Lietuvos istorijos institutas

The article analyses the possibilities of using intrasite spatial analysis in Lithuanian Iron Age settlements. It notes the need, prior to an analysis, for identifying the formation processes of the archaeological context. Spatial analysis is the main method for identifying the structure of settlements, although disregarding the changes, which occurred during the formation processes, in the archaeological context usually leads to erroneous conclusions. All the material found at an archaeological site: both individual finds and mass material, is essential for identifying the formation processes, but the most crucial condition is their precise fixation during the excavation.

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.

The article analyses the problem of how representative is the map of Lithuanian archaeological sites. It distinguishes the main factors affecting this representativity: the disappearance of archaeological sites, the methods and intensity of the conducted searches, and the principles used in the creation of the maps (or lists). The conclusion is drawn that the general representativity of the Lithuanian archaeological map is currently very low, the main reason for this being the failure to conduct systematic surveys in the search for new sites. The representativity of various types of sites differs. The representativity of settlements is currently the lowest, but it is also not satisfactory for other types of sites. At the present level of representativity, in analysing questions connected with the systems, density, and evenness of the territory’s habitation, it is essential to take this into consideration. Many questions in general cannot be analysed very well owing to the lack of data. Therefore at the present time, the orientation should be more towards the systematic search for new archaeological sites.

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.

Piliakalnių įtvirtinimai aprėpia ne tik gynybinę, bet ir socialinio statuso išraiškos funkciją, todėl jų įrengimo darbai, jų mastas galėtų būti svarbus požymis bandant išskirti galios centrus gyvenviečių sistemoje. Vadovaujantis šiuo požiūriu, straipsnyje analizuojami XIII–XIV a. Kernavės pilies, susidedančios iš keturių atskirų piliakalnių, įtvirtinimai bei juos įrengiant atlikti reljefo transformavimo darbai. Remiamasi specialiai šiuo tikslu 2018–2019 m. atliktais tyrimais – gręžiniais, georadaro profiliais, šurfais, taip pat ankstesnių metų kasinėjimais. Plačioje teritorijoje surinkti duomenys apie vietovės stratigrafiją leido ne tik rekonstruoti iki piliakalnių įrengimo buvusį paleoreljefą bei atliktas jo modifikacijas, bet ir atskleidė žmonių atliktų reljefo transformavimo darbų ir gamtinių geodinaminių procesų ryšį. Tyrimai parodė, kad piliakalnių įrengimas sukėlė didelio masto erozinius procesus, turėjusius lemiamą įtaką tiek pilies, tiek aplink ją įsikūrusio miesto raidai. Straipsnyje keliama hipotezė, kad Kernavės pilies ir miesto administracinės reikšmės praradimą XIV a. pabaigoje galėjo nulemti būtent žmonių veiklos sukelti eroziniai procesai.

Straipsnyje diskutuojama dėl išsamių regioninių geoduomenų bazių Lietuvos archeologijoje poreikio. Teigiama, kad iki šiol sudarytos duomenų bazės, paremtos archeologinių vietovių koncepcija, nėra pakankamos daugeliui regioninės ir kraštovaizdžio archeologijos keliamų klausimų analizuoti, todėl reikia vientiso kraštovaizdžio (angl. o'-site) koncepcija paremtos duomenų bazės. Ji turėtų būti sudėtingesnė, sudaryta iš daugelio atskirų dalių, todėl straipsnyje pristatoma tik viena kuriamos tokios duomenų bazės dalis, skirta viename regione vykdytiems archeologiniams tyrimams. Pristatyme aptariama jos struktūra ir išryškinamos problemos, kylančios klasi/kuojant labai nevienodo informatyvumo duomenis. Sudaryta duomenų bazė puikiai parodo ir Lietuvos archeologinio žemėlapio reprezentatyvumo lygį – visų iki šiol vykdytų tyrimų mastą, teritorinio pasiskirstymo netolygumus bei taikytų metodų įvairovę. Kartografavus visus vykdytus tyrimus paaiškėja, kad jie daugiausia susikoncentravę tik keliose intensyviausiai tyrinėjamose vietovėse, o aplink jas išlieka dideli regionai, kurie iki šiol iš esmės nepažįstami archeologijos mokslui.