Lietuvos istorijos institutas

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 deals with social relationships as reflected in the Roman Iron Age burial material found in Western Lithuania and the Lower Nemunas area. The burial data are considered at three – regional, cemetery and grave levels. The archaeological material is analysed in terms of both quantity and quality. Socio-economic differentiation is detected by the number of artefact types (NAT) discovered in graves. Quality-wise the main method used is that of grave good combinations where an attempt is being made at identifying grave series in view of different grave good combinations by means of correspondence analysis. Where appropriate, the layout of separate grave clusters in the general spatial development of cemeteries was examined. Consistent examination of Western Lithuanian and Lower Nemunas area cemeteries results in detecting the changes that occurred within Roman Iron Age societies, offers information about how a family position is reflected in mortuary data and suggests relationships between communities.

The aim of this article is to assess the value of Marija Alseikaitė-Gimbutienė’s (Gimbutas) 1946 dissertation published in Tübingen (Germany). It is also important to follow how much of an impact this work had on Lithuanian archaeology and what inspiration it may provide for scholars today. This paper concentrates on the parts of the book which deal with burial customs during the Roman Iron Age. Relevant problems of cultural divisions based on burial site types as per Gimbutienė are examined to see how much this classification may be accepted today. The second part of Gimbutienė’s dissertation, which focused on the meaning of burial customs, provides insights that are still important for scholarship today, and reveals the young scholar’s ability to reconstruct an old belief system and to discern the prospects for the further investigation of burial site material.

Disc brooches from the Roman Iron Age are very diverse in style and execution throughout Europe. Their diversity in the tarand cemetery areas of modern day Estonia and North Latvia is also very high, with many unique traits and some multidirectional infuences being observable. Therefore, regionality in the tarand cemetery areas will be studied through these diverse brooches in order to see whether some motifs, typological groups, or alloys were more preferred in some areas than in others. A typological and compositional approach has been adopted for this. Based on the distribution of certain groups of disc brooches, their surface treatment, and the direction of the infuences, two distinct areas can be seen: Northeast Estonia and Southeast Estonia–North Latvia. !e study shows how people in the tarand cemetery areas adopted foreign techniques and stylistic features in accordance with local preferences and used them in their local culture.