Lietuvos archeologija

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 Daugava River has been one of the most important traffic arteries in the Eastern Baltic region. The establishment of more than 30 hillforts alongside this river reflects the importance of this waterway. Most of these hillforts are understudied. Thus, the bigger picture regarding the hillforts’ inhabitation patterns, chronology, environment, and function(s) remain unknown. As such, the INHILLDAUGAR project seeks to systematically analyze the river’s landscape on a macro scale by combining palaeoenvironmental, archaeological, and linguistic studies. This article presents the genesis of the INHILLDAUGAR project and preliminary results from the 2022 and 2023 field campaigns.

In 2020, the construction of a pipeline led to a rescue archaeological excavation at the 130–240 cal AD Roman Iron Age settlement site near Skudeniai. The discovered material from its brief occupation has provided substantial new data on unenclosed settlements in the Late Striated Ware Culture. The distinct posthole accumulations in the surveyed area make it possible to identify building locations and to analyse the settlement’s structure by differentiating between the domestic and economic activity zones. The collection of pottery from Skudeniai’s brief existence provided a better understanding of the differences between the contemporary pottery groups. The first ever application of the petrographic method in the analysis of this culture’s ceramics also yielded important results that led to a new classification system that established distinctions between the three contemporary pottery groups. The archaeobotanical material from Skudeniai is of great importance for understanding the development of agriculture as it is only the second Late Striated Ware Culture archaeobotanical assemblege from a chronologically pure context. The article also analyses issues related to non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgy and trade connections.

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.