Lietuvos archeologija

Since 1865, the Viking Age cemetery of Wiskiauten in former East Prussia was investigated by first German and later Russian archaeologists. Its more than 500 burial mounds were found to contain mainly Scandinavian grave goods. They are interpreted as the remains of Scandinavian settlers, who ran a trading point in the land of the Prussians between 850 and 1050 AD. Although the cemetery was investigated by both German and Russian scholars, no settlement has been found in the past 140 years. A recent research project used geophysical survey methods covering an area of nearly 150 ha and discovered thousands of anomalies in the vicinity of the barrow cemetery. After archaeological examinations of the past four years some of these anomalies can be connected with settlement activities of the 6th to 13th cent. AD. The results are summarized in this article.