Lietuvos archeologija

The article investigates the social organisation of the societies that left the East Lithuanian barrow culture. It makes a comparative analysis of osteologically identified adult male and female burials. The burial rite elements that indicate an individual’s status were defined in the study: the construction of the barrow, the construction of the grave, burial in an individual or collective grave, burial in a new or previously created barrow, the number of artefacts, the number of artefact types, and the imputed value of the sets of grave goods. A survey of the burials reveals five interconnected status dimensions, namely sex, age, achieved status, ascribed status, and chronological change.