Lietuvos istorijos institutas

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.

The Daugava River has been one of the most important traffic arteries in the Eastern Baltic region. The establishment of more than 30 hillforts alongside this river reflects the importance of this waterway. Most of these hillforts are understudied. Thus, the bigger picture regarding the hillforts’ inhabitation patterns, chronology, environment, and function(s) remain unknown. As such, the INHILLDAUGAR project seeks to systematically analyze the river’s landscape on a macro scale by combining palaeoenvironmental, archaeological, and linguistic studies. This article presents the genesis of the INHILLDAUGAR project and preliminary results from the 2022 and 2023 field campaigns.