Lietuvos archeologija

The article is devoted to the traditions and technological aspects of Bronze Age and Pre-Roman Iron Age burial pottery in the eastern Baltic. Three types of cemeteries were investigated – flat cemeteries, barrows and stone ship settings. In total, pottery from 13 cemeteries was analysed macroscopically, microscopically and in context. The results of the study show that funerary pottery had different meanings – urns, grave goods, and probably part of a general funerary rite not associated with specific graves. Urn burials followed the main trends of inhumation and cremation burials and were placed in either stone structures or pits. Grave goods – cups and medium-sized pots - were found in inhumations and cremations, mainly placed in the head area of the deceased. The techno-stylistics of the vessels indicate that although the clay paste recipes were similar to those used for household vessels, the funerary pottery did not follow the general trends in shape and surface treatment of household vessels. Analogies to some funerary pottery can be traced in the Sambian peninsula and Scandinavia.

The article presents a classification of the pottery dated to PIII–B2/C1 and a spatial analysis of the pottery, bone, and metal artefacts found at the Narkūnai archaeological complex (Utena District, Leliūnai Eldership). First, a re-examination of Narkūnai’s prehistoric chronology was made using typological studies. Second, on the basis of 14 879 analysed potsherds and 1534 separately examined rim sherds, pottery styles were distinguished in the context of the development of early hillforts’ pottery. Last, by applying a behavioural archaeology theory, the paper analyses the formation processes of the cultural layers and the fragment of the representativity of the archaeological context. A spatial analysis allowed the fragment of the 2nd century palaeorelief to be distinguished, the abandonment process of a single building to be examined, and four asynchronous metallurgical activity areas in the ‘Didysis’ Narkūnai Hillfort to be identified. The latter reflections on prehistoric behaviour are discussed in the context of the appearance and abandonment of the early hillforts and the relationship of the local communities with early metallurgy in the East Baltic region.

The article presents the Trzciniec culture (Trzciniec cultural cycle), an Early and Middle Bronze Age archaeological phenomenon in Lithuania. It analyses various aspects of the concept and chronology of the culture and presents a history of the research in the culture’s territory. Priority is given to archaeological pottery, the main indicator for cultural identification. The article gives the main distinguishing features of the ceramic vessels, their types, their ornamentation, and their attribution to either the East-Trzciniec or West-Trzciniec culture. Finally the article analyses the Bronze Age cultural situation in the Eastern Baltic region and raises the question of whether the Trzciniec culture existed in Lithuania and in what form.

The paper examines the impact of total land reclamation on the Soviet modernisation of agriculture and the countryside, analyses the political, economic, and social aspects of the Soviet reconstruction of the homestead settlement system, and attempts to assess the economic

South-Eastern Lithuanian Stone Age pottery reflects the way of life, nutrition, social status, artistic expression, and intercommunity relationships of its creators and users. Natural conditions unfavourable for the survival of organic material and the intermingling of artefacts from different periods in sandy settlements limit the ability to precisely date and reconstruct the long, distinctive process of Neolithisation that began in the late 6th millennium bc. Analysing the traces of ceramic vessel use, the structure of the pottery, the coiling and decoration technologies, their changes and reasons, it is possible to understand better the traditions of the Forest Neolithic communities and the encounters of different influences in SE Lithuania.