Lietuvos archeologija

In 2010, 25 samples of burnt food remains, charcoal, human and animal bones, and ceramics taken from 14 prehistoric sites in Lithuania were dated using AMS and conventional 14C and OSL methods. The obtained dates force the dating of the Neolithic and Early Metal Age ceramic types and styles to be changed by several hundred to several thousand years. On the basis of the new data, the Textile ceramic phenomenon began in East Lithuania circa 4000 cal BC. The Narva type ceramics in the Šventoji region are somewhat earlier (3660–3520 cal BC) than the Globular Amphora style ceramics on the coast and in West Lithuania (3450–2920 cal BC). The dates of the Pamariai Rzucewo culture ceramics (3940–3540 cal BC) confirm the hypothesis that the start of this phenomenon is earlier than the Corded Ware culture in Europe. The first chamotte Corded Ware style date indicates a 2840–2570 cal BC period while the first absolute date (760–515 cal BC) connected with Žalioji (Bratoniškės) type ceramics, supports the hypothesis that such ceramics were used in the Late Bronze Age, not in the Early Bronze Age. Human bones from three cremation urns were dated to 790–380 cal BC. The AMS 14C dates, obtained from burnt food remains, must today be judged cautiously due to the freshwater reservoir effect, which has not yet been investigated in Lithuania, but which could have aged them several hundred years. Two OSL dates obtained from Nemunas type potsherds indicate a 2400 500 cal BC period, but due to large errors they are not reliable.

The research of the area between Lakes Amalvas and Žuvintas was conducted as part of the topic ‘Reconstruction of the Development of the Social Structure and Economic Activity in the Late Ice Age – Early Holocene (10th–1st millennia BC) society in the Trans-Nemunas region (Užnemunė)’ within the framework of the ‘Archaeolandscape’ scientific research project. The fertile top soils of the Dovinė basin encouraged the expansion of the farmed land and the adaptation of the area to farming. This caused the reconstruction of the hydrographic network, which occurred in the Amalvas and Žuvintas basins as early as the mid-19th century. The first news of isolated archaeological finds discovered in ameliorating Amalvas Bog reaches us from that time. The few stray finds did not receive any attention from archaeologists, the only investigated object in the microregion being Varnupiai hillfort, which was excavated by P. Kulikauskas in 1971. The complex investigation of the microregion, which included a pollen analysis of the sediments of Lake Amalvas, supported by abundant radiocarbon dates of the layers, and archaeological research, which were supported by a critical analysis of the sources, the precise location of long known and newly discovered stray finds, and the detection of new objects, created opportunities to look more deeply at the natural and cultural development in the microregion from the oldest times to historical times.

In 2008–2010 the scientific research project ‘The Development of the Landscape according to the Data of Archaeology and Natural Sciences (ARCHAEOLANDSCAPE)’ was carried out. One of the project’s aims was the reconstruction of the lifestyle models and some ideological features of the communities, and to explore relationships between different types (settlements, burials, etc.) of archaeological sites. This paper presents archaeological evidence from the Kurmaičiai microregion, located N of Kretinga town in the Akmena River basin, and their interpretations. Archaeological surveys and excavations of the microregion started before World War II. They have revealed various archaeological objects of different periods, and some were also found accidentally. This paper focuses on archaeological objects dating back to the Early Iron Age and the Roman Iron Age. The examination of the distribution of archaeological monuments has disclosed certain regularities. Three communities were distinguished in the microregion. They had divided their territories into two dichotomic zones: residential- economical and burial-ritual. These zones were separated by the Akmena River.

The article is devoted to the development of the habitation of the microregion in the vicinity of Baliuliai village and Lake Perūnas (Švenčionys District). After comparing the archaeological data, which were previously available, and the information collected during the fieldwork conducted in implementing the ‘Archaeolandscape’ project with data from an analysis of the palaeobotanical samples that were taken, an attempt was made to determine the likely intensity of the human activity in the microregion during various periods from Palaeolithic to historical times. On the basis of the archaeological and palaeoecological science data, the article presents a scheme of the microregion’s habitation.

The article is devoted to a discussion of the results of research conducted in implementing the ‘Archaeolandscape’ project in the Jakšiškis microregion. The research was conducted in the vicinity of one of the largest Lithuanian barrow group, the Jakšiškis and Knitiškiai barrow cemeteries. The most important objective during the project was the search for the settlements of the communities that left them and a series of related questions: what size was the settlement, how intense was its life, what was the nature of the activities in it, and what was its relationship with the nearby sites. An attempt was made to answer these questions using tradition archaeological methods and the spot test.

The article analyses the structure of the archaeological Iron Age (1st–12th century) settlement at Kernavė. By analysing the settlement’s finds, cultural layer, and features, an effort was made to reveal what were the tendencies of their spatial distribution in the settlement and what information the remains of this material provides about the structure of the settlement that actually existed. After systemising the settlement’s material, concentrations, several tens of metres in diameter, of finds and features from separate periods were distinguished. These concentrations are located at a different place in each period. This shows that the archaeological settlement, which occupies a large area, was in fact inhabited sparsely and it appears that it was only separate single-residence farmsteads. These farmsteads did not stand in the same place the entire period of the settlement’s existence; at some interval they were moved a certain distance from the earlier location. The ‘movement’ of the farmsteads occurred within the boundaries of a defined territory, and an archaeological settlement much bigger in diameter gradually formed from the isolated small diameter concentrations within it. The analysis conducted here allows the likely locations of these farmsteads to be distinguished, but data about the structure and layout of these farmsteads is still greatly lacking.

During 2009–2010, the Scientific Research Department of the State Cultural Reserve of Kernavė conducted a field survey in the Neris valley, mostly on the first terrace above the floodplain, in the Karmazinai, Grabijolai, and Kernavė regions. Exploratory test pits were excavated roughly every 50 m and in the wider valleys, in several rows. In this way a segment of river bank about 16.5 km long was investigated and 23 unenclosed settlements from various Iron Age periods were found. The article’s aim is an analysis of the Iron Age settlements discovered during 2009–2010 in the context of the other archaeological sites in the regions. It attempts, with the help of this research, to illustrate the main stages in the habitation of the Neris valley and to discover the special features of the development of the social landscape and the network of Iron Age settlements. It investigates the possible connection of the settlements with the existing burial sites, i.e. barrow cemeteries. It attempts to discover the change in the functional meaning of the hillforts during the various periods of the regions’ habitation. And it analyses the chronology, size, special features of the environment, and other questions about the discovered settlements.

Kodavere settlement district is a lakeside landscape in Eastern Estonia, lying by big inland Lake Peipsi (Peipus). Pöide settlement district is a maritime area on Saaremaa, Western Estonia, lying by the Baltic Sea. The article will introduce the Iron Age landscape in both mentioned settlement districts by the examples of chosen settlement areas and settlement units; the differences and similarities between those landscape types will be described.

The article surveys the prehistory of the Dovilai microregion (Klaipėda District) in light of research conducted in the framework of the ‘Archaeolandscape’ project. It discusses the microregion’s Stone and Bronze Age finds and presents radiocarbon dates from the vicinity of Baitai cemetery. On the basis of the Baitai and Šernai cemetery material, assumptions are made about the founding of two neighbouring communities and the possibilities of the existence of a so-called ‘central locality’ or several important settlements/farmsteads in the microregion in the 3rd century that determined the economic life of these two communities. In the future the search for traces of habitation in the vicinity of Baitai cemetery will be facilitated by a 2009 geomagnetic survey conducted by the University of Kiel Institute of Geosciences and the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany). The fields to the N of Dovilai hillfort were also surveyed. An excavation was used to check one strip of anomalies here. Unfortunately, no archaeological structures have so far been found. Traces of an archaeological site, i.e. a sherd of hand built pottery, were found in Rusliai. Attention is focused on the situation of Baitai village on the border of the lands of the Teutonic Knights (East Prussia), a border which could be an interesting future research object in respect to the formation of the historical landscape. The old cartographic material, which attests to localities that disappeared in the 20th century or earlier, is important for research into the microregion.

The paper deals with bone material from the medieval Viljandi castle in South Estonia. Most of the animal bones belonged to domestic animals, specimens from game were rare. The material from the castle is not typical for food waste, probably it can be interpreted as butchering waste. In addition there seems to have existed a workshop of bone processing or weapon repairing somewhere in the vicinity of the investigated area. Up to now, approximately a hundred artefacts and about 500 pieces of bone working refuse have been recovered from the excavations. The working debris mostly consists of antler fragments; most of the artefacts are also made from antler.