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 aim of this article is to assess the value of Marija Alseikaitė-Gimbutienė’s (Gimbutas) 1946 dissertation published in Tübingen (Germany). It is also important to follow how much of an impact this work had on Lithuanian archaeology and what inspiration it may provide for scholars today. This paper concentrates on the parts of the book which deal with burial customs during the Roman Iron Age. Relevant problems of cultural divisions based on burial site types as per Gimbutienė are examined to see how much this classification may be accepted today. The second part of Gimbutienė’s dissertation, which focused on the meaning of burial customs, provides insights that are still important for scholarship today, and reveals the young scholar’s ability to reconstruct an old belief system and to discern the prospects for the further investigation of burial site material.

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.