Lietuvos istorijos institutas

Adolfas Tautavičius (1925–2006) served for a quarter of a century as the head of the Archaeology Sector of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Lithuanian SSR (1962–1987). This was the most important archaeological position in Soviet Lithuania, allowing him to shape the development of archaeological research. The article examines A. Tautavičius’s scientific activities within the Archaeology Sector. These included administrative work, preparation of scientific output (field investigations, preparation of publications, conferences, pedagogical activities), and personal pursuits in archaeology (collecting a bibliography of Lithuanian archaeology). The reasons behind Tautavičius’s rise to and departure from this position are revealed, as well as the factors that allowed him to remain in it for such a long time.

On the basis of surviving archive documents and the recollections of contemporaries, the article recreates the history of the serial research publication Lietuvos Archeologija (Lithuanian Archaeology) from the appearance of the need to have a separate archaeological publication in Lithuania to the release of volume 1 of Lietuvos Archeologija. This volume passed through four development phases: the appearance of the conception (late 1974–early April 1975), the materialisation of the idea in the form of plans (April–June 1975), its preparation in the Department of Archaeology (second half of 1975– second half of 1977), and its preparation for publication at Mokslas Publishing House (second half of 1977–late April 1979). Consistent studies of Soviet era archaeological history are hindered by the incompleteness of the available sources and the lack of comprehensiveness of the information recorded in them.

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.