as well as Russia, remained vibrant and were still effective in the Baltic Sea region.

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.