Northern Gold: Amber in Lithuania (c. 100 to c. 1200) 9789004211186, 2011035554

Table of contents :
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
List of Appendices
List of Tables
Chronological System Used in the Book
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter One Baltic Amber: Distribution, Main Sources and Accessibility
Chapter Two Amber in Lithuanian Historiography
Chapter Three The Aestii and the Glesum Epoch
Chapter Four Amber in Medieval Lithuania
Conclusions
Appendices and Tables
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

Northern Gold

East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450 General Editor

Florin Curta

VOLUME 18

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/ecee

Northern Gold Amber in Lithuania (c. 100 to c. 1200)

By

Audronė Bliujienė

LEIDEN • BOSTON 2011

Cover illustrations: Front: a compilation of raw amber, a lathed bead and necklace from Užpelkiai. Back: a lathed amber bead from Užpelkiai. © Photographs by Audronė Bliujienė. Language editor: Marianne Noble Translator: Laima V. Sruoginis This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bliujiene, Audrone, 1954– Northern gold : amber in Lithuania (c. 100 to c. 1200) / by Audrone Bliujiene. p. cm. — (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450 ; v. 18) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-21118-6 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Amber—Lithuania. 2. Excavations (Archaeology)—Lithuania. 3. Jewellery, Prehistoric—Lithuania. 4. Lithuania—Antiquities. I. Title. GN799.A5B55 2011 553.8’79094793—dc23 2011035554

ISSN 1872-8103 ISBN 978-90-04-21118-6 Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.

CONTENTS Acknowledgements ................................................................................... List of Figures ............................................................................................ List of Appendices .................................................................................... List of Tables ............................................................................................. Chronological System Used in the Book .............................................. List of Abbreviations ................................................................................

vii ix xxxi xxxiii xxxv xxxix

Introduction ...............................................................................................

1

1.

Baltic Amber: Distribution, Main Sources and Accessibility ....

5

2.

Amber in Lithuanian Historiography ............................................

15

3.

The Aestii and the Glesum Epoch ..................................................

35

4.

Amber in Medieval Lithuania .........................................................

203

Conclusions ...............................................................................................

335

Appendices and Tables ............................................................................ Bibliography ............................................................................................... Index ...........................................................................................................

353 379 407

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work on amber is based on extensive Lithuanian archaeological evidence: excavation reports and data from different archives and museums. This work would never have come into existence without the assistance of my Lithuanian and foreign colleagues, who granted me permission to use their unpublished research, gave me advice and constructive criticism, and who pointed me in the direction of relevant materials and archives. I would like to sincerely thank my colleagues, who were particularly supportive of this work: Dr Audrius Astrauskas, Professor Jan Bemmann, Dr Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, Ramunė Bračiulienė, Donatas Butkus, Professor Claus von Carnap-Bornheim, Jānis Ciglis, Professor Florin Curta, Gytis Grižas, Grażyna Iwanowska, Professor Eugenijus Jovaiša, Habil. Dr Michel Kazanski, Vida Kliaugaitė, Habil. Dr Anna Mastykova, Dr Algimantas K. Merkevičius, Dr Magdalena Natuniewicz-Sekuła, Professor Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn, Mirja Ots, Alfreda Petrulienė, Habil. Dr Dieter Quast, Dr Arnis Radiņš, Dr Christine Reich, Vidas Semėnas, Dr Valdemaras Šimėnas, Konstantin Skvorzov, Dr Jonas Stankus, Laimutė Valatkienė, Dr Vykintas Vaitkevičius, Algirdas Varnas, Dr Ernestas Vasiliauskas and Jevgenijus Žikulinas. I would also like to thank the following museums: The Lithuanian National Museum in Vilnius, History Museum of Lithuania Minor in Klaipėda, the regional museums of Kretinga, Panevėžys and Švenčionys “Nalšia”, the Latvian National History Museum in Riga, the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw, the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin, the RomanGermanic Central Museum in Mainz and Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn. I am grateful to the publisher Versus aureus for permission to make use of several illustrations from my book Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras (Lithuania’s prehistoric amber).

LIST OF FIGURES 1. Area of the distribution of Baltic amber-bearing sediments: 1 primary amber deposits; 2 amber from Paleogene deposits; 3 boundary of distribution of re-deposited amber. I Sambia (Kaliningradskaia oblast, Russia); II Chłapowo (Poland); III Grodno (Belarus) and IV Obuchov (Ukraine) amber deposits. Map redrawn after Vladas Katinas, Iantar’ i iantarenosnye otlozheniia v iuzhnoi Pribaltiki, fig. 12 .................................................. 2. Amber gatherers with scoop nets. After Elżbieta ChoińskaBochdan, “Bursztyn w kulturze”, fig. II.3 .............................................. 3. Fragment of Olaus Magnus map “Carta marina et descriptio septemtrionalium terrarium ac mirabilium rerum in eis contentarum diligentissime elaborate” (Venice, 1539). Map showing the Gdańsk Bay, Vistula Lagoon and Spit (formerly Frische Nehrung, or Aistmarės Spit in Lithuanian) and the Sambian Peninsula with “amber coast”. Map fragment enlarged. After Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Teresa Pietrzak, “Z dziejów rozwoju wiedzy o znaleziskach bursztynu”, fig. 4 ........... 4. “Amber Routes” after Jose Maria de Navarro, “Prehistoric Routes between Northern Europe and Italy Defined by the Amber Trade”, plate I: + main route: early Bronze Age; . . . western route branch: middle Bronze Age;—eastern route: early Iron Age ............. 5. Aestii/Balt Roman period cultural groups: 1 The West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and its peripheral zone the Southwestern Latvian Burial Sites; 2 The Lower Neman Grave Fields; 3 The Collective Barrows culture or the North Lithuanian and South Latvian Barrows culture; 4 The Central Lithuanian Grave Fields; 5 The Southeastern Lithuanian Burial Sites; 6 The East Lithuanian Barrows culture; 7 The Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture; 8 The Bogaczewo culture; 9 The Sudovian culture. Schematic map prepared by the author with additions, after Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr. II, fig. 90; Adolfas Tautavičius, “Lietuvos TSR archeologijos atlasas”, map 1; Wojciech Nowakowski, “Kulturowy krąg zachodniobałtyjski w okrese wpływów rzymskich”, fig. 1; Rasa Banytė-Rowell, “Romėnų įtakos laikai ir baltų kultūrų klestėjimo laikotarpis”, fig. 9 .............................................................................................................

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list of figures

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Amber mining and scooping on the northwestern coast of the Sambian Peninsula. After Philipp Hartmann, “Succini Prussici physica et civilis historia” (Frankfurt, 1677) ..................................... 7. Cross-section of the particular storehouse with the raw amber deposit from the first century BC in the Wrocław-Partynice (Poland) settlement. After Elżbieta Choińska-Bochdan, “Bursztyn w kulturze”, fig. II.59l; archive of Archaeological Museum in Wrocław (photo negative no. 5737) ................................................... 8.1. Lithuanian and south Latvian sites with amber artefacts from the second half of the first century to the eighth century. Diagram prepared referring to excavation reports .......................... 8.2. Amber amount at Dauglaukis (Tauragė district) grave field (AD 150–260). Diagram prepared referring to: Jonas Balčiūnas, Dauglaukio kapinyno (Tauragės raj.) 1983 metų žvalgomųjų archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita; Eugenijus Jovaiša and Arvydas Asadauskas, “Dauglaukio katalogas, kapai” ...................................... 9. Main trade routes and trade directions in Noricum and Pannonia, and the barbaricum, and the southeastern and eastern Baltic regions during Late Antiquity: 1 Fectio (Vechten, close to Utrecht); 2 Cologne (Köln); 3 Mogontiacum (Mainz); 4 Lentia (Linz); 5 Vindobona (Vienna); 6 Carnuntum (Petronell-Carnuntum); 7 Brigetio (Szőny); 8 Aquincum (Budapest); Laugaricio/Leukaristos (Trenčín); Opole. Circles with light grey shadow indicate concentrations of amber workshops and places of salt extraction (Jacewo, Inowrocław, Łojewo, Konary and Krusza Zamkowa); circles with dark grey shadow indicate amber workshops (Regów, Izdebno Kościelne, and Biskupice) and places of iron production in the territory of the Przeworsk culture. Schematic map prepared by the author referring to: Jerzy Wielowiejski, Główny szlak bursztynowy w czasach Cesarstwa Rzymskiego; Przemysław Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich na obszarze kultury przeworskiej”, fig. 18; Ulla Lund Hansen, Römischer Import im Norden, fig. 149; Janusz K. Kozłowski and Piotr Kaczanowski, Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich, fig. 173; Karol E. Natkański, “Burztyn—złoto północy”, fig. 2 ......................................................... 10. Roman Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus (AD 54–68), head of bronze sestertius (Scale 1:3) ...........................

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11. Territory of the Wielbark and Przeworsk cultures and of the Aestii/Balt cultures during Late Antiquity A: the Lower Vistula region and the Wielbark culture ( ) settlement network ( grave field at Weklice) in the Elbląg Heights; the marshy area at the Druźno Lake with wooden plank roads and a platform over the Dzierzgoń (formerly Sorge) River. Schematic map prepared by the author referring to: Andrzej Kokowski, “Kultura Przeworska—zarys dziejów”, fig. 25; Magdalena Natuniewicz-Sekuła and Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Wybrane groby z importami rzymskimi z cmentarzyska w Weklicach”, fig. 2 .................................................................................... 61 12. Wooden plank road II discovered in 1896 in the valley of the Bągart River, in the vicinity of a marshy area at the Druźno Lake. During archaeological excavation it was found that the length of the plank road was c. 1,230 m and the width was c. 3 m. After Wilhelm Gaerte, Urgeschichte Ostpreußens, plate VII; Jolanta Sadowska-Topór, “Starożytne drogi w dolinie rzeki Dziergón, fig. 8 ......................................................................................... 64 13. Loaded wagon (plaustrum) pulled by two horses. Roman soldier Lucius Aemilius Crescens sepulchral bas-relief in BadenBaden, c. AD 70–90. Height 1.92 m, sandstone. After Bärbel Hanemann, “Wagen voll mit Beute—die rekonstruktion der Transportwagen”, fig. 218 ...................................................................... 65 14. Roman imports, single amber artefacts and the main trade and cultural influence directions from the mid first century to the end of the second century: brooches of Type A238; { brooches of Types A69, 68, 67 and A71; other imported brooches; coins; * medallions; amber artefacts; ⇒ the main directions of import inflow to the eastern Baltic region; contact zone around the Baltic Sea marked in darker shade; amber exchange directions between the Wielbark and Dollkeim-Kovrovo cultures 1–3 Sargėnai, in the city of Kaunas, graves 92(233), 98(225) and 352(78); 4 Sandrausiškė, Raseiniai district, barrow II, grave 2; 5{ exact find-spot unknown, Klaipėda district; 6 three coins: Galba (AD 68–69) and Trajan (AD 98–117), exact find-spot unknown, Klaipėda district; 7 Betygala, Raseiniai district sestertius of Nero (AD 54–68); 8{ Barzūnai, Šilutė district; 9 Juodkrantė, formerly Schwarzort, Trajan coin; 10 (A238) and 11 denarius of Claudius (AD 41–54) Bajoriškiai, Kupiškis district; 12 Kiaunorai, Kelmė district;

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list of figures 13{ Kuršiai, Kelmė district; 14{ Pašakarniai, Kelmė district; 15 Pailgotis, Šilalė district; 16{ Paragaudis, Šilalė district, barrow 26, grave 2; 17–18{, Adakavas, Tauragė district; 19 Vienragiai, Plungė district, grave 2; 20 former Eisliethen, grave 4, Primorsk district, Kaliningrad region, Russia; 21 Veliuona, Jurbarkas district sestertius of Vespasianus (AD 69–79); 22* Kaunas district, exact find-spot unknown; 23* bronze Nero medallion: found in Alytus; 24 Rządz, formerly Rodsen, Poland; 25 Nowe Dobra, Poland; 26 Pamūšė, Pasvalys district; 27 Pakalniškiai, Panevėžys district; 28–29 Bronze brooches with enamel inlays: Nemunėlio Radviliškis, Biržai district; Single amber finds: 30 Padvariai, Kretinga district; 31 Kulautuva, Kaunas district; 32 Bajoriškiai, Kupiškis district. Schematic map prepared by the author referring to: Mykolas Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum; Jacek Andrzejowski, “Noryckopannońska zapinka skrzydełkowa”, fig. 2 ........................................... Imported brooches from the second half of the first century to the end of the second century: 1 Type A69 from Paragaudis, Šilalė district, barrow 26, grave 2; 2 Exner Type I.32 from Pamūšė, Pasvalys district; 3 Winged brooch Type A238r from Pailgotis, Šilalė district; 4, 5 Winged brooches (Types A238r and A238m) from Sargėnai men’s graves 352(78) and 92(233); 6 profiled brooch of Type A71 from Kuršiai, Kelmė district, stray find. After Mykolas Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum, plates 2; 3.1,2; 5.3; 6.3 ............................................................................. Late Antique Lithuanian sites with amber artefacts and main trade directions (for find-spots list see: Appendix B). Map prepared by the author referring to excavation reports ................... The typology of the Late Antique handmade semi-lathed and lathe-turned amber beads from Lithuanian burial sites. Groups I–X ............................................................................................... Changes in the Wielbark culture amber-using traditions. After Agnieszka Reszczyńska, “Zabytki bursztynowe w kulturze wielbarskiej i w grupie masłomęckiej” ................................................ Amber amount at Dauglaukis (Tauragė district) grave field (AD 150–260). Diagram prepared referring to: Jonas Balčiūnas, Dauglaukio kapinyno (Tauragės raj.) 1983 metų žvalgomųjų archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita; Eugenijus Jovaiša and Arvydas Asadauskas, “Dauglaukio katalogas, kapai” ......................................

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list of figures 20.1. The second half of the second-century to the beginning of the third-century grave assemblage from Bandužiai (in the city of Klaipėda) woman’s grave 91: 1 iron; 2–5 bronze. After Audronė Bliujienė and Ramunė Bračiulienė, “Prašmatniosios Barbaricum paribio diduomenės moterys”, fig. 5. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda .................................................................... 20.2. The second half of the second-century to the beginning of the third-century grave assemblage from Bandužiai (in the city of Klaipėda) woman’s grave 91: 1 glass paste, amber; 2, 3 glass paste, bronze. Reconstructions by Jolanta Mažeikaitė and Ramunė Bračiulienė, photograph by Kęstutis Demereckas. After Bliujienė and Bračiulienė, “Prašmatniosios Barbaricum paribio diduomenės moterys”, fig. 6. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda ................................................................................................. 21. Necklaces strung with glass, glass paste, gold foil glass beads and bronze pendants from central Lithuania and southwestern Latvia. Second half of the second century to the mid third century: 1 Paviekiai, Šiauliai district, grave 9; 2 Sargėnai, in the city of Kaunas, grave 208; 3 Rucavas Mazkatuži, Liepajās district, Latvia, grave 13/1942. Reconstructions after Regina Kulikauskienė and Rimutė Rimantienė, “Senovės liaudies menas”, figs. 111–112; Latvijas PSR arheoloģija, plate 75.5 ......... 22. The end of the second-century to the beginning of the third-century grave assemblage from girl’s grave 2 found at Pakalniai (Vilnius district), barrow 7: 1–3 bronze; 4 bronze, enamel inlays; 5 glass, glass paste, gold foil glass, amber, bronze. After Vykintas Vaitkevičius, “Pakalnių pilkapiai”, figs. 14 and 15; drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR145) in Vilnius .................................................................... 23. Ulkowy (Wielbark culture grave field in Poland) woman’s grave 67 in situ and grave assemblage (1, 2 clay; 3, 4, 6, 10–14 bronze; 5 bronze and silver; 7–9 silver; necklace: amber beads, glass, silver). Four pierced amber sticks were found separately. The second half of the second century to the early third century. After Małgorzata Tuszyńska, Ulkowy cmentarzysko kultury wielbarskiej na Pomorzu Gdańskim, plates XXVI, LIII.4 .............. 24. Aquileia amber workshops’ production, which influenced the barbarians’ amber and metal ornaments’ forms and style. After Maria C. Calvi, Aquileia: le ambre romane, plates 47; 55; 83; 87; 91; 99; 104 ..........................................................................

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25. Aquileia amber workshops’ production. After Maria C. Calvi, Aquileia: le ambre romane, plates 6; 16; 31; 33; 49; 109; 115; 133 26. Amber collar from Niederzier-Hambach (Kreis Düren, Germany) woman’s grave. Third century (reconstruction). After Rom e, et, und, and, y die Barbaren, p. 103, catalogue no. 73. Courtesy of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn, inv. 803351 ............................................................................................. 27. Amber pendant with two men’s heads from elaborate necklace found in Haßleben (Landkreis Sömmerda, Germany) grave field, in princely woman’s grave 8. Mid to second half of the third century. After Magdalena Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, plate 17 ........................................................... 28. Bronze rosette-shaped tutulus pin from Stragnai (grave context is lost; western Lithuania) grave field and silver- and gold-plated rosette-shaped brooch with amber tutulus adorned with the red semiprecious stone from Haßleben (Landkreis Sömmerda, Germany) princely woman’s grave 8. Mid to second half of the third century. After Rom e, et, und, and, y die Barbaren, p. 83, catalogue no. 273. Courtesy of the LNM (AR38) in Vilnius and Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Thüringens in Weimar ..... 29. Amber necklaces from children’s graves from Užpelkiai (Kretinga district) grave field: 1 grave 43; 2 grave 44. After Bliujienė, Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 182. Photograph by the author ............... 30. Grave assemblage from Baitai (Klaipėda district) grave field, woman’s grave 18: 2, 8, 17 bronze; 1, 2 bronze, textile; 4 textile; 5, 9–13 amber, glass; 6, 7 bronze, iron; 14 iron; 15 sandstone; 16 clay. After Rasa Banytė, “Baitų kapinyno dviejų kapų chronologijos klausimu”, fig. 2. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda ................................................... 31. The third-century grave assemblage from Marvelė grave field man’s grave 136: 1 amber; glass paste, glass; 2 bronze. After Mindaugas Bertašius, Ein Gräberfeld Mittellitauens, plate CLXXXII.1, 2 ................................................................................ 32. The third-century grave assemblage from Naujasis Obelynas (Šilalė district) grave field woman’s grave 11: 1, 2, 4, 5 bronze; 3 amber. After Audrius Astrauskas, “Naujojo Obelyno (Šilalės raj., Upynos apyl.) kapinyno”, fig. 12. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius .....................................................................................................

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list of figures 33. Fragment of the necklace from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district) grave field woman’s grave 23/1996: amber, iron. Second half of the third century. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 176. Photograph by Vytas Karaciejus. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga (KrM 1686) ............................................................................ 34. The second half of the fourth-century early adultus woman’s necklace from Pašekščiai barrow field, barrow 12: amber, glass, glass paste. After Gytis Grižas, Pašekščių pilkapyno Molėtų raj, tyrinėjimų ataskaita, 2002 m. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius ........................................................ 35. The fourth-century woman’s grave 305 in situ and grave assemblage from Marvelė (in the city of Kaunas) grave field: 1–10 bronze; 11 amber. After Mindaugas Bertašius, Ein Gräberfeld Mittellitauens, plate CLII.1 .............................................. 36. The first half of the fifth-century step-cut amber beads (stray finds) from Užpelkiai (Kretinga district) grave field. After Bliujienė, Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 211. Photograph by Antanas Lukšėnas ... 37. The second half of the third-century grave assemblage from Rucavas Mazkatuži (Liepājas district) woman’s grave 20/1942: 1–4 iron; 5–8 bronze; 9–18 amber, glass, bronze; 19 sandstone. After Edvards Šturms, “Mazkatuźi Liepājas aps”. Photograph from archive of the LNVM. Courtesy of the LNVM (A9952) in Rīga ..................................................................................................... 38. The second half of the third-century grave assemblage from Rucavas Mazkatuži (Liepājas district) man’s grave 7/1960: 1 amber; 2 bronze; 3, 4 iron. After Pēteris Stepiņš, Izrakiemiem Liepājas raj. Rucavas c. p/s Rucava. Photograph from archive of the LNVM. Courtesy of the LNVM in Rīga .................................... 39. Typology of the Late Antique Aestii amber pendants. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 178 ................................................................ 40. The Aestii amber pendants from Rucavas Mazkatuži (1–4, 8), Baitai grave 2 (5) and grave 4 (7), Užpelkiai stray finds (6, 11), Lazdininkai stray finds (9, 10, 12) and grave 63/2000 (14); Muoriškiai (Biržai district) barrow 4, stray find, bronze (13). Photographs by Audronė Bliujienė, Kęstutis Demereckas, Antanas Lukšėnas, Kęstutis Stoškus and Christine Reich ............. 41. The second half of the third-century grave assemblage from Rucavas Mazkatuži (Liepājas district) child’s grave 4/1960:

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1 amber; 2, 3 bronze; 4 iron; 5 flint. After Pēteris Stepiņš, Izrakiemiem Liepājas raj. Photograph from the archive of the LNVM. Courtesy of the LNVM in Rīga ........................................ 42. The second half of the third-century grave assemblage from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district) woman’s grave 23/1996: bronze, glass inlays, necklace: amber, glass, iron. Photograph by Vytas Karaciejus. After Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts”, fig. 6. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga (KrM 1686) .................. 43. The first quarter of the fifth-century grave assemblage from Pavajuonys-Rėkučiai (Ignalina district) barrow field, barrow 11, child’s grave 1: 1, 4–6 amber; 2, 3 bronze; 7–11 silver. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. After Bliujienė, “Watershed between Eastern and Western Lithuania during the Early and Late Migration Period”, fig. 4. Courtesy of the ŠNM in Švenčionys ... 44. The second half of the third-century Netta (Augustów district, Podlaskie voivodship in Poland) grave field of the Augustów group of the Sudovian culture. Urn grave 108A (female adultus with amber beads and pendants) and pit grave 108B (male adultus and female early adultus. Note: bones from urn probably mixed with pit bones). 1, 9 clay; 2 silver; 3–8 amber. After Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, Netta: a Balt Cemetery, plate LVI. Courtesy of the PMA in Warsaw .............. 45. Boćwinka (formerly Alt-Bodschwingken, Kreis Gołdap, currently Podlaskie voivodship in Poland) part of grave 10 assemblage: 1 bronze; 2, 3 amber; 4 bronze. After Marcin Engel et al. “Sudovia in qua Sudovitae”, plate VI. 9–12 ............. 46.1. The second quarter of the third-century to the mid thirdcentury grave 150 assemblage from Weklice (Elbląg Heights, Poland) grave field: 1, 4 silver, gold plates; 3, 4, 13 bronze; 5–12, 14–20 glass, glass paste, amber; 21 bear claw, silver; 22–24 bronze, 25–28, cowry shells, bronze. Woman between the age of 55–60 was buried lying on her right side. In her hands she held a large string of beads and a bear claw pendant and four pendants surrounded by bronze strip cowry shells. With the kind permission of Magdalena NatuniewiczSekuła and Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn ................................................. 46.2. The second quarter of the third-century to the mid thirdcentury grave 150 assemblage from Weklice (Elbląg Heights, Poland) grave field: 29–31 wood; 32 iron; 33–50 bronze. With the kind permission of Magdalena Natuniewicz-Sekuła and Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn ......................................................................

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list of figures 46.3. The second quarter of the third-century to the mid thirdcentury woman’s grave 150 assemblage from Weklice (Elbląg Heights, Poland) grave field: 13–17 amber, bronze; 18–51 amber. With the kind permission of Magdalena NatuniewiczSekuła and Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn ................................................. 47. Necklaces composed of glass, glass paste and amber beads, iron pendants and bronze spirals: 1 Baitai (Klaipėda district) grave field woman’s grave 8 (part of the necklace); 2 Bandužiai (in the city of Klaipėda) grave field woman’s grave 85. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 186. Photograph by Kęstutis Demereckas. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda ......... 48. The mid third-century amber necklaces found at Rucavas Mazkatuži (Liepājas district) burial site in woman’s grave 15/1924. Arrow indicates pendant unique in the eastern Baltic region. Photograph from the archive of the LNVM. Courtesy of the LNVM in Rīga ........................................................................ 49. The mid third-century grave 15/1924 in situ from Rucavas Mazkatuži (Liepājas district) burial site. Arrow indicates unique pendant position in situ. After Ernst Wahle, “Liepājas Rucavas Mazkatuźi”. Plan of the grave from the archive of the LNVM. Courtesy of the LNVM in Rīga ........................................ 50. Amber necklaces from Stragnai (grave 14) and Bandužiai (grave 84) children’s graves. After Algirdas Varnas, Stragnų kapinyno (Klaipėdos raj.) 1985 m. archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita, fig. 38; Jonas Stankus, “Bandužių kapinynas”, fig. 41.1. Courtesy of the LNM (AR38) in Vilnius and the MLIM in Klaipėda ............................................................................. 51. The first half of the third-century grave assemblage from child’s grave 11 from Palanga (in the city of Palanga) grave field. 1–3, 10, 11 bronze; 4 unidentified Roman coin; 5–9 amber, bronze. Photograph by Kęstutis Stoškus. Courtesy of the LNM (AR 396a:34–40) in Vilnius ....................................... 52. Szwajcaria (Podlaskie voivodship, Poland), barrow 25, warrior’s cremation grave assemblage (1–6) and his horse equipment (7–9) (1, 6–9 iron; 2 bronze and enamel; 3 bronze, silver; 4, 5 amber). The double-edged sword and bronze enamel round plate from balteus type belt are imports. First half to the mid third century. After Jerzy Okulicz, Pradzieje ziem pruskich, fig. 216 .......................................................................

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Grave assemblage from Lazdininkai grave field woman’s grave 40/1998: 1 sandstone; 2, 3 amber; 4, 5 iron; 6, 7 bronze; 8 clay. After Bliujienė, Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio) kapinyno Kretingos raj. Archeologiniai tyrinėjimai 1998 m.; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 185. Drawing by Virgilijus Truklickas. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga ............................... 54. Pieces of raw amber found in the Late Antique and Middle Ages burial sites: 1, 2 Užpelkiai (Kretinga district), grave 92; 3 Padvariai (Kretinga district), barrow 11, grave 1; 4 Užpelkiai, stray find; 5, 6 Užpelkiai, grave 66; 7 Užpelkiai, grave 84. After Bliujienė, Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno; Ignas Jablonskis, Padvarių (Kretingos raj.) pilkapių tyrinėjimai 1978 m. Drawings by Virgilijus Truklickas. Photograph by Antanas Lukšėnas. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda and KrM in Kretinga ......... 55. The third-century grave assemblage of child’s grave 5 from Gintarai (Kretinga district): 1 amber, bronze; 2 bronze. Photograph by Kęstutis Stoškus. Courtesy of the LNM (AR651:1–3) in Vilnius ..................................................................... 56. Amber amount at Dauglaukis (Tauragė district) grave field men’s, women’s and children’s graves dated to AD 150–260. Diagram prepared referring to: Jonas Balčiūnas, Dauglaukio kapinyno (Tauragės raj.) 1983 metų žvalgomųjų archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita; Eugenijus Jovaiša and Arvydas Asadauskas, “Dauglaukio katalogas, kapai” ......................................................... 57.1. Ratio of amber beads found in necklaces of Antique graves. Ratio according to gender: women and girls (67%); men and boys (9%) and children (24%). Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports ........................................................... 57.2. Ratio of single amber beads found in Antique graves. Ratio according to gender: women and girls (32%); men and boys (45%) and children (10%), undetermined sex (13%). Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports ... 58. Amber amount at Dauglaukis (Tauragė district) grave field graves dated to AD 150–260. Diagram prepared referring to: Jonas Balčiūnas, Dauglaukio kapinyno (Tauragės raj.) 1983 metų žvalgomųjų archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita; Eugenijus Jovaiša and Arvydas Asadauskas, “Dauglaukio katalogas, kapai” ................................................................................................... 59. The second half of the third-century grave assemblage from Palanga (in the city of Palanga) woman’s grave 17: 1, 3, 5–12, 15 bronze; 2, 4 amber; 13 amber, bronze; 14 sandstone; 16 clay.

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61.

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In this grave were also found a sestertius of Faustina I (c. AD 90–141), iron knife and awl. After Adolfas Tautavičius, “Palangos kapinynas”, fig. 7. Courtesy the LNM (AR396a:56–69) in Vilnius ................................................................................................. The eleventh- to twelfth-century amber beads and women’s bronze ornaments—votive offering in the water or hoard. Deposit was found on a bank of Dumblynė (Rokiškis district) Island in the Sartai Lake, northeastern Lithuania. Photograph by Kęstutis Stoškus. Courtesy of the LNM (AR590:1–53) in Vilnius ...................................................................................................... Distribution of the Roman imports in Lithuania. Map prepared by the author referring to: Mykolas Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum; Eugenijus Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, fig. 2 ................................................ Bronze openwork plate with the eight schematic front-facing men’s figures from Stragnai grave field (grave context is lost). After Bliujienė, “Iš baltų amatininkystės istorijos”, fig. 4. Courtesy of the LNM (AR38) in Vilnius ........................................... Lithuania’s Late Antique imports: 1 Paragaudis (Šilalė district), stray find (gold plate, bronze); 2 Jogučiai (Klaipėda district) grave field, man’s grave 1 (silver, gilded silver plate, bronze); 3 Monströsa brooch, exact find-spot unknown (bronze, silver plate); 4 Noruišiai (Kelmė district), woman’s grave 1 (silver, gold plate). After Mykolas Michelbertas, Paragaudžio pilkapynas, fig. 77; Linas Tamulynas, “Apie du išskirtinius romėniškojo laikotarpio radinius”, fig. 1; Regina Kulikauskienė and Rimutė Rimantienė, “Senovės liaudies menas”, fig. 185; Regina VolkaitėKulikauskienė and Kęstutis Jankauskas, “Iš senosios lietuvių amatininkystės istorijos”, fig. 3 ............................................................ Bronze round pendant from Mikužiai (Klaipėda district) grave field, stray find. Photograph by Irena Aleksienė, drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LDM in Vilnius .................. The Balt lands and their neighbours during the Middle Ages: 1 The Curonians; 2 The Lamatians; 3 The Scalvians; 4 The Central Lithuanian (Upland Lithuanians) sites; 5 The Samogitians; 6 The Semigallians; 7 The Selonians; 8 The East Lithuanian Barrows; 9 Southeastern Lithuanian Burial Sites (The Jatvingians); 10 The Sudovians; 11 The Dollkeim-Kovrovo people (Prusians); 12 The Elbląg group; 13 The Olsztyn group. Schematic map prepared by the author with additions, after Adolfas Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, fig. 1; Anna Bitner-Wróblewska,

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list of figures “The Key Problems of the late Migration period in the Balt Lands”, fig. 1 ........................................................................................... Solidus of Theodoric the Great (AD 493–526) adopted as disc-brooch, found in Sinigallia, near Arcona (Italy). After Bursche, “Roman Gold Medallions as Power Symbols of the Germanic Élite”, fig. 13 ......................................................................... Spread of amber artefacts in Lithuania and southwestern Latvia from the fifth to the late sixth century (for find-spots list see: Appendix C). Map prepared by the author referring to data from excavation reports ........................................................................ The typology of handmade, semi-lathed and lathe-turned amber beads from Lithuanian burial sites. Groups I–VIII. Fifth century to the first half of the sixth century ..................................... Amber beads found in Vidgiriai grave field in the Lower Neman region, Šilutė district. After Valdemaras Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje, figs. 37–39 ................... Amber beads and pendants from cemeteries in Viminacium-1 (Burdelj) and Viminacium-2 (Više Grobalja), now Kostolac in Serbia. After Vujadin Ivanišević et al., Les nécropoles de Viminacium, figs. 51, 58, 59, 62, 65 .................................................... Amber beads produced in Świlcza 3 (Rzesów voivodship in Poland) workshop (1) and amber necklace found in Marvelė grave field in Central Lithuania, woman’s grave 281 (2). After Aleksandra Gruszczyńska, “Amber-workers of the fourth and fifth centuries AD from Świlcza”, fig. 6; Photograph by S. Czopek; Mindaugas Bertašius, Ein Gräberfeld Mittellitauens, plate CXVI.1 ............................................................................................ Schematic map of the fifth- to seventh-century cultural links and trade ties between the eastern Baltic region and Europe. Amber spread in Lithuania (circles with light grey shadow): I—Lithuanian coast; II—The Lower Neman region; III—Central Lithuania; IV—Eastern Lithuania. S—Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture; O—Olsztyn group; E—Elbląg group (circles with dark grey shadow): A—amber spread during the fifth to sixth centuries in modern-day Hungary, Romania and Crimea. B—amber spread in the seventh century. Schematic map drawn by the author referring to Wojciech Nowakowski, “Die Olsztyn-Gruppe (Masurgermanische Kultur)”, fig. 5; Curta, “Amber Trail”, figs. 1 and 2 .............................................................................................

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list of figures 73. The first quarter of the fifth-century grave assemblage of child’s grave 261 from Žviliai (Šilalė district): 1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10 bronze; 3 amber; 5 glass, amber, bronze; 9 iron. After Laima Vaikunskienė, Žvilių kapinynas, fig. 96. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR487) in Vilnius ....... 74. Amber spindle whorls: 1–3 Lazdininkai (Kretinga district): graves 56/1958, 67/1958 and 37/1998; 4 Pagrybis (Šilalė district) grave 33; 5 Baitai (Klaipėda district) grave 42; 6 Pakalniškiai (Šilalė district) stray find. After Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, fig. 8; Rasa Banytė-Rowell, “Baitų kapinynas”, in ATL in 2002, fig. 35. Drawings by Audronė Ruzienė and Virgilijus Truklickas. Courtesy of the LNM (AR552:111; AR567:4) in Vilnius and KrM (10581) in Kretinga ..................................................................... 75. Part of the beginning of the fifth-century woman’s grave assemblage from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district) grave 16/1940: 1 bronze; 2 amber; 3 amber and glass. After Eugenija Butėnienė, “Lazdininkų kapinynas”, fig. 6 ............................................................ 76. The fifth-century woman’s grave 84 from Užpelkiai (Kretinga district) in situ and grave assemblage: 1–3 amber; 4, 5, 7 bronze; 6 iron. After Bliujienė, Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno. Drawing by Izolda Maciukiatė .................................................................................. 77. The fifth-century necklaces and single amber bead from Užpelkiai (Kretinga district) graves 77 (1–2); 64 (3); 63 (4) and 92 (5): 1 amber, bronze; 2 bronze; 3, 4 amber; 5 amber, iron. After Bliujienė, Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno. Drawings by VirgilijusTruklickas. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda .............. 78. The fifth-century necklaces from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district) graves 37/1998 (1); 38/1998 (2); 55/1998 (3) and Užpelkiai (Kretinga district) grave 86 (4). After Bliujienė, “Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio) kapinyno”, Bliujienė, “Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno tyrinėjimai 1996 metais”, fig. 20.2,3. Drawings by Virgilijus Truklickas. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga and MLIM in Klaipėda ................................................................................ 79. The end of the fifth-century woman’s grave 21 in situ, Vidgiriai, the Lower Neman region Šilutė district grave field: in the woman’s right hand there is a necklace strung from 66 amber beads. In her left hand there is an amber spindle whorl. Photograph by Valdemaras Šimėnas .................................................

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80. Gepidian woman’s (grave 22) amber necklaces from Biharkeresztes-Kisfarkasdomb grave field in Hungary (1–3) and amber ornaments and spindle whorl from Vidgiriai (Šilutė district) grave field, woman’s grave 21 (4–7). End of the fifth century. After Karoly Mesterházy, “Bemerkungen zum gepidischen Corpus”, fig. 9; Valdemaras Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje, figs. 35 and 36. Photograph by Kazimieras Vainoras ............................................................................. 81. The first half of sixth-century woman’s grave 55 from Plinkaigalis (Kėdainiai district) grave field: 1, 3, 6–8, 10–15 bronze; 2 iron; 4, 5 amber; 9 amber, glass (six tin beads, didn’t survived in this necklace). After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 197. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR700:246–258) in Vilnius ..................................................... 82. The first half of sixth-century woman’s grave 56 from Plinkaigalis (Kėdainiai district) grave field: 1–3, bronze; 4, 5 amber, glass and six tin beads (didn’t survive); 6 iron; 7 potsherd. After Vytautas Kazakevičius, Plinkaigalio kapinynas, fig. 162; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 198. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR700:261–266) in Vilnius ..................................................................................................... 83. Women’s amber bead usage traditions: 1 Obeliai (Ukmergė district), grave 185 periphery of the Central Lithuanian Grave Fields group (Upland Lithuania), fifth century to the first half of the sixth century; 2 Žviliai, grave 183 (Samogitian), seventh century; 3 Sauginiai, grave 32 (Samogitian), fifth century to the first half of the sixth century. 1 bronze, amber; 2 bronze, amber, woollen fibres; 3 iron, amber. Drawings by Audronė Ruzienė and Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR621; AR487; AR507) in Vilnius ................................................................................. 84. Burial of warrior between the age of 45 and 50 years, grave 144 from Plinkaigalis (Kėdainiai district) grave field: 1, 2 iron; 3 silver, bronze, iron; 4 bronze; 5 amber. End of the fifth century/ beginning of the sixth century. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR700) in Vilnius ........................................ 85. The fifth-century to the first half of the sixth-century amber usage traditions: amber beads are only attached to men’s, most commonly warriors’, brooches. 1–3 Paprūdžiai (Kelmė district), grave 24; 4–6 Pagrybis (Šilalė district), grave 193; 7–8 Pagrybis, grave 85. Bronze, amber. After Laima Vaitkunskienė, Pagrybio

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86.

87.

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kapinynas, figs. 6 and 118; Mykolas Michelbertas, “Ein Kriegergrab der mittleren Eisenzeit aus Paprūdžiai”, fig. 6. Drawings by Audronė Ruzienė and Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius .......................................................................... The fifth-century to the first half of the sixth-century amber necklaces from Kalniškiai (Raseiniai district), grave 118 (1); Kairėnėliai (Radviliškis district), grave 9 (2) and Sauginiai (Šiauliai district) graves 28 and 30 (3, 4). After Vytautas Kazakevičius, “Kalniškių, Raseinių raj., Ariogalos apyl., kapinyno 1990 metų tyrinėjimų ataskaita”, fig. 43; Algimantas Merkevičius, “Sauginių plokštinis kapinynas”; Jonas Stankus, “Kairėnėlių plokštinis kapinynas”, fig. 8. Drawings by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR507; AR632) in Vilnius .......................... The first quarter of the fifth-century woman’s grave 2 assemblage from barrow field in Pavajuonys–Rėkučiai (Ignalina district), barrow 11: 1 amber; 2 bronze; 3–9 silver; 10 corals, glass, glass paste. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 218. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the ŠNM in Švenčionys .............................................................................................. The first quarter of the fifth-century woman’s grave assemblage from barrow field in Baliuliai (Švenčionys district), barrow 8: 1, 5 silver; 2 bronze; 3, 4 wood fragments; 6 amber, glass paste, bronze. After Bliujienė, “Watershed between Eastern and Western Lithuania”, fig. 2. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius ........................................................ The first quarter of the fifth-century woman’s grave assemblage from barrow field in Baliuliai (Švenčionys district), barrow 12, grave 1: 1, 4–6 bronze; 2 amber, glass paste, glass; 3, 7 silver; 8, 9 iron; 10 iron, pewter. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 199. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius ..................................................................................... The first quarter of the fifth-century amber necklace from barrow field in Žvirbliai (Vilnius district), barrow 17, child’s grave 1. After Grażyna Iwanowska, Cmentarzysko kurhanowe w Żwirbliach, plate XII. Courtesy of the PMA in Warsaw ................ The first half of the fifth-century woman’s grave assemblage from barrow field in Riklikai (Anykščiai district), barrow XII, grave A: 1, 3–5 bronze; 2 amber, bronze; 6 iron. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR449) in Vilnius ......

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92. An amber bog ( Bernsteinbruch) in the contemporary city of Klaipėda and an amber mine ( Bernsteingruben) north of Priekulė. The spread of amber artefacts in the sites in the Lamata Land (for find-spots list see: Appendix D.5–14). Map redrawn with author additions after Emil Hollack, Erläuterungen zur vorgeschictlichen Übersichtskarte von Ostpreussen ........................... 93. The typology of amber beads found in Lamatian grave fields (Groups I–VI) ........................................................................................ 94. The end of the sixth-century to eighth-century necklaces and caps decorated with pelta-shaped silver pendants typical of Lamatian women. Jurgaičiai (Šilutė district): 1 grave 10; 2 grave 17; 3, 6 grave 7; 4 grave 4; 5–5a Vėžaičiai (formerly Weszeiten, Šilutė district). Cap reconstructions after Dorotea Waetzoldt, “Zur Tracht der Bewohner des Memelgebietes”, fig. 1, and Regina Kulikauskienė and Rimutė Rimantienė, “Senovės liaudies menas”, fig. 363. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR406) in Vilnius ..................................................................... 95. The end of the sixth-century to the first half of the seventhcentury woman’s grave assemblage from Dvyliai (Klaipėda district), grave 1: 1, 1a, 8 amber, bonze; 2, 5, 9–13 bronze; 3 antler; 4 amber; 6 white metal; 7, 14, 15 iron. After Bliujienė, “A microregion between Šilutė–Priekulė and Švėkšna”, fig. 6. Courtesy of the LDM in Vilnius ........................................................ 96. Part of woman’s grave assemblage from Vėžaičiai (formerly Weszeiten, Šilutė district) grave field, grave 404. Amber, bronze. After the Kurt Voigtmann archive currently stored at the SMB+ PK/MVF, PM-IXc in Berlin. Courtesy of the MVF in Berlin ....... 97. The third group of Lamantian amber beads. Stray finds from Daukšaičiai (1) and Mockaičiai (2) grave fields in Klaipėda district. Photograph by the author. Courtesy of the LDM in Vilnius ..................................................................................................... 98. The mid sixth-century to the seventh-century amber beads and discs from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district) 1, 3, 7 grave 98/2008; 2 grave 100/2008; 4 grave 18/1976; 6 grave 17/1976, and 5 Laiviai (Kretinga district) grave 28. After Donatas Butkus, Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio) kapinyno Kretingos raj. Archeologiniai tyrinėjimai 2008 m.; Eugenija Gintautaitė-Butėnienė and Eugenijus Butėnas, “Laivių kapinynas, ” fig. 39.9. Drawings by Izolda Maciukaitė; photograph by the author. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga ....................................................................................

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list of figures 99. The seventh-century to ninth-century Curonian necklaces: 1 Genčai I child’s grave 170 (129); 2 Palanga woman’s grave 161; 3 Laiviai grave 41/1949. 1, 2 amber; 3 amber, glass, bronze. Drawings by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR694; AR2) in Vilnius ................................................................... 100. The seventh-century to eighth-century woman’s grave 236(180) assemblage from Genčai I: 1 bronze, leather, and birch-bark; 2 bronze, thread; 3, 8 amber; 4, 9 iron; 5–7 bronze. After Algimantas Merkevičius, Genčių km. I kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 247. Courtesy of the LNM (AR694) in Vilnius .............................................................................. 101. Amber discs from Palanga grave field (graves 34a and 142). After Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts”, fig. 12. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR396:297, 1141) in Vilnius .............................................................................................. 102. Amber comb-shaped pendants from men’s graves found in Lazdininkai (2–4, 6, 7, 10) and Palanga (1, 5, 8–9, 11–12) grave fields. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 255; Kazimiera Gabriūnaitė, Lazdininkų senkapio tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga, VDKM in Kaunas and the LNM (AR396) in Vilnius ...................................... 103. The seventh-century amber comb-shaped pendants from Lazdininkai grave field: 1 grave 173/1976; 2 grave 184/1976; 3 grave 183/1976. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 257. Photograph by Antanas Lukšėnas. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga ............................................................................................ 104. The end of the sixth-century to the first half of the seventhcentury warrior grave 10/1978 in situ and grave assemblage from Lazdininkai grave field. After Kazimiera Gabriūnaitė, Lazdininkų senkapio tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai, fig. 12 .................... 105. The end of the eighth-century man’s grave assemblage from Genčai I grave field, grave 173(123): 1, 12, 15, 17–20 iron; 2, 3–5, 7–11, 14 bronze; 6, 16 amber; 13 clay. After Algimantas Merkevičius, Genčių km. I kapinyno, Kurmaičių apyl., Kretingos r., tyrinėjimų ataskaitos. Courtesy of the LNM (AR694) in Vilnius ................................................................................................... 106. The seventh-century to the eleventh-century bronze combshaped pendant-amulets from Curonian men’s graves found in Kašučiai (1), Genčai I (2, 3), Griežė (4) and Palanga (5, 6) grave fields. Drawings by Virgilijus Truklickas and Audronė

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112.

113.

list of figures Ruzienė. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga and LNM (AR694; AR185; AR396) in Vilnius ................................................................. The first half of the seventh-century amber spoon from Lazdininkai grave field warrior’s grave 14/1976. After Bliujienė “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts”, fig. 16. Photograph by Antanas Lukšėnas. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga .................................. Amber sash-weaving and spinning implements from Palanga (1–9 grave 34a and 64, and stray find) and Lazdininkai (10–12 grave 26/1976) grave fields. 1–8, 10–12 amber; 9 amber and iron. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 250. Courtesy of the LNM (AR396) in Vilnius and KrM (10581) in Kretinga ............................................................................................ The eleventh-century woman’s grave assemblage from double cremation burial 31. Genčai I (Kretinga district) grave field: 1, 2, 4 bronze; 3 amber, glass, bronze; 5 bronze, textile; 6 textile; 7–14 bronze set of sash-weaving implements. After Algimantas Merkevičius, Genčių km. I kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 245a. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR694) in Vilnius ...................................... Bronze miniature distaffs from the eleventh- to twelfth-century Griežė (Mažeikiai district) grave field: 1 symbolic grave 22; 2 the miniature distaff was found in a special pit for sacrifices. After Algirdas Varnas, Griežės kapinyno (Mažeikių raj.) 1981 m. archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 251. Courtesy of the LNM (AR185) in Vilnius ...... The end of the sixth-century to the first half of the seventhcentury grave assemblage of woman’s grave 72/2000 from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district): 1 clay; 2 bronze, leather, birchbark; 3–4, 6 silver, bronze, silver plates, blue glass inlays; 5 silver; 7 bronze, birch-bark; 8 amber; 9 iron. After Bliujienė, “Some notes on Curonian women’s bead sets”, fig. 3. Drawing by Virgilijus Truklickas. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga ......... Amber spindle whorls: 1–3, 5–8 Palanga (in the city of Palanga) grave field, graves 48, 265, 20, 8 and stray finds; 4 Paupinis (Medsėdžiai, Šilalė district); 9 Genčai I (Kretinga district), grave 130. After Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts”, fig. 14. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR396; AR155; AR694) in Vilnius ................................................. The seventh- to eighth-century women’s grave assemblages from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district, grave 36/1979) and Kašučiai (Kretinga district; grave 20) grave fields: 1–3, 9, 10

277

279

280

282

283

285

286

list of figures

114. 115.

116.

117.

118.

119.

120.

121.

amber; 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 bronze; 5, 12 bronze, silver plates, blue glass inlays. After Kazimiera Gabriūnaitė, Lazdininkų senkapio tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai 1978–1981; Efrosinija Radzvilovaitė, Kašučių kapinyno. Drawings by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga and VDKM in Kaunas ................................. Middle Ages Curonian amber bead types. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 235 .............................................. The late eighth-century to the twelfth-century amber distribution in Lithuania and southwestern Latvia (for findspots list see: Appendix E). Map prepared referring to data from excavation reports ..................................................................... Diagram of the ninth-century to the beginning of the eleventhcentury southern Curonian grave fields showing inhumation graves containing amber. Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports ..................................................................... Semi-finished plates for processing amber tablets for weaving sashes (1–3, 5–6) and pendants (7), an incomplete figurine of a cat (4), and amber pendants (9, 10) found in a southern settlement at Palanga (in the city of Palanga). A fragment of an amber ring from man’s cremation burial 10 in Kretinga grave field (8). After Žulkus, Palangos viduramžių gyvenvietės, figs. 182–184; Ignas Jablonskis, Kretingos senkapio 1983 metų tyrinėjimai, fig. 23 ............................................................................... The seventh- to eighth-century man’s grave 199(158) assemblage from Genčai I (Kretinga district) grave field: 1, 6–9 iron; 2 bronze, silver plate, blue glass inlay; 3, 5 bronze; 4 amber. After Algimantas Merkevičius, Genčių km. I kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 239. Courtesy of the LNM (AR694) in Vilnius ................................................................... The eighth- to ninth-century necklaces and bead sets strung from amber, glass, glass paste beads and metal Fischschwanzförmige pendants from Grötlingbo, Hellvi and Hemse cemeteries on Gotland. After Lena Thunmark-Nylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. I Abbildungen der Grabfunde, figs. 57, 117b, 228 ................................................................................ Amber pendants from Hemse, Grötlingbo, Västerhejde and Halla cemeteries on Gotland. After Lena Thunmark-Nylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. II Typentafelen, fig. 117.1–10 ........... Daugmale amber workshop production (Rīgas district, Latvia). After Arnis Radiņš, “The Daugmale Antiquities Complex”,

xxvii

287 288

289

290

291

292

295

296

xxviii

122.

123.

124.

125.

126.

127.

128.

129.

130.

list of figures

figs. 4–10; Ēvalds Mugurēvičs, “Viking Age and Medieval Finds”, fig. 1 ......................................................................................... Amber amount in southern Curonian cremation burials dated to the tenth to twelfth centuries. Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports ....................................................... Amber amount in Samogitian and Semigallian inhumation graves and Curonian cremation burials dated to the tenth to twelfth centuries. Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports ............................................................................... The eleventh-century warrior cremation burial 36 assemblage from Bandužiai (in the city of Klaipėda) grave field: 1, 8, 10–12, 14 iron; 2, 3, 6, 9, 13 bronze; 4, 5 amber. After Jonas Stankus, Bandužių kapinyno 1985–1989 metų tyrinėjimų ataskaitos. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė .......................................................... The ninth-century grave 174 assemblage from Genčai I (Kretinga district) grave field: 1, 5, 6, 8 bronze; 2–4 bronze, wood; 7 amber. After Algimantas Merkevičius, Genčių km. I kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 259 ....... The eleventh- to twelfth-century Liv amber amulets from Salaspils Laukskolas (Rīga district, Latvia) burial site. After Zariņa, Salaspils Laukskolas kapulauks, plate 135.1–9 ................. Woman’s grave assemblage from Salaspils Laukskolas burial site, grave 480 (Rīga district, Latvia): amber, glass, bronze, cowry shells and claw from a carnivore. Second half of the eleventh century to the first half of the twelfth century. After Zariņa, Salaspils Laukskolas kapulauks, plate 173 ......................... The ninth-century woman’s grave 183 assemblage from Bikavėnai (Šilalė district): 1–3 amber; 4 bronze; 5 bronze, silver plates. After Adolfas Tautavičius, Bikavėnų kapinyno. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR490) in Vilnius The tenth-century men’s ornaments and belt mount from Žąsinas grave field: 1–3 grave 67; 4–8 grave 81; 9–12 grave 77A. 1, 4, 9, 10 amber; 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12 bronze; 6 bronze and leather. After Laima Vaitkunskienė, Žąsino kapinyno Šilalės raj. 1976–1978 m. kasinėjimų ataskaitos”. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR618) in Vilnius ..................... The ninth- to eleventh-century amber beads from the Samogitian, Semigallian and Sellonian grave fields. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Illustration prepared referring to data from excavation reports ...............................................................................

298

299

299

300

302

305

306

308

309

310

list of figures 131. The twelfth- to thirteenth-century necklace strung from cowry shells, glass paste and amber beads, and bronze bells found in woman’s grave 45 in Jakštaičiai grave field. Photograph by Kęstutis Stoškus. Courtesy of the LNM (AR539:104) in Vilnius 132. The main Viking Age emporia and trade directions. After Hildegard Elsner, Wikinger Museum Haithabu, p. 98, map supplemented by the author ............................................................. 133. Amber animal-shaped disc, gripping-beasts, cats, horse figure, bird engraving, and bridge for a musical instrument: 1, 5, 8 Wolin (Poland); 2, 3 Inderøy, North Trødelag and Haugesten Østfold (Norway); 6 Birka (Sweden); 7 Haithabu (Germany). After Eleonora Tabaczyńska, “A thousand years of amber-craft in Gdańsk”, fig. 4.20; Bente Magnus, “The importance of Amber in the Viking Period”, figs. 3 and 4; James GrahamCampbell and Dafydd Kidd, The Vikings, fig. 74; Jerzy Wojtasik, “Bursztyn ze stanowisk wykopaliskowych”, plates V.2; VI.15 .... 134. Amber pendants, chess figures and dice, beads, rings and spindle whorl. 1, 3, 6, 12, 13 Gdańsk (Poland); 2, 7, 8 Birka “Black Earth” and grave 473 (Sweden); 4, 5, 9, 11, 14–17, 19 Wolin (Poland); 10 Yläne-Anivehmaanmäki grave 4 (Finland); 18, 20–22 Grodno, Volkovysk and Polock (Belarus); 23 Haithabu (Germany). After Eleonora Tabaczyńska, “A thousand years”, figs. 3 and 4; Greta Arwidsson, “8. Bernstein”, fig. 8; Jaroslav G. Zverygo, “Slaviano-baltyskie sviazi rannem srednevekovye (po materialam Belarusii)”, fig. 3; James Graham-Campbell and Dafydd Kidd, The Vikings, fig. 74; Jerzy Wojtasik, “Materialy bursztynowe z Wolina—Starego Miasta”, plate III; J. Wojtasik, “Bursztyn ze stanowisk wykopaliskowych”, plates V, VI ....................................................... 135. Amber human figures, heads and feet. 1 Wolin; 2 Kaupang, Vestfold (Norway); 3 Præsto fjord (Denmark) 4 Longva Haram (Norway); 5, 6 Haithabu; 7 Denmark, find-spot unknown; 8 Frederikskavn Markjorder (Denmark). After Hildegard Elsner, Wikinger Museum Haithabu, p. 78ff; Bente Magnus, “The importance of Amber in the Viking Period”, fig. 6; Jørgen Jensen, Rav, p. 182ff; Jerzy Wojtasik, “Bursztyn ze stanowisk wykopaliskowych”, plate VI.17 ...................................... 136. Middle Ages amber crosses. 1–4 Daugmale (Latvia); 5, 6 Gdańsk (Poland); 7–10 Volkovysk and Polock (Belarus). After Eleonora Tabaczyńska, “A thousand years”, fig. 3;

xxix

311

314

318

320

321

xxx

137.

138.

139.

140.

list of figures Jaroslav G. Zverygo, “Slaviano-baltyskie sviazi rannem srednevekovye (po materialam Belarusii)”, fig. 3; Ēvalds Mugurēvičs, “Viking Age and Medieval Finds”, fig. 1 ................. Amber amount in horse inhumation and symbolic graves from Central Lithuanian grave fields dated to the ninth to fourteenth centuries. Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports ................................................................................................... Amber beads found in horse graves in the Pakalniškiai (Šakiai district) grave field (graves 106, 83, 28, 70, 96 and 60). Horse grave 26 in situ and grave assemblage: 1–4 iron; 6 fragment of horse mane with attached amber beads; 5 fragment of leather sack. After Kazimiera Gabriūnaitė, Pakalniškių kapinyno (Šakių raj.) tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai 1963–1964 m.; Juozas Antanavičius, Pakalniškių kapinyno (Šakių raj.) tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai, 1971–1974 m. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė ........ Amber beads (1–9, 14) and horses’ bronze adornments for the mane and tail (10–13) from Marvelė (in the city of Kaunas) and Graužiai (Kėdainiai district) horse graves. Barinė (Panevėžys district) grave field, horse grave 3: bridle (15a) and horse forehead adorned with amber bead and bronze spirals. Tenth to twelfth centuries. After Vytautas Urbanavičius, Griaužių senkapis, Kėdainių raj., 1969 m. tyrinėjimų ataskaita; Audrius Astrauskas and Mindaugas Bertašius, Marvelės kapinyno/Kaunas/1995–1996 m. tyrinėjimų ataskaita; Alfreda Petrulienė, “Barinės senkapis”, fig. 21. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius, VDKM in Kaunas and the PKM in Panevėžys ............... The second half of the sixteenth-century amber signet ring found in the Akmeniai barrow I, used as village graveyard (Kelmė district), woman’s grave 3. Photograph by the author. Courtesy of the LNM (AR 488: 8) in Vilnius ................................

325

326

328

329

334

LIST OF APPENDICES A: List of sites with amber artefacts in Lithuania from the second half of the first century to the end of the second century .............. B: List of sites with amber artefacts in Lithuania and southwestern Latvia from the end of the second century to the end of the fourth century ......................................................................................... C: List of sites with amber artefacts in Lithuania and southwestern Latvia from the fifth century to the late sixth century .................... D: List of sites with amber artefacts from Lithuania from the end of the sixth century to the end of the eighth century .......................... E: List of sites with amber artefacts from Lithuania and southern Latvia from the late eighth century to the twelfth century .............

353

354 357 360 362

LIST OF TABLES A1. Correspondence table of different terms used in Lithuania and in neighbouring countries for the indication of the chronological stages ......................................................................... A2. The terms and chronology system used in this book for Lithuanian Antiquities ..................................................................... 1. Quantity of amber artefacts and raw amber in men’s, women’s, children’s and undetermined burials of Late Antiquity ............... 2. Quantity of amber artefacts in the more comprehensively researched grave fields dated from the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century ..................................................................... 3. Amber in horse graves during the late Roman period to the Migration period .................................................................................. 4. Amounts of amber in the Samogitian and the Semigallian grave fields of the eighth to twelfth centuries ........................................... 5. The Curonian cremation burials connected with amber .............

xxxvi xxxvii

366

374 376 377 378

CHRONOLOGICAL SYSTEM USED IN THE BOOK The period covered by this book spans the approximately 1200 years from c. 100 to c. 1200. Of course this period can be divided into shorter sub-periods or chronological stages. The chronological system used in Lithuania is almost identical to that used in Latvia, but does not coincide with the periodization of Belarusian and Estonian prehistory. For antiquities of the former Eastern Prussia (now in the Kaliningrad region of Russia and Poland), a chronological system was developed by German and later on Polish scholars, however this is not synchronized with Lithuanian archaeological evidence.1 The Lithuanian chronological system is rather different from that used in Poland, Denmark and Sweden (cf. Table A1). Recently a chronological division for the first millennium was developed, but this periodization is diverse and inconsistent. Moreover, the developed periodization does not correspond to the chronological systems of neighbouring countries and to the Central European chronology.2 Thus it may be confusing to the nonLithuanian audience.

1 Adalbert Bezzenberger, Katalog des Prussia-Museums zu Königsberg (Pr.). Teil 2 (Die Funde aus der Zeit der heidnischen Gräberfelder) (Königsberg i. Pr, 1897); Otto Tischler, Heinrich Kemke, Ostpreußische Altertümer aus der Zeit der grossen Gräberfelder nach Christi Geburt (Königsberg i. Pr., 1902); Wojciech Nowakowski, Das Samland in der römischen Kaiserzeit und seine Verbindungen mit dem römischen Reich und der barbarischen Welt, ed. Claus von Carnap-Bornheim. Veröffentlichung des Vorgeschichtlichen Seminars Marburg. Sonderband, 10 (Marburg, Warszawa, 1996). 2 Puzinas, Jonas. Naujausių proistorinių tyrinėjimų duomenys (1919–1938 metų Lietuvos proistorinių tyrinėjimų apžvalga). (Kaunas, 1938); Marija Gimbutienė, Baltai priešistoriniais laikais. Etnogenezė, materialinė kultūra ir mitologija (Vilnius, 1985); Mykolas Michelbertas, Kuršių pilkapynas. Archaeologia Lituana: monografijos. A serija, Lietuvos laidojimo paminklai, 3 (Vilnius, 2009), p. 20; Adolfas Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje (V–IX a.) (Vilnius, 1996); Eugenijus Jovaiša, “Baltiškosios savimonės aspektai proistorės tyrimuose”, Istorija 72 (2008), 3–20; Zigmas Kiaupa, et al. Lietuvos istorija iki 1975 metų (Vilnius, 1995); Albinas Kuncevičius, “Lietuva 1009 metais archeologų ir istorikų darbuose”, in Florilegium Lithuanum In honorem eximii professoris atque academici Lithuani domini Eugenii Jovaiša anniversii sexagesimi causa dicatum, eds. Grasilda Blažienė, Sandra Grigaravičiūtė, Aivas Ragauskas (Vilnius, 2010), pp. 127–150; Lietuvos istorija, vol. II, ed. Gintautas Zabiela (Vilnius, 2007).

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chronological system used in the book

Table A1. Correspondence table of different terms used in Lithuania and in neighbouring countries for the indication of the chronological stages.3 Lithuania

Old Iron Age (1–400)

Middle Iron Age (400–800)

Late Iron Age (800–1200/1250)

Lithuania Latvia

(10–450) Early Iron Age (1–400)

(450–800) Middle Iron Age (400–800)

Belarus

Roman Iron Age (15–350)

(800–1200) Late Iron Age (Early Middle Ages) (800–1200) Middle Ages

Estonia Poland

Gotland

Sweden Denmark

Migration period (300–450) and Early Middle Ages (450–800) Roman Iron Age Migration period (50–450) (450–600); Pre-Viking Age (600–800) Roman Iron Age Early Migration (phase B1a–C3; period (phase D1–D3, 20–350/375) 350/375 –450); Late Migration period (phase E1–E3; 450–650/675) Early Roman Iron Migration period Age (10–200); (400–550); Late Roman Iron Vendel period (550–800) Age (200–400) Roman Iron Age Migration period 450–550 (Phase B1a–C3) Vendel period (550–800) Roman Iron Age (phase B1a–C3; 0–350/375)

Viking Age (800–1050); Latest Iron Age (1050–1225) Early Middle Ages

Viking Age (800–1050); Middle Ages

Viking Age (750–1050); Middle Ages from the mid 11th c. Early Germanic Iron Age Viking Age (750–1050); (375–520/530); Middle Ages Late Germanic Iron Age (520/530–750)

3 Birgit Arrhenius, “The chronology of Vendel graves”, in Rapport från Stockholms Universitets Arkeologiska Forskningslaboratorium 2 (Stockholm, 1980), p. 36; Ulla Lund Hansen, “The Iron Age and the Viking Period”, in S. Hvass, B. Stogaard, eds. Digging into the Past. 25 Years of Archaeology in Denmark (Århus 1993), pp. 168ff; Arkheologiia Belarusi: zhelezny vek i ranniiae siaredniavechcha, vol. II (Minsk, 1999), p. 5; Arkheologiia Belarusi: Encyklapedyia v dvykh tamakh, vol. 1 (Minsk, 2009), pp. 334–335; Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, From Samland to Rogaland: East-West connections in the Baltic basin during the Early Migration Period (Warszawa, 2001), pp. 14–19; Valter Lang, Aivar Kriiska, “Eesti esiajaloo periodiseering ja kronoloogia”. Estonian Journal of Archaeology, 5(2) (2001), 83–109; Valter Lang, The Bronze Age and Early Iron Ages in Estonia. In Estonian Archaeology, vol. 3, ed. Margot Laneman (Tartu, 2007), p. 15.

chronological system used in the book

xxxvii

In recent years in Lithuania, we have witnessed new evidence suggesting that the social, economic and cultural development of society, especially through the second half of the first millennium, might have much more in common with the processes that were happening in the southeastern Baltic region. The aforementioned processes coincide with the development of certain regions of Scandinavia and Central Europe much more than was previously thought. Therefore, it is possible to chronologically synchronize processes towards development of societies of the eastern Baltic region, and particularly Lithuania, not only with surrounding areas but with more remote territories. Accordingly, the above indicated arguments for discussing Lithuanian amber usage traditions from c. 100 to c. 1200 use a particular chronological system, which corresponds to the recent level of our knowledge (see Table A2). Table A2. The terms and chronology system used in this book for Lithuanian Antiquities. Late Antiquity

Late Roman period (Phase C1–C3/D1)

c. AD 375–ca.800

Early Migration period (phase D1–D3)

Late Migration period (phase E1–E3) Pre-Viking Age (phase F)

Viking Age, Early Middle Ages

Early Roman period (phase B1a–B1b)

Migration period

Roman Iron Age

c. AD 30/40–375

Early Middle Ages c. AD 800–1250

Early Viking Age (c. 800–900) Late Viking Age (c. 900–1050) Early Middle Ages (c. 1050–1250)

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Literature AB

Archaeologia Baltica (Vilnius, 1995–2002; Klaipėda, from 2006–). AL Archaeologia Lituana (Vilnius, from 1999–). Amber in Amber in Archaeology: Proceedings of the Fifth InterArchaeology, Belgrade national Conference on Amber in Archaeology, Belgrade 2006. Eds. Aleksandr Palavestra, Curt W. Beck and Joan M. Todd. Belgrade, 2009. Amber in Archaeology, Amber in Archaeology. Proceedings of the Fourth Talsi International Conference on Amber in Archaeology, Talsi 2001. Eds. Curt W. Beck, Ilze B. Loze and Joan M. Todd. Riga, 2003. Amber in Archaeology, Amber in Archaeology. Proceedings of the Second Liblice International Conference on Amber in Archaeology, Liblice 1990. Eds. Curt W. Beck and Jan Bouzek, in collaboration with Dagmar Dreslerov. Praha, 1993. AMBERIF Amber—views, opinions. Scientific seminars: AMBERIF—International Fair of Amber, Jewellery and Gemstones 1994–2005. Eds. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Wiesław Gierłowski. Gdańsk, 2006. ATL Archeologiniai tyrinėjimai Lietuvoje . . . (Vilnius, from 1967–). Baltic Amber Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis 22/Lietuvos dailės akademijos darbai 22. Baltic Amber. Proceedings of the International Interdisciplinary Conference: Baltic Amber in Natural Sciences, Archaeology and Applied Arts 13–18 September 2001, Vilnius, Palanga, Nida. Ed. Adomas Butrimas (Vilnius, from 1993–). BMRŠ Baltų religijos ir mitologijos šaltiniai. Nuo seniausių laikų iki XV amžiaus pabaigos, vol. I. Ed. Norbertas Vėlius. Vilnius, 1996.

xl COMHLAN

Interarchaeologia 1

LA LAP

LPA MAD, A PMZ Pogranicze trzech światów

Sammlung Provinzial Museums Światowit Supplement Series P

WA

list of abbreviations COMHLAN: Studia z archeologii okresu przedrzymskiego i rzymskiego w Europie Środkowej dedykowane Teresie Dąbrowskiej w 65 rocznicę urodzin. Warsawa. Eds. Jacek Andrzejowski and Katarzyna Czarnecka. 1999. Culture and Material Culture. Papers from the first seminar of the Baltic archaeologists (BASE), held at the University of Tartu, Estonia, October 17th–19th, 2003. Ed. Valter Lang. Tartu, 2005. Lietuvos archeologija (Vilnius, since 1979–). Lietuvos archeologiniai paminklai. Lietuvos pajūrio I–VII a. kapinynai. Ed. Adolfas Tautavičius. Vilnius, 1968. Latvijas PSR arheoloģija. Rīga, 1974. Lietuvos TSR mokslų akademijos darbai, serija A (Vilnius, 1955–1989). Prace muzeum ziemi (Warszawa, since 1958). Światowit Supplement Series P, vol. XIV. Pogranicze trzech światów. Kontakty kultur przeworskiej, wielbarskiej i bogaczewskiej w świetle materiałów z badań i poszukiwań archeologicznych. Eds. Wojciech Nowakowski and Andrzej Szela (2006). Die vorgeschichtliche Sammlung des Kurzemer (Kurlaendischen) Provinzial Museums zu Jelgava (Mitau) 1818–1938. Rīga, 1939. Światowit Supplement Series P: Prehistory and Middle Ages, vol. VII, Officina Archaeologica optima. Studia ofiarowane Jerzemu Okuliczowi-Kozarynowi w siedemdzesiątą rocznicę urodzin. Eds. Wojciech Nowakowski and Andrzej Szela. Warszawa, 2001. Wiadomości archeologiczne (Warszawa, since 1873–).

list of abbreviations

xli

Archives, Libraries and Museums KrM LDM LGT GF LII R LII ES LNB RS LNM LNVM LGT GF MAB MLIM MVF SMB+PK/MVF

PKM PMA ŠNM VDKM

Kretinga Museum. Lithuanian Art Museum in Vilnius. Lithuanian Geological Survey under the Ministry of the Environment in Vilnius. Lithuanian Institute of History, Department of Manuscripts in Vilnius. Lithuanian Institute of History, Department of Ethnology, Catalogue of Folklore in Vilnius. Lithuanian National Library, Department of Manuscripts in Vilnius. Lithuanian National Museum in Vilnius. Latvian National History Museum in Rīga. Lithuanian Geological Survey under the Ministry of Environment in Vilnius. The Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. History Museum of Lithuania Minor in Klaipėda. Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin. Museums of Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte / The National Museum in Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz Fund Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin. Panevėžys Regional Museum. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. “Nalšia” Museum in Švenčionys. “Vytautas the Great War Museum” in Kaunas.

INTRODUCTION This book is dedicated to my family. The Secret of the Universe Night. It is quiet. An amazing mirage suddenly opens up before my very eyes. The stars glimmer. Large and small. Weighing down the universe’s secret. Where is the end? The beginning? The edge? A deep longing catches my heart. A small point in eternity glimmers. The small earth. Large mankind. Kazys Boruta (Lietuvių poezija, vol. II. Vilnius, 1969, p. 79)

In the world of Antiquity and in the Middle Ages, Baltic amber—succinite or “northern gold”—was an attractive and universally accepted commodity, which, together with a variety of other goods, was continuously in motion over internal, regional and inter-regional European land and maritime routes. However, within the historiographic European tradition amber became not only a symbolic unit of trade linking northern and southern regions, but named those same trade routes, known as “Amber Routes”, “Amber Roads” or “Amber Trails”. However, a large number of the so-called “Amber Routes” became suggestive metaphors, which sometimes cast an attractive romantic glow over a complicated network of communications and the development of political and economic relations all over Europe. By the same token, in this context “Amber Route”, from an alluring metaphor, becomes a reality that takes both the amber and its researcher far beyond its origins in the region’s north. As the territory in which amber was used as a raw material or a product expanded, and as amber became an integral part of different communities’ existence, the problems of research are naturally increased. One of those problems is the distribution of amber, which constitutes the movement of “northern gold” southwards, often with the amber returning back, only crafted. Be that as it may, amber, via trade routes and by other forms of distribution system, spread in the largest, culturally-diverse European regions as an exclusive luxury commodity without any practical purpose. Amber became regarded as a sign of social status or was used as an

2

introduction

amulet. People from earlier times held amber’s healing and antiseptic properties in high regard. From early prehistory, amber was used in sacrificial rituals. Thus the aesthetically pleasing “northern gold”, in certain periods of history, was equal in value to goods that held high strategic worth. Already this was true in the Roman Empire, where, as mentioned by Pliny the Elder, even a small amber sculpture sometimes carried a higher price than a “vigorous slave”. However, the idea behind this book was the systematic analysis and synthesis of the huge, and in most cases, completely new archaeological evidence on amber from Lithuania and the surrounding regions. The comprehensive synthesis of archaeological evidence provided the opportunity to develop new viewpoints on the amber sources; extraction methods; amber-wearing traditions in different ethnocultural groups and by people of different social status, age and gender; and the amber trade in different markets in Lithuania and the whole eastern Baltic region. Herewith analyzing the quantity of amber in separate ethnocultural groups; examining amber usage traditions according to gender; comparing amber usage traditions with a person’s social status etc., the huge amount of archaeological data throws down a challenge—how to properly use the collected data. Some statistical analyses were used to solve these problems. The important milestone of this study is the interdisciplinary dimension. This attitude towards the study of amber in the north provided the notion that it is not simply an investigation of the “northern gold” itself but, first and foremost, a study of the social and economic existence of ethnically different peoples who lived around the Baltic Sea. These studies allow one to create a considerably wider picture of the evolution of various cultures, including their rise and fall. For Lithuania and the eastern Baltic region, amber created a strangely unique opportunity, through its everyday use (as jewellery and amulets) and through its significance carried into eternity, which enabled a description of Antiquity and the Middle Ages in Lithuania from circa 100 to 1200. Just as the mysterious topic of amber sacrificially “drowned” in water provided the opportunity to tell a story that opened up the worldview of this northern European region. However, a tradition of amber usage in the territory of Lithuania and the eastern Baltic region was not only dependent on the ability of local communities to acquire amber and to use it, but, to a larger degree, the use of “northern gold” in the north was determined by cultural developments that took place in Europe. Amber allows researchers the vital opportunity to characterize the constantly-changing Aestii/Balt cultures and to look at the eastern Baltic region and what is modern-day Lithuania from “outside”, exposing the entire vast area in a wide European perspective.

introduction

3

The last academic survey published in a foreign language which touches on Lithuanian Antiquity and the Middle Ages came off the press 48 years ago, and it was the famous study by Marija Gimbutas, The Balts (1963). Although recent decades have witnessed lots of articles in foreign languages discussing specific questions of Lithuanian prehistory, there are remarkable shortcomings on the different topics, but their aim wasn’t to present systematized archaeological evidence in its entirety. Therefore, I hope that this work provides European researchers with an opportunity to become better acquainted with Lithuania.

CHAPTER ONE

BALTIC AMBER: DISTRIBUTION, MAIN SOURCES AND ACCESSIBILITY By far the largest quantity of amber in use throughout the millennia was collected and quarried along the southern, southeastern and eastern coasts of the Baltic Sea, as well as from the shores of the North Sea. Baltic amber (a fossil resin), also known as succinite, “northern gold” or “sunny stone”, occurs naturally from the Frisian Islands in the southwest to the Gulf of Riga in the northeast. Baltic amber may also be found on inland sites in Poland, western Belarus and southwestern Ukraine. Amber also washes up naturally, if quite rarely, on the eastern coasts of Scotland and England (Fig. 1). The scientific name for the fossil resin otherwise known as Baltic amber derives from that of the amber pine Pinus succinifera. The largest deposits of Baltic amber in the entire world are in the northwestern part of the Sambian Peninsula (or Samland) in what is now the Kaliningrad region of Russia. The amber-bearing sediments may be found in the so-called “blue earth”, which is made up of maritime sediments from the Eocene or Oligocene Epochs.1 Amber is dug out of the “blue earth” in the open-cast mines of Jantarny (formerly Palmnicken in eastern Prussia)2 and Primorskaia. On the Sambian Peninsula it is also possible to collect drift amber from shallow lagoons by scooping it up from the sea with special nets (Fig. 2). The coast

1

Vladas Katinas, Iantar’ i iantarenosnye otlozheniia v iuzhnoi Pribaltiki, Trudy, vypusk 20, Upravlenie geologi pri sovete ministrov Litovskoi SSR (Vilnius, 1971), p. 140ff, fig. 12; Rule von Bismarck, Bernstein, das Gold des Nordens, Wanderndes Museum Universität Kiel 3 (Neumünster, 1985), p. 13ff; Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, “Bernstein—die Lagerstätte und ihre Entstehung”, in Ganzelewski and Slotta, Bernstein—Tränen der Götter, p. 133ff; Wolfgang Weitschat, Die Eidechse im Bernstein. Beitrag zum Inklusenbestand des Deutschen Bernsteinmuseums Ribnitz-Damgarten, ed. Ulf Erichson (Ribnitz-Damgarten, 2000), pp. 24–46. 2 During the last decade, the output of the amber industry in the Kaliningrad region has decreased dramatically, primarily because of the flooding in 2003 of the Jantarny mine that was opened in 1875. However, even before the flood the mine’s output had dropped significantly, as the amber-bearing stock appears to have been exhausted. The extraction of amber has already reached the bottom of the mine shaft. For more detail, see Zoia Kostiashova, “The crisis of the amber industry in the Kaliningrad District of the Russian Federation”, in AMBERIF (Gdańsk, 2006), pp. 238–240; New discoveries of Polish Geological Institute [online]. Available from: http://www.pgi.gov.pl/pgi_en/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=295& op=page&SubMenu= [Accessed 12 August 2009).

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Fig. 1. Area of the distribution of Baltic amber-bearing sediments: 1 primary amber deposits; 2 amber from Paleogene deposits; 3 boundary of distribution of re-deposited amber. I Sambia (Kaliningradskaia oblast, Russia); II Chłapowo (Poland); III Grodno (Belarus) and IV Obuchov (Ukraine) amber deposits. Map redrawn after Vladas Katinas, Iantar’ i iantarenosnye otlozheniia v iuzhnoi Pribaltiki, fig. 12.

baltic amber: distribution, main sources and accessibility

Fig. 2. Amber gatherers with scoop nets. After Elżbieta Choińska-Bochdan, “Bursztyn w kulturze”, fig. II.3.

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richest in amber was, and still is, the western coast of the Jutland Peninsula, a salt meadow on the southern Kattegat coast. Practically-speaking, this means that amber may be found almost anywhere in Denmark.3 Baltic amber was mined between 1975 and 1990 from deposits in Bitterfeld, near Halle.4 Drift amber is still collected and in some places mined (e.g. on several sites in the delta of the Vistula River by means of hydraulic extraction) along the entire southern coast of the Baltic Sea, from Schleswig-Holstein in the west to the mouths of the Oder and the Vistula, as well as from the Lithuanian and southwestern Latvian coasts.5 Amber has also been found in northeastern Poland (in the valley of the Narew River and the region of the Mazurian Lakes), as well as in southwestern Ukraine.6 Amber-bearing layers of variable richness extend well beyond the western and eastern Baltic Sea coasts to emerge as part of the sea floor sediments overlying at uneven depths, having been eroded differently by intense seasonal storms. Amber deposits have been found inland, in lagoons, lakes and marshy meadows. However, because of either depth or other natural obstacles, not all amber-bearing deposits currently known have been exploited since prehistory. The main amber sources available during Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages were in the Sambian Peninsula and were controlled and exploited by the peoples of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture and, later, by the Prussians (Figs. 2; 3). Various methods were used to obtain amber from deposits in the region of the Mazurian Lakes by peoples of the Bogaczewo culture, the Olsztyn group and, later, the Galindians. Drift amber and amber from waterlogged lagoons was available on the Lithuanian and southwestern Latvian coasts to the peoples of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture, the so-called Southwest Latvian Burial Sites, and throughout the

3

Ole Faber et al., Amber, ed. Marian Ploug (Ølgod: Ravmuseet, 2000), p. 116ff. In Bitterfeld mines, fossil resins other than succinite have been found. For this, see: Günter Krumbiegel and Brigitte Krumbiegel “Saxon deposits of Bitterfeld amber (Germany)”, in AMBERIF (Gdańsk, 2006), p. 39ff. 5 Katinas, Iantar’ i iantarenosnye otlozheniia v iuzhnoi Pribaltiki, fig. 22; Faber et al., Amber, p. 94ff; Weitschat, Die Eidechse im Bernstein, pp. 28–39. 6 Teresa Pietrzak, “Wydobywanie bursztynu na Kurpiach i w innych regionach Polski”, in Znaleziska i dawne kopalnie bursztynu w Polsce. Od Bałtyku przez Kurpie do Karpat. Biblioteka kurpiowska im. Stacha Konwy, 2. (Łomźa, 2002), pp. 13–22; T. Pietrzak et al., “Katalog znalezisk bursztynu w Polsce, Znaleziska i dawne kopalnie bursztynu w Polsce”, in Znaleziska i dawne kopalnie bursztynu w Polsce. Od Bałtyku przez Kurpie do Karpat. Biblioteka kurpiowska im. Stacha Konwy, 2 (Łomźa, 2002), pp. 27–140; Wiesław Gierłowski, Bursztyn i gdańscy bursztynnicy, Gdańska Kolekcja 1000–lecia (Gdańsk, 1999), p. 11; Weitschat, Die Eidechse im Bernstein, p. 40ff; Vladimir Tutsky, “Amber deposits in the Ukraine and their utilization”, in AMBERIF (Gdańsk, 2006), p. 36ff. 4

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Middle Ages to the Curonians and the people of the Lamata Land.7 In Late Antiquity, the people of the Wielbark culture, who many scholars believe to have been Goths, controlled the amber-bearing coast in the Gdańsk Bay and the Vistula Delta (Fig. 3).8 It appears, therefore, that differential access to amber-bearing deposits of different degrees of richness could explain why not all the peoples of the southeastern and eastern regions of the Baltic Sea participated in the same way in the trade of amber. Baltic amber was readily accessible in sufficient quantities, in a variety of colours, and was easy to process. Throughout prehistory and historical times, succinite was therefore the most popular fossil resin, especially for the manufacturing of jewellery and other pretty trinkets. Occasionally, however, fossil resins other than the “northern gold” (although difficult to distinguish from Baltic amber) were also used. This raises the problem of how to distinguish Baltic amber from other fossil resins. By the second half of the nineteenth century it was known that Baltic amber contains between three and eight percent succinic acid.9 In other words, what distinguishes the “northern gold” from other fossil resins is a high percentage of succinic acid. Nonetheless, it is impossible to distinguish between varieties of Baltic amber (succinite) extracted from different regions of the vast area in which the “northern gold” is known to have existed in Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. None of the currently known methods of physical and chemical analysis—infra-red spectrography, chromatography, nuclear paramagnetic resonance, positron annihilation spectroscopy or analytic pyrolysis—have

7 Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Teresa Pietrzak, “Z dziejów rozwoju wiedzy o znaleziskach bursztynu i ich prezentacji na mapach dawnych i współczesnych”, PMZ 37 (1985), fig. 6; Przemysław Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich na obszarze kultury przeworskiej”, Kwartalnik historii kultury materialnej 39/3 (1991), p. 351ff, fig. 18 and 19; Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, “Early Migration Period in the Mazurian Lakeland—Phantom or Reality?”, in Die spätrömische Kaiserzeit und die frühe Völkerwanderungszeit in Mittel- und Osteuropa, eds. Magdalena Mączyńska and Tadeusz Grabarczyk (Łódź, 2000), p. 155; Wojciech Nowakowski, “Rzymskie importy przemysłowe na terytorium zachodniobałtyjskiego kręgu kulturowego”, Archeologia XXXIV 1983 (1985), pp. 78–94, fig. 1; Marian Kaczyński, “Z problematyki kontaktów zachodnich bałtów z prowincjami imperium Romanum”, Rocznik Białostocki XVI (1991), pp. 158–195; Aleksander Bursche, “Die Entwicklung der Handels-beziehungen zwischen Rom und den Barbaren”, in Rom e, et, und, and, y die Barbaren, p. 98. 8 Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and T. Pietrzak, “Z dziejów rozwoju wiedzy o znaleziskach bursztynu”, fig. 6; T. Pietrzak, et al., “Katalog znalezisk bursztynu w Polsce”, pp. 27–140. 9 Otto Helm, “Über den Succinit und die ihm verwandten Fossilen Harze”. Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Danzig 4/7 (1891), p. 189ff; Katinas, Iantar’ i iantarenosnye otlozheniia v iuzhnoi Pribaltiki, p. 25.

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Fig. 3. Fragment of Olaus Magnus map “Carta marina et descriptio septemtrionalium terrarium ac mirabilium rerum in eis contentarum diligentissime elaborate” (Venice, 1539). Map showing the Gdańsk Bay, Vistula Lagoon and Spit (formerly Frische Nehrung, or Aistmarės Spit in Lithuanian) and the Sambian Peninsula with “amber coast”. Map fragment enlarged. After Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Teresa Pietrzak, “Z dziejów rozwoju wiedzy o znaleziskach bursztynu”, fig. 4.

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produced any satisfying solution to that problem.10 Baltic amber certainly comes in many varieties, but each one of them is characterized by a remarkably similar level of succinic acid. That is to say, there are no substantial differences between the amber mined from Sambia and that collected along the Jutland Peninsula to Lithuania and the Gulf of Riga. Amber travelled long distances by means of networks of trade and other forms of exchange, but not much more can be said about its origin than that it came from northern Europe. This makes very difficult any attempts to assess the quantity of amber extracted from the Baltic coast of present-day Lithuania and from inland sites. Moreover, it appears that the main source of succinite during Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages was drift amber made available on the seashore by seasonal storms. Some amount of amber may have been extracted from stratified sediments in small swampy areas or waterlogged coastal lakes, particularly in the Lower Neman region (in Lithuanian, Nemunas; the lower reaches of the river was called Memel, Memele).11 As late as 1900, Feliks Wincenty Tyszkiewicz (1869–1933), Count of Palanga, began mining amber from waterlogged lakes between Užkanavė and Paliepgiriai, to the north of the city of Palanga.12 Count Tyszkiewicz’s amber-mining enterprise stopped after only three years as he realized how small the amber-bearing resources really were. A site referred to as an amber mine (in German Bernsteingruben) is known from the so-called historical Lamata Land, north of Priekulė township, along the coast.13 Because large quantities of amber in the form of beads are known from Lamata, scholars have assumed that the amber-bearing deposits of the mine were depleted because amber had already been mined there in the Middle Ages. This explains why during the second half of the nineteenth century

10 Jaap J. Boon et al., “Microgram scale of pyrolysis mass spectrometric and pyrolysis gas chromatographic characteristic of geological and archaeological amber and resin samples”, in Amber in Archaeology, Liblice (Praha, 1993), pp. 14–26; Joseph B. Lambert and Curt W. Beck, “The structure of amber by carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy”, in Amber in Archaeology, Liblice (Praha, 1993), pp. 28–35. 11 Matas Pretorijus, Prūsijos onomasija, in Prūsijos įdomybės, arba Prūsijos regykla. Prūsijos įdomybių santrauka, vol. 1, book I, ed. Ingė Lukšaitė (Vilnius, 1999), p. 563. 12 Felikso Tiškevičiaus Juozo (gim. 1869 m.) asmens dokumentai /Feliks Tiškevičius son of Juozas (born in 1869), personal documents. MAB, f. 148–303, p. 3; Audronė Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras (Vilnius, 2007), pp. 77–83 and p. 92ff, figs. 51–55. 13 Emil Hollack, Erläuterungen zur vorgeschichtlichen Übersichtskarte von Ostpreussen (Glogau–Berlin, 1908), map; Vladas Žulkus, Kuršiai Baltijos jūros erdvėje (Vilnius 2004), fig. 8; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 392, fig. 223. For illustration, see: Chapter Four, fig. 92.

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the leading amber-mining company in the region (Stantien & Becker) began prospecting for amber in the Priekulė–Šilutė (in German Prökuls and Adl. Heydekrug) region, but only for a short time. Various direct and indirect data indicate that the resources of raw amber on the Lithuanian coast were rather scant, primarily because the amberbearing layers in the so-called “blue earth” of the Baltic Sea and the Curonian Lagoon are too deep and could not possibly have been exploited in prehistory. Current surveys of the Curonian Lagoon and the shores of the Baltic Sea between Klaipėda and the Šventoji (in German Heiligen Aa) River, as well as of some areas of the Latvian coast, show that industrial methods of amber harvesting have produced very little profit because the amber-bearing layer in the region is made up of small-sized pieces of amber at a relatively great depth.14 Nonetheless, using advanced methods of mining, as well as diving equipment, Stantien & Becker opened a mine in the Curonian Lagoon at Juodkrantė (formerly Schwarzort) in 1862. The amber-bearing layer was quickly exhausted, the quality of the amber declined, and the mine closed in 1899.15 Supporting, if indirectly, the idea that during the Middle Ages only small quantities of amber could have been found in Lithuania is a law regulating the harvesting of amber. The Duchy of Prussia inherited the monopoly on amber from the Teutonic Knights, who issued the first ordinances pertaining to amber,16 and in 1644 issued a law regulating amber collection (Von der Bornsteins-Ordnung in Preussen). The law prohibited anyone from walking along the beach in Sambia without special permission.17 The law regulating the harvesting of amber was briefly and unsuccessfully applied to the

14 Data collected from the archive of Lithuanian Geological Survey under the Ministry of the Environment in Vilnius (Unpublished investigations reports, in LGT GF archive: LGT GF nos. 593, 1362, 1419, 4347 and 4426. Also see: Ona Valiukevičienė and Vyda E. Gasiūnienė, Ar Lietuva gintaro šalis? Ataskaitos santrauka. Programa–Geologija visuomenei (Vilnius, 1995), pp. 1–11, tables 1 and 2. 15 Oscar Schlicht, Die kurische Nehrung in Wort und Bild (Königsberg, 1924), pp. 159ff; Adolf Brekenfeld, “Die Unternehmer-persönlichkeiten Friedrich Wilhelm Stantien und Moritz Becker”, in Bernstein—Tränen der Götter. Katalog der Austellung des Deutschen BergbauMuseums Bochum in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ostpreussischen Landesmuseum Lüneburg und dem Siebenbürgischen Museum Gundelsheim. [Ausstellung im Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum, 15. September 1996 bis 19. Januar 1997]. Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum, 64. Eds. Michael Ganzelewski and Rainer Slotta (Bochum, 1996), p. 279ff. 16 The Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary’s Hospital in Jerusalem founded in 1190. 17 Pretorijus, Prūsijos onomasija, pp. 609–631.

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Lithuanian coast. This strongly suggests that profits from amber harvesting barely covered the production expenses. During Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the territory of Lithuania was comparatively poorer in amber than its closest neighbours. This is because the primary source of Lithuanian amber remained the maritime surge during autumnal and springtime storms, when the wind blows from the west and drift amber from Sambia is brought to the coastline.

CHAPTER TWO

AMBER IN LITHUANIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY One may begin the study of the subject of Lithuanian amber with the satisfaction of knowing that in Lithuania there are two special bibliographies compiled for this purpose. These bibliographies allow one to conclude that this topic is studied widely and consistently. However, such a conclusion may not be backed up by the reality. Unfortunately, the intentions behind these bibliographies were quite practical—they were created to raise the profile of amber.1 In Lithuanian historiography, Lithuania’s self-image as the land of amber is indispensible. The bibliographies sought to create an overview and evaluation of scholarly work relating to amber from the Stone Age to the late Middle Ages. The first amber bibliography was assembled in 1981 by the librarian Olga Usačiova. This bibliography was an enormous project: the goal was to collect all Baltic amber-related literature published in Europe, from the first monographs of the seventeenth century to publications on amber formation and morphology, insects, amber in museum collections, amber use in applied art and in different spheres of human life to the use of amber in the chemical industry.2 However, in the section of this bibliography dedicated to archaeology, in which work from Lithuanian and foreign authors was included, any published work that had the word “amber” in the article text was included. For this reason, besides articles and monographs, the historiography contains a number of informational newspaper articles written by both archaeologists and journalists.3 The Lithuanian section of this bibliography clearly indicates that up to 1981, researchers, enthusiasts of prehistory and journalists were mostly interested in the amber trade, amber routes and rare amber artefacts.

1 In 1963 in Palanga (western Lithuania), an amber museum was founded. In the 1970s, a generation of exceptionally creative artists engaged in the applied arts emerged. Their highlevel creations from amber made a huge impact on the development of jewellery, making it a popular trend in Lithuania. Even now, Lithuania is well known for its craftspeople who work with amber. 2 There are 3,193 entries in this bibliography. See: Olga Usačiova, “Gintaras. Bibliografinė rodyklė”, in Gintaras: Bibliografinė rodyklė, ed. Olga Usačiova (Vilnius, 1981), pp. 25–198. 3 Usačiova, “Gintaras. Bibliografinė rodyklė”, pp. 115–127.

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Another bibliography, prepared in 2001, collected only articles on amber from Lithuanian archaeological literature.4 This specialized amber bibliography shows that there are several published articles that give an overview of amber issues.5 However, the majority of articles included in this bibliography, as in the one or two decades previously, appeared because the word “amber” was mentioned as a key word in the article. Because the bibliography compiled in 2001 is specialized, in addition to its main goal it evaluates the level of amber investigations. The bibliography serves as a good source for preparing maps of the distribution of amber in different periods of prehistory. In 2007, the author’s study Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras (Lithuania’s prehistoric amber)6 appeared, covering not just Lithuania’s, but a large part of the eastern Baltic region’s material from the Palaeolithic to the late Middle Ages. This is currently the most extensive study available on amber, noteworthy for its systematic approach to scholarly research on the topic. The evaluation of all the scholarly work based on the study of amber up to 2007—articles that appeared in Lithuania, and not just according to their titles, but according to their content—could be separated into work that discusses written sources from Antiquity and the amber trade, as well as the so-called “Amber Routes”; aspects of the importance of amber in funeral rites and beliefs following the approaches of theoretical archaeology; and the research on the typology of amber artefacts. However, the largest body of work on the theme of amber consists of popular publications, such as

4 Audronė Bliujienė, “Amber in Lithuanian Archaeological Literature”, Baltic Amber (2001), pp. 285–315. 5 Liucija Murnikaitė, “Gintaro dirbiniai Lazdininkų (Kretingos raj.) kapinyno vyrų kapuose”, in Archeologinės ir numizmatinės medžiagos komplektavimas ir konservavimas: jaunųjų muziejininkų konferencijos pranešimų tezes (Vilnius, 1983), p. 34ff; Algirdas Varnas, “Gintaro apdirbimas”, in Lietuvių materialinė kultūra IX–XIII amžiuje, vol. I, ed. Regina VolkaitėKulikauskienė (Vilnius, 1978), pp. 117–124; Laima Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, in Ikikrikščioniškosios Lietuvos kultūra. Istoriniai ir teoriniai aspektai. Senovės baltų kultūra (Vilnius, 1992), pp. 36–49; L. Vaitkunskienė, “Amber in the Art and Religion of the Ancient Balts”, in Contacts across the Baltic Sea: During the Late Iron Age (5th– 12th centuries). Baltic Sea Conference, Lund October 25–27, 1991. Report Series. University of Lund. Institute of Archaeology, 43, eds. Birgitta Hårdn and Boźena Wyszomirska-Werbart (Lund, 1992), pp. 49–57; Raimundas V. Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, Klaipėdos miesto ir regiono archeologijos ir istorijos problemos. Acta Historica 2 (1994), pp. 59–106; R. V. Sidrys, “Gintaro įkapės senojo ir viduriniojo geležies amžiaus kapuose”, in Vidurio Lietuvos archeologija etnokultūriniai ryšiai, eds. Audrius Astrauskas and Mindaugas Bertašius (Vilnius, 1994), pp. 28–46. 6 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras.

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museum guide books, which, up to the present, have influenced scientific literature. Articles Focusing on Amber in Written Sources, the Amber Trade, the so-called “Amber Routes” and Imports Lithuania’s historiography is dominated by the type of work focusing on the written sources that offer the most interesting relations: the Aestii and amber. The Aestii are mentioned by Tacitus for their amber, and amber is mentioned by several authors from Antiquity; these works underline the amber trade routes,7 in other words, they emphasize the importance of the amber trade in the Roman period. These types of articles create an odd theoretical model, which, first of all, is based on Tacitus’s mention of the Aestii and amber in Germania, in addition to the Romans’ tendency to exaggerate the need for amber and to assign it too much value. Based on this knowledge, one might come to the conclusion that throughout all periods of history for all communities in what is present-day Lithuania, amber was practically the only export product. Secondly, in these works scholars try to argue that the trade mission which arrived in the northern marketplaces to bring back amber to Rome, as described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, may have visited the Lithuanian coast.8 When trying to emphasize the significance of amber collection and trade along Lithuania’s coast, often the Greek authors Homer (Odyssey), Herodotus (History), the explorer Pytheas and the famous Greek story about Phaethon and the origin of amber are quoted

7 Lithuanian authors: Jonas Puzinas, Naujausių proistorinių tyrinėjimų duomenys (1919– 1938 metų Lietuvos proistorinių tyrinėjimų apžvalga) (Kaunas, 1938); Marija Gimbutas, The Balts. Ancient Peoples and Places (London, 1963); Marija Gimbutienė, “Rytprūsių ir Vakarų Lietuvos priešistorinės kultūros apžvalga. Vakarų baltų kraštas—baltų kultūros centras”, in Studia Lituanica I Mažoji Lietuva (New York, 1958), pp. 11–121; Marija Gimbutienė, Baltai priešistoriniais laikais. Etnogenezė, materialinė kultūra ir mitologija (Vilnius, 1985), p. 87ff; Mykolas Michelbertas, “Prekybiniai ryšiai su Romos imperija”, in Lietuvos gyventojų prekybiniai ryšiai I–XIII a., ed. Mykolas Michelbertas (Vilnius, 1972), p. 65ff, figs. 21 and 22; M. Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje I–IV amžius (Vilnius, 1986), p. 216ff; Eugenijus Jovaiša and Arvydas Malonaitis, “Baltai ir antika”, Istorija XLIX–L (2001), pp. 46–55. See also: Latvian and Polish authors: Arnolds Spekke, Senie dzintara ceļi un AustrumBaltijas ģeografiskā atklāšana (Stokholm, 1956); Jerzy Wielowiejski, Główny szlak bursztynowy w czasach Cesarstwa Rzymskiego (Wrocław, 1980); Jerzy Kolendo, “Wyprawa po bursztyn bałtycki za Nerona”, Pomorania Antiqua 10 (1981), pp. 25–63. 8 Mykolas Michelbertas, “Romėnų didiko ekspedicija gintarui pargabenti ir radiniai Lietuvoje”, Baltų archeologija 2(5) (1995), p. 17ff.

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in Lithuanian historiography,9 likewise the tragedian Sophocles with his Antigone and other literati of Antiquity who in their creative work mention amber.10 These texts create an illusion about the importance of the coast of the eastern Baltic and Lithuania in the Bronze Age and the La Tène period. Most researchers claim that all the amber was traded for bronze and artefacts made of bronze. Meanwhile, the poor result of this trade—imported items, over the course of many years was discussed only in a Lithuanian context, or in the best case scenario in the eastern Baltic context, rather hiding the fact of its negligible quantity and insignificant value.11 Returning to the topic of the problem of the historiography of amber in Late Antiquity, one could state that Lithuania’s researchers, while analysing Pliny the Elder’s Natural History sections dedicated to amber, concentrate on the “amber trade mission” that had been organized during the time of Emperor Nero’s reign (54–68) and take a formal distance from Carnuntum in Pannnonia to the commercia ea et litora, and calculate that the “amber trade mission” may have visited the Lithuanian coast,12 avoiding the fact that litus id Germania is mentioned. However, the archaeological evidence, just like Pliny’s text, in the first amber historiography prepared in Europe, does not confirm this idea.13 One more postulate that Lithuanian historiography is based on, is the opinion that both Tacitus and Pliny’s information provides the motivation to posit that the Aestii from the contemporary Lithuanian coast traded in amber. This assumption is made because the first imported ornaments coincide with the second half of the first century, exactly at the time in which the Aestii were mentioned and the “amber trade mission” travelled to the

9 See: Pliny the Elder, Natural History, vol. X, Libri XXXVI–XXXVII, with an English Translation in Ten Volumes, trans. E. D. Eichholz (London, 1962), XXXVII, § 11.32–35. 10 Pranas Gudynas and Stasys Pinkus, Palangos gintaro muziejus (Vilnius, 1974, third edition), p. 10ff; Romualdas Budrys, “Review of the Literature on Amber”, Baltic Amber (2001), p. 262ff. 11 Gimbutienė, Baltai priešistoriniais laikais, p. 57ff, figs. 24 and 25; Gimbutienė, “Rytprūsių ir Vakarų Lietuvos priešistorinės kultūros apžvalga”, pp. 29–37; Raymond V Sidrys and Aleksiejus Luchtanas, “Shining Axes, Spiral Pins. Early Metal Consumption in the East Baltic”, Acta Archaeologica 70 (1999), pp. 165–180. 12 Michelbertas, “Romėnų didiko ekspedicija”, p. 17ff; M. Michelbertas, “Vakarų Lietuvos apgyvendinimas senajame geležies amžiuje ir kai kurie šio regiono istorijos klausimai”, in Vakarų baltų archeologija ir istorija (Klaipėda, 1989), p. 15; Rasa Banytė-Rowell, “Romėnų įtakos laikai ir baltų kultūrų klestėjimo laikotarpis”, in Lietuvos istorija. Geležies amžius 2, ed. Gintautas Zabiela (Vilnius, 2007), p. 25. 13 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 260–282.

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Baltic coast and visited marketplaces of the distant Germania.14 However, this is only part of the truth, which is based on archaeological evidence, which indicates that the Aestii’s contacts and exchanges with the surrounding world existed. But, had Lithuania’s Aestii and coastal communities been involved in the amber trade, their reward would have been simply too insignificant, because the greatest portion from the negligible imports belonging to the early Roman period was not on the Lithuanian coast.15 The Lithuanian historiography is dominated by an inadequate and superficial textual interpretation of the material described by Tacitus and Pliny. The answer to the question of what the Aestii who lived along the Lithuanian coast offered, or could have offered, to the regional trade, is for the moment being decided only on the level of theoretical discussion. That is how the idea of the trade model, based on amber, and called the amber trade routes, was established, sustained by the texts of Pliny and Tacitus and other written sources. However, the Lithuanian historiographies do not emphasize that amber moved along these routes just like any other commodity. Amber trade was a complicated process, which occurred not just “down-the-line”, but on many exchange levels, and even today is explained in a variety of manners and is interpreted in a theoretically-modelled context. In other words, there is no doubt that amber from the northern regions was moving to the south of Europe through an exchange network and different trade transactions. In the Lithuanian historiographical tradition, based on written sources from Antiquity, not adequately evaluating Lithuania’s archaeological material, never was it questioned how many Aestii who lived on the Lithuanian coast could realistically have collected raw amber, as the Baltic Sea’s coastline

14 Gimbutienė, Baltai priešistoriniais laikais, p. 87; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius, p. 4; M. Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum. Litauen (Vilnius, 2001); Jovaiša, Malonaitis, “Baltai ir antika”, p. 47ff; Eugenijus Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, Baltic Amber (2001), fig. 2. 15 The extent of the trade is best shown through individual imported goods and the numbers of Roman coins. Only 19 imported fibulae of the mid first century to the second half of the second century belong to the entire territory of present-day Lithuania. And what is more, almost all imports were found inland. Also, a very few sestertii belong to the period. The earliest coins found in Latvia are two sestertii, of Marcus Agrippa (31–12 BC) and Gaius Octavius Augustus (27 BC–14 AD), found in the Jaungulbene hoard among the 50 other coins of the second to the mid fourth century. These coins may have arrived in the territory of present-day Latvia via the Baltic Sea or via cities of the Black Sea and along the DnieperWestern Dvina waterway. For this, see: Chapter Three and Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde, pp. 26–59, plates 2–11; Raymond V. Sidrys, “Roman Imports among the West Balts: Commerce or ‘Beads for the Natives?’ ”, Baltic Amber (2001), pp. 157–170; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 309 ff, fig. 18; Kristīne Ducmane and Anda Ozoliņa, Latvija Eiropā: monētu depozīti 1.–20. Gadsimtā (Rīga, 2009), p. 40, fig. 1.

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changes (transgressions and regressions) altered the accessibility of amber, as did, in various periods, the structure of coastal settlements and the development of its network (according to population density). Further, how was raw amber graded, initially processed and prepared for trade, and was this process reflected in material from habitation sites;16 were amber deposits found in the settlements’ cultural layers and dwellings or ultimately close to accessible trade routes? In other words, the amber trade or exchange was never aligned with any other leading actions taken to increase the spread of economic activity, and only with one of its segments—import, the quantity and quality of which shows that the exchanges were uneven.17 Also, the logical question arises: did Lithuanian coastal communities have enough amber? Immediately, another question is raised—was amber the only exchange equivalent, as is often posited? However, it seems that the region’s societies had other equivalent exchanges.18 Preliminary research shows that in Lithuania, as in the whole of the eastern Baltic region, the extraction, crafting and use of amber declined dramatically at the beginning of the Bronze Age,19 and only during the late Roman period did the use of amber, for various reasons, recover, and seemingly match the level of amber extraction. However, the amber export from the Lithuanian coast to the south remains a topic of discussion,20 despite the fact that most of Lithuania’s scholars believe that amber from the Lithuanian coast, like amber from the northernmost amber-bearing coast, moved “down-the-line” to the south of Europe.21 A number of misunderstandings in the north are created by succinite itself, or the problem of the nature of Baltic amber. The problem is that in this entire region, amber is of the same origin (Fig. 1).22 A large succinite or Baltic amber territory spread of the same composition could be only an issue of 16 There are good examples of amber grading and examples of initial amber processing and preparation for exchange to the north (to communities of the Pit-Comb Ware culture) known from the Neolithic settlements at Šventoji in western Lithuania. See: Rimutė Rimantienė, Akmens amžiaus žvejai prie pajūrio lagūnos (Vilnius, 2005); Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 105ff. 17 See: Chapter Three. 18 Gimbutienė, Baltai priešistoriniais laikais, p. 87; Mindaugas Bertašius, Vidurio Lietuva VIII–XII a. (Kaunas, 2002 ), p. 23ff; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 26–38. 19 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 202–230, fig. 118, appendix 6; Mirja Ots, “Changes in the Use of Amber in Estonia and the Neighbouring Countries in the Bronze Age”, in Amber in Archaeology, Belgrade (Belgrade 2009), p. 46ff, fig. 2. 20 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 61–96, figs. 1 and 28. 21 Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, fig. 2. 22 See: Chapter One.

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amber’s origins, if it were not the case that those origins were mythologized, as happened in Lithuania, when a unique name for amber came into use. There is plenty of evidence of research where instead of the term “Baltic amber”, another term, used characteristically only in Lithuanian, “Amber of the Balts”, appears.23 This name is directly linked with the term “the Balts”, and only the part of the southern and eastern Baltic region, which was ruled by these people. Considering that the present-day Balt (also known as the “Aestii”) world is mainly in Lithuania and Latvia, because gone forever are the famous amber gatherers from the Sambian Peninsula—the old Prussians and Sudovians,24 and the eastern Balts have almost totally vanished, the term “Amber of the Balts” has almost insensibly become associated only with the Balts of the current reality. Ipso facto, “Amber of the Balts” or just amber (succinite), has become synonymous with Lithuania.25 However, in the vast distribution territory of the Baltic amber, it was available to the other ethnic groups settled around the Baltic Sea, even if the Balts/Aestii ruled over the most important amber-bearing layers. Physiochemical analyses have established that amber artefacts made from succinite or “northern gold”,26 found in the central or southern European regions were generally crafted from Baltic amber. Knowing this eliminates the problem of amber origins in central or southern Europe, but it doesn’t really come as news, as since the time of Pliny there has been no doubt that “amber is a product of islands in the Northern Ocean”.27 It is clear that because of exchange from the north, amber travelled to the southern regions; however, in the north, or as referred to by Pliny, in the “islands in the Northern Ocean”, a problem arises when researchers try to make concrete conjectures about the source (or sources) of amber in particular historical periods. Here, perhaps the same mythical Eridanus

23 Pranas Kulikauskas et al., Lietuvos archeologijos bruožai (Vilnius, 1961), p. 260; Gimbutienė, “Rytprūsių ir Vakarų Lietuvos priešistorinės kultūros apžvalga”, p. 29; Romualdas Budrys, “Gintaro literatūros apžvalga”, in Gintaras: bibliografinė rodyklė, ed. Olga Usačiova (Vilnius, 1981), p. 6. 24 Some of the Sudovians were resettled on Sambian Peninsula by The Order of the Teutonic Knights at the end of the thirteenth century. 25 Ieva Akstinavičiūtė and Daiva Petraitytė, “Lietuvių tautinės tapatybės simbolinių komponentų konfigūracijos”, Filosofija. Sociologija 18/ 2 (2007), pp. 14–29. 26 Emma Sprincz, “Amber Artefacts of Hungary from Middle Bronze Age to the Hungarian Conquest (from 1600 BC to 896 AD)”, in Amber in Archaeology, Talsi (Riga, 2003), p. 208ff; Aleksandar Palavestra, “Prehistoric amber and beads from Kosovo”, Balcanica XXVIII (1997), p. 18ff. 27 Pliny, Natural History XXXVII, § 11.40 42.

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River28 (the name Eridanus or Eridanos, derived from the ancient Greek Eridanos was given by geologists), whose identification has been argued over since Antiquity, otherwise a hypothetical river, which in the Eocene Epoch flowed from the rich forest of Fennoscandia and together with rock material, gravel and sand transferred to the Bay of Gdańsk and the Sambian Peninsula softer resin (succinite) often still stuck in tree trunks,29 creates ample reasons for discussion and oddly enough returns the process of solving problems back into its headwaters—the contemporary Vistula Delta and the Sambian Peninsula (Figs. 1; 3). Therefore, understandably, the search for the concrete amber-bearing coast and its exact location continues for researchers who live along those same “amber coasts”. It is not easy to determine the sources of amber in the continually changing coastal zones of the Baltic and North Seas, just as it is not easy to determine the ever-changing European economic and political context. First of all because succinite, or Baltic amber, is spread over such a large territory,30 and secondly because in prehistory various sources of amber were used. Because of the organization of amber networks, amber reached central and southern Europe as the sum result of various transactions. The trade model “down-the-line” to the south of Europe, with the Veneti (known to the Greeks as Eneti) as the middlemen, was first described by Pliny.31 However, one of the first scholars to tackle the issue of the transport of amber south was the Swedish researcher Oscar Montelius (1910).32 Amber moving southwards was described by Josè Maria de Navarro (1925) in his satisfactorily argued article pointing out three chronologically different amber routes and amber supply regions from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity (Fig. 4).33 Although the Navarro article was criticized,34 proposing

28 The name is known from the Greek legends about Phaethon. The Eridanus River was already connected by Pliny with the Po (Italy) and the Rhône Rivers (in Switzerland and southern France). See: Pliny, Natural History XXXVII, § 11.30–32. 29 Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, “Bernstein—die Lagerstätte und ihre Entstehung”, p. 165. 30 See: Chapter One. 31 C. Plini Secundi, Naturalis Historiae Libri XXXVII, vol. V, Libri XXXI–XXXVII, ed. Carolus Mayhoff (Lipsiae/Leipzig, 1897), XXXVII, § 43; Pliny, Natural History XXXVII, § 43. 32 Oscar Montelius, “Der Handel in der Vorzeit”, Praehistorische Zeitschrift 2/1 (1910), pp. 281–290. 33 J.M. de Navarro, “Prehistoric Routes between Northern Europe and Italy Defined by the Amber Trade”, The Geographical Journal LXVI/6, December (1925), pp. 481–507. 34 Colin Renfrew, Before Civilization: The radiocarbon revolution and prehistoric Europe (Harmondsworth, 1989), pp. 222–247; Curt Beck and Stephen Shennan, Amber in Prehistoric Britain. Oxbow Monograph 8 (Oxford, 1991), p. 128; Berta Stjernquist, “2. Amber in Iron Age Finds in Sweden. Analyses and Discussions”, in Archaeological and Scientific Studies of

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Fig. 4. “Amber Routes” after Jose Maria de Navarro, “Prehistoric Routes between Northern Europe and Italy Defined by the Amber Trade”, plate I: + main route: early Bronze Age; . . . western route branch: middle Bronze Age;—eastern route: early Iron Age.

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some new methods for study of exchange in prehistoric Europe,35 his idea that the “Amber Routes” were moving eastwards following shifting amber sources during the prehistoric period still has great value. In 1986, Reinhard Wenskus published a comprehensive review on trade under the title “Pytheas and amber trade”.36 The author refers to an analysis of Pliny’s Natural History and other authors of Antiquity, as well as contemporary studies on trade systems; he argues for the existence of trade ports on the North Sea islands (Helgoland and others) by Pytheas’s time (c. 323/325 BC). Wenskus also argues that the zinc and amber trades started in those ports. The fate of the Aestii (or Hesti) was such that more than four hundred years later, once again in connection to amber (in this case—succinum), they are mentioned by Cassiodorus in Variae Epistolae. There, the diplomatic gift delivered to Theodoric is considered to be a demonstration of willingness to restore the contacts and amber trade, and has recently provoked new discussion on amber trade and routes.37 Even if the king’s answer to the Aestii might be a contrived, inauthentic and fictional narration,38 some Lithuanian researchers think that Variae Epistolae is authentic. They believed that the Aistians or the Balts were involved in the turbulent events of the Migration period as participants who were able to determine the main European political events, and equally they believed, that the Aestii were close to the formation of an early kingdom(!),39 and therefore capable of organizing and

Amber from the Swedish Iron Age. Scripta minora Regiae Societatis humaniorum litterarum Lundensis, 1994/1995:1, eds. Berta Stjernquist, Curt W. Beck and Jan Bergström (Stockholm, 1994), p. 8. 35 Colin Renfrew, “Alternative models for exchange and spatial distribution”, in Exchange Systems in Prehistory, Studies in Archaeology, eds. Timothy K. Earle and Jonathon E. Ericson (New York, 1977), pp. 71–90; Beck and Shennan, Amber in Prehistoric Britain, p. 128; Stephen Shennan, “Exchange and ranking in the Early Bronze Age of Europe”, in Ranking, Resource and Exchange. Aspects of Archaeology of Early European Society, eds. Colin Renfrew and Stephen Shennan (Cambridge, 1982), p. 38ff; Andrew Sherratt, “What would a Bronze Age world system look like? Relations between temperate Europe and the Mediterranean in prehistory”, Journal of European Archaeology 1.2 (1993), pp. 4–52. 36 Reinhard Wenskus, Ausgewählte Aufsätze zum frühen und preußischen Mittelalter. Festgabe zu seinem siebzigsten Geburtstag, ed. Hans Patze (Sigmaringen, 1986), pp. 40–64. 37 Valdemaras Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje pirmojo eros tūkstantmečio viduryje (Vilnius, 2006), p. 108ff; Eugenijus Jovaiša, “Baltų visuomenė ankstyvųjų viduramžių pradžioje (V–VI a.)”, Istorija 64 (2006), p. 13; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 338. 38 Wojciech Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae. Z badań nad pradziejami bałtyjskiego ludu z Pojezierza Mazurskiego, Barbaricum 4 (Warszawa, 1995), p. 83; In Lithuanian historiography, the dominating opinion is that Cassiodorus’s Variae is an authentic written source. For this see: Edvardas Gudavičius, “Baltų gentys ir jų arealai. 1. Rašytiniai šaltiniai apie to meto baltus”, in Lietuvių etnogenezė, ed. Regina Volkaitė-Kulikauskienė (Vilnius, 1987), p. 124; Simas Karaliūnas, Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. II (Vilnius, 2005), pp. 79–87. 39 Jovaiša, “Baltų visuomenė ankstyvųjų viduramžių pradžioje”, p. 13ff.

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sending envoys to Ravenna. Eventually their political activity successfully regenerated amber trade and trade routes.40 However, using well-known written sources and other facts it is not possible to prove that the Aestii, especially those who lived in the territory of present-day Lithuania, actively participated in the European Migration period events that determined the development of Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. Data from Lithuanian sites demonstrates that the number of amber artefacts increased before and during the time of Theodoric the Great (454–526).41 Amber spread in this vast territory and the use of similar-shaped beads in huge quantities by different communities from Lithuania in the north to the territory of present-day Hungary, Crimea and Caucasus creates the opportunity to look at the amber trade as an important phenomenon of the time.42 To present-day Lithuania, what is most important is that uniform semilathed and perfectly-lathed amber beads in the time of Theodoric the Great appeared between the Neman and Western Dvina (in Latvian Daugava, in German Düna) Rivers and are commodities which appeared from different European amber workshops under different circumstances.43 Articles Discussing Aspects of the Importance of Amber in Funeral Rites and Beliefs During the first half of the twentieth century, the idea that amber might play the role of primitive money in the exchange process was born. This idea still has its followers.44 However, this would have meant that the Aestii

40 Gudavičius, “Baltų gentys ir jų arealai”, p. 124; Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje, p. 13; Jovaiša, “Baltų visuomenė ankstyvųjų viduramžių pradžioje”, p. 13ff. 41 Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius, p. 106; Adolfas Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje (V–IX a.) (Vilnius, 1996), p. 186ff; Audronė Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium and their Provenance within the Limits of Eastern Baltic Region”, Baltic Amber (2001), pp. 173–180; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 339–367. 42 Florin Curta, “The Amber Trail in early medieval Eastern Europe”, in Paradigms and Methods in Early Medieval Studies, eds. Felice Lifshitz and Celia Martin Chazelle. New Middle Ages (New York, 2007), pp. 61–78. 43 Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, p. 173ff; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 347. 44 Aleksandras M. Račkus, “Gintaras numizmatikoje”, in Lietuvių tauta. Lietuvių mokslo draugijos raštai IV/1 (Vilnius, 1926), pp. 27–32; Ēvalds Mugurēvičs, Vostochnaia Latviia i sosednye zemli v X–XIII vv.: ekonomicheskie sviazi s Rus’iu i drugimi territoriami: puti soobshcheniia (Riga, 1965), p. 65.

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and other users of amber, whoever they may have been, made trade only as barter exchange. Few amber artefacts are found in the cultural layers of hill-forts and settlements, and only a small amount of amber is known from grave fields (except Migration period graves) during Lithuania’s Late Antique period and Middle Ages. Marija Gimbutas was surprised by the small amount of amber artefacts. She wrote, “amber beads are extremely rare in the land of amber”.45 Gimbutas was one of those researchers who were very interested in amber and its consumption; the manner in which it manifested itself in the material culture of various time periods; amber exchange; amber trade routes; and the Balts’ religion, which in her opinion, revealed itself in the amber amulets that were worn as a reflection of the Balts’ world view (especially in the Neolithic period).46 However, some of the maps assembled by Gimbutas that show the distribution of amber in Europe are not based on Lithuanian archaeological evidence.47 There is the conflicting idea that “to the amber-gatherers [Aestii] the substance [amber] was apparently common and that they yearned for more exotic ornaments”.48 Did the people who lived then in what is presentday Lithuania value amber or not? The answer is not so simple. On the one hand, one can base one’s opinion on Gimbutas’s famous statement: “amber beads are extremely rare in the land of amber”, which may have its own explanation of the low amber usage by the Balts.49 In trying to explain why so few amber artefacts are found in the Balts’ graves and even less amber is found in the cultural layers of hill-forts and settlements, researchers raise a variety of hypotheses or have a strange interpretation of Gimbutas’s aforementioned proposition. Most of the time it is believed that because of a high social consciousness that amber societies needed to cultivate exchange, the Aestii’s tribal leaders and priests tried to minimize and restrict local amber consumption in everyday life and local amber circulation. People from the coast just gathered drift amber, accumulated and saved it for trading.50 Following these premises, it has been concluded that on the coast, as inland, 45

Gimbutas, The Balts, p. 129; Gimbutienė, Baltai priešistoriniais laikais, p. 87. Marija Gimbutas, “East Baltic Amber in the Fourth and Third Millennia BC”, Journal of Baltic Studies, vol. XVI/ 3 (1985), p. 241ff. 47 Gimbutienė, “Rytprūsių ir Vakarų Lietuvos priešistorinės kultūros apžvalga”, figs. 6 and 11. 48 Gimbutas, The Balts, p. 129. 49 Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 39 and p. 43; Vaitkunskienė, “Amber in the Art and Religion of the Ancient Balts”, p. 53ff, with figs. 3, 4 and 6; Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 81ff. 50 Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 83; Raymond V. Sidrys, “Sunlight in Stone: Ancient Amber Use in the Eastern Baltic”, in Archaeology without Limits. 46

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economical reasons supported by the tribal leaders and the pagan priests’ prohibitions against using amber in everyday life and their discouragements against placing in graves “large pendants and or long necklaces” had the desired effect—amber began to take the form of amulets (bead-amulets).51 Unfortunately, Lithuanian archaeological evidence can only partially prove that amber was used as an amulet. It is also posited that during the Middle Ages, “artefacts of specialized ritual forms appear and in the number of graves natural (raw) amber lumps multiply”.52 Still, these hypotheses may only exist because of a predisposed, though undeclared, opinion that Lithuania’s coast was that amber-bearing patch of land from which amber had been exported throughout the ages. However, standardized forms of amber beads and pendants did not occur because of the ritualization of amber or because of prohibitions on putting it in graves based on religion, but as a result of similar inter-regional processes, the influence of which were felt to a greater or lesser degree by the Aestii/Balts.53 In other words, in Lithuanian historiography, the attempt has never been made to synchronize the tendency for amber use in Lithuania with that in the rest of the Baltic region, and in Europe generally. In this manner, a separation of the Aestii from the active European economic and cultural processes is equivalent to leaving them only with the mystical role of amber-gatherers and providers. In Lithuania, there is still very little research on the role of amber in the Balts’ beliefs.54 There are a few investigations connecting figure-of-eightshaped amber pendants with chafers or bees,55 Egyptian scarabs,56 or other different kinds of beetles.57 The amber bees were connected with Lithuanian folklore describing the bee’s sanctity in some distinct forms and with

Papers in honour of Clement W. Meighan, eds. Brian Dillon and Matthew Boxt (Lancester, 2005), p. 432. 51 Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, pp. 69–73 and p. 85ff; Sidrys, “Sunlight in Stone: Ancient Amber Use in the Eastern Baltic”, p. 431ff. 52 Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 86. 53 A. Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 255–424. 54 Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 39ff; Vaitkunskienė, “Amber in the Art and Religion of the Ancient Balts”, p. 55; Rasa Banytė, “Gintariniai kabučiai iš Baitų senkapių”, in Vakarų baltų istorija ir kultūra, vol. 2 (Klaipėda, 1995), pp. 5–20; R. Banytė-Rowell, “Characteristics of the End of the Roman Period According to Material from Baitai Grave Site (near Klaipėda)”, AB 4 (2000), p. 36. 55 Banytė, “Gintariniai kabučiai iš Baitų senkapių”, pp. 5–20; Banytė-Rowell, “Characteristics of the End of the Roman Period”, p. 36. 56 Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 70. 57 Audronė Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age to Early Middle Ages”, in Amber in Archaeology, Talsi (Riga, 2003), p. 56.

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Christianity (symbol of the Holy Ghost).58 However, it should be mentioned that barbarians got the idea to produce figure-of-eight-shaped pendants from the Antique world. The Aestii copied these pendants from the Germanic peoples and for a long time were successfully and creatively transforming those pendants into many derivatives.59 The perfect interpretation of Middle Ages amber comb-shaped pendants (which can’t have been used as real combs) was given by Laima Vaitkunskienė, who found the answer of their origins and use in Lithuanian folk tales.60 There are some scientifically reliable explanations of amber artefacts and their usage traditions connected with the electrostatic qualities of amber.61 Likewise, it is possible to explain a tradition that has been known since ancient times to the peoples who live around the Baltic Sea rim—sacrificial offerings “drowned” in the water (sometimes in sacred places called Alkas in Lithuanian). Amber was an integral part of those sacrificial acts.62 Articles Dealing with the Approaches of Theoretical Archaeology Lithuanian historiography embraced the foremost theoretical studies of the second half of the twentieth century, as well as later, investigations discussing trade as a network and studies analysing exchange systems as a two-way transaction, from reciprocity to redistribution and market exchange. Those exchange systems were primarily dependent upon a society’s social stratification, craft level and specialization—the main factors that lead to and facilitate different exchange systems, in addition to a large trade in raw materials, finished products, luxury goods, etc.63 Only recently in Lithuania have articles appeared in which authors analyse archaeological evidence with a more or less theoretical approach, and even if researchers do not formulate their own

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Banytė-Rowell, “Characteristics of the End of the Roman Period”, p. 36. Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 295. 60 The comb created an impenetrable forest when it was thrown. This allowed the owner of the comb to protect himself from enemies. For this see: Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 44; Vaitkunskienė, “Amber in the Art and Religion of the Ancient Balts”, p. 54. 61 Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 44. 62 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 336. 63 Karl Polanyi, Conrad M. Arensberg, and Harry W. Pearson (eds), Trade and market in the early empires: economies in history and theory (Chicago, 1971); Colin Renfrew, Before Civilization: The radiocarbon revolution and prehistoric Europe (Harmondsworth, 1989); Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn, Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice (New York, 1991). 59

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theoretical models, their systematic attitudes to the multi-layered problems are commendable. Raymond V. Sidrys, following the exchange model of “the law of monotonic decrement” developed by Colin Renfrew and widely used by him and others scientists,64 argues that the use of amber artefacts in Lithuania declined in accordance with the receding Lithuanian coast, as a main amber source, after each 100 kilometres; and the amber more frequently appears within a range of 75 to 100 kilometres from the littoral, and this signifies that amber appeared on the Samogitian Upland.65 Of course part of these calculations might make sense, because it implies that the local amber trade zone might be extended within a range of 75 to 100 kilometres from the Lithuanian coast. However, other conclusions made after these calculations are just misleading. But the idea of one amber source to the present and amber decline on the receding Lithuanian coast was supported by some researchers66 because Sidrys’ articles have expressive diagrams and histograms, and are based on non-parametric statistical methods from his own studies on Classic Mayan ceremonial centres and the effect of obsidian exchange.67 However, although Lithuania’s territory is small, amber as a raw material and as crafted goods travelled only in a small coastal area in which communities were economically and culturally related. As a product, amber reached the Lithuanian regions along with the inflow of other commodities, whose distribution was based on established inter-cultural ties and other exchange models, which were in no way connected to the Lithuanian coast. The flow of various commodities among different Aestii tribes was circulating because of its redistribution after a number of transactions in central places and smaller localities. But most importantly, and this is something that shouldn’t be forgotten, within the territory of the Aestii/ Balts cultures there were three different abundant raw amber sources. That is why Lithuania during the Late Antique period and the Middle Ages was not tied to only one of them. Sidrys’ proposed model of amber decline and the receding Lithuania coast was criticized, not just for the incorrect application of the model, but because his tables, diagrams and histograms were put

64 Renfrew, “Alternative models for exchange and spatial distribution”, p. 72ff; Shennan “Exchange and ranking in the Early Bronze Age of Europe”, pp. 35–43. 65 Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 78 and p. 82, fig. 10. 66 Vytautas Kazakevičius, “Visėtiškių pilkapynas”, LA 20 (2000), p. 54. 67 Also see: Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, figs. 6–8 and fig. 11, appendices 1–3; Sidrys, “Gintaro įkapės senojo ir viduriniojo geležies amžiaus kapuose”, figs. 2–5; Sidrys, “Sunlight in Stone: Ancient Amber Use in the Eastern Baltic”, fig. 6; Raymond V. Sidrys, “Mass-Distance Measures for the Maya Obsidian Trade”, in Earle and Ericson, Exchange Systems in Prehistory, p. 94ff.

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together with a rather poor understanding of the archaeological evidence and of what is most important, the chronology.68 However, to package up an idea about a single and own unique amber source is very attractive and plays into the Lithuanian image of Lithuania as a land of amber. This ideology consequently persists in Lithuanian researchers’ unconscious minds. However, Sidrys’s contribution to the study of amber is considerable because he was the first of Lithuania’s archaeologists to describe how the amber trade in the southeastern and eastern Baltic regions ran in stages, according to the regional hierarchy, which arises from the different levels of the communities’ material culture, notwithstanding the fact that this idea is largely based on the reappraisal of commodities after redistribution proposed by Timothy K. Earle.69 This model, in some aspects, is consistent with the idea of communities living in a gateway position, which could have controlled and pointed the trade routes in a certain direction.70 Articles Researching the Typology of Amber Artefacts There are no studies that analyse amber artefacts and handicrafts in Lithuania from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages, but we have a some works that discuss individual amber artefacts or their groups.71 The greater portion of beads and pendants from Late Antiquity and the Migration period are of the same forms as those found in different parts of Europe. That is why Lithuania’s archaeologists use the typologies for beads and pendants (for so-called

68

Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, p. 36; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 309. Timothy K. Earle and Jonathon E. Ericson, “Exchange systems in archaeological perspective”, in Earle and Ericson, Exchange Systems in Prehistory, p. 10; Timothy K. Earle, “A reappraisal of redistribution: complex Hawaiian chiefdoms”, in Earle and Ericson, Exchange Systems in Prehistory, pp. 214–228; Sidrys, “Roman Imports among the West Balts”, 166ff, fig. 6. 70 Aleksandar Palavestra, Praistorijski ćilibar na centralnom i zapadnom Balkanu, in Posebna izdanja Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, Balkanološki institut, 52 (Beograd, 1993), p. 285; A. Palavestra, “Amber in Archaeology”, in Aleksandar Palavestra and Vera Krstić, Magic of Amber. Archaeological monographies 18. (Belgrade, 2006), p. 70. 71 Murnikaitė, “Gintaro dirbiniai”, p. 34ff; Varnas, “Gintaro apdirbimas”, p. 117ff; Sidrys, “Gintaro įkapės senojo ir viduriniojo geležies amžiaus kapuose”, p. 35ff; Vladas Žulkus, Palangos viduramžių gyvenvietės, Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis VI (1997), pp. 274ff; Banytė-Rowell, “Characteristics of the End of the Roman Period”, pp. 27–44; Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde, pp. 26–59; Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age to Early Middle Ages”, pp. 48–67; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 283–308, pp. 339–363 and pp. 376–411. 69

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Basonia beads)72 compiled by the Polish researchers Magdalena TempelmannMączyńska and Przemysław Wielowiejski. The Tempelmann-Mączyńska typology covers a large part of Lithuania’s material and is also based on the work of Otto Tischler, who laid the foundation for the whole typology of the Balts’ archaeological material of the Roman period.73 However, Lithuanian amber pendants, in addition to traditional shapes, have many derivatives that do not fit into the typology suggested by Tempelmann-Mączyńska. Therefore, the author of this work, on the basis of the Tempelmann-Mączyńska’s study Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit im mitteleuropäischen Barbaricum, has expanded the typology and classified all beads and pendants found in Lithuania from the late Roman period to the end of the Migration period.74 The least amount of investigation has been done on amber artefacts and trade during the late Middle Ages, although, a few shorter, often less concrete or too generalized, articles exist which restate well-known facts that have mostly become clichés.75 In other cases, data that is not based on any evidence is presented.76 From the eighth century to the beginning of the thirteenth century, Lithuania again ended up as the land of the bi-truncated conical and spherical beads. Algirdas Varnas (1978) and Liucija Murnikaitė (1983) tried to describe them, as did the author of this work (2003 and 2007).77 However, a few cultures (the Curonians on the Baltic Sea coast and the so-called Lamata Land in the Lower Neman region), in addition to standard bi-truncated conical beads, had plenty of other shaped beads.

72 Magdalena Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit im mitteleuropäischen Barbaricum. Römisch-Germanische Forschungen 43 (Mainz am Rhein, 1985); Przemysław Wielowiejski, “Skarb bursztynu z pozniego okresu rzymskiego odkryty w miejscowości Basonia, woj. Lubelskie”, PMZ 41 (1990), pp. 101–133. 73 Otto Tischler, “Ostpreußische Gräberfelder III”, Schriften der Physikalisch-Ökonomischen Gesellschaft zu Königsberg, Preussen 19 (1879), p. 234ff, plate XI.32–44. 74 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 295–306, figs. 178–179. 75 Varnas, “Gintaro apdirbimas”, pp. 117–124; Regina Volkaitė-Kulikauskienė, Lietuva valstybės priešaušriu (Vilnius 2001), p. 303ff. 76 Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 86ff. 77 Varnas, “Gintaro apdirbimas”, p. 117ff, figs. 1–6; Murnikaitė, “Gintaro dirbiniai Lazdininkų (Kretingos raj.) kapinyno vyrų kapuose”, p. 34; Bliujienė “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age to Early Middle Ages”, pp. 48–67, figs. 1–16; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 376ff, and p. 385ff, figs. 229; 235 and 236.

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chapter two Articles Promoting Lithuania as an “Amber Land”

Today in Lithuania, and strangely enough in other countries as well, published studies about amber often incorporate, or mention in one aspect or another, the famous Lithuanian folk narrative “Jūratė and Kastytis”.78 It is also believed that the northern peoples, who from ancient times were dealing with amber collecting and were associated with amber magic, were, of course, incorporating their mythical concepts into the famous Lithuanian folk narrative “Jūratė and Kastytis”, with its amber castle broken by the Thunder God.79 However, this narrative, which has been popularized by Lithuanian writers, composers, artists and fans of prehistory, was recorded in a romanticized version by Liudvikas Adomas Jucevičius (1813–1846), a collector of folklore and a romantic poet who was searching for inspiration for his creative work in folk culture. Jucevičius, in this case, did not indicate the source of the story as he usually did. Moreover, this folk narrative did not exist in any other folklore source, therefore it is most likely that the story was created by him.80 However, Lithuania’s researchers have also had a hand in making this narrative more popular by using unfounded epithets like “godlike” or indicating direct links to the story “Jūratė and Kastytis” when talking about amber. Thus in Lithuanian archaeological literature, it is sometimes possible to find romantic amber descriptions that directly relate small amber bits to Goddess Jūratė’s tears and the biggest amber lumps to the broken amber castle.81

78 A short summary of the narrative “Jūratė and Kastytis” described by L.A. Jucevičius: a young fisherman was living along the Baltic coast near the mouth of the Šventoji River. Goddess Jūratė lived in an amber palace at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Jūratė admired the fisherman and each evening hailed him from her amber castle on the hill called Kastytis. They had some happy times, but Perkūnas, the Thunder God, found out that the immortal goddess had fallen in love with a mortal man. Perkūnas sent a shaft of lightning from the skies, striking Jūratė’s palace, smashing it into thousands of fragments, and killed the goddess. The fisherman (Kastytis, he got the name from the hill ) was hammered down to the hill in front of the dead goddess. The story says that when storms churn the Baltic Sea you can still hear the fisherman mourning, and stormy waves spew up from the bottom of the sea lumps of amber from the demolished palace and throw them out onto the Baltic shores. After Liudvikas Adomas Jucevičius, Raštai (Vilnius, 1959), p. 180ff. 79 Gudynas and Pinkus, Palangos gintaro muziejus, p. 10; Faber et al., Amber, p. 20, fig. 7; Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, “Bursztyn w przyrodzie”, in Z bursztynem przez tysiąclecia, eds. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Henryk Paner (Gdańsk, 2003), p. 7ff; Aleksandr Palavestra, “Amber in Myths and Science”, in Aleksandar Palavestra and Vera Krstić. Magic of Amber. Archaeological monographies 18 (Belgrade, 2006), p. 26; Patty C. Rice, Amber, Golden Gem of the Ages (Bloomington, 2006, fourth edition), p. 160ff. 80 Norbertas Vėlius, “Liudvikas Adomas Jucevičius (1813–1846)”, in Lietuvių tautosaka, vol. 1 (Vilnius, 1959), p. 165ff.; also see: Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 16ff. 81 Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 48.

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The Lithuanian folk tale “Eglė, Queen of the Grass Snakes” (international tale Type 425M; over 70 variations of this tale have been recorded)82 does not mention an amber palace in its Lithuanian versions. Nor does it specify that the Grass Snake King was crowned with an amber crown. The action in the tale almost never takes place along the coast. There are two Latvian variants of this folk tale, recorded in 1926 and 1927. Both of these versions have literary influences (mermaids, sea princesses, etc.) and it very well may be that these stories may have been a spin-off from the folk narrative “Jūratė and Kastytis”, which by the 1930s, for various reasons, had become popular. In one version of “Eglė, Queen of the Grass Snakes” an amber crown is mentioned and an amber palace. In another Latvian version, an amber palace is mentioned.83 It would not be worthwhile from an archaeological standpoint, when discussing amber’s historiography, to finish this survey with the story “Jūratė and Kastytis” and one of the oldest and most beautiful Lithuanian folk tales, “Eglė, Queen of the Grass Snakes”, if it were not for the amber crown and the Thunder God Perkūnas who destroys the amber palace. Truly, this literary inheritance from the interwar period has made its way into popular Lithuanian literature and soon the time will come when it will be quoted in Lithuanian scientific literature. Even the most important amber exhibitions organized by European museums use some of the most beautiful names for amber, like: “Amber—tears of the Gods” (Bernstein—Tränen der Götter),84 which without a doubt add a Lithuanian mythological touch. Sociological testing has shown that when

82 A short summary of the folk tale follows: a girl named Eglė marries a grass snake, who reveals himself to be a prince. His palace is somewhere in the waters, in a lake, or a river (often the Ašmena River in western Belarus is mentioned), some stories mention a lagoon. The parents did not want to allow their daughter to marry a grass snake, but in the end they agreed. For a couple of years they live happily in their palace and have children. Eglė decides she would like to return home to visit her parents. When she returns, her brothers coax from the children the secret text that their mother will use to summon the Grass Snake King to return them to their underwater palace. They use the code words to call the grass snake and they kill him. Eglė and her children cannot return home, so she turns them all into trees, turning herself into a spruce. This data has been collected from the archive of the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Language. 83 Pasaka Eglė žalčių karalienė. Latvių variantai, vol. II, ed. Leonardas Sauka (Vilnius, 2007), p. 233ff. 84 Michael Ganzelewski and Rainer Slotta, eds. Bernstein—Tränen der Götter. Katalog der Austellung des Deutschen Bergbau-Museums Bochum in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ostpreussischen Landesmuseum Lüneburg und dem Siebenbürgischen Museum Gundelsheim. [Ausstellung im Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum, 15. September 1996 bis 19. Januar 1997]. Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum, 64 (Bochum, 1996).

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asked the question: what best represents Lithuania and could be Lithuania’s symbol, our nation’s citizens unanimously answer “amber”.85 Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the incorrectly read cuneiform from Ninevia in Iraq,86 “Assyrian” amber statuette forgeries,87 the amber bead necklace from “Kakovata in Greece”,88 like the “Amber Routes”, lead on not only to the Vistula Delta and Sambian Peninsula, but to Lithuania as the “Amber land or centre of Europe”,89 and just like the Lithuanian historiographical tradition’s misunderstandings, find their way into popular literature, tourist publications, encyclopaedias, and, unfortunately, into scholarly works.90

85 Akstinavičiūtė, Petraitytė, “Lietuvių tautinės tapatybės simbolinių komponentų konfigūracijos”, pp. 24–29, tables 6–8. 86 Račkus, “Gintaras numizmatikoje”, p. 30; Gudynas and Pinkus, Palangos gintaro muziejus, p. 10ff; Budrys, “Review of the Literature on Amber”, p. 261; Zigmas Zinkevičius, Lietuvių kalbos kilmė (Vilnius, 2005), p. 36. 87 Spekke, Senie dzintara ceļi, p. 12ff; Michael Heltzer, “The ‘Idol’ from Šernai and the question of Bronze Age amber provenance in the eastern Mediterranean”, AB 1 (1995), p. 54, fig. 2; Michael Heltzer, “On the Origin of Near Eastern Archaeological Amber (Akkadian elmešu; Hebrew hašmal )”, Michmanim 11 (1997), p. 30ff, fig. 1. 88 Romualdas Budrys. “Unikalios vertybės”, Mokslas ir gyvenimas 5 (1974), p. 18. 89 One of Europe’s geographic centres is in Lithuania to the north of Vilnius (26 km) beside the village of Purnuškės. This geographic centre of Europe was established in 1989 by researchers from the French National Geographical Institute. In 2004 a museum of the geographic centre of Europe was opened. The centre is marked by a white granite column which is topped with a crown of stars created by the famous Lithuanian sculptor Gediminas Jokūbonis. 90 This problem is discussed, for this see: Audronė Bliujienė, “Kai kurie gintariniai dirbiniai senuosiuose Lietuvos muziejų rinkiniuose”, Kultūrologija 11 (2004), pp. 204–217.

CHAPTER THREE

THE AESTII AND THE GLESUM EPOCH The Cultural Diversity of the Aestii and Their Inhabited Territory The identified territories of the Aestii (Balts)1 of the Late Antique period was small compared with the Germanic territories. The territory the Aestii occupied was forested and contained a large number of rivers and lakes. The Pregolia (Pregel, Prieglius), Neman and Western Dvina Rivers were not only the main arteries of communication, guaranteeing the Aestii’s passage to the Baltic Sea and the region’s main internal and external communication links, these waterways also served as significant boundaries between different Aestii/Balt2 cultures. About two-thirds of Lithuania’s territory is connected by the Neman River and its tributaries. The basis of the Neman River formed the main internal waterways. The Aestii, in this work associated with the western Balts, lived from Pasłęka (formerly Passarge, now Poland) in the west; in the south their borders reached the Łyna (formerly Alle) River headwaters and the Great Mazurian Lakes in Poland; in the east and northeast the Balts’ territory extended to the middle reaches of the Neman, Neris and Western Dvina Rivers. In the north the Balts occupied the larger part of Kurzeme, with the exception of the region’s northernmost part, and crossed the Western Dvina River. The Finno-Ugric people of the Tarand-Graves culture bordered the Balts’ territory in the north. Beyond the borders of present-day Lithuania remains the larger part of the Late Stroke Decorated Pottery culture that is identified with the eastern Balts.

1 The name “Balts” is a recent invention. The term was coined in the 1840s by Georg Heinrich Ferdinand Nesselmann (1811–1881). For this, see: Jonas Kabelka, Baltų filologijos įvadas (Vilnius, 1982), p. 8ff. 2 Only the western Balts (a synonym for the Aestii) are analysed in this study. I use the term “Aestii” in this chapter instead of the historiographically accepted term “Balts” to pay homage to Tacitus, who in his Germania mentions the Aestiorum gentes, meaning the people who without a doubt lived in what is present-day Lithuania. The Aestii/Haestii/Esti/Haisti/Eistir—these names appeared in the written sources for the centuries up to the Middle Ages. Indicating common features or inhabited territory of these culturally diverse peoples, a group description “the territory of the Aestii cultures” is used.

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By comparison, the small Aestii territory was culturally “diverse”. Several cultures, quite distinct in terms of aspects of material culture, as well as economic and social development, and especially in forms of funerary rites and jewellery, were present during the Late Antique period. It has been emphasized that the Aestii who lived between the Neman and Western Dvina Rivers followed the practice of inhumation as a funeral rite, which differentiated the Aestii who lived within the territory of present-day Lithuania from their southern neighbours, and from the Finnic people in the north, who buried their deceased following both cremation and inhumation burial rites in special stone-settings—tarands. The tradition of burying men and women (and boys and girls) in the same, slightly distinct, or opposite direction, was a burial rite characteristic of the Aestii that lived within the territory of Lithuania. Creating opposing positions for the genders, as a unique burial rite, was extended during the Middle Ages. However, with very little differentiation, one of the typical characteristics of Aestii burial rites was the tradition of burying horse gear or indeed a horse with a man, most often only the horse’s ritual parts—the head and the limbs. The West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture, bordering to the north the Southwestern Latvian Burial Sites, with its rich inhumation graves, occuppied the Lithuanian coast and southwestern Latvia to the Tebra River (Liepājas district) (Fig. 5.1). A differentiating characteristic of this culture is that the inhumation graves are surrounded by a separate round, oval, or even rectangular, stone circle, with particular stone enclosures inside the circle. Only on rare occasions are two individuals or a man and his horse buried within one stone circle. Stone circles were intentionally connected to one another in different ways; thus such grave fields appear as a network of rather complicated stone constructions resembling “honeycombs”. On the northern periphery of this culture—the Southwestern Latvian Burial Sites— there are no stone circles. Very seldom were stone enclosures used to arrange graves. It is believed that here the inhumation graves have been covered by low mounds. Graves of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture are very richly furnished and have lots of additional jewellery sets, weapons, different working tools, and sometimes Roman coins and miniature cups, which, it seems, were made specially for the funeral. The main Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture3 grave fields with very richly furnished inhumations and pit- (cremated bones poured directly into the pit) or urn-cremation burials are concentrated on the Sambian Peninsula in what

3

Also known as the Sambian-Natangian culture.

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Fig. 5. Aestii/Balt Roman period cultural groups: 1 The West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and its peripheral zone the Southwestern Latvian Burial Sites; 2 The Lower Neman Grave Fields; 3 The Collective Barrows culture or the North Lithuanian and South Latvian Barrows culture; 4 The Central Lithuanian Grave Fields; 5 The Southeastern Lithuanian Burial Sites; 6 The East Lithuanian Barrows culture; 7 The Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture; 8 The Bogaczewo culture; 9 The Sudovian culture. Schematic map prepared by the author with additions, after Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr. II, fig. 90; Adolfas Tautavičius, “Lietuvos TSR archeologijos atlasas”, map 1; Wojciech Nowakowski, “Kulturowy krąg zachodniobałtyjski w okrese wpływów rzymskich”, fig. 1; Rasa Banytė-Rowell, “Romėnų įtakos laikai ir baltų kultūrų klestėjimo laikotarpis”, fig. 9.

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is now the Kaliningrad region (Fig. 5.7). The Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture was the richest and most developed of the Aestii cultures during the Roman period or Late Antique period. Men’s graves with their horses, and some of the other cultural elements, closely connect the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture and the communities of the Lithuanian coastline. The Lower Neman Grave Fields group sites are concentrated in a small area, mainly at the confluence of the Jūra and Neman Rivers. The northern territory of this cultural group extends to the middle reaches of the Jūra River (Fig. 5.2). This small cultural group was different from its coastal neighbours: they did not mark their graves with stone enclosures and single stones and even though their deceased journeyed to the afterlife with many grave goods, they did not place lots of additional things in their graves (which was characteristic of the Lithuanian coastal area) and very rarely buried men with horses’ ritual parts. The Collective Barrow culture is the largest cultural group of the Aestii that lived between the Neman and Western Dvina Rivers. This culture is also known as the North Lithuanian and South Latvian Barrow culture, because their burial sites are concentrated across the large territory of the south-central part of Latvia and the north-central part of Lithuania (Fig. 5.3). The most significant characteristics of this cultural group are barrows constructed of sand with bases surrounded by regular stone circles and a series of supplementary stone enclosures, or even compact stone “pavements”. These barrows served as a collective family burial place. As many as twenty, or sometimes even more, inhumation graves have been found in a single barrow. The Central Lithuanian Grave Fields occupy a small territory with its cultural centre at the confluence of the biggest Lithuanian river, the Neman, and the Neris (in Belarus,Vilija) (Fig. 5.4). In the first to second centuries, it was one of the earliest of Lithuania’s ethnocultural groups to have a direct link with its southern neighbours, the Bogaczewo culture people. However, the communities of central Lithuania, in contrast with their southern neighbours, buried their dead in inhumation graves. Here, during the Late Antique period, none of the grave fields with horse’s heads or horse sacrifices, so typical of central Lithuania during the Middle Ages, have been found. Another western Balt or Aestii culture, the so-called Bogaczewo culture, occupied the Great Mazurian Lakes region in Poland (Fig. 5.8). The Bogaczewo culture, in the south and in the southwest, bordered the Wielbark culture identified with the Goths (and Gepids) and the Przeworsk culture, which is linked with the Lugii (which embraced a number of tribes—Lugiorum nomen, of which, it is generally agreed, some were Vandals—people

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of Germanic origin).4 Therefore, the communities of the Bogaczewo culture performed the role of a cultural and trade intermediary between the Aestii and people of the vast barbaricum. They also had a significant influence on the evolution of their northern neighbours. Cremation was the main Bogaczewo culture funeral rite. The cremated bones of the deceased were poured into the urns typical of the Bogaczewo culture; although, sometimes inhumation graves have been found in the same grave field. Horse burials in the Bogaczewo culture were not directly associated with particular human burials and occurred in the outlying areas of the burial ground. The Sudovian culture sites extended to the northeast from the Bogaczewo culture in the area between the region of the Great Mazurian Lakes and the upper reaches of the Šešupė River (Fig. 5.9). Sudovian sites make two concentrations: one in the Suwałki region, the other in the Gołdap area (in Poland). The Sudovian culture sites are typically barrow fields and flat grave fields with urn and pit cremations as well as inhumation graves. Different stone constructions were used to construct barrow mounds or graves. Relationships between human and horse burials are varied in form; most single horse inhumation graves are not connected with particular human burials. The variety of distinctive features of material cultures and funerary rites from the grave fields with urn and pit cremations to the inhumation graves in barrow fields and grave fields were typical of the Aestii contact zone: the Southeastern Lithuanian Burial Sites group (Fig. 5.5). Pottery, cremation and horse graves scattered in the site are typical features of the Bogaczewo culture, allowing one to conclude that by the first and second centuries a regional migration of Aestii had reached southwestern Lithuania, or that inter-regional cultural and trade exchange took place here. The formation of the East Lithuanian Barrow culture begins in Lithuania in the late second century to the early third century, when the first inhumation graves in barrow fields appeared. The process of the formation of the East Lithuanian Barrow culture was synchronized with the vanishing 4 Jerzy Kolendo, “Lugius—człowiek z plemienia Lugiów z inskrypcji z Narbo (CIL XII 4466)”, in Studia Gothica I: in memorioam Ryszard Wołągiewicz, Andzej Kokowski, ed. (Lublin, 1996), 185–193; Kolendo, “Mapa etniczna środkowoeuropejskiego Barbaricum”, in Archeologia o początkach Słowian. Piotr Kaczanowski and Michał Parczewski, eds. (Kraków, 2005), pp. 112–117; Kolendo, “Tacyt o bursztynie w kraju Estiów. Rzeczywistość i ideologia”, in Bałtowie i ich sąsiedzi: Marian Kaczyński in memoriam. Seminarium bałtyjskie, vol. II, eds. Anna Bitner-Wróblewska and Grażyna Iwanowska (Warszawa, 2009), p. 129; Jerzy Strzelczyk, “Wandalowie w drodze do Afryki”, in Wandalowie. Strażnicy bursztynowego szlaku. Państwowe museum archeologiczne w Warsawie: Katalog wystawy. Jacek Andrzejowski, Andrzej Kokowski and Christian Leiber, eds. (Lublin, 2004), pp. 199–223.

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process of the Late Stroke Decorated Pottery culture. At the same time, however, the formation of the East Lithuania Barrow culture was provoked and directly influenced by the migration of the western Aestii population from the Sudovian and Bogaczewo cultures (Fig. 5.6). Barrows constructed of sand with bases surrounded by stone circles, or sometimes complicated stone enclosures, were used to build the barrow mound. Mostly one or two inhumation graves are found underneath a barrow base. The Aestii Tribes during the Time of Tacitus and Pliny the Elder Around the year 98, the Roman historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus (c. 55/ 58–116/120) in his work De origine et situ Germanorum (Concerning the Origin and Situation of the Germans), commonly referred to as Germania, mentioned the Aestiorum gentes for the first time. Nowadays researchers often link them with the western Balts or the inhabitants of the southeastern and eastern Baltic regions. Tacitus’s Germania is a work of ethnographic importance which describes the Germanic tribes: their character, peculiarities and distinctive features, geographic location, climate, habits, their minerals, the social structure of their society, everyday life, language, religions, etc. The plural Aestiorum gentes, mentioned by Tacitus, suggests that we are dealing with more than one distinct group of peoples. The Aestii are mentioned in the work because of their land’s exceptional treasure—amber or glesum ( glaesum). Amber’s traits, as well as methods of its extraction and trade, are mentioned as characteristic features of the Aestii lifestyle, which separate them from the other barbarians. In the 45th paragraph of Germania, Tacitus wrote: Passing then to the right-hand shore of the Suebian Sea, here it washes the people of Aestii,5 whose customs and garments are those of the Suebi, and whose language is closer to the Britons. They worship the Mother of the Gods. As a

5 It is imperative to emphasize that in European historiography the translations of some phrases and sentences in paragraph 45 of Germania differ from translations into Lithuanian. In this paragraph in all Lithuanian texts Aestiorum gentes is translated as “Aestii”. Meanwhile, in the English literature Aestiorum gentes is translated in a variety of manners: Aestii/Aesti, Aestyan people, Aestyan nations, Aestyan tribes, etc. In the Lithuanian translations ferri is translated as “swords”. In most English translations ferri is translated as “seldom use weapons of iron, but clubs very often” or “they use swords rarely, clubs frequently”. For this, see: Cornelius Tacitus, Germany, in Agricola and Germany, § 45, 46, trans. Anthony R. Birley (New York, 1999); Tacitus, Germany: Book 1 [online]. Available from: www.sacred-texts.com/cla/tac/g01040.htm [Accessed 22 November 2008]; Tacitus, Germania, trans. Thomas Gordon [online]. Available from Medieval Sourcebook: Tacitus: Germania,

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symbol of their beliefs they wear images of boars. This symbol, like armament or defensive measures protects the goddess worshipper from everything even amidst enemies. They seldom use swords, clubs frequently. Grain and other crops they cultivate with a perseverance unusual among the generally lethargic Germans. They also rummage the sea: they are the only people who gather amber, which they themselves call glesum,6 in the shallows and the shore itself. Being barbarians, they have never enquired or discovered what substance or process produces it. In fact, for a long time it just lay among the other jetsam of the sea, until our luxury gave it a reputation. They have no use for it themselves: It is gathered crude and passed on unworked, and they are astonished at the price they get for it. But it is not difficult to understand that it is sap from trees, since often one can see shining through it some kind of creeping or winged insects who have been caught and remained stuck in the quickly thickening liquid. Hence I imagine therefore, that, just as in the secluded places of the East, where frankincense and balsam are exuded, so in the islands and lands of the West there are groves and glades more than ordinarily luxuriant: these are tapped and liquefied by rays of the sun, as it approaches, and ooze into the nearest sea, whence by force of tempests they are stranded on the shores opposite: if you try the qualities of amber by setting fire to it, it kindles like torch and feeds an oily and odorous flame, and afterwards dissolves into something like pitch and resin.7

trans. Thomas Gordon [Accessed 2 November 2009]; Tacitus, Germania [online]. Available from: http://www.unrv.com/tacitus/tacitus-germania-12.php [Accessed 2 November 2009]. Tacitus’s Germania was translated for the first time into Lithuanian in 1972 by Janina Mažiulienė (Publijus Kornelius Tacitas, Germanija, in Rinktiniai raštai, trans. Janina Mažiulienė (Vilnius, 1972), pp. 5–31). Later, only the translation of paragraph 45 was improved upon: Dalia Dilytė, Antikinė literatūra (Vilnius, 1998), p. 383) and Simas Karaliūnas (Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. II, p. 37). All the mentioned Lithuanian translations of this paragraph differ in certain aspects. 6 It is believed that the Aestii could have called amber “glesum”—glaisas, glīsis, gleze, glāze (a sticky resin) or gluosa (yellow colour) in their language (Kazimieras Būga, Rinktiniai raštai, vol. II (Vilnius, 1959) p. 290ff; Marianina Olcott, “Tacitus and the Ancient Amber-Gatherers: A Re-Evaluation of Germania”, Journal of Baltic Studies XVI/ 3 (1985), p. 311; Dilytė, Antikinė literatūra, p. 383; Karaliūnas, Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. II, pp. 54–64 and p. 78ff ). British “glaze”, “glare” and “glass” come from the same root as glaesum. For this, see: Tacitus, Germania. The Earliest Beginnings and the Land of Germans, Tacitus, in five volumes, vol. 1, trans. Maurice Hutton, revised Eric Herbert Warmington (London, Cambridge, Mass, 1970), footnote on page 208. 7 Tacitus, Germania. The Earliest Beginnings and the Land of the Germans. Tacitus, in five volumes, vol. 1. Trans. Maurice Hutton, revised Eric Herbert Warmington (London, Cambridge, Mass, 1970), § 45; Cornelius Tacitus, Germany, in Agricola and Germany. Trans. Anthony R. Birley (New York, 1999), § 45. For Latin Tacitus Germania § 45 text see: Karaliūnas, Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. II, p. 36. “Ergo iam dextro Suebici maris litore Aestiorum gentes adluuntur, quibus ritus habitusque Sueborum, lingua Britannicae proprior. Matrem deum uenerantur. Insigne superstitionis formas aprorum gestant: id pro armis omniumque tutela securum deae cultorem etiam inter hostis praestat. Rarus ferri, frequens fustium usus. Frumenta ceterosque fructus patientius quam pro solita Germanorum inertia laborant; sed et mare scrutantur, ac soli

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If Tacitus, beginning to write about the Aestii as peoples from the margins of the world, wrote: “So far [to the Suiones] (and here rumour speaks the truth), and so far only, does the world reach.”8 Having written about the Aestii, he comes to the conclusion: Here Suebia ends.9 And so, Tacitus again returns to the main idea of his book, Germania: his goal was to give the reader an idea of the earliest beginnings and situation of the Germanic lands. Tacitus had to admit that Roman civilization and the boundaries of its knowledge had expanded. There is no doubt that by ascribing the Aestii to the everexpanding territories of the barbaricum, Tacitus presented to the Romans the outlying districts of the multi-ethnic world. On the other hand, at the end of the first century, the Aestii, living on the peripheries of the barbaricum, or right on the edge of the Suebian Sea (identified with the Baltic Sea), in terms of their way of life and their traditions were quite close to the other people of Suebia.10 Although Tacitus’s Germania, which describes the lesser-known tribes, has its inconsistencies, double-entendres and even contradictions, it is an especially valuable historical source. Tacitus’s paragraph 45 on the Aestii is uncommonly multifaceted and conveys many layers of meaning. Tacitus, in fact, tends to differentiate the Aestii from the neighbouring Germanic people (Suebi and Suiones, and Sitones). However, because of certain aspects omitted by Tacitus, which seemed to the author perhaps to be negligible, to the present-day researcher, the text seems to lack information or to be unclear.

omnium sucinum, quod ipsi glesum uocant, inter uada atque in ipso litore legunt. Nec quae natura quaeue ratio gignat, ut barbaris, quaesitum compertumue; diu quin etiam inter cetera eiectamenta maris iacebat, donec luxuria nostra dedit nomen. Ipsis in nullo usu: rude legitur, informe perfertur, pretiumque mirantes accipiunt. Sucum tamen arborum esse intellegas, quia terrena quaedam atque etiam uolucria animalia plerumque interlucent, quae implicata umore mox durescente materia clauduntur. Fecundiora igitur nemora lucosque sicut Orientis secretis, ubi tura balsamaque sudantur, ita Occidentis insulis terrisque inesse crediderim, quae uicini solis radiis expressa atque liquentia in proximum mare labuntur ac ui tempestatum in aduersa litora exundant. Si naturam sucini admoto igne temptes, in modum taedae accenditur alitque flammam pinguem et olentem: mox ut in picem resinamue lentes cit.” 8 Tacitus, Germany, § 45. 9 Ibid., § 46; Tacitus mentions the Fenni, who lived in the impassable forests of northeastern Europe between the upper reaches of the Dnieper and Volga Rivers. They were hunters who had no concept of farming or breeding. Therefore, he did not classify them with the Germanic peoples, who more or less represented the civilized world. See: Tacitus, Germania, § 45, § 46.10–19; Wojciech Nowakowski, “ ‘Hic Svebiae Finis’—Concept of the Border of the Barbarous World at the East Baltic Coast in the Roman Period”, in Studia z archeologii ludów barbarzyńskich z wybrzeży Bałtyku i dorzecza Wisły. Barbaricum, 2., eds. Jerzy OkuliczKozaryn and Wojciech Nowakowski (Warsawa, 1992), p. 225. 10 Nowakowski, “Hic Svebiae Finis”, p. 221ff; Kolendo, “Tacyt o bursztynie w kraju Estiów. Rzeczywistość i ideologia”, p. 129ff.

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Fig. 6. Amber mining and scooping on the northwestern coast of the Sambian Peninsula. After Philipp Hartmann, “Succini Prussici physica et civilis historia” (Frankfurt, 1677).

Also, the many translations of Tacitus’s Germania again have their own set of subtleties that strangely enough reveal multiple layers of information.11 Some examples of this could be “sed et mare scrutantur, ac soli omnium sucinum, quod ipsi glesum uocant, inter uada atque in ipso litore legunt”, which could mean that they (the Aestii) ransack the sea and use several different methods to collect amber (Figs. 2; 6). Or, it could mean: “Nay, they ransack the sea also, and are the only German people [from Suebia] who gather in the shallows and on the shore itself the amber, which they call in their tongue ‘glesum’ [or ‘glaesum’]”.12 Tacitus certainly emphasizes in his written account that the Aestii are barbarians; however, he does not state that they are Germans. But, according to some interpretations or translations

11 12

See: Tacitus, Germania § 45; Tacitus, Germany, § 45; also see; footnote 5 in this chapter. Tacitus, Germania, § 45.

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of Tacitus’s text, it is possible to posit that they are the only Germanic people who collected amber, and who “forwarded it to Rome unshaped”.13 It does not appear that Tacitus, unlike us today, was concerned with the ethnic origins of the Aestii. He simply described them within the context of the colourful Germanic tribes from Suebia, taking notice of them because of the characteristics that made them different from the Germanic peoples. The subsequent portions of paragraph 45 clearly associate the Aestii with the Germanic people.14 Based on their clothing and their traditions, the Romans called everyone who inhabited the territory between the Rhine and the Danube and the Vistula “Germans”.15 On the other hand, Tacitus’s reference to the Suebian Aestii traditions and garments could have been a sign of their civilization, allowing them to be compared with the Germanic peoples. Besides that, archaeological evidence shows that in the Sambian Peninsula, among the Aestii, judging from funeral rites (inhumation) and the characteristics of material culture, there would have been intermixing with peoples of the Wielbark culture who endowed the Aestii with Suebian features,16 because inhumation funeral rites occur here under the influence of this Gothic culture. The desire to control the amber-bearing shore of the Sambian Peninsula, as well as the initial stage of the amber trade, induced the Germanic people to move northwards. Therefore, it is natural that the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture had something in common with the Wielbark culture. People of the West Lithuanian Stone Circles Graves culture and the Lower Neman Grave Fields group experienced clear influences and cultural stimulus from their southern neighbours. Hesitation or lack of definition of opinion shown by Tacitus in defining the ethnicity of the Aestii has created a few riddles. One of them is the origin of the name “Aestii”, which many linguists believed had Germanic roots. The Aestii did not call themselves by this name. They were called this name by the Goths (most probably the Wielbark culture peoples). Later the Germans used this name for the western Balt tribes (Prussians). Today the term Aestii

13

Tacitus, Germania, § 45; Tacitus, Germany, § 45. Ernst Blume, Die germanischen Stämme und die Kulturen zwischen Oder und Passarge zur römischen Kaiserzeit. I Teil: Text, in Mannus-Bibliothek, 8, ed. Gustaf Kossinna (Würzburg, 1912), pp. 207–211; Wilhelm Gaerte, Urgeschichte Ostpreußens. Ostpreußische Landeskunde in Einzeldarstellungen (Königsberg i. Pr., 1929), p. 205ff. Discussion on this question, see: Olcott, “Tacitus and the Ancient Amber-Gatherers”, pp. 301–312; Dilytė, Antikinė literatūra, p. 379. 15 Kolendo, “Wyprawa po bursztyn bałtycki za Nerona”, p. 34ff. 16 Blume, Die germanischen Stämme und die Kulturen zwischen Oder und Passarge, pp. 207–211; Gaerte, Urgeschichte Ostpreußens, p. 205ff.; W. Gaerte, “Das Ostgrenze der gotischen Weichselmündung-Kultur in römischen Kaiserzeit”, Mannus 24 (1932), p. 561ff, map 1. 14

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is not believed to be of Germanic origin, but ascribed to the Balts.17 Tacitus bears witness to the fact that the Aestii gathered amber and that they themselves called it glesum. In Lithuanian, the word for amber is gintaras,18 and this word’s etymology, even today, remains the subject of discussion. The origins of this word cannot be explained in terms of the roots of Balt languages.19 Whatever the contemporary linguistic explanations may be, one must take notice of Pliny the Elder’s references in his work Natural History. Pliny was interested in the spread of amber, its quality, traits and usage traditions. He mentions substantial facts in connection to amber. The fleet of Commander Claudius Drusus Caesar Germanicus (15 BC–AD 19) in 12 AD reached the Frisian Islands (the Frisian Wadden Sea Islands), Ems and Weser Rivers, and the lower reaches of the Elbe River. He noted that the Germans who lived in this territory called amber glaesum. Therefore, Drusus named one island Glaesaria or Amber Island, after the huge amount of amber that washed up with the sea waves. Pliny emphasizes that the barbarians themselves called this island by the name of Austeravia.20 Pliny, most especially in the context of Drusus’s expedition, indicates that amber from Glaesaria was conveyed by the Germans into the province of Pannonia mostly. From there it was first brought to prominence by the Veneti, known to the Greeks as the Eneti, who were close neighbours of the Pannonians and lived around the Adriatic.21 Glaesaria is usually associated with the region between the lower reaches of the Rhine and Elbe Rivers, because Pliny also mentions the Germania Magna. Meanwhile, in the Lithuanian historiographical tradition, Glaesaria is usually linked with the Sambian Peninsula.22 However, notwithstanding large amounts of amber in the “blue earth”, the Sambian Peninsula connection with Glaesaria is not convincing23 because it is not supported by

17 Dalia Dilytė and Janina Mažiulienė, “Kornelijus Tacitas”, in Publijus Kornelijus Tacitas. Rinktiniai raštai (Vilnius, 1972), p. 269; Simas Karaliūnas, “Aisčiai ir jų vardas (Kritiška lingvistinių tyrimų apžvalga)”, Mokslas ir Lietuva 1991/2 (1991), pp. 4–12. 18 In Prussian, amber is glēsum, glīsis or gentars in Latvian, amber is dzintars. See: Karaliūnas, Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. II, p. 15, p. 55ff and p. 72ff. 19 Būga, Rinktiniai raštai, vol. II, p. 290ff; Kazimieras Būga, Rinktiniai raštai, vol. III (Vilnius, 1961), p. 496; Dilytė Antikinė literatūra, p. 383; Karaliūnas, Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. II, pp. 54–79; Zinkevičius, Lietuvių kalbos kilmė, p. 36ff. 20 Plini, Naturalis Historiae, XXXVII, § 42. 21 Plini, Naturalis Historiae XXXVII, § 43; Pliny, Natural History, XXXVII, § 43. 22 Kabelka, Baltų filologijos įvadas, p. 12; Gimbutienė, Baltai priešistoriniais laikais, p. 87; Simas Karaliūnas, Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. I (Vilnius, 2004), pp. 139–144; Vladimir I. Kulakov, The Amber Lands in the Time of the Roman Empire, BAR International Series 1356 (Oxford, 2005), p. 33. 23 Jerzy Kolendo, “Miejsca występowania bursztynu według Pliniusza Starszego”, PMZ 37 (1985), p. 11; J. Kolendo, “Napływ burztynu z Północy na tereny imperium rzymskiego w

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archaeological evidence belonging to the time of Drusus’s expedition or even the first quarter of the first century. However, a few contemporary investigations show that the peoples of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture, who lived on the Sambian Peninsula, especially from the transition period to the late Roman period, played a much larger role in amber trade than had been previously thought. Tacitus’s observation that the Aestii language was closer to the language of the Britons shows that this would indicate that he saw in the Aestyan language nuances of Celtic, which he would have recognized since he was born in a Celtic cultural environment in southern Gaul in modern-day southeastern France (Gallia Narbonensis) or northern Italy (Cisalpine Gaul).24 Besides that, it could be that Tacitus’s father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40–93), who was the governor of Britain in 78–84, could have helped him discern elements of the “Celtic” in the Aestii language. The existence of similarities between the Aestii and Celtic languages,25 religion and mythology may have been a factor of their common Indo-European roots. Also, the late La Tène (the first half of the first century AD) and DollkeimKovrovo cultures and even the eastern Baltic region archaeological evidence, and seemingly their world views, show that there had been a certain element of Celtic cultural influence. Imported Celtic-style26 ornaments (neck-rings, brooches, bracelets with knobs) and ornaments crafted locally that followed certain Celtic prototypes have been found in the southeastern and eastern Baltic regions.27 Furthermore, we should remember that amber was actively

I–VI w. n. e.”, PMZ 41(1990), p. 94; Pietro U. Dini, Baltų kalbos: Lyginamoji istorija. Kalbos ugdymo programa (Vilnius, 2000), p. 25ff; Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, p. 70ff. 24 “Tacitus, Cornelius”, Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 11 (Micropædia, 15th Editon, 1993), p. 487ff.; Dilytė and Mažiulienė, “Kornelijus Tacitas”, p. 251; Karaliūnas, Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. II, pp. 39–42. 25 Rudolf Much, “Die ‘Germania’ des Tacitus: Text und Komentar”, in 3 beträchtlich erweitere Auflage unter Mitarbeit von H. Jankuhn. W. Lange, ed. (Heidelberg, 1967), p. 510. 26 Seven bracelets with knobs bearing typical cultural characteristics of the upper reaches of the Danube culture were found in Southern and central Lithuania. See: Jerzy Okulicz, Pradzieje ziem pruskich od późnego paleolitu do VII w. n. e. Monografie dziejów społecznych i politycznych Warmii i Mazur, 1 (Wrocław, Warszawa, Kraków, Gdańsk, 1973), p. 333; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, 149, fig. 60.2; Algimantas Merkevičius, “Retos žalvarinės apyrankės”, Muziejai ir paminklai 8 (1987), p. 81ff. 27 Harri Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 N. Chr. I. Teil, Die Funde (Tartu– Dorpat, 1929), plate I.1; Anna Pozarzycka-Urbańska, “Zabytki pochodzenia celtyckiego na obszarach zachodniobałtyjskich”, WA XLII/2 (1978), pp. 155–163; Merkevičius, “Retos žalvarinės apyrankės”, p. 81ff; Mark B. Shchukin et al., “New Finds of ‘Kronenhalsringe’ in the Chernigov Region, Ukraine and some Problems of their Interpretation”, Acta Archaeologica 63–1992 (1993), pp. 39 and 47, fig. 7; M.B. Shchukin, Na rubezhe er. Opyt istorikoarkheologicheskoi rekonstruktsii politicheskikh sobytii III v. go n.e.—I v. n.e. Vostochnoi i

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traded southward by the Celtic people during the Hallstatt and La Tène periods. The trade route and the intensity of the amber trade which took place on it by the first century BC is shown by raw amber deposits in particular storehouses. One such deposit consisting of three large pits containing 1.5 tonnes of raw amber was found in the Wrocław-Partynice settlement near the Oder, where “northern gold” was apparently stored for purposes of trade (Fig. 7).28 The influence of Celtic and Germanic culture on the Aestii is indirectly evidenced by Tacitus’s reference to the images of boars worn as signs of religiosity. However, the material culture of the Aestii (not including the fact that some of the pierced boar’s tooth pendants were found not in the grave assemblages, but only in habitation site layers), like the rare Aestii iconographic material, does not have any data emphasizing the importance of the boar in their culture. The so-called Sovius mythic narrative known from the insert included in 1261 to the Hypatian Chronicle (in Russian Ипатьевская летопись)29 is believed to describe the Aestii’s religious reform that took place during the Migration period. This narrative confirms the importance of the boar in funerary rites (Sovius’s son must eat the spleens of nine hunted boars). The importance of the boar (pig) in the funeral feast is also known from later ethnological material.30

Central’noi Evrope. Rossiskaia arkheologicheskaia biblioteka, 2 (Sankt-Peterburg, 1994), p. 226; Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn and Wojciech Nowakowski, “In Search of the Amber Routes. Traces of Contacts between South-Eastern Coasts of the Baltic Sea and the Celto–Illyrian and Dacian Territorie”, in Kontakte längs der Bernsteinstraße (zwischen Caput Adriae und den Ostseegebieten) in der Zeit um Christi Geburt: Materialien des Symposiums—Kraków 26.–29. April 1995, ed. Zenon Woźniak (Kraków, 1996), p. 163ff, figs. 3 and 4; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 211ff, fig. 124. 28 J. Wielowiejski, Główny szlak bursztynowy w czasach Cesarstwa Rzymskiego, p. 110; Elżbieta Choińska-Bochdan, “Bursztyn w kulturze”, in Z bursztynem przez tysiąclecia, eds. Henryk Paner, Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz (Gdańsk, 2003), p. 73, fig. 59.a. 29 The Sovius mythic narrative is the insert to the Chronicle of Byzantine chronicler John (Ioannes) Malalas (c. 491–578) in the Hypatian Chronicle. Recently new investigation on the Sovius myth was undertaken by Ilja Lemeškin (2009). Lemeškin argues for a new and essentially different interpretation of the Sovius myth text, pointing out that this narrative is only a vivid example of ancient literature, which was afterwards inserted in the Hypatian Chronicle. For this see: Ilja Lemeškin, Sovijaus sakmė ir 1262 metų chronografas: Pagal archyvinį, Varšuvos, Vilniaus ir I. J. Zabelino nuorašus (Vilnius, 2009), pp. 325–332. 30 See: Algirdas J. Greimas, “Tautos atminties beieškant. Apie dievus ir žmones” (Vilnius– Chicago, 1990), p. 360ff; Gintaras Beresnevičius, “Sovijaus mitas kaip senosios baltiškos kultūros šifras”, in Ikikrikščioniškosios Lietuvos kultūra: Istoriniai ir teoriniai aspektai. Senovės baltų kultūra (Vilnius, 1992), p. 88ff; Norbertas Vėlius, “Jono Malalos Kronikos intarpas”, in BMRŠ, vol. I. Ed. Norbertas Vėlius (Vilnius, 2003), pp. 263–267.

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Fig. 7. Cross-section of the particular storehouse with the raw amber deposit from the first century BC in the Wrocław-Partynice (Poland) settlement. After Elżbieta ChoińskaBochdan, “Bursztyn w kulturze”, fig. II.59l; archive of Archaeological Museum in Wrocław (photo negative no. 5737).

At the same time, there are more links in Celtic and Germanic cultures with the boar. The boar, like the horse, was among the most important sacrificial animals for the Celtic and Germanic peoples.31 Small bronze boar figures are fairly common finds in Celtic settlements. Perhaps they were placed in household shrines (in Britain).32 The iconography of the famous silver Gundestrup cauldron produced around the birth of Christ somewhere in Central Europe (boar-crested helmets worn by high-ranking warriors; slain warriors 31

Ulf Erik Hagberg (in collaboration with Margareta Beskow), The Archaeology of Skedemosse 1. The Excavations and the Finds of an Öland Fen, Sweden (with geological and zoological contributions by Lars-König Königsson and Johannes Lepiksaar). Monografier. Kungl. Vitterhets- historie- och antikvitetsakademien, vol. 45 (Stockholm, 1967), p. 63; U.E. Hagberg, The Archaeology of Skedemosse 2. The Votive Deposits in the Skedemosse Fen and their Relation to the Iron-Age Settlement on Öland, Sweden (with an excursus on the place-names by Gunnar Pellijeff ). Monografier, Kungl. Vitterhets-, historie- och antikvitetsakademie, vol. 46 (Stockholm, 1967), p. 64, p. 70 and p. 102ff; Helmut Birkhan, Celts Images of their Culture (Wien, 1999), pp. 88, 192, 222, 274 and p. 385. 32 David Rudling, “Roman-Period Temples, Shrines and Religion in Sussex”, in Ritual Landscapes of Roman South-east Britain, ed. David Rudling (Oxbow Books, 2008), p. 118ff and p. 128, figs. 6.9 and 6.12.

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with sacrificed boars in their arms who have ended up in the arms of the God Teutates, who decides their fate), clearly indicates the importance of the boar in warfare and religion. Boar images are found on coins which show boarshead standards or carnyxes (war-trumpets), as an ornamental element on shields, and in the form brooches in the shape of boars, etc. These symbols confirm that the boar has qualities of strength, tenacity and ferociousness, and therefore was important in Celtic daily life, religion and warfare.33 It was presumably because of these qualities that a running boar was adopted as the emblem of the Roman legion Legio vigesima Valeria Victrix (“Twentieth Victorious Valerian Roman Legion”). Agricola, Tacitus’s father-in-law, commanded this legion during its campaigns in northern Britain and Scotland in 78–84.34 Pigs (or particular parts of the animal) enclosed beside richly equipped burials played a particular role in the funeral customs of the Germans from the Elbe River area. Such funeral customs were practised by other peoples of the barbaricum (for instance, Stráže cemetery, presently Krakovany-Stráže in Slovakia).35 Meanwhile, during the Late Antique period such funeral customs were unknown to the Aestii from the area of present-day Lithuania. Scandinavian culture contains a wealth of mythological boar imagery and iconography that is unique to the Northern Germanic peoples. Between the so-called Guldgubber, or gold foils, characteristic of southern Scandinavian crafts, there are also the typical horse and boar figurines.36 Freir/Freyr is one of the most important Scandinavian gods who rides on his own boar, Gullinbursti, meaning “golden bristles”. He can instantly travel to where the gods congregate and reach the afterlife.37 Much later Scandinavian iconography

33 Jean Jacques Hatt, “Eine Interpretation der Bilder und Szenen auf dem Silberkessel von Gundestrup”, in Die Kelten in Mitteleuropa. Kultur. Kunst. Wirtschaft. Salzburger Landesausstellung 1. Mai–30. Sept. 1980 im Keltenmuseum Hallein Österreich (Salzburg, 1980), p. 72, plate 8; Sveden Nielsen et al., “The Gundestrup Cauldron. New Scientific and Technical Investigations”, Acta Archaeologica (2005), p. 76 and p. 52ff. Miranda Aldhouse Green, Dying for the Gods: Human Sacrifice in Iron Age and Roman Europe (Stroud, 2001), p. 97, fig. 38. 34 Pat Southern, The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History (Oxford, 2007), p. 90; Tacitus, Germania, § 45. 35 Dieter Quast, “Wanderer zwischen den Welten” Die germanischen Prunkgräber von Stráže und Zakrzów. Begleitbuch zur Ausstellung im Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum 10. September 2009 bis 10. Januar 2010, Mosaiksteine Forschungen Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum, 6 vol. (Mainz, 2009), p. 34, fig. 51. 36 Margrethe Watt, “Gubber”, in Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 13 (Berlin, New York, 1999), p. 144, fig. 12.8. 37 “Germanų ir skandinavų mitologija”, in Mitologijos enciklopedija. Pasaulio tautų mitologinės būtybės ir vaizdiniai, vol. 1 (Vilnius, 1997), p. 126.

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shows that the boar remained important in warfare.38 Helmets with wild boar figures were a symbol of rank referenced in the famous epic poem Beowulf.39 Therefore, summing up all available data, there is the possibility, only indirectly comfirmed, that the boar played a certain role in the Aestii religion and they might have used certain boar symbols as a war standard. Returning to the topic of amber and the Aestii, it is possible to confirm that in a short but accurate passage Tacitus describes the techniques of gathering amber, indicating that the Aestii would rummage the sea, meaning that they would scoop up the amber in the water using special scoop nets (Fig. 2). They were the only people to collect amber from the shallows and they also mined for amber using primitive mining techniques (Fig. 6). The presumption that amber was already being mined in Tacitus’s time is not subject to doubt when one pays attention to the information of Greek geographer Philemon (alive during the first century) about two areas in Scythia where two different types (white and wax-colour) of amber were mined. This information we learn from Pliny the Elder’s Natural History.40 However, Tacitus’s observation that the Aestii “cultivated grain and other crops with a perseverance unusual among the generally lethargic Germans”, shows that he clearly perceived the Aestii as being distinct from the Germanic peoples. Besides that, from the manner in which Tacitus describes the locations of the Aestiorum gentes, it is clear that they lived on the coast, beyond the Suiones (Uppland and the Lake Mälar region in Sweden). In the first century, the southeastern and eastern Baltic Sea coast was populated by people of differing ethnicity: Germans, Aestii (Balts) and Finno-Ugrians (Fig. 5). The Aestii are first of all associated with the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture’s (or the Sambian-Natangian culture) peoples—the future Prussians.41 Therefore, we must acknowledge that not only did Tacitus bring the Aestii into the range of Roman civilization, but, we must also admit, he described the Aestii rather objectively. He noted several important facts about the

38

Kurt Böhner, “Germanische Schwerter des 5./6. Jahrhunderts”, Jahrbuch des RömischGermanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 34/2 (1989), p. 478, fig. 25.2. 39 Anne Nørgård Jørgensen, “The weapons graves of the Northern and Central Europe”, in Lars Jørgensen, Anne Nørgård Jørgensen, Ulla Mannering and Claus Malmros, Nørre Sandegård Vest. A Cemetery form the 6th–8th Centuries on Bornholm. Nordiske fortidsminder, Serie B, 14 (København, 1997), p. 108, figs. 102.2; 103.2. 40 Plini, Naturalis Historiae, IV § 33, 36, vol. I, Libri I–VI, ed. Carolus Mayhoff (Lipsiae/ Leipzig, 1906). However, there is not enough reliable data that amber stock from Ukraine (Scythia) may have been used in Antiquity. 41 Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje”, p. 4; Karaliūnas, “Aisčiai ir jų vardas”, p. 12; Karaliūnas, Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. II, pp. 36–44; Jovaiša and Malonaitis, “Baltai ir antika”, p. 47.

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Aestii way of life from that period, which in one way or another can be confirmed by archaeological evidence. Tacitus indicated that the Aestii seldom used swords, if we have interpreted his text correctly.42 Very few swords were found between the Pasłęka, Pregolia and the Neman Rivers. Only three swords are known within the Dollkeim-Kovrovo Cultural expansion boundaries. Eight swords can be attributed to the Bogaczewo culture. At this point only two swords have been found in the lakes region of Suwałki (the Sudovian culture).43 No swords have been found in Lithuania. That would mean that swords in the southeastern and the eastern Baltic regions were used only by those Aestii who were more intensively involved in different economic transactions. On the other hand, Tacitus described military practice, weapons and weaponry of the people who were more familiar to him, the Germans.44 Following Tacitus, the Aestii’s weapons are distinct from those of the Germans, but even among the Germans iron was not plentiful, as may be gathered from the style of their weapons.45 Therefore, the context in which Tacitus describes the Aestii’s weapons can be analysed not only based on the generalized phrase rarus ferri, frequens fustium usus, but also on the region’s archaeological evidence and comparative analysis of German and Aestii weaponry. In reality, the Aestii very seldom used swords. In their weaponry—lances and massive socketed axes predominate. Most of the Dollkiem-Kovrovo culture, West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture, and the Lower Neman Grave Fields group men were buried with one to two or even three different lances and a socketed axe.46 Tacitus could have used a well-informed written source compiled around 92–98, referred to as the Descriptio Svebiae, which unfortunately hasn’t survived,47 and he might have been familiar with Pliny the Elder’s creation. The peculiarity of the shape of the Aestii’s weaponry, their socketed axes, similar to clubs or maces, might

42

Weapons of iron; for this, see: footnote 5. Wojciech Nowakowski, “Aestiorum Gladii. Swords in the West Balt Circle in the Roman Period”, AB 8 (2007), pp. 85–91, fig. 1 and 2; Ludwika Sawicka, “The Roman Period SingleEdged Sword from the Szurpiły Settlement in Suwałki Reion, Poland)”, AB 8 (2007), p. 171ff, figs. 1 and 2. 44 Tacitus, Germany, § 6, 43. 45 Tacitus, Germany, § 6. Also see: Bartosz Kontny, “Breves gladii et rotunda scuta. Remarks on the Goths’ weapons on the margin of Tacitus’ text”, in Germania—Sarmatia. Drevnosti central’noi i vostochnoi Evropy epokhi rimskogo vliianiia i pereseleniia narodov, eds. Oleg A. Radiiuch and Konstantin N. Skvorzov (Kaliningrad, 2008), pp. 180–195. 46 The weaponry set of the Aestii who lived along the Lithuanian coast was always accompanied by a small scythe and even a whetstone. 47 Kolendo, “Mapa etniczna środkowoeuropejskiego Barbaricum”, p. 108; Kolendo, “Tacyt o bursztynie w kraju Estiów. Rzeczywistość i ideologia”, p. 127ff. 43

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have appeared pitiful to Tacitus’s information-gatherers—merchants48 and German warriors who served in the Roman army. Tacitus mentions that during Germanicus’s campaigns, wooden weapons—clubs and one-edged swords—were used by the Germanic warriors and that only the front line had spears with iron spearheads. Besides this, wooden clubs are depicted on the column of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161–180).49 The rest of the paragraph of Tacitus’s text is particularly sarcastic towards the Aestii with regard to their lack of inquisitiveness concerning amber and the explanation that the value of amber was brought about by the Romans need for “luxury”.50 The importance of this statement is worth mentioning: “They [Aestii] have no use for it themselves”.51 This categorical observation made by Tacitus, written at the end of the first century, is confirmed by the archaeological evidence of the southeastern and eastern Baltic regions, and especially that of Lithuania (Figs. 8.1–2; Appendix A). During the lifetime of Tacitus and Pliny, very little amber was worn in the region. Tacitus’s information is undeniably accurate. The unworked amber was traded because the Romans and the barbarians had a different understanding of what constituted artistic expression and the beauty of amber and the technical means of processing it. Taking a look at the Aestii territory through the prism of written sources from Antiquity, it is clear that the Romans had been in the position of being more familiar not only with the barbarian tribes that lived between the Rhine, the Elbe and the Vistula, but also with the inhabitants of the edge of the barbaricum. Claudius Ptolemy (Klaudios Ptolemaios c. 85–165 or c. 100–170), a Greek mathematician and astronomer from Alexandria in the first half of the second century wrote about the Aestii in his Geographikè Hyphégesis.52 Like the first author from Antiquity, he noted that the territory of the Aestii cultures, like that of the Germans, was made up of different

48 Tacitus in Annales indicated that seeking freedom of the commerce and the desire of amassing wealth merchants from the provinces of Imperium Romanum have been penetrating into barbaricum (cf. Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales (Ab excessu Divi Augusti). Translated by Dalia Dilytė (Vilnius, 2005), book II, § 62.2. 49 Tacitus, Annales § 2.14.2–3; Thomas Grane, The Roman Empire and Southern Scandinavia—a Northern Connection! (Ph.D. dissertation defended at the SAXO-Institute, University of Copenhagen (2007)), p. 29, fig. 12. 50 Pliny the Elder, when beginning to write about the popularity of amber, indicates the reason for its popularity among the Romans as follows: “the next place among luxuries, although as yet it is fancied only by women, is held by amber”. See: Pliny, Natural History, § 43. 51 Tacitus, Germany, § 45. 52 After Geographikè Hyphégesis, book III, paragraph 5, in BMRŠ, vol. I, ed. Norbertas Vėlius (Vilnius, 1996), p. 149ff.

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Fig. 8.1. Lithuanian and south Latvian sites with amber artefacts from the second half of the first century to the eighth century. Diagram prepared referring to excavation reports.

Fig. 8.2. Amber amount at Dauglaukis (Tauragė district) grave field (AD 150–260). Diagram prepared referring to: Jonas Balčiūnas, Dauglaukio kapinyno (Tauragės raj.) 1983 metų žvalgomųjų archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita; Eugenijus Jovaiša and Arvydas Asadauskas, “Dauglaukio katalogas, kapai”.

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tribes. Ptolemy talks of the Aestii, not as one possibly homogeneous ethnic group, but mentions distinct tribes—the Galindians (in Greek Γαλίυδαί, in Latin Galindite, Galindiae), who can be identified with the Bogaczewo culture’s people, and the Sudovians (in Greek Σουδίυοί, in Latin Soudinoi), who are connected with the people of the Sudovian culture.53 The “great people Venedi (Venethi)”, that are mentioned by Ptolemy, apparently occupied a very important area on the map of the lower Vistula, on its right bank, but there is still great discussion about their ethnic origin and precise occupied territory.54 It has not been possible to connect Ptolemy’s peoples the Veltae, Ossioi,55 Carboni, Careotae and Saloi/Sali with concrete tribes or to properly locate them, despite the efforts of many researchers.56 53 Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius, p. 4; Nowakowski, “Rzymskie importy przemysłowe na terytorium zachodniobałtyjskiego kręgu kulturowego”, fig. 1; Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, p. 19 and p. 83ff.; W. Nowakowski, “. . . in ista parte, quae Sambia vocatur”. “Römische Importe im Samland und Natangen im Licht preussischer Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts”, Archeologia 43 (1996), pp. 69–78; W. Nowakowski, “Bałtowie—lud na końcu świata”, in Andrzejowski, Kokowski and Leiber, Wandalowie, p. 257; Marcin Engel et al., “‘Sudovia in qua Sudovitae’. The new hypothesis about origins of Sudovian Culture”, AL 7 (2006), p. 185, figs. 1–3. 54 Plini, Naturalis Historiae, IV, § 96; Ryszard Wołągiewicz, “Kultura wielbarska—problemy interpretacji etnicznej”, in Problemy kultury wielbarskiej. Materiały z sympozjum naukowego, Słupsk, 20–22 IX 1979 r., ed. Tadeusz Malinowski (Słupsk, 1981), p. 91ff, fig. 4; Jerzy Kolendo, “Z dziejów odkryć antycznych posążków brązowych na ziemiach Polski”, Studia archeologicznie 1 (1981), p. 76ff; Kolendo, “Wenetowie w Europie środkowej i wschodniej. Lokalizacija etniczna.” Pregląd historyszny 75 (1984), 637–653; Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, p. 85ff.; Nowakowski, “Hic Svebiae Finis—wenetowie na wschód od Tacytowej Swebii”, in Archeologia o początkach Słowian. Piotr Kaczanowski and Michał Parczewski, eds. (Kraków, 2005), pp. 121–123; Vladas Žulkus, “Vakarų baltai gotų-gepidų migracijoje”, in Lietuvininkų kraštas, ed. Nobertas Vėlius (Kaunas, 1995), p. 106; Karaliūnas, Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. II, p. 442. 55 Ossioi (Aistoi) may have been Aestii written in Greek. See: Wojciech Nowakowski, “Wspólnota czy odrębność? Zachodni bałtowie i słowianie w okresie wpływów rzymskich i w okresie wędrówek ludów”, in Svperiores Barbari. Księga pamiątkowa ku czci Profesora Kazimierza Godłowskiego, eds. Renata Madyda-Legutko and Tomasz Bochnak (Kraków, 2000), p. 294ff. 56 Jerzy Kolendo, “Roman Acquaintance with the South-East Baltic Coast. The Karbones of Ptolemy”, in Studia z archeologii ludów barbarzyńskich z wybrzeży Bałtyku i dorzecza Wisły. Barbaricum, 2, eds. Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn and Wojciech Nowakowski (Warsaw, 1992), p. 186ff; Wojciech Nowakowski, Das Samland in der römischen Kaiserzeit und seine Verbindungen mit dem römischen Reich und der barbarischen Welt, ed. Claus von Carnap-Bornheim. Veröffentlichung des Vorgeschichtlichen Seminars Marburg. Sonderband, 10 (Marburg–Warszawa, 1996), p. 111; Žulkus, “Vakarų baltai gotų-gepidų migracijoje, fig. IX; Žulkus, Kuršiai Baltijos jūros erdvėje, p. 20ff; Rasa Banytė Rovell, Vakarų Lietuvos kapinynų su akmenų vainikais kultūrinė sritis III a.–V a. pradžioje. Daktaro disertacija. Humanitariniai mokslai (kodas 05 H Istorija) (Unpublished PhD thesis defended in Vilnius University, Vilnius, 2001. In Library of Vilnius University, RS, A 5737), p. 26ff; Banytė-Rowell, “Romėnų įtakos laikai ir baltų kultūrų klestėjimo laikotarpis”, p. 41ff; Jovaiša and Malonaitis, “Baltai ir antika”, p. 47ff; Karaliūnas, Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. II, pp. 219–294; Michel Kazanski, “Reki

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In recent years, the northern neighbours of the Aestii, the Tarand-Graves culture peoples, have been added to the Aestii area. They are otherwise FinnoUgric peoples.57 It would be seen that the Aestii, later Æstii, Haesti, might have been a name used to refer to all the ethnically distinct peoples who were dwelling between the Pasłęka River and the lower reaches of the Narva River in Estonia. Eventually, this term was applied to the Estonians.58 Busy with traffic, the Rhône, the Rhine and the Danube linked Rome’s northern territories to the Mediterranean heartland. By the beginning of the first century, the Romans were venturing into the territory between the Rhine and the Elbe, and not only as soldiers.59 Despite their losses, Roman political, economic and military interests led them further beyond the Elbe and even further still into the barbarian hinterlands. Attempts were made not only to familiarize themselves with the northern tribes and their way of life, but also to search for new raw materials, different minerals and trade partners. For this reason it became imperative to familiarize themselves with roads that could lead them to the most remote territories of the barbaricum. There is no question, therefore, that with the development of a geographical perception of Europe, the Romans more or less knew the coast from the Rhine (Rhenus), Ems (Amisis/Amasias), Weser (Visurgis), Elbe (Albis) to the Oder (Viadus) and the Vistula (Vistla).60 Pliny the Elder, basing his work on the map of the world drafted by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (64/63–12 BC), mentions the Vistula as the border between Germania and Dacia. At the same time, Ptolemy indicates that the Vistula was the border between

vostochnoi chasti baltiiskogo basseina i antichnye geografy. Eshcho raz o Turunte i Chesine”, Archeologicheskie vesti 16 (2010), pp. 123–132. 57 Edvardas Gudavičius, Lietuvos istorija nuo seniausių laikų iki 1569 metų, vol. I (Kaunas, 1999), p. 25; Rasa Banytė-Rowell and Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, “From Aestii to Eesti. Connections between the Western Lithuanian group and the area of distribution of TarandGraves”, in Interarchaeologia 1 (Tartu, 2005), p. 116ff. 58 Karaliūnas, “Aisčiai ir jų vardas”, p. 11ff; Przemysław Urbańczyk, “The Goths in Poland—where did they come and when did they leave?”, European Journal of Archaeology 1/3 December (1998), p. 404ff; Gudavičius, Lietuvos istorija nuo seniausių laikų, p. 25; Dini, Baltų kalbos, p. 49ff. 59 Birger Storgaard, “Cosmopolitan aristocrats”, in The Spoils of Victory: The North in the shadow of the Roman Empire, eds. Lars Jørgensen, Birger Storgaard and Lone Gebauer Thomsen (Nationalmusset, 2003), p. 110, fig. 3. 60 Plini, Naturalis Historiae, IV, § 99; Lars Jørgensen, “The Warriors, Soldiers and Conscripts of the Anthropology in the Late Roman and Migration Period Archaeology”, in Military Aspects of the Aristocracy in Barbaricum in the Roman and Early Migration Periods. Papers from an international research seminar at the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen 10–11 December 1999, ed. Birger Storgaard. Publications from the National Museum, 5 (Copenhagen, 2001), fig. 6.

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Germania and the European part of Sarmatia.61 Be that as it may, without a doubt the Vistula was the northernmost barbaricum river, whose name was never in doubt, which was important as a channel of communication and as a clear border between ethnically different territories that were of unequal geopolitical importance. The European system of roads was supplemented by significant localities that were in places of strategic importance, meaning at the crossroads of waters or lands. Ptolemy described place-names, highlighting Calisia (Καλισία in Greek), which for many years was associated with Kalisz on the Prosna River in Poland, close to which the branch of the “Amber Route” and several other trade routes had been crossing.62 Besides the similarity of the names, this identification was supported by the closeness between the latitude given by Plotemy and the actual latitude of Kalisz. However, recent research makes the identification of Calisia with Kalisz doubtful, mainly due to the identification of Ptolemy’s Leukaristos, with the Laugaricio/Leugaricio, certainly referring to the town of Trenčín in Slovakia (Fig. 9).63 Despite the fact that the identification of the most part of the localities recorded by Ptolemy in the basin of the Warta, Prosna and Noteć Rivers is questionable, settlement locations at a distance of one day’s march (c. 15– 25/30 km), as well as convenient water and land routes, that easily enabled a change of trade direction, shows a functioning and sustained administrative infrastructure. Trade routes proceed towards the Lower Vistula region and allow easy access to the lower reaches of the Oder and the Elbe Rivers. Ptolemy recorded and mapped single segments of the so-called “Amber Route” or one of the important trade routes within the barbaricum. By the first century, the length of this route was around 770–750 km (Fig. 9).64

61 Jerzy Kolendo, “Źródła pisane w badaniach nad strefami kulturowymi i etnicznymi Europy Środkowej w okresie rzymskim”, in Malinowski, Problemy kultury wielbarskiej, p. 69; Kolendo, “Napływ burztynu z Północy na tereny imperium rzymskiego”, p. 95. 62 J. Wielowiejski, Główny szlak bursztynowy w czasach Cesarstwa Rzymskiego, pp. 110– 111; Janusz K. Kozłowski and Piotr Kaczanowski, “Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich (do VII w.)”, in Wielka Historia Polski, vol. 1 (Kraków, 1998), pp. 260–262. 63 This recent identification of Leukaristos mentioned by Ptolemy, with Laugaricio/Leugaricio is confirmed by the rock inscription carved on the tomb of Roman general M. Valesius Maximianus in Diana Veteranorum in present-day Algeria. The inscription belongs to the time of the Marcomannic Wars (c. 160–180) and describes how the Roman squadron under the command Maximianus spent the winter of 179/180 in Laugaricio. For this see: Kozłowski and Kaczanowski, “Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich (do VII w.)”, pp. 260–262. 64 Aleksandra Cofta-Broniewska, Grupa kruszańska kultury przeworskiej. Archeologia 11 (Poznań, 1979), pp. 126–131, p. 144ff, fig. 8; A. Cofta-Broniewska, “Amber Craft in Kuiavia in the Era of Przeworsk Culture”, Archaeologia Polona 23 (1984), p. 149ff, figs. 1 and 2. Thomas Grane, “Roman sources for the geography and ethnography of Germania”, in Jørgensen,

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Fig. 9. Main trade routes and trade directions in Noricum and Pannonia, and the barbaricum, and the southeastern and eastern Baltic regions during Late Antiquity: 1 Fectio (Vechten, close to Utrecht); 2 Cologne (Köln); 3 Mogontiacum (Mainz); 4 Lentia (Linz); 5 Vindobona (Vienna); 6 Carnuntum (Petronell-Carnuntum); 7 Brigetio (Szőny); 8 Aquincum (Budapest); Laugaricio/Leukaristos (Trenčín); Opole. Circles with light grey shadow indicate concentrations of amber workshops and places of salt extraction (Jacewo, Inowrocław, Łojewo, Konary and Krusza Zamkowa); circles with dark grey shadow indicate amber workshops (Regów, Izdebno Kościelne, and Biskupice) and places of iron production in the territory of the Przeworsk culture. Schematic map prepared by the author referring to: Jerzy Wielowiejski, Główny szlak bursztynowy w czasach Cesarstwa Rzymskiego; Przemysław Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich na obszarze kultury przeworskiej”, fig. 18; Ulla Lund Hansen, Römischer Import im Norden, fig. 149; Janusz K. Kozłowski and Piotr Kaczanowski, Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich, fig. 173; Karol E. Natkański, “Burztyn—złoto północy”, fig. 2.

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A highly-developed network of settlements, deposits of varying sizes intended for various purposes (amber stores; deposits in amber workshops; hoards stored during times of unrest; votive offerings) found in the habitation sites and Roman imports indicated an intensive amber trade. Although the ever-expanding barbaricum became better known to the Romans due to the efforts of merchants, soldiers, geographers, historians and the barbarians themselves, once one crossed the Vistula, news about the tribes who lived in this territory and their geographic location becomes scarce. Therefore, Ptolemy’s indicated rivers to the north beyond the Vistula (Chrononis/Chronos, Rubonis/Rudon, Turintas/Turunti and Chesinos) cannot be simply identified with the rivers flowing in the Sambian Peninsula and Lithuania and Latvia. In historiography, Chronos is associated with the Priegolia River or the Neman, and Rudon with the Neman. Turuntas is mostly associated with the Western Dvina or the Venta (Windava in Latvia), while Chesinos is sometimes linked with the Western Dvina.65 Around the year 77, Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus 23/24–79) in his work Natural History (Naturalis Historiae), as is fitting for an author who has written a book on the history of nature, in paragraphs IV and XVII describes everything that he knows about amber based on a variety of sources available to him (amber distribution, its characteristics and main uses). In other words, Pliny the Elder wrote the very first study in the historiography of amber. He describes not only the Romans’ unquenchable thirst for this luxury, but indicates who the primary consumers of amber are—women. Pliny describes a trade mission that travelled specially to the southeastern Baltic Sea coast to bring amber back to Rome. This mission was organized during the reign of Emperor Nero (Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, 54–68) around 60–61/62 (Fig. 10).66 Pliny described the expedition as follows: The distance from Carnuntum [presently Petronell in Austria] in Pannonia, to the coasts of Germania from which the amber is brought to us is some six

Storgaard and Thomsen, The Spoils of Victory, p. 139, fig. 12b; Andrzej Grzymkowski, “Growiec ‘książęcy’ ze Zgliczyna Pobodzego, gmina Bieżuń, powiat żuromiński”, in Pogranicze trzech światów (2006), p. 66. 65 Kolendo, “Roman Acquaintance with the South-East Baltic Coast”, pp. 187–188; Jovaiša and Malonaitis, “Baltai ir antika”, p. 48; Banytė Rovell, Vakarų Lietuvos kapinynų su akmenų vainikais kultūrinė sritis III a.–V a. pradžioje, p. 26ff; Banytė-Rowell, “Romėnų įtakos laikai ir baltų kultūrų klestėjimo laikotarpis”, p. 41. 66 Kolendo, “Wyprawa po bursztyn bałtycki za Nerona”, p. 26; Michelbertas, “Romėnų didiko ekspedicija gintarui pargabenti”, p. 17ff; Urbańczyk, “The Goths in Poland—where did they come and when did they leave?”, p. 399ff; Shchukin, Na rubezhe er, p. 225; Grzymkowski, “Growiec ‘książęcy’ ze Zgliczyna Pobodzego, gmina Bieżuń, powiat żuromiński”, p. 65ff; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 260.

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Fig. 10. Roman Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus (AD 54–68), head of bronze sestertius (Scale 1:3). hundred miles (c. 887–889 km), a fact which has been confirmed only very recently. There is still living a member of the Roman equestrian order (eques Romanus), who was commissioned to procure amber by Julianus67 when the latter was in charge of a display of gladiators given by the Emperor Nero. Traversing the coasts of that country and visiting the various markets (commercia) there, he brought back amber, in such vast quantities, as to admit of the nets, which are used for protecting the podium against the wild beasts, being studded with amber. Moreover, the arms, biers68 and all the equipment used one day, the display on each day being varied, had amber fittings. The heaviest lump that was brought to Rome weighed 13 pounds (4.26 kg).69

67 Pliny the Elder, in the opinion of Jerzy Kolendo, had to have personally known the member of equestrian order sent with the trade mission and Julianus. See: Kolendo, “Miejsca występowania bursztynu według Pliniusza Starszego”, p. 21ff. 68 For removing the dead gladiators. 69 Pliny, Natural History, XXXVII, § 45; Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, eds. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. [online]. Available from http://www.perseus.tufts .edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+toc [Accessed 2 November 2009], § 45. In the historiography, this important paragraph, which describes the territory of Germania, largely defined

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It seems that the trade mission, led by a Roman equestrian, travelled along the main branch of the “Amber Route” from Carnuntum along the left bank of the Morava River to the so-called Moravian Gate, then later along the headwaters of the Oder, along the Prosna River, through the Kuiavia (Kuyavia, Kujavia, Kujawy) region and finally towards the Lower Vistula region (Figs. 9; 11).70 Therefore, the mission sent during the reign of Emperor Nero, by Julianus, the organizer of gladiator games, was an important trade expedition. The trade mission was led by a person belonging to the Roman equestrian (eques Romanus). It is clear that for Rome’s citizens the mission was first and foremost meant to confirm the power of Imperium Romanum and the emperor. The emperor’s ability to search for new sources of different stocks and, of course, markets, reaching the edge of the earth, underscored his power. By the same token, the amber that was brought back satisfied Nero’s limitless desires, strange fancies71 and gigantic ambitions, demonstrating himself and the power of his rule to the citizenry. However, the amber that was brought back to Rome did not make it into the trade market. Quite the opposite is true. The “northern gold” was used up quickly and extravagantly. Amber from the edge of Germania (litus id Germaniae), as Pliny shows, reached Rome and gave Rome’s emperor one more opportunity to demonstrate his power. The common people, as usual, reacted to the new installation of a

by Pliny as the place of the trade mission’s arrival—translations vary, as do interpretations of this paragraph. Supposedly, the mission was led by a member of the Roman equestrian order, or led by a knight who “traversed both the trade-route and the coasts, and brought back so plentiful supply” See: Pliny, Natural History, XXXVII, § 45. In some of the translations it is proposed, “Traversing the coasts of that country and visiting the various markets there, he brought back amber, in such vast quantities”. For this, see: Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, § 45. However, it seems that Pliny supposed that the expedition had been “traversing the coasts of that country [Germania] and visiting the various markets (commercia)”. For the comparison, see: Plini, Naturalis Historiae, XXXVII, § 45: “DC M p(assuum) fere a Carnunto Pannoniae abesse litus id Germaniae, ex quo invehitur [sc. sucinum], percognitum nuper, vivitque eques R(omanus) ad id comparandum missus ab Iuliano curante gladiatorium munus Neronis principis. qui et commercia ea et litora peragravit, tanta copia invecta, ut retia coercendis feris podium protegentia sucinis nodarentur, harena vero et libitina totusque unius diei apparatus in variatione pompae singulorum dierum esset e sucino. maximum pondus is glaebae attulit XIII librarum.” 70 J. Wielowiejski, Główny szlak bursztynowy w czasach Cesarstwa Rzymskiego, p. 124ff; Kolendo, “Wyprawa po bursztyn bałtycki za Nerona”, pp. 25–62. 71 Pliny the Elder mentioned that Nero bestowed this name on the hair of his wife Poppaea Sabina (30–65 AD), even going so far as to call it in one of his poems “succini” or “ambercoloured”, for no defect lacks a term that represents it as an asset. From that time, respectable women began to aspire to this as a third possible colour for their hair. See: Plini, Naturalis Historiae, XXXVII, § 50; Pliny, Natural History, XXXVII, § 50.

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Fig. 11. Territory of the Wielbark and Przeworsk cultures and of the Aestii/Balt cultures during Late Antiquity. A: the Lower Vistula region and the Wielbark culture ( ) settlement network ( grave field at Weklice) in the Elbląg Heights; the marshy area at the Druźno Lake with wooden plank roads and a platform over the Dzierzgoń (formerly Sorge) River. Schematic map prepared by the author referring to: Andrzej Kokowski, “Kultura Przeworska—zarys dziejów”, fig. 25; Magdalena Natuniewicz-Sekuła and Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Wybrane groby z importami rzymskimi z cmentarzyska w Weklicach”, fig. 2.

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known show and got temporary entertainment in the spirit of the politics of Rome—bread and spectacles. Not only is the fact that the trade mission to bring back amber took place important to northeastern Europe, even more important is the essential question regarding which edge of Germania, as described by Pliny the Elder, the trade mission reached. Based on all the given facts, the mission led by the Roman equestrian travelled to the Lower Vistula region where the Wielbark culture people lived. In the Roman period, the Wielbark culture was the most important barbaricum centre, situated so far to the north from the Roman Empire, but having a direct relationship with the empire itself and with its western provinces, as well as with the Germans from the territory between the Rhine–Elbe Rivers and also, obviously, with southern Scandinavia.72 The main centres of the Wielbark culture, the marketplaces (commercia) that are associated with amber trade and craft were in the Lower Vistula region between Pruszcz Gdański (formerly Praust) and Elbląg Heights (formerly Elbing) (Fig. 11).73 It is clear from the text of Pliny that several coastal marketplaces were visited. In Elbląg Heights and in the eastern reaches of the Lower Vistula River region, over 20 sites (settlements and grave fields) were clustered along the margin of the upland from the mid first century.74 Therefore, it is possible to assume that in the time of Pliny the Elder, the trade mission visited the commercia in the Lower Vistula region. There was no reason for the trade mission to travel further onto the Sambian Peninsula

72 Magdalena Tempelmann-Mączyńska, “Strój kobiecy kultury wielbarskiej i jego powiązania z sąsiednimi obszarami”, in Kultura wielbarska w młodszym okresie rzymskim, vol. I, eds. Jan Gurba and Andzej Kokowski, (Lublin, 1988), p. 214ff; Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Centrum kulturowe z pierwszych wieków naszej ery u ujścia Wisły.” in Studia z archeologii ludów barbarzyńskich z wybrzeży Bałtyku i dorzecza Wisły. Barbaricum, 2, eds. Jerzy OkuliczKozaryn and Wojciech Nowakowski (Warszawa, 1992), pp. 137–145, figs. 1 and 2; Mirosław Pietrzak, Pruszcz Gdański. Fundstelle 10. Ein Gräberfeld der Oksywie- und Wielbark-Kultur in Ostpommern, in Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica, vol. IV (Kraków, 1997), p. 82ff; Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn and Magdalena Natuniewicz-Sekuła, Księżniczka gocka z Weklic, wyposaźenie grobu z II–III w. n. e. Katalog wystawy (Malbork, 2005), pp. 13–38; M. Natuniewicz-Sekuła and J. Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Wybrane groby z importami rzymskimi z cmentarzyska w Weklicach, pow. Elbląski, stan 7.” WA LIX (2007), pp. 47–65, fig. 15. 73 Kolendo, “Wyprawa po bursztyn bałtycki za Nerona”, p. 43, fig. 2; Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Centrum kulturowe z pierwszych wieków naszej ery u ujścia Wisły”, p. 137ff; Agnieszka Reszczyńska, “Zabytki bursztynowe w kulturze wielbarskiej i w grupie masłomęckiej”, Studia Gothica II (1998), pp. 105–116, map 1; Natuniewicz-Sekuła and Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Wybrane groby z importami rzymskimi z cmentarzyska w Weklicach,” p. 45ff. 74 Adam Cieśliński, “Die Besiedlungsgeschichte der Wielbark-Kultur im Flußgebiet von Alle (Łyna), Passarge (Pasłęka) und oberer Drewenz (Drwęca)”, Archäologisches Nachrichtenblatt 13, 1/2008 (2008), p. 40, fig. 1; Natuniewicz-Sekuła and Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Wybrane groby z importami rzymskimi z cmentarzyska w Weklicach”, p. 45ff, figs. 1 and 2.

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because during the middle and the second half of the first century it is not likely that a marketplace existed there which, according to the understanding of the Romans, was equal to a commercia.75 In the first century after Christ, the main stream of the Vistula was the Nogat, therefore marketplaces in the Lower Vistula were easily accessible via the Vistula Lagoon and through the Druźno Lake. It was only a 70–75 kilometre route from the Sambian Peninsula to the main marketplaces in the Lower Vistula region. Therefore, amber from the Sambian Peninsula may have been fairly safely transported via the Vistula Lagoon. Furthermore, from the Vistula Lagoon through a channel on Vistula Spit it was easy to access the Baltic Sea (Fig. 11). Therefore, because of the created infrastructure and the short distances from the Sambian Peninsula to the DollkeimKovrovo culture’s peoples, it was not complicated to provide amber to the marketplaces located in the Lower Vistula River region. The Vistula Delta and the Druźno Lake region were traced with small streams. Wooden plank roads led through the swampy and marshy surroundings (Fig. 12). A wooden platform served to help cross the Dzierzgoń (formerly Sorge) River. The platform and plank roads were wide enough to allow loaded wagons pulled by horses to pass through (Fig. 13). There was heavy traffic on these plank roads and over the platform on the Dzierzgoń River from the end of the second century to the beginning of the fifth century.76 Although the northern barbaricum wooden plank roads and platforms were not equal to the Roman roads and bridges, it is evident that the Wielbark culture’s communities were socially stratified and that persons of the highest social strata managed to create and sustain an administrative infrastructure (roads, platforms, the dense settlement network at good vantage points, and marketplaces), which ensured effective local, regional and inter-regional trade. The first trade mission to acquire amber, known from written sources, even if only raw amber was transported to Rome, activated trade and opened up possibilities for other trade missions. The mission, led by a person of 75 Archaeological material from the recent research on the Sambian Peninsula has not been published. It might be that new archaeological evidence will alter well-established attitudes. 76 Radiocarbon (C14) dating of the wooden plank road indicates that the first plank road was built in the first century BC and, after several reconstructions, the road was used until the the early fifth century. The plank roads were also in use during the ninth and tenth centuries. For this, see: Urbańczyk, “The Goths in Poland—where did they come from and when did they leave?”, p. 399, fig. 1; Jolanta Sadowska-Topór, “Starożytne drogi w dolinie rzeki Dziergón w świetle badań archeologicznych”, in Adalbertus—Tło kulturowo-geograficzne wyprawy misyjnej św. Wojciecha na pogranicze polsko-pruskie, vol. 4, ed. Przemysław Urbańczyk (Warszawa, 1999), pp. 110–120.

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Fig. 12. Wooden plank road II discovered in 1896 in the valley of the Bągart River, in the vicinity of a marshy area at the Druźno Lake. During archaeological excavation it was found that the length of the plank road was c. 1,230 m and the width was c. 3 m. After Wilhelm Gaerte, Urgeschichte Ostpreußens, plate VII; Jolanta Sadowska-Topór, Starożytne drogi w dolinie rzeki Dziergón, fig. 8.

high social status (eques Romanus), without a doubt initiated the Wielbark culture people’s relationships with the Roman provinces and helped form the main trade artery, historiographically named the “Amber Route” (Fig. 9).77 This trade mission, certainly, could have had further-reaching goals—namely, to take over the amber-bearing coast.78 However, it is important not to forget that the distant and cold edge of the Baltic Sea which the Romans had reached was quite far away from the limes, and for this reason it would have 77 J. Wielowiejski, Główny szlak bursztynowy w czasach Cesarstwa Rzymskiego, pp. 36–81; Michelbertas, “Prekybiniai ryšiai su Romos imperija”, pp. 65–72, figs. 21 and 22; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 216ff; Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Centrum kulturowe z pierwszych wieków naszej ery u ujścia Wisły”, pp. 137–142; Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, p. 57ff; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 260–267. 78 Kolendo, “Wyprawa po bursztyn bałtycki za Nerona”, p. 33ff; Kolendo, “Miejsca występowania bursztynu według Pliniusza Starszego”, p. 12.

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Fig. 13. Loaded wagon (plaustrum) pulled by two horses. Roman soldier Lucius Aemilius Crescens sepulchral bas-relief in Baden-Baden, c. AD 70–90. Height 1.92 m, sandstone. After Bärbel Hanemann, “Wagen voll mit Beute—die rekonstruktion der Transportwagen”, fig. 218.

been difficult for the Romans to hold onto the amber coast for any length of time. But the trade mission described by Pliny, and of course successive trade missions, might have given the Romans the idea that it was possible to control the amber extraction through the local nobility. Such activities and diplomacy were common features of their politics. The distance from Carnuntum in Pannonia to the amber coast is about 887 kilometres. Therefore, it is theoretically possible that the trade mission reached the Lithuanian coast.79 However, in contrast with the Dollkeim-Kovrovo and Wielbark cultures, there is a lack of a network of settlements and grave fields, indicating low population levels on the Lithuanian coastline.80 79

Michelbertas, “Romėnų didiko ekspedicija gintarui”, p. 17ff. Hari Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr. II. Teil, Analyse (Tartu, 1938), p. 600ff, fig. 89; Kazimierz Godłowski, Studia nad stosunkami społecznymi w okresach późnolateńskim i rzymskim w dorzeczu Odry i Wisły. Próba interpretacji cmentarzysk, 80

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Fig. 14. Roman imports, single amber artefacts and the main trade and cultural influence directions from the mid first century to the end of the second century:

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brooches of Type A238; { brooches of Types A69, 68, 67 and A71; other imported brooches; coins; * medallions; amber artefacts; ⇒ the main directions of import inflow to the eastern Baltic region; contact zone around the Baltic Sea marked in darker shade; amber exchange directions between the Wielbark and Dollkeim-Kovrovo cultures. 1–3 Sargėnai, in the city of Kaunas, graves 92(233), 98(225) and 352(78); 4 Sandrausiškė, Raseiniai district, barrow II, grave 2; 5{ exact find-spot unknown, Klaipėda district; 6 three coins: Galba (AD 68–69) and Trajan (AD 98–117), exact find-spot unknown, Klaipėda district; 7 Betygala, Raseiniai district sestertius of Nero (AD 54–68); 8{ Barzūnai, Šilutė district; 9 Juodkrantė, formerly Schwarzort, Trajan coin; 10 (A238) and 11 denarius of Claudius (AD 41–54) Bajoriškiai, Kupiškis district; 12 Kiaunorai, Kelmė district; 13{ Kuršiai, Kelmė district; 14{ Pašakarniai, Kelmė district; 15 Pailgotis, Šilalė district; 16{ Paragaudis, Šilalė district, barrow 26, grave 2; 17–18{, Adakavas, Tauragė district; 19 Vienragiai, Plungė district, grave 2; 20 former Eisliethen, grave 4, Primorsk district, Kaliningrad region, Russia; 21 Veliuona, Jurbarkas district sestertius of Vespasianus (AD 69–79); 22* Kaunas district, exact find-spot unknown; 23* bronze Nero medallion: found in Alytus; 24 Rządz, formerly Rodsen, Poland; 25 Nowe Dobra, Poland; 26 Pamūšė, Pasvalys district; 27 Pakalniškiai, Panevėžys district; 28–29 Bronze brooches with enamel inlays: Nemunėlio Radviliškis, Biržai district; Single amber finds: 30 Padvariai, Kretinga district; 31 Kulautuva, Kaunas district; 32 Bajoriškiai, Kupiškis district. Schematic map prepared by the author referring to: Mykolas Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum; Jacek Andrzejowski, “Norycko-pannońska zapinka skrzydełkowa”, fig. 2.

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There are no good reasons, given scarce raw amber stocks; an undeveloped settlements network; and the fact that on the Lithuanian coast there were practically no imports found dated to the second half of the first century, to believe that the trade mission recorded by Pliny may have visited the coast of Lithuania. (Figs. 14; 15). Amber in the Eastern and Southeastern Baltic Regions in Tacitus and Pliny the Elder’s Time and Somewhat Later Both raw amber and amber artefacts are extremely rarely found in Lithuanian, or for that matter, the entire eastern and southeastern region’s burial sites dated from the times of Tacitus and Pliny and right up until the end of the second century.81 In Lithuania, only three find-spots with single amber artefacts are known from this period (Figs. 8.1; 14; Appendix A). This poor spread of amber artefacts coincides with the poor spread of Roman imports. (Fig. 15). Distribution of Roman imports from the mid first century to the end of the second century clearly indicates that the main trade directions were unrelated to the Lithuanian coast (Figs. 9; 14; 16). Only two amber artefacts dating from the beginning of the second century have been found, not far from the coast in the Padvariai barrow field. Those artefacts are an especially beautiful lump of raw amber (barrow 11, grave 4)82 and one unpolished, roughly-worked bead (barrow 21) (Fig. 17.IX.37). Consequently, it is not news that “amber beads are extremely rare in the land of amber”.83 In this case the “land of amber” means Lithuania and its coast.

in Biblioteka archeologiczna, 13, ed. Witold Hensel (Wrocław, 1960), pp. 119–125; Kolendo, “Wyprawa po bursztyn bałtycki za Nerona”, p. 43ff, fig. 2; Teresa Łaszczewska, “Rzymskie importy przemysłowe z terenu Polski”, in Szlak bursztynowy. Biblioteka Muzeum Archeologicznego i Etnograficznego w Łodzi, 27, ed. Łaszczewska, Teresa (Łódź, 1992), map I and map II; Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Centrum kulturowe z pierwszych wieków naszej ery u ujścia Wisły”, p. 139ff, figs. 1–9; Michelbertas, “Vakarų Lietuvos apgyvendinimas senajame geležies amžiuje”, p. 14ff, fig. 1; Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum; Kulakov, The Amber Lands in the Time of the Roman Empire, pp. 17–26; Natuniewicz-Sekuła and Okulicz-Kozaryn”, Wybrane groby z importami rzymskimi z cmentarzyska w Weklicach”, pp. 45–70; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 187. 81 Almost all amber artefacts and pieces of raw amber belonging to the Late Antique period to the Middle Ages have been found exclusively in burial sites. 82 Besides the lump of raw amber in the grave were found a knife fragment, several sherds of a miniature pot and piece of a slag. See: Ignas Jablonskis, Padvarių (Kretingos raj.) pilkapių tyrinėjimai 1978 m. (Unpublished excavation report from 1978). 83 Gimbutas, The Balts, p. 129.

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Fig. 15. Imported brooches from the second half of the first century to the end of the second century: 1 Type A69 from Paragaudis, Šilalė district, barrow 26, grave 2; 2 Exner Type I.32 from Pamūšė, Pasvalys district; 3 Winged brooch Type A238r from Pailgotis, Šilalė district; 4, 5 Winged brooches (Types A238r and A238m) from Sargėnai men’s graves 352(78) and 92(233); 6 profiled brooch of Type A71 from Kuršiai, Kelmė district, stray find. After Mykolas Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum, plates 2; 3.1,2; 5.3; 6.3.

It must be emphasized that in the first- to second-century sites of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo, West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves and Bogaczewo cultures, notwithstanding the fact that each of these cultures had differing supplies of amber,84 the patterns of amber usage were similar. The people

84 Edvards Šturms, “Die ethnische Deutung der ‘masurgermanischen Kultur’”, Contributions of Baltic University 31(1947), pp. 1–12; Gimbutienė, Baltai priešistoriniais laikais, p. 88 and p. 128; Kazimierz Godłowski and Jerzy Okulicz, “Prowincje kulturowe strefy środkowoeuropejskiej w młodszym okresie przedrzymskim i w okresie wpływów rzymskich”, in Malinowski, Problemy kultury wielbarskiej (Słupsk, 1981), p. 37 and p. 41; P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich”, p. 352ff, fig. 19; Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, p. 7 and p. 81; Bitner-Wróblewska, “Early Migration Period in

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Fig. 16. Late Antique Lithuanian sites with amber artefacts and main trade directions (for find-spots list see: Appendix B). Map prepared by the author referring to excavation reports.

of those cultures at that time used very little amber. This supports Tacitus’s comment that the Aestii themselves did not use amber. The people of the Wielbark culture used amber more for themselves during the time of Tacitus and Pliny, and their amber consumption tripled from the end of the first century to the middle of the second century (Fig. 18). Very rarely is amber

the Mazurian Lakeland—Phantom or Reality?”, p. 155; Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, “Nagromadzenia bursztynu na Kurpiowszczyźnie”, in Znaleziska i dawne kopalnie bursztynu w Polsce. Od Bałtyku przez Kurpie do Karpat. Ed. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz. Biblioteka kurpiowska im. Stacha Konwy, 2 (Łomża, 2002), map 3; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 64ff.

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Fig. 17. The typology of the Late Antique handmade semi-lathed and lathe-turned amber beads from Lithuanian burial sites. Groups I–X.

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Fig. 18. Changes in the Wielbark culture amber-using traditions. After Agnieszka Reszczyńska, “Zabytki bursztynowe w kulturze wielbarskiej i w grupie masłomęckiej”.

found in the Przeworsk culture burial sites of this period, even though eleven amber workshops were located in this culture’s territory (Fig. 9).85 In the territory of Lithuania, amber in graves slowly begins to increase only from the second half of the second century and at the very beginning of the third century (Fig. 19). Gradually necklaces begin to appear with a mixed single amber bead, or one to two simple worked amber beads are found among the other grave finds (Fig. 20.1–2). In the time of Tacitus and Pliny, Aestii women of the highest social strata placed worth and undoubt-

85 P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich”, pp. 320–358; P. Wielowiejski, “ ‘Ipsis in nullo usu . . .’ Z badań nad wykorzystaniem bursztynu wśród niektórych ludów środkoweuropejskich Barbaricum w okresie wpływów rzymskich”, in Concordia studia ofiarowane Jerzemu Okuliczowi-Kozarynowi w sześćdziesiątą piątą rocznice urodzin, ed. Wojciech Nowakowski (Warszawa, 1996), p. 223; P. Wielowiejski, “Bernstein in der Przeworsk-Kultur”, Bericht der römisch-germanischen Kommission, 77/1996 (1997), pp. 223–341; Jacek Andrzejowski, Nadkole 2 A Cemetery of Przeworsk Culture in Eastern Poland, in Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica, vol. V (Kraków, 1998), p. 64ff; Katarzyna Czarnecka, Oblin: Ein Gräberfeld der Przeworsk-Kultur in Südmasowien, in Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica, vol. XIII (Warszawa, 2007), p. 79.

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Fig. 19. Amber amount at Dauglaukis (Tauragė district) grave field (AD 150–260). Diagram prepared referring to: Jonas Balčiūnas, Dauglaukio kapinyno (Tauragės raj.) 1983 metų žvalgomųjų archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita; Eugenijus Jovaiša and Arvydas Asadauskas, “Dauglaukio katalogas, kapai”.

edly social standing not on amber beads, but on quantities of glass beads and bronze and pendants that shone like gold. They had a preference for multicoloured glass paste, millefiori, and glass gold foil beads, as well as differentshaped bronze pendants and beads (Fig. 21). Very rarely Aestii noblewomen favoured amber (Appendix B; Table 1). Composed of various-shaped bronze pendants, but of the same types of glass beads, elaborate necklaces became a sign of status and prestige common to all the ethnocultural groups that lived in the territory of Lithuania (Figs. 20–22). One of the most impressive recent finds from the second half of the second century and the very beginning of the third century is a group of multicoloured glass paste and bronze beads and bronze pendants found in the Bandužiai grave field, grave 91 (Fig. 20.2).86 At the end of the second century and beginning of the third

86 Audronė Bliujienė and Ramunė Bračiulienė, “Prašmatniosios Barbaricum paribio diduomenės moterys ir jų vyrai”, LA 30 (2007), p. 46ff, figs. 3, 4 and 6. Based on a very small fragment of skull that has survived and on a fragment from the lower jawbone, in grave 91 a 35–45 year-old man is buried. It was analysed by Professor Rimantas Jankauskas, Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine. It was not possible to obtain DNA from the remains of the skull.

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Fig. 20.1. The second half of the second-century to the beginning of the third-century grave assemblage from Bandužiai (in the city of Klaipėda) woman’s grave 91: 1 iron; 2–5 bronze. After Audronė Bliujienė and Ramunė Bračiulienė, “Prašmatniosios Barbaricum paribio diduomenės moterys”, fig. 5. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda.

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Fig. 20.2. The second half of the second-century to the beginning of the thirdcentury grave assemblage from Bandužiai (in the city of Klaipėda) woman’s grave 91: 1 glass paste, amber; 2, 3 glass paste, bronze. Reconstructions by Jolanta Mažeikaitė and Ramunė Bračiulienė, photograph by Kęstutis Demereckas. After Bliujienė and Bračiulienė, “Prašmatniosios Barbaricum paribio diduomenės moterys”, fig. 6. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda.

century, the number of amber beads in the most impressive necklaces is limited and consistent with a general tendency: there are very few amber beads in the graves. It seems that Aestii noblewomen from Lithuania tried to match their closest neighbours, who lived between the Pasłęka–Pregolia–Neman. Obviously, this cultural tendency reached the entire Aestii territory from the Wielbark culture, which typically had wealthy women’s graves. Already in the second half of the second century, the so-called “Wielbark baroque style” prevailed and a component of this style is fancy beads strung onto the necklace (Fig. 23).87 The only difference is that the women of the Wielbark

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Wołągiewicz,“Kultura wielbarska—problemy interpretacji etnizcnej”, pp. 80–88, tab. 1, fig. 3; Tempelmann-Mączyńska, “Strój kobiecy kultury wielbarskiej i jego powiązania z sąsiednimi obszarami”, p. 205, fig. 1.C.

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Fig. 21. Necklaces strung with glass, glass paste, gold foil glass beads and bronze pendants from central Lithuania and southwestern Latvia. Second half of the second century to the mid third century. 1 Paviekiai, Šiauliai district, grave 9; 2 Sargėnai, in the city of Kaunas, grave 208; 3 Rucavas Mazkatuži, Liepajās district, Latvia, grave 13/1942. Reconstructions after Regina Kulikauskienė and Rimutė Rimantienė, “Senovės liaudies menas”, figs. 111–112; Latvijas PSR arheoloģija, plate 75.5.

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Fig. 22. The end of the second-century to the beginning of the third-century grave assemblage from girl’s grave 2 found at Pakalniai (Vilnius district), barrow 7: 1–3 bronze; 4 bronze, enamel inlays; 5 glass, glass paste, gold foil glass, amber, bronze. After Vykintas Vaitkevičius, “Pakalnių pilkapiai”, figs. 14 and 15; drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR145) in Vilnius.

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culture began adding huge amounts of amber beads and pendants to those fashionable necklaces during the second half of the second century and the first half of the third century. In recent years in the barrow fields of east Lithuania, elaborate necklaces including single amber beads are found. In inhumation grave 2 at Pakalniai barrow field, barrow 7, a young girl with a necklace strung from four bucketshaped bronze pendants and cylinders, one bronze spiral, four monochrome enamel and 20 different glass beads in addition to two amber beads was found. This grave belongs to the end of the second century/beginning of the third century (Fig. 22.5).88 The Bogaczewo, Sudovian, and Central and East Lithuania cultures’ people were traditionally close, therefore the basis on which their cultures were formed was a fairly common cultural space,89 so it was natural that amber travelled to east Lithuania either through trade exchange or together with representatives of these cultures. (Figs. 14; 16). According to data from 1985, in the 67 grave fields of the DollkeimKovrovo culture, amber was found in cremation and inhumation graves.90 Notwithstanding that during the Late Antique period in the DollkeimKovrovo culture sites more amber was found than in the entirety of presentday Lithuania (Appendix B), few amber artefacts belong to the first and second centuries. From the time of Tacitus and Pliny, very little amber was found in the Dollkeim-Kovrovo grave field which gave its name to the whole culture. Only in six of the graves at that grave field were a few amber beads and bits of raw amber found.91 Among these graves with amber, only in

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Vykintas Vaitkevičius, “Badania cmentarzyska kurhanowiego koło wsi Pakalniai na Litwie. Przyczynek do dyskusji nad datowaniem początków kultury kurhanów wschodniolitewskich”, WA LVI 2002–2003 (2003), p. 120, fig. 11.25–26; V. Vaitkevičius, “Pakalnių pilkapiai (Vilniaus r.)”, LA 26 (2004), p. 54ff, figs. 13–17. 89 Wołągiewicz,“Kultura wielbarska—problemy interpretacji etnizcnej”, pp. 80–88, tab. 1, fig. 3; Audrius Astrauskas, Marvelės bendruomenė (II a. pabaiga—V a.). Daktaro disertacija. Humanitariniai mokslai (kodas 05 H Istorija) (Unpublished PhD thesis defended in Vilnius University, Vilnius, 1998, in LNB RS, f. 132–736), p. 123; Vaitkevičius, “Badania cmentarzyska kurhanowiego koło wsi Pakalniai”, p. 119; Vaitkevičius, “Pakalnių pilkapiai (Vilniaus r.)”, p. 54ff, figs. 13–17; Vaitkevičius, “Interpreting the East Lithuanian Barrow Culture”, in Interarchaeologia 1. Tartu, 2005, p. 71ff, figs. 2 and 3; Mindaugas Bertašius, “Uwagi na temat kontaktów ludności kultury bogaczewskiej i mieszkańców środkowej Litwy na podstawie materiałów z cmentarzyska w Marvelė”, in Bitner-Wróblewska, Kultura bogaczewska, p. 258. 90 Tempelmann-Manczyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, pp. 327–339. Recently in the Kaliningrad region (Russia), there has been a considerable increase in archaeological excavations. Therefore, the number of sites in which amber artefacts and Roman imports have been found has increased greatly. However, only a small amount of the new material has been published. 91 In total, 250 graves from the first to the sixth centuries have been excavated in the Dollkeim-Kovrovo grave field. Around 55 inhumation graves and urn-cremations belong to

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Fig. 23. Ulkowy (Wielbark culture grave field in Poland) woman’s grave 67 in situ and grave assemblage (1, 2 clay; 3, 4, 6, 10–14 bronze; 5 bronze and silver; 7–9 silver; necklace: amber beads, glass, silver). Four pierced amber sticks were found separately. The second half of the second century to the early third century. After Małgorzata Tuszyńska, Ulkowy cmentarzysko kultury wielbarskiej na Pomorzu Gdańskim, plates XXVI, LIII.4.

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one grave, undoubtedly that of an Aestii noblewoman (grave 11a), was an impressive necklace, strung with lots of gold foil glass and four amber beads, enclosed. Other women from this time travelled to the afterlife with ornate necklaces, only they were composed of multicoloured, monochrome (mostly dark red or orange) glass paste and gold foil glass beads. In the graves of four armed men at the Dollkeim-Kovrovo grave field, horsemen among them, one or a few bits of raw amber were found (grave 10). It may be that these armed men, who belonged to the high social strata, controlled the amber coast and the amber trade. In one cremation grave (3D) of the first to second centuries, with the exception of one piece of raw amber, no grave goods were found.92 It is difficult to make any generalizations because the number of graves is too small. Still, it is possible that people were buried either in the tradition of inhumation or cremation graves based on which ethnic group they belonged to. It might be that the Aestii were buried in cremation burials and the Goths in inhumation graves. However, it might be the case that different burial traditions have only a social aspect. The amount of raw amber and amber artefacts in the grave fields of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture on the Sambian Peninsula begins to increase in the second century. This tendency is reflected in Aleyka-3 (at the village formerly known as Jaugehnen, Kreis Fischhausen, now in the Zelenogradsk district, Kaliningrad region, Russia) grave field material.93 The Pasłęka River in Poland was the traditional border between the Germanic and Aestii cultures.94 However, archaeological evidence indicates that the boundary between the Aestii and German settlements east of the Vistula

the Roman period. Approximately 20 graves are dated to the first century, but of those graves only six contain one piece of amber per grave. For this, see: Vladimir I. Kulakov, “DollkeimKovrovo Issledovaniia 1879 g.”, in Prussia Antiqua, vol. 2, Monumenta (Мinsk, 2004); V.I. Kulakov, “Dollkeim-Kovrovo Issledovaniia 1992–2002 gg.”, in Prussia Antiqua, vol. 4, Monumenta (Мinsk, 2007). 92 Kulakov, “Dollkeim-Kovrovo Issledovaniia 1879 g.”, p. 14. 93 542 graves belonging to the second to twelfth centuries have been investigated in the Aleyka-3 grave field during the excavation seasons of 2005–2007. For this, see: Konstantin Skvorzov, “Das Gräberfeld der römischen Kaiserzeit von Bol’šoe Isakovo (ehemals Lauth Kreis Königsberg). Katalog der Funde aus den Grabfunden 1998 und 1999”, Offa 61/62, 2004/05 (2007), pp. 111–219. 94 Adam Cieśliński and Wojciech Nowakowski, “Die Passarge—ein barbarischer Rubikon. Entwurf einer Forschungsproblematik”, in Wasserwege: Lebensadern—Trennungslinien. 15. Internationales Symposium Grundprobleme der frühgeschichtlichen Entwicklung im mittleren Donauraum. Schleswig 30. November–4. Dezember 2002, eds. Claus von Carnap-Bornheim and Herwig Friesinger. Archälogisches Landesmuseum “Schleswig”. Schriften des Archäologischen Landesmuseums. Ergänzungsreihe, 3 (Neumümunster, 2005), pp. 256–263, figs. 2 and 3; Cieśliński, “Die Besiedlungsgeschichte der Wielbark-Kultur”, p. 31ff, fig. 1.

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River was constantly shifting. The Wielbark culture people may have been an important causative factor underlying cultural change in the DollkeimKovrovo culture. By the second half of the first century, people of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture came into direct contact on the Lower Pasłeka River with the Wielbark culture which was expanding on its eastern range.95 Therefore, the Wielbark culture’s Goths’ movement into the amber-bearing Sambian Peninsula’s coastline and their intermixing with the Aestii communities is completely plausible.96 From the second half of the second century to the beginning of the third century, the multifaceted influence of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture is ambiguously reflected in the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture. Economic and social changes occurred in both, culturally comparable, regions almost simultaneously. Both regions had close social development, and both regions’ communities used amber infrequently.97 Therefore, Tacitus’s statement that the Aestii themselves do not use amber is correct, even when one considers the large quantities of amber exported from the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture’s peoples, who obtained amber in all possible manners (Figs. 2; 3; 6). According to data from 1998, in the entire Wielbark culture territory, through the entirety of its existence, amber artefacts were found in 76 grave fields, seven sacrificial hoards, and in four individual find-spots.98 In the first century in the Wielbark culture grave fields, the amount of graves with amber artefacts was small (Fig. 18). Grave fields and graves with amber artefacts become more frequent at the end of the first century and the beginning of the second century. The amount of grave fields and graves with amber increased greatly during the second half of the second century and at the beginning of the third century (Fig. 23).99 In the second half of the first

95 Cieśliński, Nowakowski, “Die Passarge—ein barbarischer Rubikon”, fig. 2.a,b; Jacek Andrzejowski, Adam Cieśliński, “Germanie i Bałtowie u schyłku starożytności. Przyjazne związki czy wrogie sąsiedztwo?”, in Bitner-Wróblewska, Kultura bogaczewska, p. 318ff. 96 Gaerte, Urgeschichte Ostpreußens, p. 205ff. 97 Gaerte, Urgeschichte Ostpreußens, figs. 117 and 119; Šturms, “Die ethnische Deutung der ‘masurgermanischen Kultur’ ”, pp. 1–12; Wolfgang La Baume, “Altpreussische Zeumzeug”, Altpreussen 9½ (1944), pp. 2–12, figs. 1–12; Okulicz, Pradzieje ziem pruskich, p. 188ff and p. 207ff; Nowakowski, Das Samland in der römischen Kaiserzeit, plates 51, 81, 95, 96 and 104; Kulakov, “Dollkeim-Kovrovo Issledovaniia 1879 g.”, pp. 11–20; Audronė Bliujienė and Donatas Butkus, “Armed Men and their Riding Horses as a Reflection of Warrior Hierarchy in Western Lithuania during the Roman Iron Age”, AB 8 (2007), figs. 1, 8 and 9. 98 Reszczyńska, “Zabytki bursztynowe w kulturze wielbarskiej i w grupie masłomęckiej”, pp. 91–116, maps 1–21. 99 Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Centrum kulturowe z pierwszych wieków naszej ery u ujścia Wisły”, p. 137; Reszczyńska, “Zabytki bursztynowe w kulturze wielbarskiej i w grupie masłomęckiej”, p. 91ff, maps 2–8, 16, 17.

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century and in the second century trade was encouraged by the babarians’ desire to have luxury goods produced in the Roman Empire and its provinces. As a result, both sides were interested in trade. One of the most important objects of that trade was amber. Intensive trade occurred with the Roman Empire and its western provinces in the second half of the first century and lasted till the third quarter of the second century. At that time, the Romans desired amber as an exotic material100 and its status as a luxury commodity gave it a reputation. Tacitus and Pliny wrote that amber was made famous by the desire for it of the Romans, or rather, of the women of Rome. During that time amber in huge quantities was reaching Aquileia. Aquileia was founded on the maritime and land crossroads at the head of the Adriatic Sea on the edge of the lagoon on the Natisone (Latin Natiso) delta.101 Here was an active amber marketplace and here also the largest amber workshops of Antiquity were located. In Aquileia, a variety of amber artefacts were created in accordance with the eclectic Roman taste. Some of these artefacts reached the barbarian world. Some of the amber artefacts produced in Aquileia’s workshops influenced the evolution of barbarian amber production and the appearance of new types of amber artefacts (Fig. 24). A variety of pretty amber trinkets and ornaments (beads, pendants, finger-rings, small boxes, bottles for perfume, gaming dice, bastoncelli (distaffs), and a variety of different amulets, and even New Year’s greetings written on amber leaves, etc.) were manufactured in the Aquileia amber workshops,102 in addition to decorative bas-reliefs, small flat and fully three-dimensional animals and

100 Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius, p. 217ff; Ulla Lund Hansen, “Berlockförmige Bernsteinperlen—die europäischen Kontakte eines ostdänischen Zentrums der jüngeren Kaiserzeit”, in Regions and Reflections. In Honour of Märta Strömberg, eds. Kristina Jennbert, Lars Larsson, R. Petré and Bożena Wyszomirska-Werbart, Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 20 (Lund, 1991), pp. 179–188; U. Lund Hansen, “Chieftains and traders looking East—the Late Roman and Early Germanic Period Contacts between the Eastern Baltic and Southern Scandinavian Area”, AB 4 (2000), p. 84; Jerzy Wielowiejski, “Der Forschungsstand über den Hauptweg der Bernsteinstraße”, in Kontakte längs der Bernsteinstrasse (Kraków, 1966), p. 61. 101 Aquileia was founded in 181 BC by decision of the Rome Senate. See: J. Wielowiejski, “Der Forschungsstand über den Hauptweg der Bernsteinstrasse”, p. 57 and p. 63. 102 AN(num) N(ovum) F(austum) F(elicem). This was the wish of a happy and prosperous new year tendered for the Emperor. Such inscriptions are known from Roman coins. For this see: Historia Numorum Dictionary of Roman Coin Index of all Titles [online]. Available from http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=A%20N%20F%20F [Accessed 8 April 2011]. However, even if amber wares were expensive, because a small amber human sculpture sometimes carried a higher price than “a vigorous slave” (Pliny, The Natural History, XXXVII, § 49), it is possible to assume, that the New Year’s greetings on amber leaves were available to the people of the highest social strata of the Roman Empire.

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Fig. 24. Aquileia amber workshops’ production, which influenced the barbarians’ amber and metal ornaments’ forms and style. After Maria C. Calvi, Aquileia: le ambre romane, plates 47; 55; 83; 87; 91; 99; 104.

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sculptures of mythological heroes (Fig. 25).103 The Romans also used amber as incense, as medicine, and as amulets for children.104 The graves of women from the Aquileia vicinity are rich with the bastoncelli made of metal bobbins and various shapes of amber beads (Fig. 24.3,4).105 Amber wares were expensive, and even a small sculpture of a human “cost more than a vigorous slave”.106 The reasons for the increased use of amber and its extraction and trade in the northern regions had to be connected with the first waves of Roman disinterest, which took place at the end of the second century.107 From the end of the second century, due to the unrest caused by German attacks, the importance of workshops manufacturing different amber wares and ornaments in Aquileia gradually decreased.108 The increased use of amber in the north coincided with the Marcomanni Wars (166–180), because is believed that the Marcomanni Wars interrupted the safe and stable long-distance trade that ran on a down-the-line model, disrupting the main “Amber Route”. However, first and foremost the Germanic people were interested in trade because intensive trade, and therefore, safe trade routes, were one of their primary sources of wealth. It would seem that after the Marcomanni Wars the nature of the amber trade with the Roman Empire changed. It changed from long-distance trade to indirect contacts, with a redistribution of Roman products and the barbarians providing mostly raw materials. The amber trade and the trade of different commodities or trade in war trophies after conflicts took place along those same trade arteries. For this reason, any type of goods crossed some areas of the barbaricum a few times before 103 Donald E. Strong, Catalogue of the Carved Amber in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities (London, 1966), pp. 91–96, plates XL–XLIII; Maria C. Calvi, Aquileia: le ambre romane, Pubblicazioni dell’associazione nazionale per Aquileia 10 (Aquileia, 2005). 104 Plini, Naturalis Historiae, XXXVII, § 51. 105 Kolendo, “Wyprawa po bursztyn bałtycki za Nerona”, pp. 25–60; Kolendo, “Napływ burztynu z Północy na tereny imperium rzymskiego”, p. 93ff. 106 Plini, Naturalis Historiae, XXXVII, § 49. 107 J. Wielowiejski, Główny szlak bursztynowy w czasach Cesarstwa Rzymskiego, pp. 197– 203; J. Wielowiejski, “Der Forschungsstand über den Hauptweg der Bernsteinstrasse”, p. 60ff; Michelbertas, “Romėnų didiko ekspedicija gintarui”, p. 17ff; Kolendo, “Napływ burztynu z Północy na tereny imperium rzymskiego”, pp. 94–99; Ulla Lund Hansen, Römischer Import im Norden. Warenaustausch zwischen Römischen Reich und dem freien Germanien während der Kaiserzeit under besonderer Berücksichtigung Nordeuropas. Nordiske fortidsminder. Serie B-in quarto, 10 (København, 1987), p. 235ff, fig. 149; Teresa Dąbrowska, “Frühe Stufen der Przeworsk-Kultur. Bemerkungen zu den Kontakten mit Südeuropa”, in Woźniak, Kontakte längs der Bernsteinstraße, p. 129ff. 108 Lund Hansen, Römischer Import im Norden, p. 236; Ulla Lund Hansen, “Faszinierendes Material”. Archäologie in Deutschland 3 (1997), p. 20. Aquileia was attacked by the Goths in the 170s. See: Palavestra, “Amber in Archaeology”, p. 77.

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Fig. 25. Aquileia amber workshops’ production. After Maria C. Calvi, Aquileia: le ambre romane, plates 6; 16; 31; 33; 49; 109; 115; 133.

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ending up in one or the other territory.109 However, the most important amber trade occurred when the need for amber in the heart of the Imperium Romanum itself subsided. The Wielbark culture people had already created a substantial infrastructure along the Lower Vistula region. Therefore, amber trade ran not only down-the-line, but amber artefacts and raw amber, according to the logistics of redistribution, spread between the Vistula, Rhine and Danube. Besides the trade on the mainland, maritime communication was energized.110 Maritime trade routes connected the Sambian Peninsula with the Vistula Delta, Jutland Peninsula and the Danish islands, and further along the Frisian coast to the mouth of the Rhine and the western provinces of the Roman Empire. The contacts along the Baltic Sea region’s coast were already taking place in the early Roman period. Communities of the territory of Lithuania were involved in maritime communication (Figs. 9; 14; 15.6). In other words, amber spread across the expansive barbaricum territories and into the Roman Empire, but the most fashionable amber fell into the hands of people of the highest social strata who hungered for luxury and prestige. At the end of the second century, the Aquileia workshops declined, but amber workshops were still active in the Roman provinces. From the third to the fourth century, amber workshops were operating in Cologne. In the Rhineland, following Roman prototypes, workshops began to manufacture lathe-turned pendants and beads, bastoncelli, amber human and animal sculptures, fine homewares, amulets, and votive gifts to chthonic deities or sacred objects tied with the cult of the ancestors, and other amber works (Figs. 26–28.2). It should be noted that amber for the Rhineland and Cologne amber workshops was imported from the Jutland Peninsula.111 Amber

109 Katarzyna Czarnecka, “Arystokraci bursztynowego szlaku—władcy, wodzowie czy kapłani?”, in Andrzejowski, Kokowski and Leiber, Wandalowie, pp. 107–118; NatuniewiczSekuła and Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Wybrane groby z importami rzymskimi z cmentarzyska w Weklicach”, p. 70. 110 Ryszard Wołągiewicz, “Napływ importów rzymskich do Europy na północ od środkowego Dunaju, “ Archeologia Polski 15/1 (1970), p. 233; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 216ff; Nowakowski, “Rzymskie importy przemysłowe na terytorium zachodniobałtyjskiego kręgu kulturowego”, p. 98ff; J. Wielowiejski, “Der Forschungsstand über den Hauptweg der Bernsteinstraße”, p. 60ff; Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Centrum kulturowe z pierwszych wieków naszej ery u ujścia Wisły”, pp. 139–145; Aleksander Bursche, “Die Entwicklung der Handels-beziehungen zwischen Rom und den Barbaren”, p. 98ff. 111 Peter La Baume, “Römische Bernsteinarbeiten in Köln”, in Studien zur europäischen Vor- und Frühgeschichte. Herbert Jankuhn gewidmet, eds. Claus M. Haarnagel and Klaus Raddatz (Neumünster, 1968), p. 113ff; Lund Hansen, Römischer Import im Norden, p. 237ff, fig. 149.33 and 150; Lund Hansen, “Berlockförmige Bernsteinperlen”, pp. 178–188, figs. 2–4; Wolfgang Gaitzsch and Friedrich Gelsdorf, “Ein bedeutender Bernsteinfund im Hambacher Forst. Rekonstruktionsversuch eines antiken Schmuckensembles”, in Landesausstellung

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Fig. 26. Amber collar from Niederzier-Hambach (Kreis Düren, Germany) woman’s grave. Third century (reconstruction). After Rom e, et, und, and, y die Barbaren, p. 103, catalogue no. 73. Courtesy of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn, inv. 803351.

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artefacts, obviously following the trends of Roman production, were also produced by the amber workshops of the Przeworsk culture.112 Impressive amber necklaces, bronze, gold, and gold-plated brooches, decorated with amber glasses and inlays can be found on Zealand (flat round brooches with swastika and rosette-shaped brooches with tutulus) and in burial sites of the Haßleben–Luena–Zakrzów (former Sackrau) group.113 In the princely graves of the Haßleben burial site, unique amber artefacts can be found together with jewellery made of silver and gold, adorned with amber inlays (Figs. 27; 28.2).114 Amber artefacts became accessible to all the social strata of the Wielbark culture communities. Anything from 1 to 150 different forms of amber beads and pendants are found in a single grave (Figs. 18; 23).115 Here, in women’s graves, bastoncelli have been found that are similar to those found in the cemeteries of noblewomen in the Roman Empire and its provinces (Fig. 24.3,4).116 At the end of the first century and the

Archäologie in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Geschichte im Herzen Europas. Begleitbuch zu Landesausstellung Archäologie in Nordrhein-Westfalen in Köln, Römisch-Germanisches Museum, 30. März bis 8. Juli 1990, ed. Hansgerd Hellenkemper (Mainz, 1990), p. 247ff; Wolfgang Gaitzsch, “Grabfunde an der römischen Fernstraße Köln–Jülich im Braunkohlentagebau Hambach”, in Millionen Jahre Geschichte. Fundort Nordrhein-Westfalen. Begleitbuch zur Landesausstellung. Schriften zur Bodendenkmalpflege in Nordrhein-Westfalen, 5 (Köln, 2000), p. 290ff. 112 Premysław Wielowiejski, “Bernsteinperlen und römisch-barbarische Kulturkontakte in Mitteleuropa”, in Perlen, Archäologie, Techniken, Analysen: Akten des Internationalen Perlensymposiums in Mannheim vom 11. bis 14. November 1994, Kolloquien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Band, eds. Uta von Freeden and Alfried Wieczorek (Bonn, 1997), p. 97ff, fig. 1, plate 17.1. 113 These brooches belong to: Types A234 and A235, and Type Thomas B. See: Sigrid Thomas, “Die germanischer Scheibenfibeln der Römischen Kaiserzeit im freien Germanien”, Berliner Jahrbuch für Vor- und Frühgeschichthe 7 (1967), plate IV.1,2; Gaitzsch and Gelsdorf, “Ein bedeutender Bernsteinfund im Hambacher Forst”, p. 247ff; Claus von Carnap-Bornheim, “Einige jüngerkaiserzeitliche Beispiele überregionaler Trachtbeziehungen zwischen dem baltischen und germanischen Kulturbereich”, AB 4 (2000), p. 49, fig. 3. 114 Gaitzsch and Gelsdorf, “Ein bedeutender Bernsteinfund im Hambacher Forst”, p. 247ff; Claus von Carnap-Bornheim, “Das Waffengrab von Geszteréd (Komitat Szabolcs-SzatmárBereg) aus ‘germanischer’ Sicht”, in International connections of the barbarians of the Carpathian Basin in the 1st–5th centuries AD: Proceedings of the international conference held in 1999 in Aszód and Nyíregyháza, eds. Eszter Istvánovits and Valéria Kulcsár (Debrecen, 2001), p. 132ff, fig. 2.7 and 12.1–3; Czarnecka, “Arystokraci bursztynowego szlaku—władcy, wodzowie czy kapłani?”, p. 115. 115 Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Centrum kulturowe z pierwszych wieków naszej ery u ujścia Wisły”, pp. 137–145; Okulicz-Kozaryn and Natuniewicz-Sekuła, Księżniczka gocka z Weklic, wyposaźenie grobu z II–III w. n. e., p. 13ff; Reszczyńska, “Zabytki bursztynowe w kulturze wielbarskiej i w grupie masłomęckiej”, p. 105ff, maps 7–8 and 17. 116 Jerzy Wielowiejski, “Zagadnienie przęślic z czasów Cesarstwa Rzymskiego”, Archeologia XLIV (1993), p. 74ff, figs. 2, 4; Krystyna Hahuła, “Nowoodkryta przęślica z Nowego Łowicza w województwie Koszalińskim”, Archeologia XLIV (1993), p. 76, figs. 1 and 2; Calvi, Aquileia: le ambre romane, p. 41ff, plates 40–43.

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Fig. 27. Amber pendant with two men’s heads from elaborate necklace found in Haßleben (Landkreis Sömmerda, Germany) grave field, in princely woman’s grave 8. The mid to second half of the third century. After Magdalena Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, plate 17.

beginning of the second, bastoncelli with amber beads are known from the different territories of Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and Serbia.117 These distaffs are either Roman imports or items produced by barbarian craftsmen modelled on imported goods.118 The local amber crafts clearly show the

117 Verena Vidrih Perko et al., “Amber from Ancient Sites on the Territory of Slovenia”, Baltic Amber (2001), p. 191; Sprincz, “Amber Artefacts of Hungary from Middle Bronze Age to the Hungarian Conquest”, p. 206; Vera Krstić, “Catalogue of Amber Objects from the Area of Serbia and Montenegro”, in Aleksandar Palavestra and Vera Krstić, The Magic of Amber. Archaeological monographies 18 (Belgrade, 2006), p. 399; Gaitzsch and Gelsdorf, “Ein bedeutender Bernsteinfund im Hambacher Forst”, p. 247. 118 Lund Hansen, Berlockförmige Bernsteinperlen”, pp. 178–183.

90 chapter three Fig. 28. Bronze rosette-shaped tutulus pin from Stragnai (grave context is lost; western Lithuania) grave field and silver- and gold-plated rosette-shaped brooch with amber tutulus adorned with the red semiprecious stone from Haßleben (Landkreis Sömmerda, Germany) princely woman’s grave 8. Mid to second half of the third century. After Rom e, et, und, and, y die Barbaren, p. 83, catalogue no. 273. Courtesy of the LNM (AR38) in Vilnius and Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Thüringens in Weimar.

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importance of masterful jewellery-making and significance of internal trade in the barbaricum. In the second half of the second century and the beginning of the third, the flow of coins and other imports into the Wielbark culture and to the Balts’ lands increased, leading one to believe that the Marcomanni Wars did not have a negative effect on trade in the east Baltic region. However, Roman coins and the steady inflow of other imports decreased in the mid third century, coinciding with the time of the Roman Empire’s economic crisis.119 The appearance of the Goths in the lower reaches of the Danube River and northern shores of the Black Sea (Chernyakhov-Sîntana de Mureş culture) created a new link with northern Europe: the “Eastern Route” or “Black Sea Route” or “Route of the Goths”.120 However, the movement of the Wielbark culture people to the southeast occurred slowly and ran in phases. The archaeological evidence clearly indicates that the communities which remained in the Vistula Delta’s everyday activities, amber gathering and farrunning trade activities continued to be intense.121 There is no longer any doubt that amber travelled via the “Eastern Route”, which was expanded by various ethnic tribes. In addition to that, new amber working technology— amber turning on a lathe—was acquired in the many workshops within the barbaricum, therefore, greater numbers of barbaricum handicraftsmen were involved in the production of lathe-turned amber artefacts. Producing lathed amber beads, is comparatively less technologically complicated than making glass beads or cutting semi-precious stones. In Lithuania at the end of the second century and the beginning of the third, new grave fields appear in which amber is found, and more amber artefacts are found in graves (Figs. 8.1–2; 19; Appendix B; Table 1). This

119 Aleksander Bursche, “Kontakty cesarstwa rzymskiego z ludnością kultury wielbarskiej w III i IV w. w świetle źródeł numizmatycznych”, in Gurba and Kokowski, Kultura wielbarska w młodszym okresie rzymskim, vol. I, p. 46; A. Bursche, “Roman Age Coinage on the South Baltic Coast”, in Hårdn and Wyszomirska-Werbart, Contacts across the Baltic Sea, pp. 6–10; Ulla Lund Hansen, “Southern Scandinavia—Limes—the Roman Provinces Problems in 3rd century Europe”, in Madyda-Legutko and Bochnak, Svperiores Barbari, p. 233; Wojciech Nowakowski, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum. Masuren. Polen, vol. 1 (Warszawa, 2001); Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum. 120 Grzegorz Domański, “Szlak czarnomorski”, in COMHLAN (Warszawa, 1999), p. 179ff; Bursche, “Die Entwicklung der Handels-beziehungen zwischen Rom und den Barbaren”, p. 99. 121 Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Centrum kulturowe z pierwszych wieków naszej ery u ujścia Wisły”, p. 145; Urbańczyk 1998, “The Goths in Poland—where did they come from and when did they leave?”, pp. 400–412; Andrzej Kokowski, Archeologia Gotów. Goci w Kotlinie Hrubieszowskiej (Lublin, 1999), p. 130ff, fig. 159.

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tendency has a general character and was common to all communities living on the southeastern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, though the quantity of amber artefacts in burial sites was directly dependent on the available quantities of raw amber in each region. Various Amber Artefacts Used by the Communities of the East Baltic Region The predominant Late Antique amber artefacts found in Lithuania consist of several forms of beads and pendants of various shapes. In Late Antique graves, spindle whorls are found together with single pieces of raw amber (Table 1). The most exceptional find of all the Balt territories was found at Pilviškiai (Vilnius district) barrow field. Here, in a man’s grave dated to the end of the fourth century to the beginning of the fifth century, a small amber inlay was found which could have decorated the lid of a wooden box (10 × 12 cm in size).122 Amber beads and pendants of the Roman Iron Age and the Middle Ages were mostly made from translucent reddish amber, although amber artefacts made from opaque yellow or orange cloudy amber have also been found. At that time in Lithuania, simple handmade amber artefacts of various forms predominate. The biggest portion of bi-truncated conical and spherical beads is crafted entirely by hand. Therefore, they are often of such undefined types that it is not always possible to attribute a bead to one or another type (Fig. 17). Sometimes the beads have clear marks where they have been cut or scraped, which remain even after the amber has been polished (Fig. 17.I.7). A device that operated on the principle of an extended bowstring was used for perforation and to give the amber bead the desirable form. Normally, this device was used to drill holes in the bead from both ends (Fig. 17.IV.16, VI.25, IX.37). In Lithuania, semi-lathed and lathed amber beads and pendants dated to the Late Antique period have been found which suggest the use of turning technology in a manufacturing process possibly connected with certain mechanical devices, such as a pottery wheel (lathe) or a device that moved consistently in one direction. Technological research on the Wielbark culture’s pottery showed that by the second half of the second century, wheel-made

122

Vykintas Vaitkevičius, “Pilviškių pilkapynas”, in ATL in 2000 (Vilnius, 2002), p. 82.

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pottery was manufactured in local workshops.123 However, in Lithuania local wheel-made pottery appears much later, only in the tenth to eleventh centuries.124 In the second half of the second century, the Wielbark culture’s amber craftsmen adopt the lathe from masters who had worked in the workshops of the Roman Empire.125 At the beginning of the third century, the lathe may have been adopted by the amber craftsmen of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture. Obviously, the lathe was appropriated from the Wielbark culture, because at that time on the Sambian Peninsula several forms of lathed amber beads originate. However, there is no data showing how the amber lathe of the barbarians would have looked. Commonly, reconstructions are based on late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century lathes from the Kurpie ethnic region (in the Mazovia and Podlasie regions of Poland). This region has ancient traditions of crafting amber.126 In the amber workshops of the Przeworsk culture, semi-lathed and latheturned beads were crafted and the lathe was known from the second half of the second century. The Przeworsk culture amber workshops fell out of use in the mid fifth century (Fig. 9).127 In the Przeworsk culture’s amber workshops, five main forms of semi-lathed and lathe-turned beads were crafted. These beads are often referred to as the Basonia type beads.128 Judging by their form and production technology (lathe), some of the beads found in

123 Magdalena Natuniewicz-Sekuła, “Naczynia wykonane przy użyciu koła z cmentarzyska kultury wielbarskiej w Weklicach koło Elbląga. Przyczynek do badań warsztatu ceramicznego kultury wielbarskiej”, Archeologia Polski L/1–2 (2005), pp. 58–67. 124 Žulkus, Palangos viduramžių gyvenvietės, pp. 184–192 and p. 214ff. 125 Jan Żak, Studia nad kontaktami handlowymi społeczeństw zachodniosłowiańskich ze skandynawskimi od VI do VIII w. n. e., in Biblioteka Archeologiczna, 15 (Wrocław–Warsawa— Kraków–Gdańsk, 1962), 182ff; Magdalena Mączyńska, “Paciorki z okresu rzymskiego i wczesnej fazy okresu wędrówek ludów na obszarze środkowoeuropejskiego Barbaricum”, Archeologia 28 (1977), p. 68; J. Wielowiejski, Główny szlak bursztynowy w czasach Cesarstwa Rzymskiego, p. 178. 126 Adam Chętnik, “Przemysł i sztuka bursztyniarska nad Narwią”, Lud 39 1948/1952, organ Towarzystwa Ludoznawczego we Lwowie 1948/1951 (1952), pp. 356–414; P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich”, fig. 16. 127 Cofta-Broniewska, “Amber craft in Kuiavia in the Era of Przeworsk Culture”, pp. 149– 165; Aleksandra Cofta-Broniewska, “Amber in the material culture of the communities of the region of Kuiavia during the Roman Period”, in Investigations into Amber: Proceedings of the International Interdisciplinary Symposium: Baltic Amber and Other Fossil Resins 997 Urbs Gyddanyzc—1997 Gdańsk 2–6 September 1997, Gdańsk, eds. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Henryk Paner (Gdańsk, 1999), pp. 159–173; P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich”, pp. 349–354, figs. 18 and 20; Anna Mastykova, “Amber beads with incised linear decoration in the Great Migration Period”, in Istvánovits and Kulcsár International Connections, p. 341. 128 P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich”, pp. 321–358, fig. 5.

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Lithuania may have been crafted in the Przeworsk, Dollkeim-Kovrovo or Wielbark amber workshops. Glass beads of various forms and pendants had spread throughout the barbaricum during the Late Antique period, along with analogous metal and amber beads. The different shaped step-cut beads, beads with central bulge and figure-of-eight-shaped pendants all have their parallels in glass. In Lithuania during the Late Antique period, simple, bi-truncated conical and flattened spherical beads of varying sizes were most common (Fig. 17.I– II; Table 1). From the end of the second century to the beginning of the third century, bi-truncated conical (Type TM395 and close to lathe-turned bead Type TM433 and Type TM434)129 amber beads are the type most often found in Lithuania.130 Some of these beads have narrowing ends or are short, while others have sharply narrowing ends, but are quite long (Figs. 17.I.1–7; 29; 30.9,11–13). In contrast to the Dollkeim-Kovrovo, Bogaczewo and Wielbark cultures, in Lithuania bi-truncated conical amber beads were more popular than flattened spherical ones (Table 1).131 Flattened spherical beads found in Lithuania are of the most varied type (Figs. 17.II.8–10; 30.10; 31.1). These belong to the Type TM388 and Type TM391.132 Their form is the least standardized because of the technology used to produce them. Therefore, they sometimes remind one of a barrel, a ball or some other spherical shapes. Flattened spherical beads had spread throughout the entire western Balts territory. The flattened spherical beads are found in the Lower Vistula region and along the coast between the Vistula and Parsęta Rivers. The flattened beads were especially popular among the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture’s people. In the Roman and the early Migration periods, amber beads sometimes occur with cylindrical beads close to Types TM389, TM397 and TM399 (Figs. 17.III.11–15; VI. 26, 27; 22.5; 29.1; table 1). These beads have been found in

129 In this work, the typology of amber beads and pendants was based on the work of Magdalena Tempelmann-Mączyńska (Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit im mitteleuropäischen Barbaricum). The bead groups are marked with Roman numerals, and bead types are indicated as TM with an individual type number. However, not all amber bead types correspond exactly to groups and types proposed by Tempelmann-Mączyńska. Therefore, the author of this study, on the basis of TempelmannMączyńska bead classification, has elaborated a Lithuanian beads typology and divided amber beads into XI groups and 49 types. 130 Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 65ff. 131 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 65ff, plates 15, 16, 58 and 59; Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 65ff. 132 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, ibid.

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Fig. 29. Amber necklaces from children’s graves from Užpelkiai (Kretinga district) grave field: 1 grave 43; 2 grave 44. After Bliujienė, Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 182. Photograph by the author.

Rucavas Mazkatuži, Šernai, Užpelkiai, Eiguliai, Marvelė, Pakalniai, and in the former Grebieten (formerly Kreis Frischausen; now Zelenogradsk district, Kaliningrad region, Russia), and in many other sites on the Sambian Peninsula. Cylindrical beads (Type TM389) are known from the Sudovian culture sites (Grunajki, formerly Gruneyken, Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodship in Poland).133 Cylindrical beads with convex sides close to the Type TM399 also belong to this bead group. At Pakalniai barrow field in east Lithuania, two Type TM399 amber beads were found with material dated to the end of the second century to the beginning of the third century.134 In Lithuania, similar beads are dated to the fifth century, but they are more flattened. These bead forms are closer to the glass beads of Types TM88–90.

133 Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, Netta: a Balt Cemetery in Northeastern Poland, Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica, vol. XII (Warszawa, 2007), p. 65. 134 Vaitkevičius, “Pakalnių pilkapiai (Vilniaus r.)”, p. 56ff, fig. 15.

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The typological range of cylindrical beads might be supplemented by a number of cylindrical beads decorated with grooves. These types of beads are rare in Lithuania and they have been dated to the Late Antique period (Figs. 17.IV.16–18; 32.3; Table 1). Some are close to Type TM453 (Fig. 17.IV.18), while others are closer to the Basonia bead types or do not adhere to the Tempelmann-Mączyńska typology (Fig. 17.IV.16). In Lithuania, cylindrical beads with grooves have been found in Lazdininkai and in the Medzes Kapsēde burial sites.135 Single beads of this type are known from the Wielbark culture136 and the Sambian Peninsula. Beads of Type TM453 were found in late Roman period graves at Aleyka-3 grave field. However, as is shown by the data from Vidgiriai, Plinkaigalis, Marvelė, Paprūdžiai, Smalininkai and perhaps Medzes Kapsēde, they were popular during the fifth century.137 During the Late Antique period in Lithuania, several semi-lathed and lathed amber beads with incised concentric lines close to Types TM429, T430, TM438 and TM439 occur (Fig. 17.V.19–22; Table 1). Single beads of this type are found in the grave fields of Marvelė and Šarkai (Fig. 17.V.21).138 One Type TM438 bead was found at Šernai grave field in an elaborate necklace (grave 10). Type TM438 and TM439 beads are known from the early Migration period grave field at Užpelkiai (Kretinga district). This large group of beads appears within the barbaricum starting from the end of the second century and was in use in the early Migration period.139 Beads with incised concentric lines show up in the burial sites of the Wielbark culture by the early Roman period, but they are known also from the beginning of the Migration period.140 During Late Antiquity in Lithuania, a group of conical beads with convex sides and rounded top are found. These beads are close to the Types TM402a and TM442; but within the group some unique forms with a conical top are

135 Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age to Early Middle Ages”, fig. 7.1; Friedrich C.H. Kruse, Necrolivonica oder Alterthümer Liv-, Esth- und Curlands bis zur Einführung der christlichen Religion in den Kaiserlich Russischen Ostsee-Gouvernements, Elibron Classics Series. Dorpat, Leipzig, 2006, plate 33.A. 136 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 80, plates 17 and 69. 137 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, figs. 204, 207 and 209; Linas Tamulynas, “Smalininkų kapinynas”, in ATL in 2006 (Vilnius, 2007), p. 164ff, fig. 3. 138 Astrauskas, Marvelės bendruomenė (II a. pabaiga—V a.), tables 34 and 35; Bronė Tautavičienė, “Šarkų plokštinis kapinynas”, LA 3 (1984), fig. 17.1. 139 Bitner-Wróblewska, Netta: a Balt Cemetery, p. 66. 140 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 75ff, plates 16, 67 and 68; M. Pietrzak, Pruszcz Gdański. Fundstelle 10, plate CXIII.

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known (Fig. 17.VI.23–25; Table 1).141 The beads of this group were of very different sizes and were produced by varying technologies. The Type TM442 beads were found in male grave 8 at Dauglaukis grave field. At Lazdininkai, a bead was found that was close to Type TM402a, but regrettably it was a stray find (Fig. 17.VI.24). Both graves belong to the Late Antique period according to the archaeological material.142 However, other western Lithuanian beads with conical top were found with material of the early fifth century (Užpelkiai, grave 30 and stray find; Žviliai, grave 261).143 Bronze holders were embedded in the holes of two beads found at Užpelkiai grave field (Fig. 17.VI.23). It is probable that the bronze holders were intended to attach the bead to a belt144 or to the hilt of a dagger-knife, or served as a dagger pommel. Swords with pommels made from semi-precious stones, bone, glass and amber were widespread in the Sarmatian and Germanic environments of the late second to fourth centuries.145 Beads with a central bulge are closest to the beads of Type TM450c, which had an especially large spread in the sites of the Wielbark culture.146 These beads are semi-lathed or lathe-turned. In Lithuania, beads with a central bulge are a bi-truncated conical or a more cylindrical shape. Only a few examples of this bead type have been found in Lithuania. The find-spots are

141 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 68, plates 15 and 62. 142 Jonas Balčiūnas, Dauglaukio kapinyno (Tauragės raj.) 1983 metų žvalgomųjų archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita (unpublished excavation report, in LII R, f. 1, b. no. 1144); Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age to Early Middle Ages”, fig. 3.1. 143 Audronė Bliujienė, Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno (Kretingos raj.) 1993–2000 metų archeologinių tyrinėjimų ataskaitos (Unpublished excavation reports from 1993–2000, in LII R, f. 1, nos. 2177, 2712, 3145 and 3146). 144 Grave 30 was destroyed, two amber beads were found in the right thigh area; two socketed spearheads and an axe were enclosed at the left side of the deceased’s head. 145 Werner, “Die magischen Schwertanhänger”, in Beiträge zur Archäologie des AttilaReiches. Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, N.F. Heft 38 A–B (München, 1956), pp. 26–37; Igor’ N. Khrapunov, Mogil’nik Družnoe (III– IV vv. našej ery), Monumenta Studia Gothica, vol. II. Ed. Andrzej Kokowski (Lublin, 2002), p. 43ff, fig. 72.1; Claus von Carnap-Bornheim, “Zu „magischen“ Schwertperlen und propellerförmigen Seitenstangen in kaiserzeitlichen Moorfunden”, in Kontakt—Kooperation—Konflikt: Germanen und Sarmaten zwischen dem 1. und dem 4. Jahrhundert nach Christus. Internationales Kolloquium des Vorgeschichtlichen Seminars der Philipps–Universität Marburg, 12.–16. Februar 1998. Archäologisches Landesmuseum “Schleswig”. Schriften des Archäologischen Landesmuseums. Ergänzungsreihe, 1. Ed. Claus von Carnap-Bornheim (Neumünster, 2003), p. 371ff; Eszter Istvánovits et al., “The Barbarian Warrior Burial from Tiszalök-Rázompusta in the 3rd century History of the Upper Tisza Region”, Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 36 (2006), p. 102ff, fig. 9.5. 146 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, plates 17 and 69.

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along the Lithuanian and Latvian coast (Figs. 17.VII.28–30; 33; Table 1). In Lithuania, these beads appear in the third century, although some belong to the second half of the fourth to the first half of the fifth century. Some beads similar to the Type TM405c, but hand made, have been found at Sūdėnai (Kretinga district) barrow 2, grave 8, dated to the early Migration period. Plano-convex or drum-shaped beads, known in Germanic literature as paukenförmige beads, are found in the Lithuanian Late Antique and early Migration period sites (Fig. 17.VIII.31–32; Table 1). These beads are lathed and are especially attractive. The base and the rounded top are decorated with deep concentric lines. These beads belong to Type TM400b.147 This bead type has mainly been found on the Sambian Peninsula, but also in Natangia, in the Great Mazurian Lakes region. Much fewer of them are found in the territory of the Wielbark culture.148 These pretty beads are common and are the predominant bead type found in the Balts’ territory. Judging from different data, they had to have originated in the Dollkeim-Kovrovo cultural environment, where they are found together with materials from the second half of the second century to the first half of the fifth century.149 It is possible to conjecture that some of this bead type entered Lithuania from the Sambian Peninsula, or were the result of the Balts’ regional communication and the redistribution of commodities within the territory of the Aestii cultures. Although in Lithuania Type TM400b beads appear in the first half of the third century (Šernai, grave 10), they were also worn in the fourth century. This bead type is known from graves of the first half of the fifth century (Marvelė, Stragnai and Užpelkiai), but single beads were found with the material of the sixth century.150 The greatest amount of this bead type was found in western Lithuania and along the Lower Neman region, as well as among the sites of central Lithuania. 147

Ibid, p. 68ff, plates 15 and 63. Wolfgang La Baume, Zur Naturfunde und Kulturgeschichte des Bernsteins. Mitteilungen aus dem Staatlichen Museum für Naturkunde und Vorgeschichte in Danzig. Vorgeschichtliche Reihe 12 (Danzig, 1935), p. 38, fig. 4.19–21; Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 68ff, plates 15 and 63. 149 La Baume, Zur Naturfunde und Kulturgeschichte des Bernsteins, p. 38, fig. 4.19, 21; Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 68ff, plate 63; Vladimir I. Kulakov, Prussy (V–XIII vv.) (Moskva, 1994), p. 113; V.I. Kulakov, “Istoki kul’tury prussov”, in Vakarų baltai: etnogenezė ir etninė istorija, ed. Regina Volkaitė-Kulikauskienė (Vilnius, 1997), p. 114, fig. 2.g. 150 Astrauskas, Marvelės bendruomenė (II a. pabaiga—V a.), table 35; Audronė Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, fig. 3.1; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 291ff, figs. 1, 2; Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje pirmojo mūsų eros tūkstantmečio viduryje, figs. 35–37 and fig. 39. 148

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Fig. 30. Grave assemblage from Baitai (Klaipėda district) grave field, woman’s grave 18: 2, 8, 17 bronze; 1, 2 bronze, textile; 4 textile; 5, 9–13 amber, glass; 6, 7 bronze, iron; 14 iron; 15 sandstone; 16 clay. After Rasa Banytė, “Baitų kapinyno dviejų kapų chronologijos klausimu”, fig. 2. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda.

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Fig. 31. The third-century grave assemblage from Marvelė grave field man’s grave 136: 1 amber; glass paste, glass; 2 bronze. After Mindaugas Bertašius, Ein Gräberfeld Mittellitauens, plate CLXXXII.1, 2.

A small number of lathe-turned beads are very like a drum, but most of them were found by chance in the Užpelkiai grave field together with material from the second half of the fourth century to the first half of the fifth century (Fig. 17.VIII.33). These beads were found in Plinkaigalis (grave 98) and Smalininkai (grave 1) grave fields, with finds that might be attributed to the end of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth century.151 Most likely during the second half of the third century, irregular-shaped handmade amber beads occur, which are special Type TM403 beads (Fig. 17.IX.34–37). Most of them are fine, small beads. Irregular-shaped beads become more common in the fourth century. They spread greatly in the fifth and sixth centuries. In the Late Antique period, the biggest amounts

151 Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age to Early Middle Ages”, p. 60, fig. 4.2.

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Fig. 32. The third-century grave assemblage from Naujasis Obelynas (Šilalė district) grave field woman’s grave 11: 1, 2, 4, 5 bronze; 3 amber. After Audrius Astrauskas, “Naujojo Obelyno (Šilalės raj., Upynos apyl.) kapinyno”, fig. 12. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius.

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Fig. 33. Fragment of the necklace from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district) grave field woman’s grave 23/1996: amber, iron. Second half of the third century. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 176. Photograph by Vytas Karaciejus. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga (KrM 1686).

of irregularly-shaped beads were found in graves in the Marvelė grave field and the Pašekščiai barrow field (Figs. 34; 35). In the mid third century and the fourth century, along with rosette-shaped tutulus brooches and pins, and neck-rings with box-shaped clasps appeared semi-lathed and very precisely-lathed step-cut beads. Those beads are concentrated in western Lithuania, the Lower Neman region and in central Lithuania. The surface of these beads looks like steps. The step-cut beads are designated as Type TM449 and Type TM450a,b152 or types close to them. They are either spherical flattened or plano-convex (Figs. 17.X.38–49; 36; 37.12; 38.1; Table 1). The step-cut beads were mostly worn at the end of the fourth century to the first half of the fifth century. During the Late Antique period in Lithuania and on the southwestern Latvian coast, step-cut beads were not used very widely.153 In the Lithuanian coastal region, perfectly

152

Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 79ff, plates 17 and 69. 153 Vitas Valatka, “Maudžiorų plokštinis kapinynas (1964 ir 1966 m. tyrinėjimų duomenys)”, LA 3 (1984), p. 12, fig. 11; Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age

the aestii and the glesum epoch Fig. 34. The second half of the fourth-century early adultus woman’s necklace from Pašekščiai barrow field, barrow 12: amber, glass, glass paste. After Gytis Grižas, Pašekščių pilkapyno Molėtų raj., tyrinėjimų ataskaita, 2002 m. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius.

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Fig. 35. The fourth-century woman’s grave 305 in situ and grave assemblage from Marvelė (in the city of Kaunas) grave field: 1–10 bronze; 11 amber. After Mindaugas Bertašius, Ein Gräberfeld Mittellitauens, plate CLII.1.

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Fig. 36. The first half of the fifth-century step-cut amber beads (stray finds) from Užpelkiai (Kretinga district) grave field. After Bliujienė, Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 211. Photograph by Antanas Lukšėnas.

lathe-turned step-cut beads become more common at the beginning of the fifth century.154 Step-cut amber beads are known also from the Wielbark and DollkeimKovrovo cultures burial sites, where they are found together with material from the second half of the second century to the end of the fourth century.155 Similar shaped beads are known from the material of the third

to Early Middle Ages”, fig. 1.16; Mykolas Michelbertas, “Gintarų kapinynas”, AL 3 (2002), p. 67, fig. 26.3. 154 Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, p. 176, figs. 4 and 5. 155 La Baume, Zur Naturfunde und Kulturgeschichte des Bernsteins, p. 42, fig. 4.1, 2; Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 79ff.

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Fig. 37. The second half of the third-century grave assemblage from Rucavas Mazkatuži (Liepājas district) woman’s grave 20/1942: 1–4 iron; 5–8 bronze; 9–18 amber, glass, bronze; 19 sandstone. After Edvards Šturms, “Mazkatuźi Liepājas aps”. Photograph from archive of the LNVM. Courtesy of the LNVM (A9952) in Rīga.

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Fig. 38. The second half of the third-century grave assemblage from Rucavas Mazkatuži (Liepājas district) man’s grave 7/1960: 1 amber; 2 bronze; 3, 4 iron. After Pēteris Stepiņš, Izrakiemiem Liepājas raj. Rucavas c. p/s Rucava. Photograph from archive of the LNVM. Courtesy of the LNVM in Rīga.

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Fig. 39. Typology of the Late Antique Aestii amber pendants. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 178.

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Fig. 40. The Aestii amber pendants from Rucavas Mazkatuži (1–4, 8), Baitai grave 2 (5) and grave 4 (7), Užpelkiai stray finds (6, 11), Lazdininkai stray finds (9, 10, 12) and grave 63/2000 (14), and Muoriškiai (Biržai district) barrow 4, stray find, bronze (13). Photographs by Audronė Bliujienė, Kęstutis Demereckas, Antanas Lukšėnas, Kęstutis Stoškus and Christine Reich.

century Przeworsk culture sites.156 These step-cut amber beads were imported to the territory of Lithuania from the Wielbark culture, where the centre of their manufacturing must have been. In Lithuania, most beads of this type were found amongst material from the beginning of the fifth century. It may be that travelling amber craftsmen from this culture produced the beads or that in Lithuania they are imports. 156 P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich” fig. 5.IIa, III; Krystyna Hahuła, “Kultura wielbarska na ziemi Dobrzyńskiej”, in Gurba and Kokowski, Kultura wielbarska w młodszym okresie rzymskim, vol. I, p. 88ff, table II. 5.

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Fig. 41. The second half of the third-century grave assemblage from Rucavas Mazkatuži (Liepājas district) child’s grave 4/1960: 1 amber; 2, 3 bronze; 4 iron; 5 flint. After Pēteris Stepiņš, Izrakiemiem Liepājas raj. Photograph from the archive of the LNVM. Courtesy of the LNVM in Rīga.

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Fig. 42. The second half of the third-century grave assemblage from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district) woman’s grave 23/1996: bronze, glass inlays, necklace: amber, glass, iron. Photograph by Vytas Karaciejus. After Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts”, fig. 6. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga (KrM 1686).

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Fig. 43. The first quarter of the fifth-century grave assemblage from PavajuonysRėkučiai (Ignalina district) barrow field, barrow 11, child’s grave 1: 1, 4–6 amber; 2, 3 bronze; 7–11 silver. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. After Bliujienė, “Watershed between Eastern and Western Lithuania during the Early and Late Migration Period”, fig. 4. Courtesy of the ŠNM in Švenčionys.

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Fig. 44. The second half of the third-century Netta (Augustów district, Podlaskie voivodship in Poland) grave field of the Augustów group of the Sudovian culture. Urn grave 108A (female adultus with amber beads and pendants) and pit grave 108B (male adultus and female early adultus. Note: bones from urn probably mixed with pit bones). 1, 9 clay; 2 silver; 3–8 amber. After Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, Netta: a Balt Cemetery, plate LVI. Courtesy of the PMA in Warsaw.

In the territory of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture, the Lower Neman Grave Fields group, and in the other regions inhabited by western Balts, many different amber pendants of the Late Antique period have been found (Fig. 39). Figure-of-eight-shaped pendants belong to Type TM465 and Type TM471a–h, and derivatives of these types.157 The figure-of eightshaped amber pendants are among the most impressive Late Antique amber jewellery, and not just among the Balts tribes, they were overwhelmingly widespread within the territory of the barbaricum. These amber pendants are not only the most widely spread geographically, but have also endured the longest chronology of use. Figure-of-eight-shaped pendants are known from all the western Balts cultures as well as their closest Aestii neighbours with whom they have obvious contacts—the Wielbark, Przeworsk and

157 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, pp. 81–86, plates 18 and 70.

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Fig. 45. Boćwinka (formerly Alt-Bodschwingken, Kreis Gołdap, currently Podlaskie voivodship in Poland) part of grave 10 assemblage: 1 bronze; 2, 3 amber; 4 bronze. After Marcin Engel et al. “Sudovia in qua Sudovitae”, plate VI. 9–12.

Chernyakhov cultures peoples. Figure-of-eight-shaped pendants were common to the Germans that lived between the Elbe and Oder Rivers, in the Jutland Peninsula, and on Funen, Zealand and Bornholm islands in southern Scandinavia. Figure-of-eight-shaped pendants were quite common even in Gaul, the Iberian Peninsula and in the western part of the Crimean Peninsula, as well as Abkhazia and Dagestan, and the central Balkans.158

158 Blume, Die germanischen Stämme und die Kulturen zwischen Oder und Passarge zur römischen Kaiserzeit, p. 99ff, figs. 127 and 128; Carl Engel and Wolfgang La Baume, Kulturen und Völker der Frühzeit im Preussenlande. Erläuterungen zum Atlas der ost- und westpreußischen Landesgeschichte, vol. 1. (Königsberg i. Pr., 1937), p. 136ff; Helga Schach-Dörges, Die Bodenfunde des 3. bis 6. Jahrhunderts nach Chr. zwischen unterer Elbe und Oder, in Offa-Bücher 23 (Neumünster, 1970), p. 84, plate 87.3; 91.2; Magdalena Mączyńska, “Uwagi o chronologii i rozprzestrzenieniu paciorków w okresie rzymskim i wczesnej fazie okresu wędrówek ludów w Polsce”, Archeologia Polski XVII/2 (1972), p. 382; Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, plate 70; Lund Hansen, “Berlockförmige Bernsteinperlen”, pp. 183–191; Ekaterina M. Alekseeva, Antichnye busy

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The women of the barbaricum wore amber figure-of-eight pendants, which they often included in necklaces with glass pendants of the same form.159 However, in the territory of Lithuania up to now, only one green-coloured glass figure-of-eight-shaped pendant has been found (close to Type TM83; Table 1). A glass figure-of-eight pendant was found at Kurmaičiai grave field in woman’s grave 7, dated to the first half of the third century. In addition to other burial goods, a few fragments of a bronze vessel were also found.160 Most blue glass figure-of-eight pendants within the territory of the barbaricum are found in the basins of the Elbe and Rhine and the Upper Danube River region.161 It is clear that the vast territorial spread of amber figure-of-eight pendants and the distinct cultural environments had an impact on the variability of their forms and even the variability of their sizes. Normally these pendants are around 1.8–2.5 cm in length. Very rarely are pendants longer than 3 centimetres found. In Lithuania, an especially large number of figure-ofeight-shaped pendant variants are found, although the most common are pendants of the Types TM465, TM471 and TM471e, with plenty of derivates (Fig. 39.3–20; Table 1).

severnogo prichernamor’ia, in Arkheologia SSSR. Svod arkheologicheskikh istochnikov, vol. G 1–12, ed. Boris A. Rybakov (Moskva, 1978), 24ff, table. 24.1–19; Michel Kazanski, “Les Germanes de l’Elbe-Oder-Vistule et la Gaule aus Bas-Empire”, Antiquités Nationales 22/23 (1990/1991), p. 112ff, fig. 2.2,3; Stjernquist, “2. Amber in Iron Age Finds in Sweden”, pp. 11–22; Anna V. Mastykova, “O rasprostranenii iantarnykh gribovidnykh bus–podvesok pozdnerimskogo vremeni na iuge Vostochnoi Evropy i Zakavkaz’e”, in 100 let Cherniakhovskoi kul’ture (Kiev, 1999), p. 171 and 200, figs. 2–17, 19–26; Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, p. 20; Rasa Banytė, “Gintariniai kabučiai iš Baitų senkapių”, p. 11ff, figs. 1, 3 and 6; Quiroga, Jorgue López, “Elementos ‘foráneos’ en las necrópolis tardorromanas de Beiral (Ponte de Lima, Portugal ) y Vigo (Pontevedra, España): de nuevo la cuestión del siglo V d. C. en la Península Ibérica. Cuadernos de prehistoria y arqueología de la universidad autónoma de Madrid 27 (2001), pp. 115–124; Krstić, “Catalogue of Amber Objects from the Area of Serbia and Montenegro”, p. 380. 159 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, pp. 81–86; Lund Hansen, “Berlockförmige Bernsteinperlen”, p. 184ff; Stjernquist, “2. Amber in Iron Age Finds in Sweden, p. 20ff; Klaus Frank, “Vorboten an Main und Tauber Germanen im Taubergebiet vor und nach der Aufgabe des Limes”, in Die Alamannen. Zur Ausstellung “Die Alamannen”, 14. Juni 1997 bis 14. September 1997, SüdwestLBForum, Stuttgart; 24. Oktober 1997 bis 25. Januar 1998, Schweizerisches Landesmuseum Zürich; 6. Mai 1998 bis 7. Juni 1998, Römisches Museum der Stadt Augsburg, ed. Karlnheinz Fuchs (Stuttgart, 1997), p. 69ff, fig. 55. 160 Pranas Kulikauskas, “Kurmaičių (Kretingos raj.) plokštinio kapinyno tyrinėjimai”, Lietuvos istorijos instituto darbai 1 (1951), p. 329, fig. 2.4; P. Kulikauskas, “Kurmaičių kapinynas”, in LAP (Vilnius, 1968), p. 40. 161 Michel Erdrich und Hans-Ulrich Voß, “Die Perlen der Germanen des 1.–5. Jahrhunderts in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein und Niedersachsen”, in von Freeden and Wieczorek, Perlen, Archäologie, Techniken, Analysen, fig. 5.

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Fig. 46.1. The second quarter of the third-century to the mid third-century grave 150 assemblage from Weklice (Elbląg Heights, Poland) grave field: 1, 4 silver, gold plates; 3, 4, 13 bronze; 5–12, 14–20 glass, glass paste, amber; 21 bear claw, silver; 22–24 bronze, 25–28, cowry shells, bronze. Woman between the age of 55–60 was buried lying on her right side. In her hands she held a large string of beads and a bear claw pendant and four pendants surrounded by bronze strip cowry shells. With the kind permission of Magdalena Natuniewicz-Sekuła and Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn.

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Fig. 46.2. The second quarter of the third-century to the mid third-century grave 150 assemblage from Weklice (Elbląg Heights, Poland) grave field: 29–31 wood; 32 iron; 33–50 bronze. With the kind permission of Magdalena Natuniewicz-Sekuła and Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn.

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Fig. 46.3. The second quarter of the third century to the mid third-century woman’s grave 150 assemblage from Weklice (Elbląg Heights, Poland) grave field: 13–17 amber, bronze; 18–51 amber. With the kind permission of Magdalena NatuniewiczSekuła and Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn.

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Fig. 47. Necklaces composed of glass, glass paste and amber beads, iron pendants and bronze spirals: 1 Baitai (Klaipėda district) grave field woman’s grave 8 (part of the necklace); 2 Bandužiai (in the city of Klaipėda) grave field woman’s grave 85. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 186. Photograph by Kęstutis Demereckas. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda.

The widespread nature of the figure-of-eight-shaped pendants indicates that trade was running with ready-made artefacts, which were produced in several centres where there were lathes and skilful craftsmen who knew how to work with amber. However, pendants found in Lithuania, with very rare exceptions, are handmade or semi-lathed. On the other hand, handmade figureof-eight-shaped pendants were produced locally. Only if a community had enough raw amber or if amber could be easily obtained. Judging from the spread of figure-of-eight-shaped pendants, these artefacts were traded within

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Fig. 48. The mid third-century amber necklaces found at Rucavas Mazkatuži (Liepājas district) burial site in woman’s grave 15/1924. Arrow indicates pendant unique in the eastern Baltic region. Photograph from the archive of the LNVM. Courtesy of the LNVM in Rīga.

the territory of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture (Figs. 33; 37.12; 38.1; 40.1–7; 41.1; 42). As a matter of fact, lathed pendants, as well as beads found in Lithuania, are imports. A noteworthy and especially nicely lathed pendant was found at Baitai grave field in grave 2 (Type TM 471e). Apparently, this pendant had been imported from the Wielbark culture (Fig. 39.2; 40.5). Two pendants resembling beetles must be attributed to local adaptations of Type TM471 or Type TM465 figure-of-eight-shaped pendants. These were found in the grave of an adolescent boy, grave 4 at Baitai grave field

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Fig. 49. The mid third-century grave 15/1924 in situ from Rucavas Mazkatuži (Liepājas district) burial site. Arrow indicates unique pendant position in situ. After Ernst Wahle, “Liepājas Rucavas Mazkatuźi”. Plan of the grave from the archive of the LNVM. Courtesy of the LNVM in Rīga.

(Fig. 39.13,14; 40.7).162 At Rucavas Mazkatuži burial site in male grave 18/1942, on the chest of the deceased between figure-of-eight-shaped pendants, one large bullae-type (length—3.5 cm, width—2.0 cm) pendant close to Type TM 477 was found (Fig. 40.1).163 In the vast territory of the Aestii cultures, figure-of-eight-shaped pendants were found abundantly in the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture’s

162 When grave 4 from Baitai grave field was published, Lithuanian researchers began referring to those pendants by the name of a few types of actual beetles and insects: chafers, ladybirds, Egyptian scarabs, bees or cicadas. For this, see: Banytė, “Gintariniai kabučiai iš Baitų senkapių”, pp. 14–17; Banytė-Rowell, “Characteristics of the End of the Roman Period”, p. 34ff fig. 2; Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 69ff; Sidrys, “Sunlight in Stone: Ancient Amber Use in the Eastern Baltic”, p. 432; Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age to Early Middle Ages”, p. 56, fig. 3. Pendants of Types TM473, TM468, TM470 and TM478 a,b also started to be associated with beetles. For this, see: BanytėRowell, “Characteristics of the End of the Roman Period”, p. 34ff, fig. 2. 163 Edvards Šturms, Mazkatuźi Liepājas aps. Rucavas pag. 1942 (Unpublished excavation report from 1942, in LVM AA, no. 302), p. 26ff.

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peripherial zone—the Southwestern Latvian Burial Sites group. Single pendants were found in burial sites on the Lower Neman region, in Samogitia, in central and southeastern Lithuania, in the burial sites of the Sudovian and Bogaczewo cultures, and, finally, in the barrows of east Lithuania (Figs. 43–45). In the necklaces found in Lithuania, one to two or four to five figureof-eight-shaped pendants are strung into the centre, together with other pendant types and a variety of beads (Figs. 29.1; 33; 37.12; 38.1; 41.1; 42). In the east Baltic region, currently only a few necklaces are known in which seven to nine figure-of-eight pendants were found (Lazdininkai, grave 23/1996; Rucavas Mazkatuži, grave 9/1960; Plinkaigalis, grave 313 and Žviliai, grave 261). Only a few figure-of-eight-shaped pendants are known from the DollkeimKovrovo culture sites. These pendants were found in the former Grebieten, Bol’shoe Isakovo (formerly Ringels, Kreis Frischausen; Zelenogradsk district, Kaliningrad region, Russia), Aleyka-3 and a few more of the Sambian Peninsula grave fields of the Roman period.164 The Wielbark culture women placed figure-of-eight-shaped and other forms of pendants, together with glass beads, into a variety of fancy necklaces (Fig. 46.1–3). Figure-of-eightshaped pendants are found in the Wielbark culture and different Germanic groups spread along the Elbe River from the second century to the beginning of the fifth century.165 Figure-of-eight pendants are found together with late Roman period and early Migration period archaeological material in southern Scandinavia. In the Chernyakhov culture sites (for example in the Ruzhichanskii cemetery, the basin of the Dniester and the South Bug Rivers), figure-of-eight pendants are found together with material from the beginning of the fifth century.166 In Lithuania, figure-of-eight-shaped amber pendants occur in the second half of the second century to the beginning of the third century. However, they were most common during the second half of the third century to the first half of the fourth century. Some of them even belong to the first half of

164 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, plate 70; Kulakov, The Amber Lands in the Time of the Roman Empire, p. 47; and personal information provided by Konstantin Skvorzov, who in several recent years excavated Aleyka-3 and other grave fields on the Sambian Peninsula. 165 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 81ff, plates 18 and 70; Bitner-Wróblewska, Netta: a Balt Cemetery, p. 62. 166 Ioin S. Vinokur, “Ruzhichanskii mogil’nik”, in Mogilniki Chernyakhovskoi kul’tury, ed. Erast A. Symonovich (Moskva, 1979), p. 134, fig. 26.

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the fifth century (Fig. 43).167 Figure-of-eight pendants and their derivatives remained popular longer in the eastern Baltic region, because in the Aestii cultures, skillful craftsmen were continually honing this favoured artefact, transforming and innovating, moving further and further away from the prototype. That is what happened with the most popular figure-of-eight-shaped amber pendants (Type TM465 or Type TM471), because pendants that were unique to the eastern Baltic region were created (Fig. 39.13–15). However, Aestii women, not only during the Late Antique period, especially liked necklaces composed of different-shaped pendants made of bronze, iron or amber (Figs. 21; 31.2; 32.1–2; 33; 37.12; 38.1; 41.1; 42; 47). This circumstance may have also influenced the sustained renewal of amber pendant forms. Another large group of amber pendants consists of those essentially resembling hammers, staffs, clubs and axes (Figs. 39.33,34,36,41–52; 40.11–13). These different forms of pendants, which were of no practical value, may have been amulets associated with the Balts’ sky and fertility god—the Thunder God Perkūnas,168 who was analogous to the Germanic Thor (Donar). It has been generally acknowledged that in the Balts’ mythology, the attributes of the Thunder God are hammers, staffs and axes.169 The amber hammer and staff pendant-amulets may be associated with the attributes of the Thunder God. The Germanic peoples on the continent normally produced these pendants from silver, bronze, iron and bone or antler.170 Antler and bone Thor staff pendant-amulets were especially prevalent in the graves of women of the Chernyakhov culture.171 At the same time, the Germanic peoples who lived along the amber-bearing coast of the Baltic Sea produced the attributes of Thor from amber. It is believed that these amulets arose from the

167

Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 299, figs. 183 and 184. Thunder God names in the Balt languages: Pērkons (in Latvian), Percunis (in Prussian), Perun, Piarun (in Old Slavonic). See: Nijolė Laurinkienė, Senovės lietuvių dievas Perkūnas. Kalboje, tautosakoje, istoriniuose šaltiniuose, Tautosakos darbai, vol. 14 (Vilnius, 1996), p. 27. 169 Jonas Balys, ed., Folklore from Lithuania Minor, collected by J. Banaitis, J. Bruožis, D. Jagomastas, E. Jankutė, A. Vismantienė et al., Folklore studies, vol. III (Kaunas, 1937), p. 169ff; Laurinkienė, Senovės lietuvių dievas Perkūnas, p. 27, p. 91, and pp. 105–113. 170 Peter Paulsen, Axt und Kreuz in Nord- und Osteuropa (Bonn, 1956), p. 202ff; Joachim Werner, “Herkuleskeule und Donar Amulett”, Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 1964/11 (1966), pp. 176–189, figs. 1–7; Anne-Sofie Gräslund, “Some Vikingage Amulets—the Birka Evidence”, in Cultural interaction between east and west, Archaeology, artefacts and human contacts in northern Europe, Stockholm Studies in Archaeology 44, eds. Ulf Fransson, Marie Svedin, Sophie Bergerbrant and Fedir Androshchuk (Stockholm, 2007), p. 91, figs. 1 and 3; Boris Magomedov, Cherniakhovskaia kul’tura Problema etnosa, Monumenta Studia Gothica, vol. 1, ed. Andrzej Kokowski (Lublin, 2001), p. 72. 171 Magomedov, “Cherniakhovskaia kul’tura”, p. 72ff. 168

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metal Heracles staff-type pendant-amulets. In the third to seventh centuries, bronze and bone pendants were characteristic of Germanic women’s and children’s amulets. The staff pendants’ connection with the Thor hammer remains characteristic during the Viking Age.172 It may be that the few long and narrowing amber rods found in the Wielbark culture’s Ulkowy cemetery from the end of the second/beginning of the third-century woman’s grave 67 are also linked with the Thor amulet staffs (Fig. 23). Amber pendants similar to the Thor staffs are found also in the other Wielbark culture sites.173 In Lithuania, only one bronze staff pendant-amulet, from Muoriškiai (Biržai district) barrow field, is known (Fig. 40.13). The Muoriškiai bronze staff pendant is similar to one that was found in Vienna.174 Almost all amber pendants found in Lithuania with the Thunder God’s attributes are loose or stray finds. Therefore, it is not clear whether the Aestii considered amber artefacts connected with the attributes of Perkūnas to be associated with men, or as in the Germanic world, with women and children. Characteristics taken from a few graves would suggest that attributes which belonged to Perkūnas—hammers, staffs and axes—were carried by both men and women, and just like in the Germanic cultures, these amulets would have been connected with fertility cults. During Late Antiquity, the Aestii only produced hammer and staff and axe pendants from amber. The only regional Thunder God hammer imitations are four attractive axe-form amber pendants found at Stragnai grave field175 and two pendants from Maudžiorai grave field woman’s grave 32 (Fig. 39.41–45,47,48).176 The Thunder God’s staff is apparently imitated by a small pendant that was found by chance in Užpelkiai grave field (Fig. 40.11).

172 Werner, “Herkuleskeule und Donar Amulett”, pp. 176–188, figs. 1–9; Schach-Dörges, Die Bodenfunde des 3. bis 6., p. 84ff. 173 Krystyna Hahuła and Ryszard Wołągiewicz, Grzybnica Ein Gräberfeld mit Steinkreisen der Wielbark-Kultur in Pommern, in Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica, vol. VIII (Warszawa–Koszalin, 2001), p. 29, plate LV; Miriam K. Zeiten, “Amulets and Amulet use in Viking Age Denmark”, Acta Archaeologica 68 (1997), p. 24ff, figs. 28, 34 and 36. 174 Juozas Markelevičius, Muoriškių pilkapių (Biržų raj. Nemunėlio Radviliškio apyl.) archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita 1974–1975 m. (Unpublished excavation reports from 1974– 1975, in LII R, f. 1, no. 464), p. 47; Werner, “Herkuleskeule und Donar Amulett”, fig. 1.8. 175 This grave field lost it grave complexes during World War II. 176 Valatka, “Maudžiorų plokštinis kapinynas (1964 ir 1966 m. tyrinėjimų duomenys)”, p. 19, fig. 12.13,20; V. Valatka, “Maudžiorų kapinynas”, in Žemaičių žemės tyrinėjimai: Knyga I Archeologija, eds. Laimutė Valatkienė, Danutė Mukienė and Algirdas Girininkas (Vilnius, 2004), p. 170, fig. 13,20; Banytė Rovell, Vakarų Lietuvos kapinynų su akmenų vainikais kultūrinė sritis III a.–V a. pradžioje, fig. 85.3–6; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 305ff, figs. 178.41–45, 47–48.

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Pendants of this form, and their imitations, do not have clear corresponding examples in the amber pendant typology of Tempelmann-Mączyńska.177 A small group of these Thunder God attributes are made up of hammershaped pendants and forms similar to the hammer-club (Fig. 39.49–52). At least two main groups of the Aestii hammer pendants can be identified. One pendant group is similar to the classical shaped, flat Thor or Perkūnas hammers that were widespread during the Middle Ages, but only in Scandinavia (Fig. 39.51). Pendants of the second group resemble hammer-clubs with a massive round or four-edged protrusion that terminates the ornament (Fig. 39.49,50). The flat pendants are made very artfully, unlike the hammerclub pendants which are roughly shaped, made by hand, and not well polished or even finished. Pendants of both groups are not large; their length is only 1.7–2.8 cm. The hammer-club pendants were found in Lithuania together with materials from the second half of the second century to the third century (Fig. 39.49; Table 1).178 One flat hammer-shaped pendant (Type TM474) was found in the Bogaczewo culture Kosewo grave field (formerly Kossewen, Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodship, Poland). Unfortunately, it was a stray find.179 A unique classical hammer-form pendant was found in the Lazdininkai grave field in an early third-century high-ranking warrior grave 66/2000, together with amber beads, 26 bronze Roman coins, and with ritual horse parts buried beside it (Fig. 39.51).180 The Thor’s hammer pendant from Lazdininkai grave 66/2000 is stylistically similar to the Przeworsk culture iron pendant from Modla cemetery (Mazowiecke voivodship, Poland) from the first half of the second century pendant from woman’s grave 85 and a pendant found at Gilton (Kent in the United Kingdom).181 On the other hand, the above-mentioned

177 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, plates 16–18. 178 Linas Tamulynas, “Pleškučių-Pangėsų kapinyno žvalgomieji tyrinėjimai”, in ATL in 1996 and 1997 (Vilnius, 1998), p. 221, fig. 26.3; Eugenijus Jovaiša and Arvydas Asadauskas, “Dauglaukio katalogas, kapai”, in Nemuno delta tyrimai ir atradimai 3 (Dauglaukis, 1993), p. 146ff; Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, fig. 6. 179 Okulicz, Pradzieje ziem pruskich, fig. 207.f; Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, pp. 86 and 287, plates 18 and 70. 180 Bliujienė and Butkus, “Armed Men and their Riding Horses as a Reflection of Warrior Hierarchy”, p. 99ff. 181 Werner, “Herkuleskeule und Donar Amulett”, fig. 8; Jacek Andrzejowski, Nekropola ze schyłku starożytności w Modle koło Mławy”, in Pogranicze trzech światów (2006), p. 22, fig. 3.7.

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Fig. 50. Amber necklaces from Stragnai (grave 14) and Bandužiai (grave 84) children’s graves. After Algirdas Varnas, Stragnų kapinyno (Klaipėdos raj.) 1985 m. archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita, fig. 38; Jonas Stankus, “Bandužių kapinynas”, fig. 41.1. Courtesy of the LNM (AR38) in Vilnius and the MLIM in Klaipėda.

pendant from Lazdininkai is similar to the metal Thor’s hammer-shaped pendants that were very common during the Viking Age.182 One more Aestii amber ornament group is the rectangular pendants with bi-concave base and extended rounded ends (Figs. 39.53–55; 40.9). These pendants are a distinctive form of amber artefact that originated in the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture environment, although only four such ornaments are currently known. It would seem that that the closelylocated Rucavas Mazkatuži and Lazdininkai environs were the particular cradle of these original amber pendants, and it may be that they are a local 182

Holger Arbman, Birka Untersuchungen und Studien. 1, Die Gräber Tafeln (Stockholm, 1940), plate 104.4,5; Paulsen, Axt und Kreuz in Nord- und Osteuropa, p. 202ff; Mårten Stenberger, Die Schatzfunde Gotlands der Wikingerzeit. Fundbeschreibung und Tafeln, vol. II (Stockholm, 1947), fig. 213.8.

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Fig. 51. The first half of third-century grave assemblage from child’s grave 11 from Palanga (in the city of Palanga) grave field. 1–3, 10, 11 bronze; 4 unidentified Roman coin; 5–9 amber, bronze. Photograph by Kęstutis Stoškus. Courtesy of the LNM (AR 396a:34–40) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 52. Szwajcaria (Podlaskie voivodship, Poland), barrow 25, warrior’s cremation grave assemblage (1–6) and his horse equipment (7–9) (1, 6–9 iron; 2 bronze and enamel; 3 bronze, silver; 4, 5 amber). The double-edged sword and bronze enamel round plate from a balteus type belt are imports. First half to the mid third century. After Jerzy Okulicz, Pradzieje ziem pruskich, fig. 216.

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Fig. 53. Grave assemblage from Lazdininkai grave field woman’s grave 40/1998: 1 sandstone; 2, 3 amber; 4, 5 iron; 6, 7 bronze; 8 clay. After Bliujienė, Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio) kapinyno Kretingos raj. Archeologiniai tyrinėjimai 1998 m.; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 185. Drawing by Virgilijus Truklickas. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga.

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Fig. 54. Pieces of raw amber found in the Late Antique and Middle Ages burial sites: 1, 2 Užpelkiai (Kretinga district), grave 92; 3 Padvariai (Kretinga district), barrow 11, grave 1; 4 Užpelkiai, stray find; 5, 6 Užpelkiai, grave 66; 7 Užpelkiai, grave 84. After Bliujienė, Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno; Ignas Jablonskis, Padvarių (Kretingos raj.) pilkapių tyrinėjimai 1978 m. Drawings by Virgilijus Truklickas. Photograph by Antanas Lukšėnas. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda and KrM in Kretinga.

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Fig. 55. The third-century grave assemblage of child’s grave 5 from Gintarai (Kretinga district): 1 amber, bronze; 2 bronze. Photograph by Kęstutis Stoškus. Courtesy of the LNM (AR651:1–3) in Vilnius.

transformation of axe-form pendants. Pendants with bi-concave bases, in terms of stylistics and technology, are similar and therefore might have been produced in the same workshops, and presumably these ornaments were produced for the local market.183 These pendants are sometimes referred to as anthropomorphic pendants.184 An especially nicely produced pendant was found in the Lazdininkai grave field. Unfortunately, it was a stray find.

183 Wahle, “Die Ausgrabungen in Rutzau und Bauske”, plate 12; Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr. I, plate XXIX: 4; Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 70, fig. 4.r; Fēli Jākobsons, “Dzintars mūsu senlietās un tautas dziesmās”, in Austrumbaltijas dzelzs laikmeta pētījumi rakstu krājums. Latvijas vēstures muzeja raksti. Arheoloģija, 6 (Rīgā, 1999), p. 42, fig. 10; Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, fig. 6; Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age to Early Middle Ages”, p. 52ff, fig. 7.2. 184 In Sidrys’s opinion these pendants are similar to anthropomorphic-shaped items. See: Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 70. Obviously, Sidrys compared the Neolithic amber pendant from the so-called Palanga amber collection with the pendant found at Lazdininkai. However, it is impossible to compare or to prove the ties between the Neolithic world view and figurative art images, and the religion and the figurative art images of the Late Antique period. For this, see: Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 135, fig. 92.

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This pendant is decorated on both sides with randomly-placed small dots (Fig. 40.9). Pendants of this group are dated to the first half of the third century to the mid third century. Two polyhedral cylindrical amber pendants (close to Type TM427a) were found in a disturbed woman’s grave (63/2000) at Lazdininkai grave field. The form of these pendants is similar to that of the Perkūnas clubs or staffs (Figs. 39.32,33,34; 40.12,14). The Type TM427a pendants also resemble Perkūnas or Thor staff pendants. Similar pendants are known from western and eastern Pomerania and the Wielbark and Bogaczewo culture sites.185 Pendants found at Lazdininkai differ from this type of artefacts known from neighbouring cultures in their surface treatment and cross-section. Lazdininkai woman’s grave 63/2000, in the context of the coastal region, has some rare or unique jewellery, such as a round brooch, close to the Type Thomas A1 and other miscellaneous grave goods, together with coins from Emperor Hadrian (117–138) to the other emperors of the Antoninus dynasty, allowing scholars to date this grave to the beginning of the third century (Fig. 40.14).186 The grave’s jewellery has parallels on the Sambian Peninsula, in the Lower Vistula region, in the Haßleben–Leuna–Zakrzów group sites and, finally, in archaeological material from the Chernyakhov culture. At Sūdėnai (barrow 1, grave 6), Žviliai (grave 261), Plinkaigalis (grave 313) and Šernai (grave 10) burial sites, drop-shaped pendants were found that are close to the Type TM417 (Fig. 39.35; Table 1). These pendants are small (1.2–1.7 cm in length), and are most often found in necklaces.187 Pendants in this group found in Lithuania, on the basis of the Šernai grave 10 findings, belong to the first half of the third century, but judging by material from the other grave assemblages, drop-shaped pendants were common to the end of the fourth/beginning of the fifth century. These pendants, just like the ones described above, could be a derivative of the axe or hammer-club pendants. Only a few amber capsules (close to the Group XLI, Type TM422a–b) or round flat pendants with openings (Figs. 39.21–25, 28; 48; Table 1) are known from southwestern Latvia.188 From the Jutland Peninsula and the Elbe River in the southwest to the Lower Vistula River region and the Pasłęka River in the north, ornate gold, silver, bronze and even iron circular pendants with 185 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 74, plates 16 and 66. 186 Donatas Butkus, “Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio) kapinynas”, in ATL in 2000 (Vilnius, 2002), p. 99. 187 Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, p. 138ff. 188 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 73 and p. 191, plates 16 and 66.

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openings are found among the grave assemblages and bog offerings.189 Several dozen amber capsules are known from archaeological investigations that took place before World War II and amber capsules have been found during recent excavation in the Wielbark culture grave fields.190 Amber capsules in the Wielbark culture cemeteries are usually found in the grave assemblages dated to the first to the beginning of the third century.191 Germans from Antiquity acquired the capacity to produce technologically complicated precious metal capsules. For the people of the western Balts cultures and their craftspeople with great copying abilities, Germanic capsules provided ideas of how to simplify complicated precious metal technologies using cheaper metals like bronze and amber to create a variety of round pendants, which were so far removed from their prototypes that they became unique works of the Baltic region. In Lithuania, amber capsules could have appeared in the first half of the third century. In the territory between the Neman and Western Dvina Rivers, amber capsules are only known from Rucavas Mazkatuži and Medzes Kapsēde burial sites in Latvia (and half of a capsule came from grave 32 at Maudžiorai grave field in Lithuania) (Figs. 39.21–25, 28).192 Three amber capsules were found at Rucavas Mazkatuži burial site in a richly furnished woman’s grave 15/1924 dating to the mid third century (Figs. 48; 49). In this grave, two necklaces were found. In one of these necklaces 76 amber beads alone were strung. Two of the capsules belong to the TM422a type; the third capsule has a profiled opening 189 Blume, Die germanischen Stämme und die Kulturen zwischen Oder und Passarge zur römischen Kaiserzeit, p. 91ff, figs. 116–118; Gaerte, Urgeschichte Ostpreußens, fig. 185.e; Klaus Raddatz, Der Thorsberger Moorfund Gürtelteile und Körperschmuck, Offa-Bücher 13 (1957), p. 135, map 14; Hans J. Eggers and Peter F. Stary, “Funde der Vorrömischen Eisenzeit, der Römischen Kaiserzeit und der Völkerwanderungszeit Pommern”, in Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Mecklenburg-Vorpommerns 38 (2001), plates 233.18, 234.8, 292.18; Claus von Carnap-Bornheim, “Der Trachtshcmuck, die Gürtel und das Gürtelzubehör”, in Jaroslav Peška and Jaroslav Tejral, Das germanische Königsgrab von Mušov in Mähren, vol. I. Monographien: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Forschungsinstitut für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, 55,1 (Mainz, 2002), p. 191ff, figs. 1 and 2. 190 Buczek, Odry, Nowy Łowicz, Osiek Stelle, Malbork-Wielbark, Elbląg-Pole Nowomiejskie, Elbląg Scharnhorstasse, Pruszcz Gdański, site 10, Ulkowy etc. 191 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 73; M. Pietrzak, Pruszcz Gdański. Fundstelle 10, p. 80, plate XXI.5; Małgorzata Tuszyńska, Ulkowy cmentarzysko kultury wielbarskiej na Pomorzu Gdańskim (Badania na trasie autostrady A1 Gdańsk—Toruń) (Gdańsk, 2005), p. 14, and pp. 26–27, plates V.4 and XXVII.22. 192 Sammlung Provinzial Museums. Die vorgeschichtliche Sammlung des Kurzemer (Kurlaendischen) Provinzial Museums zu Jelgava (Mitau) 1818–1938 (Rīga, 1939), plate 9.7; Ernst Wahle, “Die Ausgrabungen in Rutzau und Bauske”, in Pieminekļu valdes materiālu krājumi. Arhaioloģijas raksti, vol. I/2 (Rīga, 1928) p. 20, fig. 12; Valatka, “Maudžiorų plokštinis kapinynas (1964 ir 1966 m. tyrinėjimų duomenys)”, fig. 12.14.

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(Fig. 39.21–25).193 One more amber capsule with a profiled opening comes from Medzes Kapsēde burial site from the nineteenth century excavations. Amber pendants with profiled openings might be regional imitations of capsules, or figure-of-eight-shaped pendants. Still unique in the eastern Baltic region is an amber pendant from Medzes Kapsēde burial site. This pendant is decorated with two incised concentric circles and has a small hole in the centre (Fig. 39.28). Only one amber capsule was found in the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture grave field at Grebieten, in grave 36.194 In the eastern Baltic region, only one round amber pendant with an opening on the ornament edge is known, from Rucavas Mazkatuži grave field woman’s grave 15/1924 (Fig. 48; Table 1). The round amber pendants with openings on the edge have some similarities to the Type TM 426b.195 A pendant of this type was found on the Sambian Peninsula at Chrustal’noje (formerly Wiekau; now Zelinogradsk district, Kaliningrad region, Russia) grave field in grave XXXIa.196 In the burial sites of Dauglaukis, Bandužiai, Baitai, Rucavas Mazkatuži and Palanga, trapezoid, triangular and rectangular pendants have been found (Figs. 39.39–40; Table 1).197 All of these pendants are flat. Some of them are very nicely produced and are semi-lathed, while others are simply flattened or smoothed out pieces of amber that do not match with the general aesthetic of the Late Antique period and are at a strange dissonance with the precisely produced figure-of-eight pendants. Most of the trapezoid, triangular and rectangular amber pendants belong to the end of the second century and to the third and fourth centuries.198 In Bandužiai, Rucavas Mazkatuži, Palanga, Stragnai and Šernai burial sites, pendants of Type TM416a have been found (Figs. 39.46; 50; 51;

193 Wahle, “Die Ausgrabungen in Rutzau und Bauske”, p. 20, fig. 13.8; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, figs. 178.26; 179.9. 194 Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 N. Chr. II, p. 368; Okulicz, Pradzieje ziem pruskich, fig. 207.m; Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 73 and p. 191, plate 16 and 66; Reszczyńska, “Zabytki bursztynowe w kulturze wielbarskiej i w grupie masłomęckiej”, pp. 106–112. 195 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 74, plates 16 and 66. 196 Ibid., pp. 73, 191–192, plates 16 and 66. 197 Adolfas Tautavičius, “Palangos kapinynas”, in LAP (Vilnius, 1968), p. 128, fig. 10.6; Banytė, “Gintariniai kabučiai iš Baitų senkapių”, pp. 5–12, figs. 1–5; Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, fig. 6; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 178.37–40. 198 Tautavičius, “Palangos kapinynas”, p. 128, fig. 10.5,6; Jonas Stankus, Bandužių kapinynas. Monografija, LA 12 (1995), p. 45, fig. 41.1.

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Table 1).199 Pendants close to Type TM416a are known from the Sudovian culture barrow field at Szwajcaria (close to Suwałki in Poland) (Fig. 52.5). In the Wielbark culture sites, these pendants are commonly found with material dated to the end of the second to the beginning of the third century.200 Lithuanian pendants of this type may belong to the same period. Among the unique Wielbark culture amber artefacts, the crescent-shaped pendant from the Krośno (formerly Krossen, Kreis Preußisch Holland, now Poland) grave field should be mentioned. Krośno and the adjacent area are to the north of the route that connects the Pasłęka and Dzierzgón Rivers, and therefore close to the busy trade route, which was operating not far from the territory of the Aestii cultures (Fig. 9). The pendant was found in grave 52, which, based on the other grave goods, was ascribed to the mid third century to the beginning of the fourth century (Fig. 39.57).201 A very similar crescent-shaped pendant, dating from the third to the early fourth century, was found in Viminacium (site Pećine) in the biggest urban settlement and important military centre in the Upper Moesia (modern-day Kostolac, in Serbia).202 In the second century, similar amber pendants were produced in the Aquileia amber workshops (Fig. 24.5).203 It might be that in some way the development of bronze crescent-shaped pendants, so popular among the Aestii, and amber pendants were connected. Across the entire territory of the Aestii cultures, bronze crescent-shaped pendants and pendants decorated with pseudo granules were found. The bronze crescent-shaped pendants were components of necklaces and different chains that adorned ornaments, as well as of harness decorations that adorned a horse’s forehead (Fig. 32.2).204 199 Adalbert Bezzenberger, “Litauische Gräberfelder. 1. Das Gräberfeld bei Schernen (Kr. Memel )”, Sitzungsberichte der Altertumsgesellschaft Prussia 17 (1892), plate VII; TempelmannMączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 81, plates 15 and 65; Banytė Rovell, Vakarų Lietuvos kapinynų su akmenų vainikais kultūrinė sritis III a.–V a. pradžioje, fig. 84. 200 Okulicz, Pradzieje ziem pruskich, fig. 216; Aleksander Bursche and Jerzy OkuliczKozaryn, “Groby z monetami rzymskimi na cmentarzysku kultury wielbarskiej w Weklicach koło Elbląga”, in COMHLAN (Warszawa, 1999), fig. 12.m,n; Hahuła and Wołągiewicz, “Grzybnica Ein Gräberfeld mit Steinkreisen der Wielbark-Kultur in Pommern”, p. 29, plates LIV–LV; Tuszyńska, Ulkowy cmentarzysko kultury wielbarskiej na Pomorzu Gdańskim, plate XXXV.4. 201 Adam Cieśliński, “Materiały z cmentarzyska w Krośnie, powiat pasłęcki z kartoteki Herberta Jankuhna”, Światowit, Supplement Series P (2001), 53ff, fig. 1.h. 202 Palavestra, “Amber in Archaeology”, pp. 68 and 371. 203 Calvi, Aquileia: le ambre romane, plate 83, fig. 2a. 204 Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 103, figs. 22, 27 and 44; Laima Vaitkunskienė, Žvilių kapinynas. Monografija, LA 17 (1999), figs. 34 and 214; Andra Simniškytė, “Roman Period Metal Half-moon Shaped Pendants with Knobs in Eastern Baltic Region”, AB 5 (2002), figs. 1 and 2; Anna Bitner-Wróblewska and Audronė Bliujienė, “Efektowny napierśnik z emalią z cmentarzyska w Anduln, zachodnia Litwa”, in Antyk i Barbarzyńcy.

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Bronze crescent-shaped pendants as regional commodities travelled as far as the Finno-Ugric territories.205 At Rucavas Mazkatuži burial site in grave 15/1924, which has been mentioned several times already, to the right of the deceased woman, in the area where the thigh would be, a unique flat semicirclular amber pendant was found (Figs. 39.26; 40.8; 48; Table 1).206 This pendant, 3.5 cm in length, was apparently attached to a woven sash as an amulet (Fig. 49). The flat amber pendant, showing some kind of waterfowl, most likely a duck, in profile, is an artefact from the western Balts territory that up until this point has no parallels anywhere (Figs. 39.58; 45.2). This pendant was found at Boćwinka (formerly Alt-Bodschwingken, Kreis Goldap; now Warmińsko-Mazurkie voivodship in Poland) in the contact zone of the Sudovian and Bogaczewo cultures in urn-cremation 10.207 The grave, according to other burial goods, belongs to the end of the second century to the beginning of the third century. During the Late Antique period there were very few realistic images of animals within the territory of the Aestii cultures. The schematic images of various animals that originate from the more southern territories of Lithuania are a result of Scandinavian influences. During the late Roman period and early Migration period, the animal images also reached the Bogaczewo and Sudovian cultures.208 In Lithuania, schematic figures of animals, or ones that have realistic characteristics, are generally only found during the Migration period.209 Księga dedykowana profesorowi Jerzemu Kolendo w siedemdziesiątą rocznicę urodzin, eds. Aleksander Bursche and Renata Ciołek (Warszawa, 2003), p. 123, figs. 2–5; Bliujienė and Butkus, “Armed Men and their Riding Horses as a Reflection of Warrior Hierarchy”, fig. 8. 205 Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 104; Simniškytė, “Roman Period Metal Half-moon Shaped Pendants with Knobs in Eastern Baltic Region”, map 1; Silvia Laul, Formirovanie kul’tury epokhi zheleza iugo-vostoke Estonii. Reziume, in Rauaaja kultuuri kujunemine Eesti kaguosas (500 e. Kr.–500 p. Kr). Muinasaja Teadus 9, Õpetatud Eesti Seltsi Kirjad, 7, ed. Evald Tõnisson (2001), fig. 56.5–10. 206 Šturms, Mazkatuźi Liepājas aps. Rucavas pag. 1942. 207 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 81 and p. 315, plates 17 and 69; Nowakowski, Das Samland in der römischen Kaiserzeit, p. 167; Aleksandra Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz, “Brązowa ażurowa płytka z cmentarzyska w Boćwince, pow. Gołdap: amulet czy aplikacja stroju? Przyczynek do badań nad stylistyką ozdób bałtyjskich”, in Studia Galindzkie, vol. I, ed. Wojciech Wróblewski (Warzsawa, 2003), p. 139, plate. II.1.e. 208 Jacek Andrzejowski, “Okucia rogów do picia z młodszego okresu predrzymskiego i okresu wpływów rzymskich w Europie środkowej i północnej (Próba klasyfikacji i analizy chronologizcnej i terytorialnej)”, Materiały Starożytne i Wczesnośredniowiecznie 6 (1991), p. 36ff and p. 64; Andrzejowski, Cieśliński, “Germanie i Bałtowie u schyłku starożytności”, pp. 292–299, figs. 14–18; Bitner-Wróblewska, Netta: a Balt Cemetery, p. 88ff, plate CXXV.1–2. 209 Audronė Bliujienė, “I tūkstantmečio vidurio baltų genčių ornamentikos bruožai (geometriniai ir realistiniai zoomorfiniai motyvai”, Lituanistica 1(45) (2001), pp. 16–21, figs. 11–14.

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It is possible to infer that in the eastern Baltic region, amber pendants are found in forms that are much more varied than in other parts of the barbaricum.210 From this one can come to conclusions about the independent evolution of figure-of-eights or other forms of pendants within the territory of the Aestii cultures and the appearance of original amber pendant forms. The variety of the eastern Baltic region pendants indicates not only the originality of their creators, but also their creativity and skill in interpreting a multitude of variations of the same form in a unique and original manner. So, in the eastern Baltic region, the requirements of the local population were met by the creative adaptation of lots of Germanic amber, glass and metal pendant forms. During the Late Antique period in the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and the Lower Neman region graves, the first amber cylindrical or flattened spherical spindle whorls (only flywheels)211 make their appearance. However, these artefacts have so far only been found in Lazdininkai, Dauglaukis and Žaduvėnai burial sites (Fig. 53.2; Table 1). Amber spindle whorls from this period weigh between 30 and 35 grams, making them capable of spinning yarn. The minimum spindle whorl weight suitable for spinning is 10 grams.212 Therefore, the amber spindle whorls of this time period are not symbolic. They are the tools of fine women’s work. In the territory of the Aestii cultures, the spindle whorls were predominantly made of sandstone, although clay ones have also been found.213 Amber spindle whorls are a distinctive attribute of the Aestii woman from the Lithuania area. Usually only one cylindrical or flattened spherical unornamented spindle whorl is found in a grave. On rare occasions two spindle whorls are found in a grave, but in that case only one of them is of amber (Fig. 53.1–2, Table 1). Unique, precisely-lathed amber spindle whorls, or large beads that are similar in form to a thread spool, were found in Late Antique woman’s grave 55

210 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 18; Reszczyńska, “Zabytki bursztynowe w kulturze wielbarskiej i w grupie masłomęckiej”, pp. 90–101 and pp. 105–116; Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, fig. 6. 211 Distaffs consisted of wooden bobbin and spindle whorl (flywheel). In the graves only spindle whorls are found. 212 In Lazdininkai grave field woman’s grave 40/1998, an amber spindle whorl (weight 34.65 grams) and an ornamented sandstone spindle whorl (weight 21.89 grams) were found. For example, a Migration period spindle whorl from Pakalniškiai grave field weighs 11.1 grams. See: Figs. 53.1–2 and 74. 213 Jan Jaskanis, Obrządek pogrzebowy zahodnich Bałtów u schyłku starożytności (I–V w. n.e.), in Biblioteka Arceologiczna 23 (Wrocław, 1974), p. 180, plates I and II; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 168ff.

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at Dauglaukis grave field.214 These spindle whorls, or large beads, were most likely produced in the amber workshops on the shores of the Black Sea.215 These workshops could be reached from the Chernyakhov culture by the “Eastern Route” to the Lower Neman region. Although in Lithuania only a few Late Antique spindle whorls have been found, the tradition of producing them and putting them into women’s graves apparently came from the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture region. Within the territory of the Aestii cultures, the amount of spindle whorls increased during the Migration period. Only clay spindle whorls are found in the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture’s women’s graves.216 In the Bogaczewo and Sudovian cultures’ graves, mostly clay bi-truncated conical form spindle whorls or clay spindle whorls with the form of vessels (vase form or hollow-footed goblets) have been found.217 In the Wielbark culture sites, bi-truncated conical spindle whorls that were produced from clay, stone, bone or metal dominate.218 During the Late Antique period, very little raw amber was found in graves of the territory of Lithuania (Table 1). At Padvariai (Kretinga district) barrow field in barrow 11 in an early second-century inhumation grave, close to the head of one of the deceased, a lump of raw amber was found (Fig. 54.3). The lump was a specially selected quadrangular-shaped piece of natural amber. Its surface had been polished by the sea’s waves. In addition to that, this amber lump was of a rare texture and colour (it was opaque yellow

214

Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, p. 154, fig. 7. Alekseeva, Antichnye busy severnogo prichernamor’ia, plate 25.41; Sprincz, “Amber Artefacts of Hungary from Middle Bronze Age to the Hungarian Conquest”, p. 208; Andrzej Kokowski, Goci od Skandzy do Campi Gothorum (od Skandinawii do Półwyspu Iberyjskiego) (Warszawa, 2008), coloured plate. 216 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, pp. 327–339; Konstantin Skvorzov, Gruntovyi mogil’nik Aleyka-3, issledovanija 2005 goda (Unpublished excavation report, in Kaliningradskii istoriko khudozhestveny muzei); K. Skvorzov, “Das Gräberfeld der römischen Kaiserzeit von Bol’šoe Isakovo”, pp. 112–216. 217 Paweł Szymański, “Mikroregion osadniczy z okresu wpływów rzymskich w rejonie jeziora Sałęt na Pojezierzu Mazurskim”, Światowit Supplement Series P: Phrehistory and Middle Ages, vol. X, ed. Kazimierz Lewartowski (2005), 64ff, plates XV.12–17; XXI.3; Bitner-Wróblewska, Netta: a Balt Cemetery, p. 85ff. 218 German scholar Wolfgang La Baume published on large bi-truncated conical, flattened or step-cut amber artefacts which might be amber beads, but are also similar to spindle whorls. For this, see: La Baume, Zur Naturfunde und Kulturgeschichte des Bernsteins, pp. 9–43, fig. 3.1–20, plate IV; Blume, Die germanischen Stämme und die Kulturen zwischen Oder und Passarge zur römischen Kaiserzeit, pp. 113ff; Hahuła and Wołągiewicz, “Grzybnica Ein Gräberfeld mit Steinkreisen der Wielbark-Kultur in Pommern”, p. 42; Jan Jaskanis, Krupice: Ein Gräberfeld der Przeworsk- und Wielbark-Kultur in Ostpolen, Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica, vol. X (Warszawa, 2005), p. 103; Tuszyńska, Ulkowy cmentarzysko kultury wielbarskiej na Pomorzu Gdańskim (Badania na trasie autostrady A1 Gdańsk—Toruń), p. 54. 215

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amber, with some light yellow clouds). Three more small bits of raw amber were found in female grave 34 at Dauglaukis.219 Raw amber found in a grave may be interpreted as part of the deceased’s wealth, or it could denote their occupation—whether they gathered amber, worked amber or traded amber. Certainly in some instances, raw amber found in a grave may have been an amulet. Whatever the case, the tradition of placing raw amber in graves connects the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture people with the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture.220 However, on the Lithuanian coast the tradition of placing raw amber into graves was not as widespread as among its southern neighbours. Additionally, the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture people during the Late Antique period, as well as later, often chose more beautiful amber of rare forms or of an attractive colour to accompany the deceased to the afterlife. Similarly, the people of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture placed raw amber in their graves, which had no outwardly special features. These small differences in burial traditions and amber use in everyday life identify the unique aspects of a region. On the Sambian Peninsula, the communities had a lot of amber. First they collected the amber and then they used it for practical purposes (trade and craftsmanship). At the same time, on the Lithuanian coast, where the amber resources were smaller, besides its practical uses, amber took on a more sacred role. Therefore, the abundance of raw amber in graves and the widespread nature of this burial rite, once again, might confirm the level of amber trade in the region. Changes in Amber Usage Traditions in the Eastern and Southeastern Baltic Regions: The Main Factors Determining Radical Changes In the territory of the Aestii cultures’ sites, the amount of amber artefacts and amber in graves begins to increase at the end of the second century to the beginning of the third century (Figs. 8.1–2; 19). Although the growth in amber use in Lithuania was not significant, it is important in that it reflected a number of external and internal changes. The increased use of amber artefacts coincided with the general adoption of amber use within the territory 219 Jovaiša and Asadauskas, “Dauglaukio katalogas, kapai”, p. 58; Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, p. 154. 220 Kulakov, “Dollkeim-Kovrovo Issledovaniia 1879 g.”; Kulakov, “Dollkeim-Kovrovo Issledovaniia 1992–2002 gg.”; Skvorzov, “Das Gräberfeld der römischen Kaiserzeit von Bol’šoe Isakovo”, pp. 116–146; Skvorzov, Gruntovyi mogil’nik Aleyka 3, issledovanija 2005 goda, pp. 112–216.

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Fig. 56. Amber amount at Dauglaukis (Tauragė district) grave field men’s, women’s and children’s graves dated to AD 150–260. Diagram prepared referring to: Jonas Balčiūnas, Dauglaukio kapinyno (Tauragės raj.) 1983 metų žvalgomųjų archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita; Eugenijus Jovaiša and Arvydas Asadauskas, “Dauglaukio katalogas, kapai”.

of the barbaricum, after the Romans’ interest in amber declined at the end of the second century. Amber consumption increased in the huge territories between the Rhine, the Elbe and the Vistula Rivers. Amber use increased in Central Europe and in the Balkans.221 Amber use in these territories was encouraged within the barbaricum by the fashion for necklaces composed of a variety of beads and pendants, and these necklaces became indicators of social status and prestige (Fig. 46.1–3). This symbol was absorbed by the Aestii very quickly, with the spread and the use of fashionable necklaces of glass, amber or metal beads across their entire territory (Figs. 20; 21; 22; 42; 47–48). It is clear that in the fashion taken up by the barbaricum, many original amber pendants appeared (Figs. 39; 40). However, necklaces strung completely of amber pendants and beads, along the coastline where the main Late Antique find-spots are concentrated, became the ornaments of women of lower social status and were almost concurrently attendant in children’s

221 P. La Baume, “Römische Bernsteinarbeiten in Köln”, p. 108ff; Lund Hansen, Römischer Import im Norden, p. 237ff; Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Centrum kulturowe z pierwszych wieków naszej ery u ujścia Wisły”, p. 137; Sprincz, “Amber Artefacts of Hungary from Middle Bronze Age to the Hungarian Conquest”, p. 209ff; Krstić, “Catalogue of Amber Objects from the Area of Serbia and Montenegro”, pp. 296–302 and p. 368ff.

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graves (Figs. 29; 41; 50; 51; 55; 56; 57.1–2; Table 1). On the other hand, as the amber trade was revived within the territory of the Aestii cultures, the communities of the Lithuanian coast became more involved in active local trade bringing amber into this market. The West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture peoples managed to find their way into the regional trade, but these exchanges did not affect the raw amber supply, because on the Sambian Peninsula there were large amounts of amber that were much more easily accessible.222 Lathe-made amber beads made by the Przeworsk or Wielbark cultures’ craftsmen, and maybe even by the Dollkeim-Kovrovo craftspeople, were desirable in the regional and inter-regional market, and also in Lithuania. The material from the coast clearly shows that Lithuania’s coastal communities were not able to find their way either into the large regional or the inter-regional amber trade. They could not realistically compete because their amber supply was only the small amount of amber that washed up from the sea. In Lithuania, the number of burial sites and necklaces with amber beads or pendants once again increased fairly significantly in the first half of the third century (Figs. 8.1–2; 58). This not inconsiderable growth in amber consumption is observed until the end of the Late Antique period (Fig. 8.1). The increase in amber use that occurred around the first half of the third century, which may not have been connected only with Lithuania’s coast, is reflected in the Lower Neman region at the Dauglaukis grave field, where ranging from one to 13 beads were found in women and children’s graves dated to between 220 and 260 (Figs. 8.2; 19; 56).223 Amber in the Lithuanian area burial sites increases again at the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century (Fig. 8.1). Moreover, the number of grave fields with amber artefacts greatly increases, and more amber is found in graves. Therefore, it is possible to hypothesize that amber consumption quickly increases and, importantly, amber usage remains high in the fifth century and this continues until the mid sixth century.224 However, in Lithuania, considerably less amber was found during Late Antiquity than in other parts of the barbaricum.

222 Up to the present day the largest amber deposits on the Sambian Peninsula are in the so-called “blue earth”. 223 Jovaiša and Asadauskas, “Dauglaukio katalogas, kapai”, pp. 47–176; Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, p. 152ff. 224 Astrauskas, Marvelės bendruomenė (II a. pabaiga—V a.), p. 21; Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, p. 173; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 272–282 and p. 339, figs. 165–167.

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Fig. 57.1. Ratio of amber beads found in necklaces of Antique graves. Ratio according to gender: women and girls (67%); men and boys (9%) and children (24%). Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports.

Fig. 57.2. Ratio of single amber beads found in Antique graves. Ratio according to gender: women and girls (32%); men and boys (45%) and children (10%), undetermined sex (13%). Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports.

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Fig. 58. Amber amount at Dauglaukis (Tauragė district) grave field graves dated to AD 150–260. Diagram prepared referring to: Jonas Balčiūnas, Dauglaukio kapinyno (Tauragės raj.) 1983 metų žvalgomųjų archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita; Eugenijus Jovaiša and Arvydas Asadauskas, “Dauglaukio katalogas, kapai”.

In the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and in the sites of its peripheral zone in southwest Latvia, 548 graves were examined. Approximately 792–802 amber artefacts were found in 142 graves. This amount of amber was found in 25 grave fields and in two settlements (Fig. 16; Appendix B; Table 1).225 These grave fields, based on their distance from the sea and the amount of amber artefacts found, can be split into the following categories: coastal grave fields that are located 0.3–5 kilometres from the sea (Medzes Kapsēde, Palanga, Bandužiai, Jogučiai–Spirkiai and Jogučiai (Stančiai) settlements); burial sites located 5–10 kilometres from the sea (Rucavas Mazkatuži, Lazdininkai, Rūdaičiai I and Užpelkiai); burial sites which are 10–20 kilometres from the sea (Ėgliškiai–Anduliai, Kašučiai, Kurmaičiai grave field and hill-fort, Padvariai and Pryšmančiai II); sites from the Minija River basin (Baitai, Gintarai, Pleškučiai–Pangėsai, Stragnai, Šernai, Šilininkai, etc.) and

225 More grave fields with single stray amber finds or with lumps of raw amber are known than are included in Appendix B. However, amber artefacts in those burial sites were found during fieldwalking surveys or these sites are known from the old museum collections, but the grave complexes are usually gone or the museum’s inventory books and other records and collections are lost or displaced as a consequence of war. It is difficult to date such finds and therefore they are not included in the statistical analysis.

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sites which are 25–30 and more kilometres from the sea (Šarkai, Žviliai, Barzdūnai and Barvai). 226 The largest number of graves with amber artefacts and the largest number of amber artefacts in graves were in the burial sites at Rucavas Mazkatuži (24 graves containing circa 225 amber artefacts) and Lazdininkai (23 graves containing circa 100 artefacts). Both burial sites are not only a similar distance from the coast, but are also located on the same chain of moraine hills in the basin of the Šventoji River, which flows into the Baltic Sea. They are separated by only 15 kilometres (Fig. 16; Appendix B; Table 1). During Late Antiquity in Latvia, with the exception of the Rucava and Liepājas surroundings (Rucavas Mazkatuži and Medzes Kapsēde), there are very few amber artefacts.227 In the grave fields of the Minija River basin (Baitai, Gintarai and Šernai), about 40–90 amber artefacts were found (Table 1). The amount of graves with amber in the fully investigated grave field at Dauglaukis (the Lower Neman region) is larger than in the coastal burial sites (Rucavas Mazkatuži, Lazdininkai and Baitai). However, more amber artefacts were placed into individual coastal graves (Appendix B). Currently, amber artefacts have been found in only six excavated grave fields of the Lower Neman region (out of a total 208 examined graves, in 52 graves 175 amber artefacts were discovered).228 Because of their advantageous geopolitical situation, the inhabitants of the Lower Neman region maintained close cultural and economic relations not only with the Lithuanian coast, but also with the people of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo and Bogaczewo cultures. Amber could reach them from all of their neighbours (Fig. 16, Appendix B). It is also necessary to emphasize that almost half of the amber artefacts were found in the Dauglaukis grave field (Figs. 8.2; 19; 56; 58).

226 The full German names of grave fields from the former Memel Kreis and Heydekrug Kreis (western Lithuania) and current names are provided in the appendices. The numbers indicate the grave number, and the year of excavation in the text and Table 1 is provided beside the oblique dash. 227 Wahle, “Die Ausgrabungen in Rutzau und Bauske”, p. 50, plates 12 and 13; Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 N. Chr. I, plates XXVIII.21–23 and XXIX.1–4; Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr. II, p. 336ff, p. 373; Latvijas PSR arheoloģija, plate 28.12, 13, 17. 228 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 327; Valdemaras Šimėnas, Barzūnų kapinyno, Tauragės apskr. Pagėgių seniūnija, 2000 m. kasinėjimų ataskaita (Unpublished excavations report from 2000, in LII R, f. 1, no. 3646); V. Šimėnas, “Barzūnų kapinyno tyrinėjimai”, in ATL in 1998 and 1999 (Vilnius, 2000), 273ff; V. Šimėnas, “Barzūnų kapinynas”, in ATL in 2000 (Vilnius, 2002), p. 103ff; Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, p. 149ff.

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The Dauglaukis grave field confirms Tacitus’s phrase about the Aestii not using amber themselves. No amber dating from 70–150 was found here. Only seven amber artefacts were enclosed in the five 150–220 graves (Fig. 8.2; Table 1). Archaeological evidence from the Dauglaukis grave field indicates a sudden and remarkable increase in amber artefacts. Certainly, amber increased sharply in a fairly short period between 220 and 260. Out of 52 Dauglaukis graves from this period, in 21 graves, 65 amber artefacts were found (Figs. 8.2; 19; Table 1). The predominant users of amber from this period were women, in whose 12 graves from 220–260 almost all 52 amber artefacts were found, although only from one to 13 beads were enclosed in an individual grave (mostly amber was found in necklaces). In distinct chronological phases in the graves attributed to men, children and persons of unidentified gender, usually one amber artefact per grave was found, the rare exception being three amber finds in one grave (Fig. 56; Table 1). In the Dauglaukis grave field, amber beads were found in graves whose NAT index was from 3 to 17 per grave.229 The same is the case with other Lower Neman grave fields (according to the NAT index). Amber beads were found in graves whose NAT index is 10–17 and in graves whose NAT index does not reach 2–5. Therefore, in the grave fields of the Lower Neman region amber beads are found among the elaborate bead sets with imported glass and glass paste beads and in simpler strings with a few ordinary glass beads and bronze spirals. Small amber beads were found in only seven barrow fields of the Collective Barrow culture. Sites with amber artefacts are located at the margins of this cultural group territory in the contact zone with the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture, the Lower Neman and central Lithuania. Naturally, amber could have made its way into the Collective Barrow culture territory from the Lithuanian coast as a commodity because the coastal culture’s habitation sites were continually expanding in eastern and northeastern directions. Furthermore, both cultural groups had obvious contacts

229 According to the number of artefact types in the grave (NAT index). NAT—the number of artefact types in graves as a method for investigating a society’s social structure was proposed by Danish archaeologist Lotte Hedeager (Iron-Age societies. From tribe to state in Northern Europe, 500 BC to 700 AD (Oxford, 1992), pp. 99–153) and is largely used by scientists from the Eastern European countries. In observing the analyses made by this method, it is evident that the NAT index in the grave and in different sites is rather distinct. Besides other factors (culture, position of the site in the cultural group, position of grave in the site, sex/gender, deceased’s age, etc.), the number of artefact types in the grave (NAT) has mainly been conditioned by factors reflecting the society’s social structure and the social community organization of the time when the burial took place.

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(Fig. 16).230 Part of the amber could have made it into Samogitia and north Lithuania’s barrow fields via the Lower Neman region from the Bogaczewo or the Dollkeim-Kovrovo cultures. It is likely that trade with the Gulf of Riga was conducted by maritime routes, excluding the Lithuanian coast. Also, it was possible from the Gulf of Riga to reach the Collective Barrow culture via internal water routes—the Lielupe and Western Dvina Rivers (Figs. 9; 14; 16). Although a large number of graves in the Collective Barrow culture were excavated (203), in only nine of the graves 37 amber beads were found. From the total bead amount, 25 were found in two graves at Maudžioriai grave field, which is located in the contact zone with the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture. In other barrow fields of this ethnocultural group only one or two single amber beads and, as was sometimes the case, glass beads, which could have been worn as amulets, were found per grave or even per barrow field (Appendix B; Table 1). According to data from 2007, amber beads were found in seven central Lithuanian grave fields.231 A large number of graves were excavated in this region (c. 1029 graves), however, only 40 graves containing amber can be counted. In these graves, around 180 amber artefacts were found (Appendix B). Also, it is necessary to emphasize that from the second half of the first century to the beginning of the third century, only a few amber beads are known in this cultural group (Appendices A and B; Table 1). At the same time, various glass and glass paste beads were found in great numbers (Figs. 21.2; 31.1). Only in eight Marvelė graves dated from the second quarter of the third century to the fourth century were necklaces found with just a few amber beads, as well as necklaces with irregular-shaped beads (Type TM403) (Figs. 31; 35; Appendix B; Table 1).232 During Late Antiquity (especially in the transition phase to the early Migration period) graves with amber artefacts and the number of amber artefacts in the graves significantly increased. Most likely, amber artefacts found their way into central and southwestern

230 Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje I–IV amžius, pp. 192–199, figs. 83 and 87; Michelbertas, “Vakarų Lietuvos apgyvendinimas senajame geležies amžiuje ir kai kurie šio regiono istorijos klausimai”, pp. 13–21; Simniškytė, “Roman Period Metal Half-moon Shaped Pendants with Knobs in Eastern Baltic Region”, map 1; Audronė Bliujienė, “Iš baltų amatininkystės istorijos: baltiški Berlock kabučiai”, AL 6 (2005), fig. 1; Laima Vaitkunskienė, “Dėl žemaičių kultūros substrato”, in Vakarų baltai: etnogenezė ir etninė istorija, ed. Regina Volkaitė-Kulikauskienė (Vilnius, 1997), pp. 152–157, fig. 4. 231 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, tables 8 and 9, fig. 160. 232 Astrauskas, Marvelės bendruomenė (II a. pabaiga—V a.), tables 34 and 35; Mindaugas Bertašius, Marvelė. Ein Gräberfeld Mittelitauens Band I. Vidurio Lietuvos aukštaičių II–XII a. kapinynas. Monografija (Kaunas, 2005), p.73ff, plates CXLVII and CLII.

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Lithuanian sites from the Bogaczewo culture or there from the amber workshops of the Przeworsk culture.233 The communities of central Lithuania and the Bogaczewo culture maintained obvious close relations of a different nature, because it is believed that some people of the Bogaczewo culture migrated into central and southeastern Lithuania.234 Amber beads were also found in the three East Lithuanian Barrow culture barrow fields that are dated to the Late Antique period (Appendix B). The largest amount of amber was found in one barrow, in one grave at Pašekščiai barrow field (Fig. 34). Amber beads and some Roman imports made their way from the Bogaczewo and Sudovian cultures along with inhabitants who settled in some parts of eastern Lithuania.235 However, imports within the territory of the western Balts cultures could have been redistributed not only via migration but could also have been the result of regional trade or could have been brought back from military conflicts as the spoils of war. Further to the north of the Western Dvina, the quantity of amber finds decreases dramatically, and only twenty amber beads are so far known from the third- and fourth-century graves in Saaremaa (Tõnija and Lepna) and northern Estonia (Lehmja-Loo, Kurna, Lagedi, and Proosa).236 In southern Estonia, amber beads from the the Late Antique period have not been found at all.237 In the second quarter of the third century and the beginning of the fourth century, amber artefacts increase in the Bogaczewo culture (Fig. 45.2,3). Here, the larger number of amber finds consists of handmade and lathe-turned beads and pendants of various forms.238 Handmade and lathed amber beads and pendants (Types TM388, TM389, TM390–391, TM400, TM401, TM429, TM430, TM437, TM440, TM441, and TM471), typical of the territory of the Aestii cultures, are found in the Sudovian sites (Figs. 44; 52.4, 5).239 233

Astrauskas, Marvelės bendruomenė (II a. pabaiga—V a.), p. 108ff and p. 123ff. Bertašius, “Uwagi na temat kontaktów ludności kultury bogaczewskiej i mieszkańców środkowej Litwy na podstawie materiałów z cmentarzyska w Marvelė”, p. 258; Anna BitnerWróblewska and Gytis Grižas, “Ceramika kultury bogaczewskiej z południowej Litwy”, in Bitner-Wróblewska, Kultura bogaczewska, p. 274ff, fig. 16. 235 Bliujienė, “Watershed between Eastern and Western Lithuania during the Early and Late Migration Period”, AL 6 (2006), p. 125; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 160. 236 Mirja Ots, Institute of History of Estonia, Tallinn, pers. comm. 237 Laul, “Formirovanie kul’tury epokhi zheleza iugo-vostoke Estonii”, p. 269; Valter Lang, “The Bronze Age and Early Iron Ages in Estonia”, in Estonian Archaeology 3, ed. Margot Laneman (Tartu, 2007), pp. 206–215, p. 234 and p. 257. 238 Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, p. 20; Szymański, “Mikroregion osadniczy z okresu wpływów rzymskich w rejonie jeziora Sałęt na Pojezierzu Mazurskim”, p. 47, plates XII.1, 5, 6; XXIX.5 10. 239 Bitner-Wróblewska, Netta: a Balt Cemetery, pp. 62–66. 234

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In the territory of the Wielbark culture there are very few amber artefacts in the first half of the third century (Fig. 18). Amber usage increased during the second half of the third century, but then decreased once again at the beginning of the fourth century.240 The short-lived but dramatic changes in the consumption of amber by the Wielbark culture’s peoples must be connected with several processes. Fluctuation in amber usage traditions inside the Wielbark culture could be connected with its people’s movement southwards and afterwards with the culture’s decline. The fluctuation in amber usage traditions by the Wielbark culture communities was also connected with a greater demand for amber within the territory of the barbaricum. On the other hand, after new demand emerged in the Imperium Romanum, a large-scale inter-regional amber trade was restarted once again. It is believed that the amber trade was revived at the end of the third century because amber artefacts are found throughout the Roman Empire during the whole of the fourth century.241 However, it is posited that the never-ending barbarian invasions of the second half of the third century were one of the main factors which provoked the economic crisis in the Roman Empire. It is believed that invasions or the economic crisis halted the amber trade.242 Emperor Diocletian (Gaius Valerius Diocletianus Aurelius, who reigned from 284 to 305) attempted to regulate this economic crisis by introducing price reform.243 An edict from 301 detailing the maximum prices for a variety of goods mentions amber (succinum) jewellery (brooches). The greater level of amber use within the territory of the barbaricum could have been influenced by the lack of safety on the trade routes as a result of local conflicts, or even by the increased fashion in the barbaricum itself for wearing jewellery—pendants—at a time when pendants were being produced not only from metal but from amber as well.

240 Reszczyńska, “Zabytki bursztynowe w kulturze wielbarskiej i w grupie masłomęckiej”, pp. 105–116, maps 9–14 and 18–20. 241 It appears that in the first half of the third century there was no shortage of amber in the Imperium Romanum. The Emperor Markus Aurelius Antoninus Heliogabalus (218– 222) ordered that his palace portico be covered in raw amber pieces. See: Kolendo, “Napływ burztynu z Północy na tereny imperium rzymskiego”, p. 96ff; Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, p. 81; J. Wielowiejski, “Der Forschungsstand über den Hauptweg der Bernsteinstrasse”, p. 60ff. 242 Kolendo, “Napływ burztynu z Północy na tereny imperium rzymskiego”, p. 95ff; Lund Hansen, “Chieftains and traders looking East—the Late Roman and Early Germanic Period”, p. 84; Lund Hansen, “Southern Scandinavia—Limes—the Roman Provinces Problems in 3rd century Europe”, pp. 229–238. 243 Bursche, “Die Entwicklung der Handels-beziehungen zwischen Rom und den Barbaren”, p. 104.

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Therefore, in Lithuania the increase in amber artefacts in graves and the increase in the number of sites with amber artefacts was closely connected to economic and cultural changes in the entirety of the barbaricum. However, amber use had its own short-term peaks and troughs. The amber jewellery of the barbaricum, like that of the Roman Empire, as was clearly shown by Pliny the Elder, was mostly worn by women and therefore its use was influenced by fashion throughout the regions of the entire empire. The main type of amber artefacts worn by women and children may have been amulets. Amber was used for healing purposes and also as incense. This may have influenced the steady use of amber. Pliny supposed that amber was used as a prophylactic against tonsillitis and other afflictions of the pharynx. It was also believed that amber helped ear pain, improved eyesight, and at the very least had antiseptic qualities.244 The healing properties of amber were widely known in the world of Antiquity. Some of the amber statuettes, phallic pendants and other trinkets contained drilled holes, the amber inclusion from which could be extracted, and it is believed, used for medicinal purposes.245 There is no doubt that the healing qualities of amber were best known by the Germanic amber gatherers from Glaesaria or Austeravia, and, of course, by the Aestii. Therefore, it would seem that the Romans acquired their knowledge of the medicinal uses of amber from the barbarians. From written sources of Antiquity it is known that amber incense was believed to have antiseptic qualities. The connection between amber artefacts and children was probably based on the belief that amber and its healing and antiseptic qualities would protect children from illnesses and the evil eye. It was also believed that chewing on amber helped the growth of teeth.246 The same

244 Plini, Naturalis Historiae, XXXVII, § 42–50; Pliny, Naturalis History, XXXVII § 42–50; Strong, Catalogue of the Carved Amber, p. 34; Calvi, Aquileia: le ambre romane, pp. 27–103; Jan Bouzek, “The Amber Tradition and Baltic-Black Sea Amber Route”, in Amber in Archaeology, Belgrade (Belgrade, 2009), p. 140ff. In Lithuania at the end of the nineteenth to the first half of the twentieth century, amber was sometimes burned as incense to heal ear inflammation; amber necklaces were worn as a remedy against exophthalmic goitre; and amber beads were worn as earrings to improve eyesight. Bits of raw amber were hung around infants’ necks because it was believed that the chewing of amber helped the teeth grow. Sometimes, pieces of amber were placed in children’s baths. Quite simply, it may have been believed that amber had healing and antiseptic properties. See: Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, footnotes 14 and 15; Lietuvių medicina: gydymasis užkalbėjimais, medicina (Unpublished ethnological materials, in LII ES LTA no. 605/180; LTA no. 66/1156). 245 Palavestra, “Amber in Myths and Science”, p. 26, fig. 12; Krstić, “Catalogue of Amber Objects from the Area of Serbia and Montenegro”, fig. 615. 246 Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, p. 175; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 22ff, footnote 15.

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tradition of women and children wearing amber was also known among the Germanic and the Sarmatian peoples. Amber artefacts are most often found in the graves of women and children. In the Roman provinces of Upper Moesia, Dalmatia and Pannonia during the Late Antique period, amber was also linked to women.247 Amber artefacts in the northern part of the barbaricum were also mostly associated with women and children.248 Lithuania’s Late Antique women’s and children’s graves reflect that same tendency: amber beads and pendants were strung on necklaces, most often mixed with other beads and bronze spirals (Figs. 55; 57.1; Table 1). Necklaces strung from small, simple shaped amber beads and even pendants produced from bits of amber easily found on the seashore were accessible to persons of lower social status and to children (Table 1). This tradition was typical throughout the entire Late Antique period and extended throughout the centuries to the end of the Middle Ages. However, during the Late Antique period, very few necklaces strung from amber beads alone were found (Figs. 26; 27; 33; 39; 46; 48). In West Lithuania and in the Lower Neman region, amber beads were sometimes included in women’s headbands or chaplets. The amber beads, together with bronze beads and other metal details, were used to decorate the edges of the chaplets (Table 1).249 During Late Antiquity, single amber beads were more typical of men and boys, although they have also been found in the graves of women and girls (Fig. 57.2). During the third and fourth centuries, amber appeared more frequently in the lavishly ornate necklaces of the women from the highest social strata (Table 1). The best example of this from the whole of the eastern Baltic region and from almost the whole of Late Antiquity is woman’s grave 15/1924 found in the Rucavas Mazkatuži burial site. Two ornate necklaces were enclosed in this woman’s grave and the total number of amber beads and rare pendants is 92 (Figs. 48; 49; Table 1).250 One necklace was strung with 76 amber beads and amber pendants, another bead set consists of 53 glass beads and 11 amber beads. Rucavas Mazkatuži and Medzes Kapsēde are the northernmost burial sites where a large number of

247 Vidrih Perko et al. “Amber from Ancient Sites on the Territory of Slovenia”, p. 189ff, figs. 4–6; Sprincz, “Amber Artefacts of Hungary from Middle Bronze Age to the Hungarian Conquest”, p. 206; Palavestra, “Amber in Archaeology”, pp. 70–76. 248 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, pp. 156–162. 249 Kulikauskas, “Kurmaičių (Kretingos raj.) plokštinio kapinyno tyrinėjimai”, pp. 324ff; Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, p. 154, fig. 5; Valatka, “Maudžiorų kapinynas”, p. 268. 250 Wahle, “Die Ausgrabungen in Rutzau und Bauske”, p. 20, fig. 13.8; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, figs. 178.26; 179.9.

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amber artefacts were found in women’s, and also men’s, graves (Table 1). But these ornate necklaces strung exclusively from amber beads are exceptions even in the graves of women from the highest social strata. At the same time, necklaces belonging to women of the highest social strata from the coast remain especially ornate, though made of multicoloured and monochrome glass beads and iron disc-shaped pendants, bronze spirals and a greater number of amber beads than was found at the beginning of the third century (Figs. 37; 42; 47). This thesis is illustrated by the finds from the Lazdininkai and Šernai grave fields. In Lazdininkai woman’s grave 23/1996, there were 32 amber beads included in a necklace, six figure-ofeight pendants, two glass beads and 13 iron disc-shaped pendants (Figs. 33; 42; Table 1). In Šernai grave 10, a necklace was composed of about 40 beads, although there were not many amber beads among them, but in addition to a simple bi-truncated conical bead and a flattened spherical one, there were rare, semi-lathed lathe-turned amber beads (Table 1).251 From the second half of the third century, when amber consumption started to increase in the grave fields of central Lithuania, necklaces strung only of 20–40 amber beads have been found (Fig. 35).252 However, graves with more amber beads were found in just two Marvelė women’s graves (Table 1). In the east Lithuanian Barrow culture only in Pašekščiai barrow field, a necklace from the second half of the fourth century was found, in barrow 12. The elaborate necklace was strung with 53 irregular-shaped handmade amber beads, 12 glass and four glass paste beads (Fig. 34).253 In that necklace there was a small translucent green glass bead close to gold foil glass beads found in cities along northern coast of the Black Sea and in the Chernayakhov culture sites.254 The Late Antique archaeological evidence of the Southwestern Lithuania and the East Lithuanian Barrow culture where amber was found shows fairly close relations with the Chernyakhov, Przeworsk, Bogaczewo

251

Bezzenberger, “Litauische Gräberfelder. 1. Das Gräberfeld bei Schernen”, p. 147ff, plate

VII. 252

Bertašius, Marvelė. Ein Gräberfeld Mittelitauens Band I, p. 73 and p. 78, plates CXLVII,

CLII. 253 Gytis Grižas, Pašekščių pilkapyno Molėtų raj., tyrinėjimų ataskaita, 2002 m. (Unpublished excavation report from 1997, in LII R, f. 1); Gytis Grižas and Valdas Steponaitis, “Pašekščių pilkapynas”, in ATL in 2002 (Vilnius, 2005), p. 61. 254 Alekseeva, Antichnye busy severnogo prichernamor’ia, table 26.27; Magdalena Mączyńska, Die “barbarische” Kette der Römischen Kaiserzeit—ihre Zusammensetzung am Beispiel der Černjachov-Kultur”, in von Freeden and Wieczorek, Perlen, Archäologie, Techniken, Analysen, p. 104ff, fig. 8.

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and Sudovian cultures.255 In the Przeworsk culture’s territory several amber workshops are known, which operated from the second half of the second century to the beginning of the fifth century and where beads of similar forms to those found in Lithuania were crafted.256 It would seem that the earliest Przeworsk culture’s amber workshops’ creations reached the territory of the Aestii cultures through internal exchange, and through the internal movement of people. In this manner, these amber artefacts found their way into east Lithuania. Evidently, the Aestii emphasized the importance of multiple elaborate necklaces. These elaborate bead sets would be placed in a significant position, for example, on the deceased’s pelvis, as in the case of grave 85 in Bandužiai grave field. Grave 85 is exceptional because the ornate necklace was not the sole ornament buried with the woman. The woman’s neck was adorned with a modest necklace made of seven amber beads and three glass beads.257 At Pašekščiai barrow field in barrow 12, an elaborate bead set was placed beside the early adultus (c. 18–20 years) woman’s head.258 It may be that the act of placing the necklace in a place other than where it was worn is associated with the Germanic and Sarmatian tradition of burying a high status woman on her side with her legs bent and with necklaces and beads placed inside a bag held in her hands (Fig. 46.1). During the Migration period, when amber necklaces were widely spread, the tradition of holding an amber necklace in the hands was documented in the Lower Neman region in the Vidgiriai grave field left by a multi-ethnic community (woman’s grave 21).259 Well-armed men’s graves with horses (mostly only the horse’s ritual parts—the head and the limbs—were enclosed in the burial ) constitute an expressive feature of the West Stone Circle Graves culture from the mid second century to the mid fifth century. From the mid third century in this Aestii cultural group, the beginnings of a new tradition were noted. In several cases beside the horse’s ritual parts, amber beads, pendants or bits of raw

255

Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje I–IV amžius, p. 105, fig. 29.1,2; Vaitkevičius, “Pakalnių pilkapiai (Vilniaus r.)”, p. 54ff; Bliujienė, “Watershed between Eastern and Western Lithuania during the Early and Late Migration Period”, p. 126ff, figs. 2, 4. 256 P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich”, pp. 317–363, figs. 5, 8, 11 18 and 20. 257 Stankus, Bandužių kapinynas, p. 117, fig. 28; Bliujienė and Bračiulienė, “Prašmatniosios Barbaricum paribio diduomenės moterys ir jų vyrai”, p. 57, figs. 8 and 9. 258 Grižas, Pašekščių pilkapyno Molėtų raj., tyrinėjimų ataskaita, 2002 m. 259 Valdemaras Šimėnas, Vidgirių kapinyno, Šilutės raj., 1987 m. kasinėjimų ataskaita (Unpublished excavation report from 1987, in LII R, f. 1, no. 1961); V. Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje pirmojo mūsų eros tūkstantmečio viduryje, p. 123. Also see: Chapter Four, Fig. 79.

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amber were found (Table 3). Two such graves have been studied in the Baitai grave field (Fig. 39.29,30; Table 3). A large quantity of raw amber was found in the Aleyka-3 grave field in a horse burial, buried beside a man (grave 8). During the Migration period, the amount of amber beads and raw amber enclosed in horse burials slowly begins to increase (Table 3). However, the tradition of suspending amber from a horse’s mane or from the bridle did not spread widely during Late Antiquity. Therefore, evaluating the entire Late Antique period, the conclusion can be reached that within the territory of the Aestii cultures, amber use echoed the cultural and chronological tendencies of the barbaricum and did not lag behind the major “fashion trends” of the times. On the other hand, the quantity of amber used depended on the availability of raw amber supplies and the individual communities’ ability to engage in the process of trade. At the same time in Late Antiquity in the large barbaricum territories between the Rhine, the Elbe, the Vistula and in south Scandinavia, as well as the Jutland Peninsula, and also in the Sarmatian graves in Hungary, especially rich women’s graves are found with elaborate necklaces composed of 20–100 or even more than 260 amber beads, which were often strung together with figure-of-eight-shaped pendants and pendants of other forms.260 During the Late Antique period, amber beads and figure-of-eight-shaped pendants were found in German women’s graves between the Rhine and Main Rivers, as well as in the Upper Danube River area. In addition to that, rarely, emphasizing their importance and value, necklaces were placed in the hands of women of the highest social strata (princely graves) who were travelling to the afterlife lying on their sides. These types of graves were found not only in the Wielbark culture’s cemeteries (Pruszcz Gdański and Weklica) (Fig. 46.1),

260 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 243, fig. 9; Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Centrum kulturowe z pierwszych wieków naszej ery u ujścia Wisły”, pp. 137–145; Berta Stjernquist, “A Grave of a Noble Iron Age Women with Many Amber Beads in Järrestad, South-East Sweden”, in Amber in Archaeology, Talsi (Riga, 2003), pp. 140–146, fig. 2; von Carnap-Bornheim, “Einige jüngerkaiserzeitliche Beispiele überregionaler Trachtbeziehungen zwischen dem baltischen und germanischen Kulturbereich”, p. 49ff, fig. 2; Małgorzata Tuszyńska, “Neue Entdeckungen im Gräberfeld der Wielbark-Kultur aus der Römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Völkerwanderungszeit in Pruszcz Gdański, Fundstelle 5”, in Mączyńska and Grabarczyk, Die spätrömische Kaiserzeit und die frühe Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 139, figs 1.A, plate III; M. Pietrzak, Pruszcz Gdański. Fundstelle 10, p. 80, plates LXXIII, LXXIV; Sprincz, “Amber Artefacts of Hungary from Middle Bronze Age to the Hungarian Conquest”, pp. 206–210, map 33. Wilhelm Gebers, Hermann Hinz and Ulrich Drenhaus, “Ein Körpergrab der Völkerwanderungszeit aus Bosau, Kreis Ostholstein”, Offa, 34 (1977), p. 25ff, fig. 12; Martin Max, “Tradition und Wandel der Fibelgeschmückten Frühmittelalterlichen Frauenkleidung”, Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 38.2, 1991 (1995), pp. 662–670, figs. 39 and 41.

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but also in those of southeast Sweden (Järrestad, Simris and Löderup), and northwest Bohemia (Sobĕsuky). The Social Profile of the Late Antique East Baltic Region Societies and Their Traditions of Amber Usage Unfortunately, almost the only method of making conclusions about the Aestii social profile during the Late Antique period is through the examination of archaeological evidence. The Aestii are noted for their characteristic feature—amber, and thus ended up in the sphere of knowledge of the authors of Antiquity—Tacitus and Pliny the Elder. Other authors of Antiquity devoted more attention to the Germanic tribes’ lifestyle, warfare and social traditions. By comparing the mythology of the Late Antique period of the Aestii and the Germans with written sources and archaeological evidence, it is possible to successfully analyse and to try to reconstruct the social profile and lifestyle of the peoples of the eastern Baltic region. However, unlike in the Germanic lands, in the eastern Baltic region there is practically no iconographic material that we could analyse within a wider archaeological context and compare with written and mythological sources. Notwithstanding the lack of sources, when comparing the Aestii cultures and the Germanic cultures, many similarities are found that allow scholars to posit that the social structure of these two distinct cultural groups was quite similar. Tacitus writes in paragraph § 45 of his Germania that the Aestii cultivate “grain and other crops . . . with a perseverance unusual among the generally lethargic Germans.”261 This phrase not only allows us to examine the cultural differences between the Aestii and the Germanic peoples, but also gives us the opportunity to analyse an aspect of their economy—farming. Following the logic of Tacitus’s text, the Aestii were better farmers, because this phrase about the Aestii being more capable of growing grain than the Germanic peoples comes before the section on amber, for which the Aestii came into Tacitus’s knowledge in the first place. At the same time, Tacitus and other authors, among them Gaius Julius Caesar (100–14 BC) in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico (“The Gallic Wars”), wrote of the Germanic tribes as warlike people who are poor farmers. Caesar emphasizes in a few passages that the Germanic people did not work the land or hardly worked the land.262 Grain

261

Tacitus, Germany, § 45. Gaius Iulius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico/Galų karo užrašai, trans. Violeta Radvilienė (Vilnius, 1998), II.22,23,29. 262

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cultivation, meaning bread provided by the people, like glory, was always very important to the Roman emperors. Therefore, the Romans, venturing north, were searching for new desirable goods as well as new markets. Grain and amber were exactly the goods they were looking for because one provided bread and the other, according to Tacitus and Pliny, satisfied the desire for luxury. For these reasons, without a doubt, farmers were an important part of the Aestii social structure. One more observation made by Tacitus that is connected with his description of Aestii society is his statement that among the Aestii “[amber] is gathered crude and passed on unworked, and they are astonished at the price they get for it”.263 In this context, notwithstanding the comment that the trade exchange process was not comprehensible to the Aestii and that they did not understand trade equivalents, besides the reference to clearly unequal exchange, one can conclude that there was a possibility that pedlars existed in the Aestii society and that they traded in local and regional markets. Obviously, pedlars quoting on differentials in rates of exchange, and thereby excluding rivals from the market in their sphere of influence, persisted, operating with lower exchange rates and percentages given to the local nobility and, naturally, with minimal reward to any producers.264 Moreover, analysis of material from grave fields allows one to believe that there was a stratum of people in society who controlled amber collecting and mining. Writing about the Germanic tribes, Tacitus explains that the Germans took their kings on the grounds of birth, but the chieftains and military leaders were elected on the basis of their courage and the support of their retinue.265 These written sources from Antiquity are indirectly supported by the analysis of archaeological data from the territory of the Aestii cultures. Comparing the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture and the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture, one can conclude that by the end of the second century and the beginning of the third, Aestii society was already stratified in a social sense. It is possible to distinguish military leaders and chieftains, and the small retinues that belonged to them.266 Tacitus’s famous phrase:

263

Tacitus, Germany, § 45. On the subject of exchange models and unequal exchange, see: Michael Rowlands, “Centre and periphery: a review of a concept”, in Social Transformations in Archaeology: Global and Local Perspectives, eds. Kristian Kristiansen and Michael Rowlands (London/New York), 1998, p. 225ff, with future literature. 265 Tacitus, Germany, § 7–14. 266 Bliujienė and Butkus, “Armed Men and their Riding Horses as a Reflection of Warrior Hierarchy”, pp. 98–109. 264

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“They worship the Mother of the Gods. As a symbol of their beliefs they wear images of boars,”267 notwithstanding the fact that the said image of the boar has not been found in the territory of the Aestii cultures, allows one to deduce that Aestii society had its warriors and its priests, without which any religious practice would have been inconceivable. Therefore, it might be that the Aestii, like the Germans, were accompanied by certain images in warfare or they had certain war standards. On the other hand, this passage by Tacitus indirectly provides information about the existence of priests. The priest had to belong to the elite of the Aestii society. Using written sources and archaeological evidence, it is possible to argue that in the Late Antique period, Aestii society social stratification was based on three main social groups: people of the highest social strata or nobility were chieftains, military leaders, pagan priests and perhaps people who were able to control the extraction of amber and the amber trade. Then came a second, more diverse group of people, who had lower social status. They may have been pedlars, craftsmen, farmers and stockbreeders, etc. However, the second group, due to patchy archaeological data, is difficult to define. Similarly, archaeological evidence and other available sources do not help too much with defining the third group—dependent people. It is likely that in Aestii society slaves existed. They may have been prisoners of war, just as in the Germanic barbaricum areas. Interestingly, archaeological evidence from the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture territory and the Lower Neman region indicates that the perception of amber usage in both cultural groups clearly delineates three separate groups of women and, seemingly, girls, reflecting the social stratification of Aestii society. The most clearly differentiated horizon is the graves of women of the highest social strata. Women who belonged to the elite, besides other grave goods,268 were buried with elaborate necklaces. These necklaces, depending on the chronological phase, either included or did not include amber beads (Figs. 20.2; 21; 22; 31; 34; 42; 47; 48; Table 1). The value of these necklaces is not dependent on the number of amber beads or pendants included, but on the entirety of the necklaces (glass, bronze, and amber beads and pendants).

267 Tacitus, Germany, § 45. For the boar as a symbol of war in connection with the Aestii, see footnotes 33–34. 268 According to the number of artefact types in the grave (NAT index).

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During the second half of the second century and the beginning of the third, the accepted fashion among women of the nobility was to adorn themselves with elaborate necklaces that covered the entire chest. In the third and fourth centuries, these necklaces contained more and more local elements and their use spread throughout the territory of Lithuania (Figs. 31; 32; 33; 42; 47; 48). In western Lithuania, these types of necklaces were often suspended from two rosette-shaped tutulus pins (Type Beckmann O) or rosetteshaped tutulus brooches (Type Thomas B). These items were influenced by the Germanic cultures (Figs. 28.1; 30; 42; 59).269 However, in elaborate fancy necklaces there were only 6–10 amber beads. The rare exception was 30–40. Only once was a necklace found that contained over 76 amber beads and pendants exclusively (Fig. 48). Although there are few amber elements in resplendent necklaces, these types of necklaces reflected the increased use of amber in the eastern Baltic region and within the entire barbaricum. In opposition to what was considered lavish during the Late Antique period, as a simplified copy of the previously-mentioned type of necklaces, one must mention bead sets in which more amber beads are included and whose bulk is dominated by bronze spirals and small ordinary glass beads. Incidentally, these glass beads are flattened round blue glass beads (Type TM30a). These were the most widespread type in the barbaricum. In western Lithuania, both elaborate and simple necklaces were usually fastened on the shoulders in the same manner using rosette-shaped tutulus pins (Fig. 59). These women’s graves, modestly furnished, according to a variety of graves, show270 that in these graves, women of lower social status were buried. The third Late Antique burials group consists of burials with a small amount of grave goods. Among these, amber beads and pendants are found. Most often these sets were attached to simple iron crook-like pins or brooches (Figs. 37; 41).271 The custom for children, most often for girls, of wearing simple, medium-length necklaces is well-known in Europe.272 These are mostly found in children’s graves, most likely those of girls, given that often sandstone spindle whorls were enclosed in the graves (Fig. 37; Table 1). However,

269 Thomas, “Die germanischer Scheibenfibeln der Römischen Kaiserzeit im freien Germanien”, pp. 33–42, figs. 8 and 12; Bernhard Beckmann, “Die baltische Metallnadeln der römischen Kaiserzeit”, Saalburg Jahrbuch Bericht des Saalburg Museums XXVI (1969), p. 111, fig. 1, map 22. 270 With a lower level of NAT index than the women of the highest social strata. 271 Tautavičius, “Palangos kapinynas”, fig. 10; Michelbertas, “Gintarų kapinynas”, pp. 36–67, figs. 11.1, 2, 21.1–6, 11–13, 26. 1, 28.2–5; 272 Nick Stoodley, “From the cradle to the grave: age organization and the early AngloSaxon burial rite”, World Archaeology 31 (2000), pp. 460–466, figs. 1 and 2.

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Fig. 59. The second half of the third-century grave assemblage from Palanga (in the city of Palanga) woman’s grave 17: 1, 3, 5–12, 15 bronze; 2, 4 amber; 13 amber, bronze; 14 sandstone; 16 clay. In this grave were also found a sestertius of Faustina I (c. AD 90–141), iron knife and awl. After Adolfas Tautavičius, “Palangos kapinynas”, fig. 7. Courtesy the LNM (AR396a:56–69) in Vilnius.

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the wearers of those simple amber necklaces are a social group that is impossible to define. It is only possible to determine the group’s age—they were children. In Palanga, in grave fields on the coast of the Baltic Sea, the largest amount of amber was found in the graves of children (Figs. 51; 55; Table 1). Otherwise, far fewer amber artefacts were found in the Palanga grave fields than in burial sites further away from the coast. In the grave fields found 25 kilometres away from the sea, the largest amount of amber artefacts was placed not in adult graves, but in the burials of children (Table 1).273 Therefore, the worth and symbol of social status of an Aestii woman was determined by a necklace that was made up of imported materials, in which only one or two amber beads or pendants were included. The necklace may have been acquired complete, or it may have had elements added to it later at various points in time. The amber elements in these necklaces could have been of local origin, or they could have been acquired through regional trade. It is difficult to determine the social status of men’s graves of Late Antiquity which included amber artefacts. The differences in men’s social status in Aestii society is defined by the richness of grave goods and weapons, and by men’s burials with horses (containing only ritual parts of the horse) or only horse equipment, among which sometimes horse mane adornments occur—amber beads or pendants (Table 3).274 These well-armed men’s burials are suggestive of Aestii chieftains and military leaders not according to the presence of amber pendants or beads, but in accordance with their total grave assemblage (Table 1).275 However, during the Late Antique period in several burials of men of high social status, single amber beads were found placed besides their weapons. A large amber bead or the so-called “magic sword pendant” was attached to the hilt of a sword in the former Grebieten (Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture) grave field man’s grave 65.276 In the DollkeimKovrovo, Bogaczewo, Sudovian and West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves

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For instance, archaeological data and craniological as well as odontological investigations of human remains from Gintarai (Kretinga district) grave field indicate that amber necklaces belong to children from 3–4 years up to 11–12 years old. For this, see: Arūnas Barkus, “Odontologinės ir kraniologinės medžiagos iš Gintarų kapinyno tyrimo duomenys”, AL, 3 (2002), p. 79ff. 274 Banytė-Rowell, “Romėnų įtakos laikai ir baltų kultūrų klestėjimo laikotarpis”, fig. 2. 275 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, figs. 168a–b and 173; Eugenijus Jovaiša, “Krašto priešistorė”, in Tauragės kraštas: Istorija kultūra ir meno paminklai. Kolektyvinė monografija, ed. Dalia Klajumienė (Vilnius, 2007), p. 20ff. 276 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 145ff, p. 166, appendix 7; Werner, “Die magischen Schwertanhänger”, pp. 26–37.

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cultures men’s graves, single glass and glass paste beads were found together with weapons.277 According to the grave assemblages of Late Antiquity, in the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and Lower Neman group, horses and horse gear in general are related to well-armed men or high-ranking warriors belonging to the elite of Aestii society. The Lithuanian coast is the northernmost territory of the barbaricum where such graves are distributed on a significant scale from the second part of the second century to the beginning of the third century.278 The grave assemblages of well-armed men show279 that there was a hierarchy among warriors. The hierarchy of Aestii warriors was well developed, but is nothing like, according to the level of weaponry, that of the Germanic princeps (chiefs), comites (retinues) and pedites (infantry).280 Reflections of Amber in the Memory of the Aestii (Etymology, Landscape, Votive Offerings and Different Rituals) As Tacitus wrote, the Aestii called amber glaesum or glesum. These words might have their origins in old Germanic languages.281 The etymology of the word giñtaras—“amber”—among the Balts’ languages is not clear, despite many suggestions.282 It is not certain how the Germanic or Latinized Germanic word meaning glass (glesum or glaesum respectively) turned into the Lithuanian word giñtaras, meaning “amber”. Nevertheless, giñtaras and dzintaras became the common names for amber in Lithuania and Latvia respectively. Furthermore, from the Baltic word giñtaras, comes jentãr (янтарь in Russian). Gintaras provided new terms relating to the “northern gold”, such as gintarauti (to mine or collect drift amber), gintaringas (amberbearing place) and gintaruotas (amber-bearing place or something that has a

277 Michelbertas, “Prekybiniai ryšiai su Romos imperija”, p. 34ff; Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 145ff, p. 166, appendix 7. 278 Bliujienė and Butkus, “Armed Men and their Riding Horses as a Reflection of Warrior Hierarchy”, figs. 2 and 9. 279 According to the NAT index. 280 Jørgensen, “The Warriors, Soldiers and Conscripts”, p. 10, fig. 3; Sebastian Brather, “Acculturation and Ethnogenesis along the Frontier: Rome and the Ancient Germans in an Archaeological Perspective”, in Borders, Barriers, and Ethnogenesis: Frontiers in the Late Antiquity and Middle Ages. Studies in the Early Middle Ages, vol. 12, ed. Florin Curta (Brepols, 2005), pp. 143–171. 281 Būga, Rinktiniai raštai, vol. II, p. 290ff. 282 Dilytė, Antikinė literatūra, p. 383; Karaliūnas, Baltų praeitis istoriniuose šaltiniuose, vol. II, pp. 54–79; Zinkevičius, Lietuvių kalbos kilmė, p. 36ff.

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lot of amber), gintarėti (the process of forming amber), gintarnyčia (primitive amber mine), and gintarininkas (amber craftsman or amber trader). In Lithuania, one river is known by the name Gintarà; there are three Gintarai villages (in one of them, the Gintarai grave field is located); and two Gintaro įlankos (“Amber Bay”), one in Juodkrantė, formerly Schwarzort, and one in the Lūkstas Lake in the Plungė district). In the Lūkstas Lake Gintaro įlanka, amber has been found, which could have been used during Neolithic times and worked by the people who lived around this lake.283 Because of large amounts of amber beads found at the Mockaičiai grave field during a fieldwalking survey, the site has been given the name of Gintaro kalnas (“Amber Hillock”). In western Lithuania, and in the so-called historical Lamata Land, two place-names are known that are associated with amber. North of Priekulė township, not far from the coast, a known place was earlier referred to as an amber mine (Bernsteingruben).284 In the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries on the shores of the Curonian Lagoon, an amber bog (Bernsteinbruch) is mentioned in historical records and maps. The large bog existed just behind a large fishing village.285 A part of that bog, like the village, was called Gintaro pelkė (“Amber Bog”). At the beginning of the eighteenth century in this village, “near the water”, three Roman coins were found286 as well as jewellery dating to the tenth to eleventh centuries. Therefore, it is believed that a grave field had existed in the village’s vicinity.287 In 1979 in the place where Bernsteinbruch village may have been located, a fieldwalking survey took place, but no remains of graves, or of cultural layers or archaeological finds were found.288 Consequently, it may be that the bog and the name of the village arose from amber that

283 Adomas Butrimas, “The Amber Ornament Collection from Daktariškė 5 Neolithic Settlement”, Baltic Amber (Vilnius), 2001, p. 19. 284 Hollack, Erläuterungen zur vorgeschichtlichen Übersichtskarte von Ostpreussen, map; Žulkus, Kuršiai Baltijos jūros erdvėje, fig. 8; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 392, fig. 223. 285 Kęstutis Demereckas, “Gintaro pelkė/Bernsteinbruch”, in Klaipėdos dvarai, ed. K. Demereckas (Klaipėda, 2005), p. 95 ff. 286 Emperors Augustus (27 BC–14 AD) and Hadrian (117–138) and one unidentified Roman coin. However, how many coins were found in reality is unknown. 287 Vladas Žulkus, Klaipėdos m. archeologiškai vertingos teritorijos, vol. II. Rašytinės žinios. Kultūrinių sluoksnių ataskaita (Unpublished excavation report, in LII R, f. 1, no. 872), pp. 2, 10–11, fig. 2. 288 Jonas Genys, Klaipėdos m. Archeologiškai vertingos teritorijos žvalgomųjų tyrinėjimų ataskaita, 1979 m. (Unpublished excavation report from 1979, in LII R, f. 1, no. 739), pp. 9–14.

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was stratified in sediments of the swampy coastal lake or because it was the site of votive offerings in which amber was submerged in the water. We have very little information about votive offerings involving amber or amber artefacts during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Therefore, had votive offerings taken place on the coast of present-day Klaipėda in the “Amber Bog”, it would be a significant connection of the Aestii culture with amber. Also, the offerings of coins and other artefacts along with amber and glass beads “drowned” in the water would link the territory of the Aestii cultures289 with southern Scandinavia, the islands of the Baltic Sea (Bornholm, Öland and Gotland) and northern Germany and southwestern Poland (Pomerania), where many different votive offerings in water are known.290 However, amber was sacrificed not only in the water. Amber shows up among other types of offerings, like at the Gudme Halls (structure no. 556, southeastern Funen) complex ritual place of the first half of the third century. Here, among the 1,000 artefacts found, a certain amount of amber beads were discovered.291 So, barbarian amber gatherers and traders had the tradition of performing votive offerings in the water, in bogs and wetlands, in shallow lagoons, and in damp meadows, with the most important aspect of the ceremony being the amber offering. The northern frontier of the spread of amber water sacrifices coincides with the Pasłęka River, which is the traditional cultural border between the Germans and the Aestii. Thus far we do not have direct data about amber votive water offerings in the territory of the Aestii cultures. However, in the territory of the Aestii’s trade partner, the people of the Wielbark culture, seven votive offering places are known where amber artefacts and raw amber have been found. The best known amber water votive offering place is the Buczek bog beside Białogard (Poland) where 800, or even 1,200–2,000 unfinished amber artefacts were found, among them amber

289 In recent years on the Sambian Peninsula, Roman coin offerings have been found in the water according to information provided to the author by Konstantin Skvorzov. 290 Hagberg, The Archaeology of Skedemosse, vol. I, p. 63; Hagberg, The Archaeology of Skedemosse, vol. II, p. 64ff and p. 102ff; Tadeusz Makiewicz, “Z badań nad ofiarami na terenie Polski w okresie przedrzymskim i rzymskim”, in Wierzenia przedchrześcijańskie na ziemiach polskich, eds. Marian Kwapiński and Henryk Paner (Gdańsk, 1993), pp. 68–75; Andrzej Kokowski, “W kwiestii ofiar i miejsc ofiarnych na ziemiach polskich w młodszym okresie przedrzymskim i okresie rzymskim”, in Kwapiński and Paner, Wierzienia przedchrześcijańskie, p. 92ff. 291 In this ritual place were found: Roman denarii, six fibulae, an animal figure, a lance head, fragments of metal vessels, a belt set, and different jewellery, fragments of glass beakers, glass and amber beads. See: “Catalogue”, in Jørgensen, Storgaard and Thomsen, The Spoils of Victory, p. 431.

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beads, amber figure-of-eight pendants, and also glass beads, and gold, silver, and bronze ornaments, and three Roman denarii, as well as sherds of various vessels.292 Based on the jewellery found in the Buczek bog, it has been established that offerings were made from the second half of the first century to the third century. One more votive offering site, where offered amber artefacts, glass beads and spearheads have been found, is the Dargikowo bog, which is also not far from Białogard.293 In addition to amber deposits (particular storehouses) in settlements (Wrocław–Partynice; Fig. 7) and amber workshops in the Przeworsk culture territory, as many as six votive offering places are known in the Warta, Notec and Prosna Rivers.294 Amber beads and coins from the second century have been found in the bogs of Grodziec in the Mazowia region.295 Even the famous Basonia beads and raw amber hoard, though discovered in uncertain circumstances, was undoubtedly found in the swampy valley of the Vistula River.296 Therefore, this well-known hoard is most likely a votive offering drowned in the water. Certainly, amber offerings drowned in the water brings us back to much earlier times when in Europe from the late Palaeolithic to the late Neolithic and the Bronze Age, unworked amber lumps and artefacts were one of the main objects to be offered in lakes, rivers, bogs and wetlands. During the

292 Blume, Die germanischen Stämme und die Kulturen zwischen Oder und Passarge zur römischen Kaiserzeit, p. 178; Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 146ff, appendix 2, plate 77; Tadeusz Makiewicz and Andrzej Michałowski, “Pracownia obróbki bursztynu w osadzie kultury Przeworskiej w Sosnowcu koło Śremu (woj. Poznańskie) na tle porównawczym”, Folia Praehistorica Posnaniensia VIII (1997), 153ff, fig. 7; Kokowski, “W kwiestii ofiar i miejsc ofiarnych na ziemiach polskich w młodszym okresie przedrzymskim i okresie rzymskim”, p. 91, fig. 1; Reszczyńska, “Zabytki bursztynowe w kulturze wielbarskiej i w grupie masłomęckiej”, p. 91ff and pp. 105–116, map 21. 293 Blume, Die germanischen Stämme und die Kulturen zwischen Oder und Passarge zur römischen Kaiserzeit, p. 179; Makiewicz and Michałowski, “Pracownia obróbki bursztynu w osadzie kultury Przeworskiej w Sosnowcu koło Śremu (woj. Poznańskie) na tle porównawczym”, p. 71. 294 The find-spots at Kierzno, Kępno, Kołdrąb, Kuźnica Bobrowska and Zębowo. For this, see: Makiewicz and Michałowski, “Pracownia obróbki bursztynu w osadzie kultury Przeworskiej w Sosnowcu koło Śremu (woj. Poznańskie) na tle porównawczym”, p. 153ff, fig. 7. 295 Kokowski. “W kwiestii ofiar i miejsc ofiarnych na ziemiach polskich w młodszym okresie przedrzymskim i okresie rzymskim”, p. 92. 296 The literature indicates differing weights and sizes for the Basonia amber hoard. Most of what is written describes a find of 300 kilograms of raw amber and 30 kilograms of beads. The published Basonia hoard is made up of 304 completed and semi-processed amber beads, 11 fragments, and 18 lumps of raw amber. See: Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 146; Kolendo, “Napływ burztynu z Północy na tereny imperium rzymskiego”, p. 98; P. Wielowiejski, “Skarb bursztynu z późniego okresu rzymskiego odkryty w miejscowości Basonia”, p. 101ff.

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Neolithic period the purposeful offering of amber in the water was one of the important ritual accents of different cultures.297 In northern Europe (especially on the Jutland Peninsula), large votive offerings of amber artefacts and raw amber in the water were known during the Stone and Bronze Ages.298 Juodkrantė on the Curonian Spit on the bank of the lagoon was seemingly the main sacred place (Alkas in Lithuanian) for the entire spit and for neighbouring regions during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Amber artefact offerings were made here.299 Judging by the collection of the so-called “Juodkrantė amber artefacts”, offerings may have been made here till the late Bronze Age. Obviously, some of the pagan sacred places had great longevity. For example, Gdynia-Wielki Kack in the Gdańsk Bay was a sacred place in the coastal bog where amber votive offerings were performed from the Neolithic, with interludes of course, up to the Late Antique period. In Gdynia-Wielki Kack, the well-known Neolithic/Bronze Age amber figure of a woman and several Late Antique amber beads were found.300 During the Stone Age, the relationship between amber and a certain world view is clear from several aspects. Firstly, through the deliberate offering of amber in the water. Secondly, some of the amber artefacts and their design reflect the main characteristics of a significant world view of the Stone Age peoples. For these people, the round amber discs with an equilateral cross, along with the yellow colour of the amber symbolized the sun. In the same way, man’s conceptualized and graphically portrayed equilateral cross symbolically conveys the order of the world.301 Bronze Age persons of high social status who desired to become the godly leaders of a tribe or who wanted to be worshipped by their descendants as ancestor spirits developed the purposeful rituals of offering amber in the water. They formulated the principle,

297

Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 188ff. Jørgen Jensen, Rav. Nordens guld (København, 2000), p. 37ff; Ingrid Griesa, “Die früheisenzeitlichen Funde der Lausitzer Kultur”, in Hallstattzeit. Die Altertümer im Museum für Vor-und Frühgeschichte, 2, ed. Wilfried Menghin (Mainz, 1999), p. 128ff, plate 81; Zbigniew Bukowski, Znaleziska bursztynu w zespołach z epoki brązu i z wczesnej epoki źelaza z dorzecza Odry oraz Wisły (Warszawa, 2002), fig. 86. 299 Rimutė Rimantienė, Nida senųjų baltų gyvenvietė (Vilnius, 1989), p. 85; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 85ff and p. 171. 300 Wolfgang La Baume, Vorgeschichte von Westpreussen in ihren Grundzügen allgemeinverständl. dargestellt (Danzig, 1920), plate I; Reszczyńska, “Zabytki bursztynowe w kulturze wielbarskiej i w grupie masłomęckiej”, p. 93, map 21; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 91.3. 301 Rimantienė, Kuršių nerija archeologo žvilgsniu (Vilnius, 1999), p. 43ff; Butrimas, “The Amber Ornament Collection from Daktariškė 5 Neolithic Settlement”, pp. 12–18, fig. 7.1; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 150ff, figs. 101–103. 298

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“I give so that I may receive”. Amber was an integral feature of this ritual.302 Amber was sacrificed in the water, regardless of whether it was collected in the north or used in the south. Elaborate amber necklaces were found in bogs near Cles (Trent in Italy) in the Bronze Age and at Wierzbnica in Poland in the La Tène period.303 Besides amber sacrifices in the water at the end of the Bronze Age, in Sardinia and Italy amber beads and sculptures, along with other objects, were sacrificed in shrines.304 During the Middle Ages in Lithuania, hoards of amber artefacts or votive offerings ended up in the water. In the Sartai Lake on Dumblynė Island, an eleventh- to twelfth-century hoard of ornaments, which may have been assembled by Sellonian craftsmen and hidden during dangerous times in the former settlement, were found on the lake bank, because the water of the lake (as with the other lakes of Lithuania) had dried up.305 It may be that more than 80 amber beads, in addition to several dozen blue glass beads and bronze spirals as well as headband spacer plates, so-called “bridle jewellery”, were drowned in the Sartai Lake as a votive offering (Fig. 60). A sacrificial hoard was found at Celmini (Kuldīga district in Latvia) during the ploughing of a peat bog. In addition to bronze ornaments characteristic of the Liv and Curonian women, four amber beads were found in this deposit.306 The Celmini sacrificial deposit belongs to the category of the “bridle jewellery” offerings, which were fairly widespread during the Middle Ages. In the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries, the Sudovians, the famous amber gatherers from the Sambian Peninsula, had some specific holy places on the Baltic Sea coast where amber has been found in healing springs.307 One of those special holy sites would have been seen in the Auksinė/Austkė River

302 Griesa, Die früheisenzeitlichen Funde der Lausitzer Kultur, p. 128ff; George Eogan, “From Skåne to Scotstown: some notes on amber in Bronze Age Ireland”, in Experiment and Design: Archaeological Studies in Honour of John Coles, ed. Anthony F. Harding (Oxbow Books, 1999), p. 75ff, table 9.1. 303 Eogan, “From Skåne to Scotstown”, p. 75ff; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 253ff, fig. 154; Nuccia Negroni Catacchio, “Amber as Prestige and Social Indicator in Late Prehistoric Italy”, in Amber in Archaeology, Belgrade (Belgrade, 2009), plate I.1. 304 Negroni Catacchio, “Amber as Prestige and Social Indicator in Late Prehistoric Italy”, p. 191ff. 305 Grižas, Gytis. Dumblynės (Sartų ež. salos) Rokiškio raj. 1997 m. tyrinėjimų ataskaita (Unpublished excavation report from 1997, in LII R, f. 1, no. 2970); G. Grižas, “Sartų ežero salos žvalgomieji tyrinėjimai,” in ATL in 1996 and 1997 (Vilnius, 1998), p. 194ff; G. Grižas, “Sartų ežero salos Dumblynės gyvenvietė”, in ATL in 1998 and 1999 (Vilnius, 2000), p. 29ff. 306 Vladislav Urtāns, Senākie depozīti Latvijā (līdz 1200. g.) (Rīga, 1977), p. 101, fig. 10. 307 Matas Pretorijus, “Žinios apie lietuvių būdą, prigimtį ir gyvenseną”, in BMRŠ vol. III, ed. Norbertas Vėlius (Vilnius, 2003), p. 236ff; M. Pretorijus, Senovės prūsų idololatrija, in Prūsijos įdomybės, arba Prūsijos regykla, vol. III, book IV, ed. Ingė Lukšaitė (Vilnius, 2006), p. 131.

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Fig. 60. The eleventh- to twelfth-century amber beads and women’s bronze ornaments—votive offering in the water or hoard. Deposit was found on a bank of Dumblynė (Rokiškis district) Island in the Sartai Lake, northeastern Lithuania. Photograph by Kęstutis Stoškus. Courtesy of the LNM (AR590:1–53) in Vilnius.

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(the right tributary of the Pregolia, now the Golubaja River in Kaliningrad region; the etymology of the river name is “shining”; in Lithuanian “gold”).308 It is possible that in the thirteenth century, Romuva, the main Balt religious centre and holy place, was located at the confluence of the Auksinė and Pregolia Rivers near Mezhdureche (formerly Norkitten, Kaliningrad region, Russia; in Lithuanian, Narkyčiai).309 Matthäus Prätorius (in Lithuanian, Matas Pretorijus, 1635–1707), who was engaged in investigations of Prussian prehistory and history, mentions that amber in the Auksinė River was washed out naturally.310 However, it may well be that the amber that washed ashore was amber that had once been offered. There is no doubt that in the main Balt holy place, Romuva, offerings were made in thanks for success in battle. That would have meant a third of the war booty, as recorded by Peter from Dusburg.311 Offerings may also have been made by amber gatherers. Amber offerings may have taken place in the Auksinė River, which flowed beside the Romuva. Amber offerings in the water, especially those made in the main temples like Romuva, may have been to thank the gods for the opportunity to successfully gather, work and trade amber. Amber offerings made in sacrificial bogs were only one part of the entire votive offering ritual. Therefore, the intentions behind the offerings had to reflect the main tenets of the religious practice of the time. Seemingly, those offerings were an attempt at the acceptance of death and could have been a sacred way of opening the gateway to the afterlife. Alternatively, amber may have been offered back into the water from which it naturally came. It is not easy to determine the significance of amber in the system of the pagan world view of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. During the Late Antique period, the traditional uses of amber in the vast barbaricum territories were relatively similar: women and children, and even newborns, wore amber the most. Bits of amber or amber beads were often given to an infant, and in fact small pieces of amber were popular baptismal gifts in Sweden, even in the middle of the twentieth century.312 The Romans and the barbarians alike used amber to cure the same illnesses. Certain amber amulets may have been kept for their electrostatic properties, their healing purposes and their antiseptic qualities (incense), or for their colours. Presumably, women

308

Vilius Pėteraitis, Mažoji Lietuva ir Tvanksta (Vilnius, 1992), p. 69 and p. 275. Vykintas Vaitkevičius, “Raktas Romuvai”, Liaudies kultūra 6 (2003), p. 16ff, fig. 11, 12. 310 Pretorijus, “Žinios apie lietuvių būdą, prigimtį ir gyvenseną”, p. 236ff; Pretorijus, Senovės prūsų idololatrija, p. 131ff. 311 Karol Modzelewski, Barbarų Europa (Vilnius, 2007), p. 354. 312 Hagberg, The Archaeology of Skedemosse, vol. II, p. 104. 309

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and children wore amber because of its healing and antiseptic qualities. It might be that the antiseptic properties of amber had been known for a very long time and that is why ritual cups and spoons were produced from amber in the Bronze Age.313 On the other hand, materials such as amber, beads of precious metals, and certain semi-precious stones, were considered by the people of various tribes to have the power to protect. Therefore, amulets were often made from these materials. By Late Antiquity and especially during the Middle Ages, amber amulets were being produced. These were Thor’s, or Perkūnas’s, hammers, clubs, staffs or axes. Both the Germans and the Balts placed the same mythological images onto these amulets—the attributes of a sacrificed sky god, giving them the opportunity to protect themselves with these images. Also, the Thunder God was associated with fertility. The Balts’ songs and tales bear witness to the weddings of the gods, in which the Thunder God, Perkūnas, participated. His function was to engender fertility.314 Therefore, it is not surprising that we find amber staffs and hammer pendants in the graves of women. However, not all artefacts created by the people of Antiquity (for example, capsules) or similar ones by the Germans, were understood in the way in which they were meant to be understood. For the Aestii, capsules became a nice fashion accent in their necklaces (Fig. 48). From Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, a large number of so-called “medical” votive gifts representing various parts of the body are known.315 Among them are pendants that are parts of the leg with a foot made from amber. These were made by the Aquileia workshops (Fig. 24.9).316 Their interpretation is that they were offered to the gods either as a request for help to heal a sick part of the body, or as an offering of thanks for the gods’ help to cure sickness. In the Viking Age settlements at Hedeby/Haithabu (Germany), Ribe (in Jutland), Wolin (Poland), Kaupang (Norway), etc., amulets in the shape of the lower leg (the foot and the calf ) were crafted which were

313

Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 13.1,2; Also see: Chapter Four, Fig. 107. Laurinkienė, Senovės lietuvių dievas Perkūnas, pp. 129–134. In Vitlycke (Bohulän region in Sweden) there is a known carved picture stone with a figure of an armed man (perhaps a deity). It seems that the armed man is blessing matrimonial relations. See: Paulsen, Axt und Kreuz in Nord- und Osteuropa, p. 219, fig. 110. 315 Ingrid Ulbricht, “Bernsteinverarbeitung in Haithabu”, in Das archäologische Fundmaterial, vol. 5. Berichte über die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu, 27 (Neümunster, 1990), plate 8.12, 14, 13.11; Choińska-Bochdan, “Bursztyn w kulturze”, fig. II.89.e; Gräslund, “Some Vikingage Amulets—the Birka Evidence”, p. 94ff, fig. 5.c,d; Jean Bagnall-Smith, “Aspects of Votive Offerings in South-East Britain”, in Ritual Landscapes of Roman South-east, Britain, ed. David Rudling (Oxford, 2008), p. 164, figs. 8.6, 8.7. 316 Calvi, Aquileia: le ambre romane, plate 91.2 314

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made from bone, antler, wood or amber (some of them clearly depict the left foot).317 So far, votives that represent the foot have only been found in sacred places or in layers of dwelling places where, it would seem, they were specially offered. In the eleventh-century temple in Wolin, a large wooden leg was found.318 Medical votives are not found in graves because, seemingly, it was believed that they would not help the deceased in the afterlife. In certain Late Antique graves, single amber beads are found, as well as pendants or bits and lumps of raw amber, which can be attributed to amulets. As to whether the amber beads or lumps were really amulets or not is a difficult question, because it is only possible to properly define the function of a piece of amber by analysing its position in relation to the other grave goods and the posture of the deceased. For this reason, those graves in which the individual amber beads found are positioned on the chest of the deceased, under the jaw bone, under the back or head, at the bottom of the coffin, on one or the other side of the thigh (Fig. 49), or are placed in the mouth of the deceased, are important.319 Lumps of amber found in graves are often exceptional. They can be of a rare colour, form or texture (Fig. 54). They may have been amulets, or they may have indicated the occupation of the deceased person, whether they were an amber collector, an amber craftsman or a trader (pedlar). The western Balts used amber for funerary rites. The meaning of these rites is not always clear. In the Palanga grave field, between the graves of the end of the eighth century to the beginning of the ninth century, an amber spindle whorl was found at the bottom of a special pit. However, the purpose of this pit, as well as the amber item found in it, is unclear.320 Likewise, miniature metal distaffs are sometimes found in special pits, supposedly offering pits (Gintališkė and Griežė grave fields in western Lithuania).321 In Pokrovskoje (formerly Sorgenau on the Sambian Peninsula) grave field, a few pieces of amber that were mostly burned were found above some Middle Age graves.322

317

For images see, Chapter Four, Fig. 135.1,5. Władysław Filipowiak, “Słowiańskie wierzenia pogańskie u ujścua Odry”, in Kwapiński and Paner, Wierzienia przedchrześcijańskie, p. 25ff, fig. 8. 319 Wahle, Liepājas Rucavas Mazkatuźi, 1924 (Unpublished excavation report from 1924, in LVM, A A, no. 52); Stjernquist, “2. Amber in Iron Age Finds in Sweden”, p. 38ff; Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, p. 179. 320 Vladas Žulkus, “Naujai rasti kapai Palangos VIII–XIII a. kapinyne”, in ATL in 1992 and 1993 (Vilnius, 1994), p. 170. 321 For this see Chapter Four, Fig. 110. 322 Vladimir I. Kulakov, “Raboty Baltiiskogo otriada”, in Arhkeologicheskie otkritia 1976 goda, ed. Boris A. Rybakov (Moskva, 1976), p. 22. 318

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Several pieces of burned amber were found in the sixth-/seventh-century Dollkeim-Kovrovo grave field man’s cremation grave 266.323 It is difficult to judge the purpose of three small amber beads (ones which were not burned) found together with sherds of several vessels and a few pieces of broken bronze artefacts in the Baitai grave field in the two fireplaces set up above the grave.324 Single raw amber bits were found in Lithuania’s Late Antique period and Middle Ages in the settlements’ fireplaces and in pits of an unclear usage at Bandužiai–Žardė, Stančiai and Romai–Zeigai, and at the foot of the southern, so-called Birutė’s Hillock (hill-fort) settlement.325 Very little amber was found in the pits of the above-mentioned settlements. The amber bits in most of cases were not burned and were therefore not used as incense. It may be that amber of a lesser quality for processing could have been left in these pits or that this amber may have been used as offerings. Some similarities to pits with amber from Lithuania are known from the Sosnowiec (Poznan voivodship in Poland) settlement.326 In the Sosnowiec settlement, dated to the late La Tène period—the first century after Christ, in amber workshops finished and unfinished amber artefacts were found, together with amber shavings and other processing waste, in a pit along with burned amber shavings. It might be that here the remains of amber processing were burned, or perhaps these amber remains may have been offerings.327 Unworked amber lumps are found in the Przeworsk culture burial sites under similar circumstances, and therefore it is believed that amber was burned for ritualistic purposes.328 Some parallels with the above-mentioned amber burning can be found in Pliny the Elder’s text. He wrote about how

323

Kulakov, “Dollkeim-Kovrovo Issledovaniia 1992–2002 gg.”, p. 49. It is not clear if the fireplaces were contemporaneous with the Late Antique graves. See: Rasa Banytė, Baičių kapinyno žvalgomieji tyrinėjimai, in ATL in 1988 and 1989 (Vilnius, 1990), p. 72. 325 Vladas Žulkus, “Birutės Kalno gyvenvietės Palangoje tyrinėjimai 1990 m.”, in ATL in 1990 and 1991, vol. I (Vilnius, 1992), p. 65; Reda Švelniūtė, “Romų-Zeigių senovės gyvenvietė”, in Archeologiniai tyrinėjimai Lietuvoje 2003 metais (Vilnius, 2005), p. 51ff; Linas Tamulynas, “Senovės gyvenviečių Jogučių (Spirkių) kapinyno aplinkoje tyrimai”, in ATL Lietuvoje 2007 metais (Vilnius, 2008), p. 108ff. 326 Mostly in the pits are found fragments of charcoal, animal bones and teeth, potsherds and small raw amber bits, which are sometimes burnt-out. 327 Makiewicz and Michałowski, “Pracownia obróbki bursztynu w osadzie kultury Przeworskiej w Sosnowcu koło Śremu (woj. Poznańskie) na tle porównawczym”, pp. 137–154, figs. 6, 7; P. Wielowiejski, “Ślady obróbki bursztynu w osadzie kultury Przeworskiej w Sosnowcu, gm. Śrem, woj. Poznańskie”, Folia Praehistorica Posnaniensi VIII (1997), p. 159ff, fig. 4. 328 Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Centrum kulturowe z pierwszych wieków naszej ery u ujścia Wisły”, pp. 139–156. 324

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amber was used as incense and how it was burned as fuel.329 In the middle of the sixteenth century, amber and wax were offered in the church in the coastal township of Šventoji (on the Baltic Sea coast north of Palanga).330 Amber was used as incense in the Palanga church right up to the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, amber shavings were used, which were found where a burned-down amber factory had once stood.331 Lithuania’s Late Antique Imported Artefacts as a Reflection of Inter-Regional and Regional Trade In the second half of the first century, that is, after Pliny the Elder’s mentioned trade mission to the coasts of Germania to bring amber back to Rome, the first imported artefacts from the provinces of the Imperium Romanum showed up in the eastern Baltic region. Through external and internal trade, the mass of Roman imports, or let’s say very popular imports such as beads, and a very few rare imported items from the Roman provinces, reached Lithuania.332 However, neither in the early Roman period, nor later, were the Balts tribes’ trade relationships with the provinces of the Roman Empire direct. Although, doubtless, the economic boom of the Aestii cultures was the result of their being involved in various levels of exchange.333 The greatest part of the Late Antique Roman imports that reached Lithuania was made up of mass-produced items—translucent glass, monochrome and multicoloured glass paste, gold foil glass, mosaic (millefiori) beads, which are known in Lithuania from 59 find-spots and which are almost all from burial sites.334 Pulverized monochrome (dark orange) glass paste beads, it would seem, were used as an enamel for the decoration of local bronze ornaments produced by the champlevé technique.335 It is not possible

329

Plini, Naturalis Historiae, XXXVII § 37, 48. Mikelis K. Balčius, “Gintaro rinkimas Lietuvos pajūryje ir gintaras šventojiškių XVII– XX a. pirmosios pusės puošyboje”, Kultūros paminklai 8 (2001), p. 37. 331 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 22, footnote 14. 332 Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum. 333 Valdemars Ģinters, “Romas imports Latvijā”, Senatne un māksla 2 (1936), p. 47; Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr. II, pp. 587–592, figs. 85 and 86; Puzinas, Naujausių proistorinių tyrinėjimų duomenys, p. 63ff; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 216ff. 334 Mykolas Michelbertas, “Romos imperijos įtakos baltų genčių kultūrai klausimu”, MAD A 1/18 (1965), p. 24. 335 Anna Bitner-Wróblewska and Teresa Stawiarska, “Badania technologiczne wschodioeurojskich zabytków zdobionych emalią”, in Bitner-Wróblewska and Iwanowska, Bałtowie i ich sąsiedzi, p. 320ff. 330

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to carefully count all the glass and glass paste beads imported into the territory of Lithuania, but according to data from 2007, the number was around 10,000 items (Fig. 61).336 An especially large number of glass beads (much more than along the coast) were found in the grave fields of central Lithuania. In Lithuania, glass beads showed up together with winged and profiled brooches (Fig. 15.1,3–5).337 However, in Lithuania only eight winged brooches were found (Types A238m and A238r). It is believed that they were perhaps made in Pannonia for the purpose of special trade with the Aestii or even the inhabitants of Lithuania.338 However, the winged brooches found in Lithuania, unlike those found in the Roman provinces, were found only in men’s graves. Besides winged brooches, only eight more imported profiled brooches of Types A67, 68, 69 and 71 are known from Lithuanian sites. These ornaments originate in the Danube provinces and are dated to the mid first century to the second century (Figs. 14; 15.1,6).339 Distribution of profiled brooches of Type A71 covers a large territory from the Jutland Peninsula to Pomerania, and to the Lower Vistula region. The northernmost find-spot of these brooches is in northern Lithuania at the Kuršiai grave field. Also discovered were two enamelled brooches with a triangular foot,340 and three

336 About 11,000 glass beads were recorded from the north German provinces of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, most of them found as grave goods. See: Erdrich and Voß, “Die Perlen der Germanen des 1.–5. Jahrhunderts”, p. 90ff. 337 Roman period brooch types are indicated after Oscar Almgren, Studien über nordeuropäische Fibelformen der Ersten Nachchristlichen Jahrhunderte mit Berücksichtigung der Provinzialrömischen und Südrussischen Formen (Stockholm, 1897). For import distribution in the Eastern Baltic region see: Michelbertas, “Prekybiniai ryšiai su Romos imperija”, pp. 34–47; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 100ff and p. 189ff; Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum, p. 62ff, plate 11; Kaczyński, “Z problematyki kontaktów zachodnich bałtów z prowincjami Imperium Romanum”, p. 171ff; Jerzy Okulicz, “Powiązania pobrzeża wschodniego Bałtyku i centrum sambijskiego z południem w podokresie wczesnorzymskim”, in Kultury Archeologiczne i strefy kulturowe w Europie Środkowej w okresie wpływów rzymskich. Materiały z konferencji zorganizowanej przez Polskie Towarzystwo Archeologiczne Oddział w Nowej Hucie i Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w dniach 20–22 września 1972 roku w Nowej Hucie i Krakowie. Zeszyty naukowe uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Prace archeologiczne, CCCCXXII/ 22 (1976) p. 205ff; Nowakowski, “Rzymskie importy przemysłowe na terytorium zachodniobałtyjskiego kręgu kulturowego”, pp. 70–75. 338 Nowakowski, “Rzymskie importy przemysłowe na terytorium zachodniobałtyjskiego kręgu kulturowego”, p. 95ff, fig. 2, table I.1–3; II.1; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 106ff; Michelbertas, “Romėnų didiko ekspedicija gintarui”, p. 18ff; Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum, plates 2–5. 339 Michelbertas, “Prekybiniai ryšiai su Romos imperija”, p. 28; Nowakowski, “Kulturowy krąg zachodniobałtyjski w okrese wpływów rzymskich”, fig. 5. 340 Kurt Exner Type I.32. See: Kurt Exner, “Die provinzialrömischen Emailfibeln der Rheinlande”, Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 29/1939 (1941), p. 82, plate 8.

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Fig. 61. Distribution of the Roman imports in Lithuania. Map prepared by the author referring to: Mykolas Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum; Eugenijus Jovaiša, “The Balts and Amber”, fig. 2.

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differently-shaped fibulae decorated with enamel inlays (Fig. 15.2).341 Brooches with a triangular foot decorated with enamel inlays were traditionally considered to be from the Rhineland. They have been found in the Roman Empire provinces: Gaul, Raetia, Noricum and Pannonia.342 However, almost all of these imported brooches were found not along the coast or in the grave fields of the Lower Neman, but in the Collective Barrow culture territory and the burial sites of central Lithuania, implying a great distance from the coast (Fig. 14).343 The distribution of brooches and other imports of the early Roman period partially reflect the route that moved in the direction of the Vistula Delta (Fig. 14).344 However, the northern section of this route branches off at the Vistula’s confluence with its right tributary the Narew (and perhaps the Wkra River) and the Drwęca (formerly Drewenz) Rivers. One branch turns towards the Great Mazurian Lakes region and further northwards leads towards the central, northern and eastern parts of Lithuania.345 This trade route existed from the La Téne period and is confirmed by the distribution of imports and the general development of the territory of the Aestii cultures, as it was based on inter-cultural relations, similar burial rites, common local types of ornaments, etc.346 However, the majority of the imports that came along this route remained at the crossroads. The implication of this is that most of the fashionable imports were left to the Bogaczewo culture people,

341 Close to K. Exner Types II.4, III.46 and III.52; Hans Jürgen Eggers, Der römische Import im freien Germanien. Atlas der Urgeschichte, vol. 1 (Hamburg, 1951), p. 157ff, map 4; Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum, p. 47ff, plate 9.1–5. 342 Katarzyna Czarnecka, Oblin: Ein Gräberfeld der Przeworsk-Kultur in Südmasowien, in Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica, vol. XIII (Warszawa, 2007), p. 75, plates CLXXX.1; CCLXXX.4. 343 Ģinters, “Romas imports Latvijā”, pp. 47–60, figs. 3–5; Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr. II, pp. 588–599, fig. 85; Latvijas PSR arheoloģija, fig. 56; Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum, plates 3.2; 5.3; 6–9; Ludwika Sawicka and Gytis Grižas, “Mogila wielkoludów . . . szwedów czy konfederatów. Cmentarzysko kurhanowe w Pakalniszkach (Północna Litwa) w świetle badań Marii Butrymówny w 1897 roku”, WA LIX (2007), p. 187ff, fig. 5.c. 344 Okulicz-Kozaryn and Nowakowski, “In Search of the Amber Routes. Traces of Contacts between South-Eastern Coasts of the Baltic Sea and the Celto–Illyrian and Dacian Territories”, p. 167ff; Wojciech Nowakowski, “„Książęca“ zapinka ze zniszczonego cmentarzyska kultury przeworskiej w Karwowie, pod Sohaczewem”, in COMHLAN (Warszawa, 1999), p. 279ff, fig. 5. 345 Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr. II, pp. 644–652, fig. 91; Vladislav V. Kropotkin, Klady rimskikh monet na territorii SSSR, Arkheologia SSSR Svod Arkheologicheskikh istochnikov, G4–4, ed. Boris A. Rybakov (Moskva, 1961), fig. 10; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 263ff, figs. 156–158. 346 Merkevičius, “Retos žalvarinės apyrankės”, p. 81ff; Nowakowski, “Kulturowy krąg zachodniobałtyjski w okrese wpływów rzymskich”, pp. 43–61, figs. 1–9.

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while another part, a smaller amount, reached the Sudovian culture communities. It is difficult to determine the Bogaczewo culture people’s trade equivalents with their northern neighbours, but a portion of the imports that reached the communities of the Bogaczewo culture after some transactions travelled further to the north and the northeast and might have reached the territory of Lithuania. Some of the imports from the mid first century to the mid second century (glass beads, coins and a very few brooches) may have reached Lithuania’s coast through the Sambian Peninsula or along maritime routes from southern Scandinavia, where brooches of Type A71 and enamelled brooches with a triangular foot were common.347 It is possible that some of the imported brooches that reached southern Latvia and northern Lithuania may have arrived by a sea route via the Gulf of Riga, and then using the Lielupe–Mūša River and the Nemunėlis (Mēmele) River single imports reached the territory of the Collective Barrow culture (Figs. 5.3; 14; 61). Therefore, in many ways, these trade exchanges and influxes of imports had no direct tie with the amber trade. So, the implication is that amber travelled to the Collective Barrow culture and central Lithuania along the same trade routes as other imports and that this import inflow was not connected with the Lithuanian coast (Figs. 14; 61; Table 1). The second largest influx of Roman period imports into Lithuania was made up of coins. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them are bronze sestertii. According to data from 2001, 102 Roman coin find-spots are known (graves, hoards, settlements and isolated finds).348 In Lithuania, 17 Roman coin hoards were found,349 in which about 900 coins were counted. Roman coins were found in 36 burial sites—about 180 men’s, women’s, and children’s graves (Fig. 51).350 Hoards were mostly found in central Lithuania. Meanwhile, in western Lithuania, Roman coins were mainly found in graves. A small amount of denarii and a large amount of a mass-issued sestertii

347

Nowakowski, “ ‘Książęca’ zapinka ze zniszczonego cmentarzyska kultury przeworskiej”, p. 293ff, fig. 5; Czarnecka, Oblin: Ein Gräberfeld der Przeworsk-Kultur, p. 75. 348 Michelbertas, “Prekybiniai ryšiai su Romos imperija”, pp. 110–124; Mykolas Michelbertas, “Tezavrirovanie rimskikh monet na territorii Litvy”, in Pieniądz i banki (tezauryzacja, obieg pienięźny, bankowość)—wspólnota dziejów—Białoruś–Litwa–Łotwa–Polska–Słowacja– Ukraina. Materiały z V Międzynarodowj Konferencij Numizmatycznej, Suprasl 5–7 IX 2002, ed. Krzysztof Filipow (Warszawa, 2002), p. 77ff. 349 One more Roman coin hoard with c. 500 coins found at Čižiūnai (Alytus district) is mentioned by Vladislav V. Kropotkin. See: Kropotkin, Klady rimskikh monet na territorii SSSR, p. 101. 350 Michelbertas, “Tezavrirovanie rimskikh monet na territorii Litvy”, p. 78ff.

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differentiates the territory of the Aestii cultures from the Wielbark351 and Przeworsk cultures and even from the Aestii’s of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture. In Lithuania, the disparity between silver denarii and bronze sestertii is especially great because only 60 silver denarii are known. Clearly we will never know the exact number of Roman coins found in Lithuania because of the fragmented nature of the data. However, at the last count, more than 1,400 Roman coins were known from Lithuanian sites (Fig. 61). In Lithuania, only four coins from the period of the late Roman Republic were discovered. They ended up in the ground later, together with coins of the Roman Empire. Only 12 first-century sestertii (from isolated finds, hoards, graves) were found, but these coins made their way into burials and hoards no earlier than the transition phase of the early and the late Roman periods, meaning much later.352 Most of the coins belonged to the emperors of the Antoninus dynasty between the reigns of Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 98–117) and Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, 161–180). Quite commonly, Emperor Commodus (Liucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus, 180–192) bronze sestertii are found. The latest coins belonged to the reign of the Emperor Trebonian Gallus (Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus, 251–253). Considerably fewer find-spots, only 44 and only circa 480–500 Roman sestertii, are known in Latvia. Most of the Roman coins, circa 419, come from 12 hoards, but the authenticity of some of the deposits is questionable.353 A considerable number of the Roman coins may have arrived in Latvia from the eastern part of the Empire via the cities of the Black Sea or the so-called “Black Sea Route” or “Eastern Route” along the Dnieper River (in Russian, Dneper; in Greek, Borysthenes). Meanwhile, in Estonia from 22 isolated finds in a context unclear as to whether it was a single hoard, more than 40 Roman sestertii have been discovered, with two gold coins among them.354 Compared with Lithuania’s Roman coin find-spots and the number of coins, it

351 More than 60,000 Roman coins have emerged in the Vistula Delta. Thomas Grane, “Varpelev, Denmark—Evidence of Roman Diplomacy?”, Bollettino di Archeologia Online, volume special (2008), p. 2; cf. Renata Ciołek, Katalog znalezisk monet rzymskich na Pomorzu, Światowit Supplement Series A: Antiquity VI (Warszawa 2001). 352 Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum; Michelbertas, “Tezavrirovanie rimskikh monet na territorii Litvy”, tables 1–3. 353 Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr. II, p. 578ff; Kropotkin, Klady rimskikh monet na territorii SSSR, p. 101ff; Andrejs Vasks, “The Early Iron Age (1–400 AD)”, in Latvijas senākā vēsture 9. g. t. pr. Kr.–1200. g. (Rīga, 2001), p. 445; Kristīne Ducmane and Anda Ozoliņa, Latvija Eiropā: monētu depozīti 1.–20. Gadsimtā (Rīga, 2009), p. 40, fig. 1. 354 Lang, The Bronze Age and Early Iron Ages in Estonia, p. 257.

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is clear that Latvia and Estonia were poorly integrated into the Late Antique barbaricum cultural sphere. Western Lithuania and southwestern Latvia (only the Rucavas Mazkatuži burial site), the Lower Neman region and central Samogitia (the western part of the Collective Barrow culture) were the northernmost barbaricum parts where coins have been placed in the graves of men, women and children. In the other territories of the Aestii cultures, Roman coins were found among the grave goods of wealthily-equipped men (usually well-armed) and in women’s graves. Some coins are occasionally found in the burials of horses.355 Even if the tradition of furnishing graves with coins was known widely enough amongst the Aestii, the custom of wearing coins as pendantamulets apparently wasn’t common because only a few Roman coins with holes have been found in Lithuania up to now.356 Many more Roman coins with holes are known from the Dollkeim-Kovrovo and Wielbark culture sites.357 In the opinion of the German archaeologist Adalbert Bezzenberger (1904), some of the coins found in the eastern Baltic region may have been used as scrap metal for producing new artefacts.358 The bulk of bronze ornaments found in Late Antique Lithuania were made from a copper alloy, which according to its chemical composition, is defined as brass alloy.359 Consequently, the chemical composition of Roman sestertii (bronze alloy) and ornaments (mostly brass alloy) found in Late Antique Lithuania is generally different,

355

Jaskanis, Obrządek pogrzebowy zahodnich Bałtów u schyłku starożytności (I–V w. n.e.), p. 203ff, table VII.6; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, 39ff; Bitner-Wróblewska, Netta: a Balt Cemetery, p. 100ff. 356 Roman coins with holes are only known in Lithuania from the Stragnai, Šernai and Rūdaičiai I grave fields in western Lithuania, as well as from Juodkrantė (on Curonian Spit, isolated find) and Naukaimis Gabrieliškės (Raseiniai district, in central Lithuania) hill-fort. For this, see: Bezzenberger, “Litauische Gräberfelder. 1. Das Gräberfeld bei Schernen”, pp. 158–166; Michelbertas, “Prekybiniai ryšiai su Romos imperija” p. 87; Varnas, Stragnų kapinyno (Klaipėdos raj.) 1985 m. archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita (Unpublished excavation report from 1985, in LII R, f. 1, no. 1190), p. 26, p. 38ff. 357 Gaerte, Urgeschichte Ostpreußens, p. 210ff, fig. 158; Bursche and Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Groby z monetami rzymskimi na cmentarzysku kultury wielbarskiej w Weklicach koło Elbląga”, pp. 142–153, figs. 1–13. 358 Adalbert Bezzenberger, Analysen vorgeschichtlicher Bronzen Ostpreussens (Königsberg i. Pr., 1904), p. 16 and p. 92ff. Recently, a similar opinion was expressed by the Russian scholar Dr Oleg Vladimirovich Sharov, after the analyses of Roman coins found in the sites on the Izhorsk plateau (northwestern Russia). Pers. comm. 359 Laima Vaitkunskienė and Algimantas Merkevičius, “Spalvotųjų metalų dirbiniai ir jų gamyba”, in Lietuvių materialinė kultūra IX–XIII amžiuje, vol. I, ed. Regina VolkaitėKulikauskienė (Vilnius, 1978), fig. 1.

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but of course in some cases coins may have been used as scrap metal.360 The Aestii enjoyed locally-made heavy bronze ornaments and therefore it is difficult to evaluate the amount of imported copper alloy used for processing ornaments (Fig. 61). Especially large amounts of heavy bronze ornaments are found in the graves of the Collective Barrow culture where massive cast ornaments weighing up to 1,200 grams belonging to women of the highest social strata have been found.361 Often only one ornament found in a grave weighs from 50 to 200 grams. During the Late Antique period, the first locally-produced silver ornaments appeared, although compared with those of the Migration period, their number was few. Thus not only copper alloy was imported, but silver as well. The prevailing opinion in Lithuanian historiography is that Roman coins were commonly used as currency between Roman merchants (negotiatores) and the Balt nobility, and among members of the communities’ elite.362 Following this logic, Roman coins may have been used for payments between Roman merchants and the Balt pedlars. However, the existence of a coinbased economy within the Aestii cultures is far from likely, because even the Germans, who lived barely 200 kilometres to the north of the Limes Romanus and in whose economy coins circulated, were not integrated into the coinage economy.363 Similarly, Tacitus describes the Germans who lived closest to the Danube frontier: “However, the tribes nearer to us for purposes of traffic treat gold and silver as precious metals, and recognize and prefer certain coins of our money; the tribes of the interior practise barter in the simpler and older fashion. The coinage which appeals to them is old and long familiar: the denarii with notched edges, showing a two-horsed chariot”,364

360 Bezzenberger, Analysen vorgeschichtlicher Bronzen Ostpreussens, p. 16; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 211ff. In Narkūnai (Utena district, eastern Lithuania) hill-fort settlement, a quarter of a Roman sestertius was found stuck to a non-ferrous metal smelting furnace. For this, see: Aleksiejus Luchtanas, “Žalvario apdirbimas ankstyviausiuose Rytų Lietuvos piliakalniuose”, LA 2 (1979), p. 12ff, fig. 11. 361 Mykolas Michelbertas, Kuršių pilkapynas. Archaeologia Lituana: monografijos. A serija, Lietuvos laidojimo paminklai, 3 (Vilnius, 2009), p. 76. 362 Michelbertas, “Tezavrirovanie rimskikh monet na territorii Litvy”, p. 80. 363 Lotte Hedeager, “A quantitative analysis of Roman imports in Europe north of the Limes (0–400 AD), and the question of the Roman-Germanic exchange”, in New directions in Scandinavian archeology. Studies in Scandinavian Prehistory and Early History, 1, eds. Kristian Kristiansen and Carsten Paluden-Müller (Lyngby, 1979), pp. 191–216; Peter Ørsted, “Roman Gold Mining, Ownership and Administration”, in Roman Gold and the Development of the Early Germanic Kingdoms: Aspects of technical, socio-political, socio-economic, artistic and intellectual development, AD 1–550.—Symposium in Stockholm 14–16 November 1997. Konferenser, 51, ed. Bente Magnus (Stockholm, 2001), p. 23. 364 Tacitus, Germania, § 5.15–21.

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but this type of trade did not necessarily mean that a monetary system existed. The framework of the spread of Roman coins is complicated and related to the general economic development of the empire as well as the Romans’ sophisticated relations with the barbarians, ranging from trade relationships based on economic logic to the constant bribing of Germanic tribes’ leaders and the payment of tributes. All of this was an attempt to maintain the status quo of the borders of the empire. Therefore, even Roman coins found in the territory of the Wielbark culture were not just the result of trade, but also of the general influence of the empire.365 That is why when examining Aestii society, the question arises as to whether the Aestii chieftains, military leaders and ultimately pedlars, when receiving bronze sestertii or even the smallest denominations, dupondii and ases, understood their true monetary value. When answering this question it is necessary to emphasize that in Lithuania at most one to three sestertii are enclosed in graves, and only in the Šernai grave field, in grave 50, was a silver Emperor Hadrian denarius (117–138) found.366 On the other hand, it is worthwhile once more to return to Tacitus’s comments ending his discussion of the Aestii as barbarians from the edge of the barbaricum: “they passed on [amber] unworked, and they are astonished at the price they get for it”.367 This phrase clearly shows that Tacitus is describing the exchanges that inevitably provided commodities or raw materials on one end and on the other an agreed-upon price in barter or an equivalent in money. Otherwise, one may suspect that either the Aestii were dependents or that the exchanges were uneven. Of course, in this description by Tacitus, in the exchange process the Aestii could have been surprised by the concept of the coins as an equivalent (i.e. a monetary system). On the other hand, being on the periphery of an antique civilization, integration into a larger regional market was possible, operating with lower exchange rates (unequal exchange) and consequently with low profit, or supplying some specific commodities, in this case—amber. Of course, the Aestii may have been surprised by the images of the sovereigns, or human or animal figures, or symbols of governance, as well as letters stamped onto the coins. In Lithuania during the Late Antique period, there are no known realistic images or examples of figurative art. However, Lithuania is the northernmost

365 Bursche, “Kontakty cesarstwa rzymskiego z ludnością kultury wielbarskiej w III i IV w. w świetle źródeł numizmatycznych”, p. 44ff. 366 Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum, p. 62ff; Michelbertas, “Tezavrirovanie rimskikh monet na territorii Litvy”, p. 79ff. 367 Tacitus, Germany, § 45.

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Fig. 62. Bronze openwork plate with the eight schematic front-facing men’s figures from Stragnai grave field (grave context is lost). After Bliujienė, “Iš baltų amatininkystės istorijos”, fig. 4. Courtesy of the LNM (AR38) in Vilnius.

part of the barbaricum where ornaments were created with schematic images of people, using a unique manner of openwork (Fig. 62). Tacitus describes the various Germanic tribes’ trade exchanges with the Romans, showing differences by writing about the Germans: “One may have seen among them silver vases, given as gifts to their envoys and chieftains, but treated as of no more value than earthenware”.368 In one way this statement confirms the burials of the wealthy Wielbark culture women in which

368

Tacitus, Germania, § 5.15,16.

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bronze ladles, strainers, kettles, saucepans and clay vessels (terra sigillata bowls and cantharos) and other luxury items were found.369 However, when one compares the quantity and quality of imports in the burial sites of the Wielbark culture with those found when one goes beyond the Pasłęka River, it is evident that suddenly the flow of imports northwards ceases. The Aestii from the Sambian Peninsula, the Bogaczewo culture, the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture, as well as the Lower Neman region, judging by the general material cultural level and the quantity of bronze Roman sesterii, as well as the quantity and quality of imports, understood luxury and its value differently and, of course, the value of the Roman coins. For the coastal communities, the opportunity to acquire imports of various qualities may have been dependent on how much and what quality of amber was provided to the nearest local regional market, and naturally on their ability to offer other commodities to the regional and inter-regional markets. As shown by archaeological data, the Aestii who lived in Lithuania, when trading with their closest regional partners, were more likely receiving glass or lathe-turned or semi-lathed amber beads than Roman coins, the real value of which they may not have known. This thought may be supported by two West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture burials in which the largest amount of Roman coins were discovered. At Aukštkiemiai grave field, 21 Roman sestertii were found in grave 369. At the Lazdininkai grave field, in the burial of a man and his horse in grave 66/2000, as many as 26 sestertii370 were enclosed. This grave is significant in the region because it contained a unique amber Thor hammer pendant (Fig. 39.51). The earliest coin from the Lazdininkai grave 66/2000 belongs to the reign of Emperor Trajan and the latest to that of Commodus. There is no doubt that in this grave was a man of the highest social status—a tribal chieftain or military leader—because the wealth that he carried with him to the afterlife was a horse and 26 sestertii, which equalled 6.5 denarii. We cannot comment on other items buried with him because the grave was disturbed. The real value of this individual’s coins, in the context of Rome and its provinces, was not great. A soldier of the Roman auxiliary troops received some 250 denarii or 1,000 sestertii per

369 Okulicz-Kozaryn and Natuniewicz-Sekuła, Księżniczka gocka z Weklic, wyposaźenie grobu z II–III w. n. e. Katalog wystawy, pp. 13–38; Natuniewicz-Sekuła and Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Wybrane groby z importami rzymskimi z cmentarzyska w Weklicach, pow.”, p. 54ff, figs. 6 and 7; Jerzy Wielowiejski, “Die nördliche strecke der Bernsteinstrasse zur römischen Kaiserzeit”, in Mączyńska and Grabarczyk, Die spätrömische Kaiserzeit und die frühe Völkerwanderungszeit, fig. 1; Łaszczewska, “Rzymskie importy przemysłowe z terenu Polski”, pp. 56–80. 370 Michelbertas, “Prekybiniai ryšiai su Romos imperija”, p. 51; Butkus, “Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio) kapinynas”, p. 99.

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year in the first century.371 After the Emperor Diocletian’s price reform in Rome, one could purchase 8,754 litres of grain for three sestertii. While in Pompei, a litre and a half of good wine cost one sestertius. It was possible to drink half a litre of ordinary wine for one as.372 However, knowledge of the sestertius—a Roman coin of small denomination given to the Aestii—was evident: travelling to the afterlife it was necessary to pay something which might be an equivalent to Charon’s Obolus. It might just be that some of Aestii society knew the price of this payment. Therefore, the practice of placing coins in graves shows the influence of the Antique world on the spiritual life of the Aestii.373 It should be noted that Lithuania and northwestern Latvia are the northernmost barbaricum territory in which some of the inhabitants during the Late Antique period adopted this cultural tradition. On the other hand, even the appearance of low-value Roman coins in the exchange process or just as a social phenomenon was the result of much more intensive and civilized relationships, which clearly showed a different value system to the Aestii. However, the small denomination Roman coins and their small quantities show that their actual purchasing power was especially small compared with neighbouring regions. The Roman imports indicate that the Aestii who lived in Lithuania were integrated into the barbaricum economic and cultural sphere on a much smaller scale than their southern or southwestern neighbours. The early Roman period Aestii links were clearly oriented towards the Roman provinces of Pannonia, Noricum and Raetia. However, by the end of the second century to the beginning of the third century or even earlier, the Aestii cultures’ contacts reached Pomerania, Mecklenburg, the Jutland Peninsula and the islands of the Baltic Sea (Fig. 14). During the Late Antique period, the Balts’ relations with the Germanic tribes living along the rim of the Baltic Sea, as well as those from the Rhine and Elbe regions become more intense. For this reason, within the territory of the Aestii cultures, there are a multitude of continually increasing cultural influences, which had already

371

Ørsted, “Roman Gold Mining, Ownership and Administration”, p. 22. The relative value of the sestertius and denarius wasn’t fixed because it was dependent upon the economy of the Roman Empire. But an average sestertius was equal to ¼ of a silver denarius. See: Werner Krenkel, “Währungen, Preise und Löhne in Rom”, in Das Altertum. Im Auftrage der Sektion für Altertumswissenschaft bei der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, vol. 7/3, ed. J. Irmscher (Berlin, 1961), p. 172ff; Lennart Lind, “Gold in Internal Roman Economy and Politics, its Role and Comparative Value over Time”, in Magnus, Roman Gold, pp. 37 and 45. 373 Jaskanis, Obrządek pogrzebowy zahodnich Bałtów u schyłku starożytności, p. 245ff; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 189ff. 372

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been adopted by continental and northern Germans, especially by the Wielbark culture peoples. However, imports by themselves, like in the previous periods, are smallscale and they are distributed not only along the coast, but are concentrated in the Collective Barrow culture and central Lithuania (Fig. 63). On the other hand, the spread of imported artefacts in the territory of the Eastern Lithuanian Barrow culture shows the importance of eastern relations via the “Black Sea Route” that connected northern Europe with the ChernyakhovSîntana de Mureş culture and the northern shore of the Black Sea. Branches of this trade route reached eastern Lithuania (Fig. 9). The East Lithuanian Barrow culture sites are exceptional for a few rare and even unique imported finds in addition to sestertii and glass beads. At Kernavė in the so-called Pajauta valley settlement, a fragment of a small glass beaker (Type E 230) was found that was dated to the mid third to mid fourth century.374 These types of glass beakers were mostly found in the burial sites of the Chernyakhov culture. Unique Roman imports found in Lithuania and dated to the fourth century are a Roman bell with an openwork handle decorated with enamel inlays found at Žadavainiai (Utena district) in a destroyed burial site.375 In the Darkuškės (Širvintai district) hoard, along with various Roman coins, a silver figure of a man was found.376 In Latvia, in the Dandales Vecsvirlauks hoard found on the banks of the Lielupe River, along with 44 coins dated to the second half of the third century, a bronze figure of a naked man was found (Fig. 61).377 Unfortunately, the find circumstances of both hoards with human figures are unreliable. In the settlements of southeastern Lithuania and the East Lithuanian Barrow culture, hoards of Roman coins were found by chance. The significance of the eastern route to east Lithuania is clearly shown by the large number of Roman coins found in western Belarus. The Upper Bug River region and the Pripets River are the clear northern border from which point coins, like other imports, decrease: in the territory of Belarus, 30 Roman coin find-spots are known (over 3,500 coins, among which a large number are denarii). The earliest coins are from

374 Aleksejus Luchtanas and Gintautas Vėlius, “Katalog—Catalogue”, in Kernavė—litewska Troja. Katalog wystawy ze zbiorów Państwowego Muzeum-Rezerwatu Archeologii i Historii w Kernavė, Litwa, ed. Anna Bitner-Wróblewska (Warszawa, 2002), pp. 95–210; Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum, p. 112ff. 375 Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum. Litauen, p. 58, plate 10. 376 Eggers, Der römische Import im Freien Germanien, p. 158, map 63; Michelbertas, “Tezavrirovanie rimskikh monet na territorii Litvy”, p. 78. 377 Urtāns, Senākie depozīto Latvijā, p. 134ff, fig. 41.

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Fig. 63. Lithuania’s Late Antique imports: 1 Paragaudis (Šilalė district), stray find (gold plate, bronze); 2 Jogučiai (Klaipėda district) grave field, man’s grave 1 (silver, gilded silver plate, bronze); 3 Monströsa brooch, exact find-spot unknown (bronze, silver plate); 4 Noruišiai (Kelmė district), woman’s grave 1 (silver, gold plate). After Mykolas Michelbertas, Paragaudžio pilkapynas, fig. 77; Linas Tamulynas, “Apie du išskirtinius romėniškojo laikotarpio radinius”, fig. 1; Regina Kulikauskienė and Rimutė Rimantienė, “Senovės liaudies menas”, fig. 185; Regina Volkaitė-Kulikauskienė and Kęstutis Jankauskas, “Iš senosios lietuvių amatininkystės istorijos”, fig. 3.

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the time of the late Roman Republic and Caesar, and coins of the first emperor, Caesar, were found.378 In Belarus, most coins belonging to the second century are found in hoards, offering places in the wetlands, and settlements. Some of the coins are known from isolated finds, and only in one case were Roman coins found in a grave. One large amber bead was found in the Orlovichi (Grodnenskii district) hoard amongst 1,000 Emperor Trajan and Septimius Severus (193–211) denarii, silver ornament fragments and four glass beads.379 In Belarus, a number of different imports from the cities along the shores of the Black Sea have been discovered. Therefore, it is possible to believe that the rare amber artefacts reached Belarus from the Chernyakhov culture and from the Wielbark culture, as the latter was expanding in a southeastern direction. In the mid third century though, most likely as a result of the Roman Empire’s economic crises and because of the redistribution of the flow of commodities, Roman coins rather suddenly disappeared in Lithuanian burial sites. Afterwards, the main imports were different glass beads and a few other rare artefacts.380 At the same time, internal trade within the territory of the Aestii cultures intensified and trade with Germanic tribes, along with cultural relations, greatly expanded. Especially active were the peoples around the Baltic Sea and the inhabitants of the islands. However, when verifying and trying to understand the scale of the Late Antique cultural relations, it is important to once again take a look at the rare artefacts imported into Lithuania. In Lithuania, only five bronze medallions (multipla) were found. One of them was made during the reign of Emperor Nero (Fig. 14).381 In the vast territory of the Aestii cultures, no gold Roman medallions were found, nor their Germanic imitations. The Młoteczno (formerly Hammersdorf, Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodship in Poland) gold medallion is the only one found on the border with the Balt lands.382 Although Roman gold medallions and their imitations stopped near

378 Kropotkin, Klady rimskikh monet na territorii SSSR, p. 96ff, figs. 24, 25, 28; Leonid D. Pobol’, “Nakhodki rimskikh monet na zemliakh Belarusi”, LA 21 (2001), p. 73ff. 379 Kropotkin, Klady rimskikh monet na territorii SSSR, fig. 21. 380 Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum; Rasa BanytėRowell, “Enamel Disc from Aukštkiemiai (Oberhof )”, AB 5 (2002), p. 123ff, fig. 1. 381 Michelbertas, “Prekybiniai ryšiai su Romos imperija”, p. 63ff, fig. 20. 382 Gaerte, Urgeschichte Ostpreußens, fig. 132; Michelbertas, “Prekybiniai ryšiai su Romos imperija”, p. 63; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 191; Aleksander Bursche, “Roman Gold Medallions as Power Symbols of the Germanic Élite”, in Magnus, Roman Gold, p. 87, fig. 1; in the opinion of Professor Mykolas Michelbertas, a gold medallion of Emperor Gallienus (Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus c. 218–268) issued in 263 may have been found

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the territory of the Aestii cultures, the Aestii still tried to imitate and interpret medallions in their own unique geometric style. Evidence of this could be the unique round pendant, which was unfortunately found by chance in the Mikužiai (Klaipėda district) grave field.383 This small round pendant has a geometric pattern engraved on one side. Therefore, it may have been that it was an interpretation of the iconography of Germanic imitations of Roman medallions (Fig. 64). In Paragaudis (Šilalė district) barrow field, a bronze ladder brooch of Type A95–96 covered with a gold pressed foil plate was found. Unfortunately, the brooch was a stray find dated to the end of the second/beginning of the third century (Fig. 63.1).384 It would seem that the unique Paragaudis brooch came from the Wielbark or the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture, or the region between the Vistula and the Oder Rivers, where such brooches were commonly worn.385 One more imported ornament is the round silver brooch embellished with gold pressed foil plate known from a destroyed woman’s grave in the Noruišiai (Kelmė district) barrow field, dated to the end of third/ beginning of the fourth century (Fig. 63.4).386 Judging from similar items, it was most likely produced by the jewellers of Mecklenburg or arrived from the territory of the Elbe Germans.387 An even rarer brooch is the bronze crossbow brooch with two springs and notched wire coils, and a high catch-plate

in the 19th century on the left bank of the Neman in the vicinity of the city of Kaunas. Aleksander Bursche asserts that this medallion was found in 1839 in the Zbójna hoard, close to Kolno in Eastern Poland. cf. Michelbertas, “Tezavrirovanie rimskikh monet na territorii Litvy”, p. 81; Bursche, “Roman Gold Medallions as Power Symbols of the Germanic Élite”, p. 85ff, fig. 1. 383 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 330, fig. 193. 384 Mykolas Michelbertas, Paragaudžio pilkapynas (Vilnius, 1997), p. 23 and p. 37, fig. 77. 385 Nowakowski, Das Samland in der römischen Kaiserzeit, map 6; Wołągiewicz, “Kultura wielbarska—problemy interpretacji etnicznej”, fig. 1; Tuszyńska, Ulkowy cmentarzysko kultury wielbarskiej na Pomorzu Gdańskim, plate XXVI.3,4. 386 Brooch belongs to the Type A225 or to the Type A after classification of S. Thomas. Puzinas, Naujausių proistorinių tyrinėjimų duomenys, p. 225, table 22, fig. 38; Kulikauskas, et. al., Lietuvos archeologijos bruožai, fig. 151; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 122 and p. 219; Volkaitė-Kulikauskienė and Jankauskas, “Iš senosios lietuvių amatininkystės istorijos (alavas senuosiuose lietuvių papuošaluose)”, LA 8 (1992), p. 139ff, table 1, fig. 3. 387 Almgren, Studien über nordeuropäische Fibelformen, 243, plate X.225; Thomas, “Die germanischer Scheibenfibeln der Römischen Kaiserzeit im freien Germanien”, pp. 18–31, plates 1.2,3, II.1–3, fig. 1.6, map 2; Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 54 and p. 235ff, fig. 9.

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Fig. 64. Bronze round pendant from Mikužiai (Klaipėda district) grave field, stray find. Photograph by Irena Aleksienė, drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LDM in Vilnius.

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from the Collective Barrow culture territory (Gibaičiai, Šiauliai district).388 This brooch is close to the rare brooches Type A210 or Type A211.389 Among the rare Late Antique imports in Lithuania (the exact find-spot is unknown) and in the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture are the so-called Monströsa390 and Rosettenfibeln brooches (Fig. 63.3).391 They belong to the second half of the third century and the first half of the fourth century. In the territory of the Aestii cultures, they may have turned up at the very end of the third century and the beginning of the fourth century.392 In the Baitai grave field, in the grave of a rich man (grave 31) with two horses393 that had already been looted in ancient times, fragments of silver pressed foil plates of the Monströsa or Rosettenfibeln brooches were found.394 The theme of relations with the northern Germans is further expanded by the mid third-century Jogučiai grave field and man’s grave 1 with the imported silver omega-shaped buckle found in it along with a small fragment of a tablet-woven sash of fine thread (Fig. 63.2).395 Among the few third- to fourth-century imports, enamelled discs, perhaps brooches or mounts, produced by the millefiori technique,

388

Balys Tarvydas, “Šiaulių kraštotyros dr-jos archeologiniai tyrinėjimai”, Šiaulių metraštis 4 (1933), fig. 10. 389 The Type A210 brooch is known from Peterwitz in Wroclaw (formerly Breslau, Poland) vicinity; the Type A211 brooch was discovered in the Grebieten grave field on the Sambian Peninsula (the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture). See: Almgren, Studien über nordeuropäische Fibelformen, p. 221 plate IX.210,211; Oscar Almgren and Birger Nerman, Die ältere Eisenzeit Gotlands nach den in Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, aufbewahrten Funden und Ausgrabungsberichten im Auftrage der Kgl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akad. Dargestellt, vol. II (Stockholm, 1923); Eggers and Stary, “Funde der Vorrömischen Eisenzeit, der Römischen Kaiserzeit und der Völkerwanderungszeit in Pommern”. 390 Almgren Group VII, Type A216 and A217. 391 Grebieten grave field, grave 177 and Bol’shoe Isakovo grave field, grave 78. See: Georg Bujack, “Das Gräberfeld zu Grebieten (nördliche Hälfte)”, Prussia 13 (1888), p. 13 and 224, plate V.2; Mykolas Michelbertas, “Zu den Handels- und Kulturbeziehungen der Bewohner Litauens mit Skandinavien in der römischen Kaiserzeit”, AB 4 (2000), p. 65, fig. 2; BitnerWróblewska, Netta: a Balt Cemetery, p. 51. 392 Nowakowski, Das Samland in der römischen Kaiserzeit, p. 26, plate 37.2; Joachim Werner, “Dančeny und Brangstrup. Untersuchungen zur Černjachov-Kultur zwischen Sereth und Dnestr und zu den ‘Reichtumszentren’ auf Fünen”, Bonner Jahrbücher 188 (1988), p. 249ff; Andrzej Kokowski, “Die Einflüsse der Goldschmiedekunst der Hunnen und Ostrogoten auf die skandinavischen Goldschmiede. Zwischen historischer Erwartung und Wahrheit”, in Magnus, Roman Gold, p. 208ff, fig. 2. 393 Banytė-Rowell, “Romėnų įtakos laikai ir baltų kultūrų klestėjimo laikotarpis”, p. 29ff. 394 Rosettenfibeln (Type A234 and A235 or Type C of S. Thomas). See: Thomas, “Die germanischer Scheibenfibeln der Römischen Kaiserzeit im freien Germanien”, pp. 45–57, fig. 15; plate VI–X, map 6; Joachim Werner, “Dančeny und Brangstrup”, p. 258ff. 395 Tamulynas, “Apie du išskirtinius romėniškojo laikotarpio radinius iš Jogučių kapinyno”, AL 6 (2005), pp. 83–89.

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from the Aukštkiemiai and Pleškučiai grave fields should be mentioned.396 These discs come from the Elbe region, where similar round brooches are frequently found in inhumation graves. Therefore, archaeological evidence of the mid third century to the first half of the fourth century clearly indicates that the relations of the territory of the Aestii cultures had expanded to include southern Sweden and Norway, the Jutland Peninsula, the islands of the Baltic Sea (Zealand, Funen, Bornholm and Gotland), and the Chernyakhov-Sîntana de Mureş cultures. During the third century, in addition to frequent trade exchange, the exchange of cultural ideas was very important.397 In Lithuania in recent years, two bronze vessels have been discovered. In western Lithuania, in the first half of the third-century Kurmaičiai grave field woman’s grave 7, together with other rare grave goods, a fragment of a bronze vessel was found.398 In the Veršvai grave field (in the city of Kaunas, central Lithuania) in a double, man and woman’s, grave, number 304, a bronze pitcher was found that was produced in the first century in Capua (province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy) workshop, and which was placed above a woman’s head, along with other grave goods indicative of wealth, only in the fourth century.399 Many more imports from the mass-production category (e.g. glass beads) as well as rare or even unique artefacts from the third to fourth centuries were found in the Dollkeim-Kovrovo and Bogaczewo cultures’ sites.400 Therefore, it is possible to believe that the Dollkeim-Kovrovo and Bogaczewo cultures people had direct trade contacts with the Wielbark culture communities and merchants who travelled from the Roman provinces, as well as with German traders.401

396

Banytė-Rowell, “Enamel Disc from Aukštkiemiai (Oberhof)”, p. 127, fig. 1. Michelbertas, “Zu den Handels- und Kulturbeziehungen der Bewohner Litauens mit Skandinavien”, p. 63ff, fig. 2; Tamulynas, “Apie du išskirtinius romėniškojo laikotarpio radinius iš Jogučių kapinyno”, p. 89, figs. 3 and 4; Dieter Quast, “Ein skandinavisches Spathascheidenmundblech der Völkerwanderungszeit aus Pikkjärve (Põlvamaa, Estland)”, Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, Mainz 51.1, 2004 (2005), p. 249ff, figs. 4, 21 and 23; Banytė-Rowell, “Romėnų įtakos laikai ir baltų kultūrų klestėjimo laikotarpis”, fig. 4. 398 Kulikauskas, “Kurmaičių (Kretingos raj.) plokštinio kapinyno tyrinėjimai”, p. 340, fig. 2. 399 Puzinas, “Dvigubas IV amž. kapas surastas Veršiuose”, in Vytauto Didžiojo kultūros muziejaus metraštis, vol. 1 (Kaunas, 1941), pp. 28–42, plate IX; Michelbertas, Corpus der römischen Funde im europäischen Barbaricum, p. 30, plate 1. 400 Gaerte, Urgeschichte Ostpreußens, 210ff, figs. 159–163; Kaczyński, “Z problematyki kontaktów zachodnich bałtów z prowincjami imperium Romanum”, pp. 177–195; Nowakowski, “Rzymskie importy przemysłowe na terytorium zachodniobałtyjskiego kręgu kulturowego”, pp. 63–102, fig. 1; Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, pp. 59–69, plates XVII–XXI. 401 Nowakowski, “Rzymskie importy przemysłowe na terytorium zachodniobałtyjskiego kręgu kulturowego”, pp. 78–95, fig. 6; Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, p. 70ff. 397

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chapter three The “Amber Route” as an Instrument of Dissemination of Cultural Ideas

Notwithstanding the scarcity of imported artefacts and the low number of Roman coins that reached the territory of the Aestii cultures and Lithuania during the Late Antique period, those imports provided fresh inspiration for the creation of new artefact groups, or became the prototypes for various local ornaments. The Balt jewellers, following prototypes, simplified complicated forms of ornaments and technologies, creating a number of original works. New technologies travelled from the Roman provinces, like the use of enamel.402 By the end of the second century and the beginning of the third, the Balts had learned how to craft enamelled artefacts and use the champlevé technique to decorate jewellery as well as everyday objects. The Great Mazurian Lakes region, the Suwałki region and even southeastern Lithuania became centres for the production of enamelled artefacts.403 Recent finds show that there was an independent centre in western Lithuania that produced enamelled jewellery.404 The Aestii took from the Noricum and Pannonia provinces the idea of a belt mounted with ornate and fashionable openwork plates. From the end of the first century to the first half of the second century, the Sambian Peninsula (the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture) became a centre for production of these belts.405 At first women favoured the openwork design belts. During the third and fourth centuries the idea of openwork artefacts spread and became popular in the sites of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and in Lower Neman region, but on the Lithuanian coast, belts with openwork fittings were apparently worn by men. Interestingly, on the Lithuanian coast, openwork design was adapted for ornate women’s jewellery: impressive pectoral ornaments and pendants of neck-rings, which became an original local fashion accent. The composition of the openwork motifs became quite varied, ranging from the simplest to the most complicated geometric designs,

402

Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 156. Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 152ff; Michelbertas, “Emaliuotas dirbinys iš Prienlaukio”, AL 5 (2004), p. 64; Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, “The Couronians in the Roman Iron Age and Migration Age: their Relations with the Cousins from the West”, in Ventspils muzeja raksti, vol. II (Rīga, 2002), p. 80; Bitner-Wróblewska and Stawiarska, “Badania technologiczne wshodioeurojskich zabytków zdobionych emalią”, pp. 304–341. 404 Bitner-Wróblewska and Bliujienė, “Efektowny napierśnik z emalią z cmentarzyska w Anduln, zachodnia Litwa”, p. 124ff, figs. 2–5. 405 Okulicz, “Powiązania pobrzeża wschodniego Bałtyku i centrum sambijskiego z południem w podokresie wczesnorzymskim”, pp. 191–198, figs. 5–8. 403

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to unique compositions, as well as schematic anthropomorphic figures, more realistically depicted images of animals and even compositions that captured narrative stories (Fig. 62). These elements of figurative art in the openwork artefacts of the eastern Baltic region were a nod to Germanic art, which used more realistic images. Almost certainly, these encounters with the art of Antiquity were via the amber trade, which brought the Aestii into the circle of the more civilized barbarians. Some of the Aestii ornaments have parallels in the provinces of the Roman Empire or in the Germanic barbaricum realm. Doubtless the result of Germanic cultural influence, a new type of women’s ornament—rosette-shaped tutulus pins and brooches decorated with blue glass eyes—appeared in Lithuania (Figs. 28.1; 30.6,7; 42; 49; 59).406 At the same time in the region, the first round flat brooches appeared (close to Type Thomas A1). One of them, dated to the first half of the third century, was found in woman’s grave 63/2000 in the Lazdininkai grave field. Judging from the decoration that is typical of the Balts and the techniques known to their jewellers, this ornament was made locally on the basis of foreign prototypes (Fig. 40.14). Similar brooches were found in the territory of the former East Prussia (Ostpreußen) in the second half of the third century to the first half of the fourth century.407 Therefore, for the Aestii who lived between the Lower Neman and the Western Dvina Rivers, the most significant phenomenon was that they were able to appropriate from the Germans many new cultural ideas and adapt them to their own culture.408 Obviously, the “Amber Route” was one of the means of exchange of cultural ideas. Amber Trade and Amber Sources In order to trade in amber, just like with any other raw material, a large supply zone must exist which produces enough raw materials for trade and local use. Based on the written sources of Antiquity, archaeological evidence and geological data, one can surmise that the main amber-bearing layers were and are in the so-called “blue earth” on the Sambian Peninsula, which

406 Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 218; Nowakowski, “Kultura wielbarska a zachodniobałtyjski krąg kulturowy”, in Gurba and Kokowski, Kultura wielbarska w młodszym okresie rzymskim, vol. II, p. 145ff, figs. 2–4; von Carnap-Bornheim, “Einige jüngerkaiserzeitliche Beispiele überregionaler Trachtbeziehungen zwischen dem baltischen und germanischen Kulturbereich”, pp. 45–53, figs. 2 and 3. 407 Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, tab. XI.3. 408 Bliujienė, “Iš baltų amatininkystės istorijos: baltiški Berlock kabučiai”, p. 120ff, fig. 2; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 295ff.

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belonged to the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture Aestii (Figs. 1–3; 5; 6; 14). Communities of the Wielbark culture were able to obtain amber independently. It would seem amber was collected in the Vistula Spit, the Vistula Delta and Gdańsk Bay.409 In the late Neolithic in the Lower Źuławy, amber was retrieved in especially large quantities.410 During the Medieval period, amber was mined in Gdańsk Bay. In the Źuławy Gdańskie, amber is mined nowadays using hydraulic-extraction methods.411 Amber was possibly obtained in the Kurpie region (Mazovian region in Poland). In northeastern Poland, amber was mined and scooped up in the lakes by the peoples of the Bogaczewo culture. This source also supplied the Sudovians with amber.412 Judging by the large amount of Roman imports, the Bogaczewo culture people were involved in the glesum exchange and regional amber trade.413 At the end of his famous paragraph § 45, Tacitus indicates that amber is available “in the secluded places of the East, where frankincense and balsam are exuded, so in the islands and lands of the West there are groves and glades more than ordinarily luxuriant”.414 It might be that Tacitus supposes that secluded places in the East might be associated with the territory of the Bogaczewo culture. Regarding the islands and lands of the West, it is possible to speculate that Tacitus knew about amber from the Frisian Islands, and the Jutland and Sambian Peninsulas. During the Late Antique period and the Middle Ages, drift amber must have been collected on the Curonian Spit and on the Lithuanian coast or even extracted from the shallows of lagoons. However, judging from amber use by the local communities and the amount of imports as well as the quality of those imports, the quantity of the raw amber acquired must not have been sufficient to conduct large-scale trade. Raw amber was most likely used for local purposes and circulated within the territory of the West Lithuanian 409 Cofta-Broniewska, Grupa kruszańska kultury przeworskiej, p. 158; Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Pietrzak, “Z dziejów rozwoju wiedzy o znaleziskach bursztynu i ich prezentacji na mapach dawnych”, fig. 6; Bursche, “Die Entwicklung der Handelsbeziehungen zwischen Rom und den Barbaren”, p. 98. 410 Ryszard F. Mazurowski, “Exploitation and working of amber during the Late Neolithic period in the Źulawy region”, in Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Paner, Investigations into Amber, p. 122ff. 411 Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Pietrzak, “Z dziejów rozwoju wiedzy o znaleziskach bursztynu i ich prezentacji na mapach dawnych”, fig. 6; Gierłowski, Bursztyn i gdańscy bursztynnicy, p. 11. 412 P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich”, p. 351ff, figs. 18 and 19; Bitner-Wróblewska, “Early Migration Period in the Mazurian Lakeland— Phantom or Reality?”, p. 155. 413 Nowakowski, “. . . in ista parte, quae Sambia vocatur”, pp. 70–77; Kaczyński, “Z problematyki kontaktów zachodnich bałtów z prowincjami imperium Romanum”, pp. 158–195. 414 Tacitus, Germany, § 45.

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Stone Circle Graves culture and adjoining regions (Figs. 14; 16). On the other hand, one must not forget that the largest source of raw amber was controlled by the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture, and therefore Lithuania was blocked from the international amber trade by its neighbours. Although the Lithuanian coast during the second half of the first century was very sparsely populated, it has often been stated that the trade mission led by the Roman equestrian, as described by Pliny the Elder, reached the furthermost trading places of the eastern Baltic region and may have arrived in the contemporary Šilutė and Klaipėda districts or even the Palanga environs.415 During that time period when the mentioned trade mission may have reached the Lithuanian coast, however, we know of only eight burial sites, in which only single artefacts are discovered.416 Six grave fields from the first to the third quarter of the first century are located on the left bank of the middle reaches of the Minija River, and only two are along the coast. This would suggest that the expedition could only have reached the southern territory of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves, which does not have direct access to the coast. However, it is improbable that amber would have had to be brought to the above-mentioned trade mission by people from the so underpopulated coast. Wishing to consistently collect a usable amount of raw amber, it is necessary to collect enough not just to satisfy one-off trade. This would have demanded incredible effort from the people of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture. Meanwhile, the compensation for these efforts for the Aestii along the Lithuanian coast in the second half of the first century or even later would have been miserly (Figs. 14; 15; 61; 63). If amber at that time had been mined in the Priekulė–Šilutė township environs, an entirely different quality of imports would have had to have reached Lithuania, an inflow of imports that would have surpassed the quality of those that have actually been found. Otherwise, the relationship of Lithuania’s Late Antique coastal Aestii with their trade partners can be described as an unequal exchange. Or, we can surmise that they did not control even their own coast or, lastly it is possible to believe, that the powerful core communities from the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture controlled the Lithuanian coast and exploited the amber washed up by the sea’s waves.

415 Kolendo, “Wyprawa po bursztyn bałtycki za Nerona”, p. 44ff; Michelbertas, “Romėnų didiko ekspedicija gintarui”, p. 18. 416 Settlements and hill-forts of this period are not excavated. Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr., vol. II, fig. 89; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, 192ff, fig. 83.

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chapter three Trade Exchange Equivalents

Since the Bronze Age, amber has been known as a universal transcontinental trade equivalent. Washed up by the seas in the north, amber spread across central and southern Europe. However, there is no doubt that during the Late Antique period amber was an exchange equivalent within the territory of the Aestii cultures and a payment in regional and inter-regional trade. Local (i.e. trade that took place within the network of the same culture and its closest adjacent territories), regional and inter-regional exchange had various commodities as equivalents, not just amber. One must not think that besides this universally recognized transcontinental trade equivalent, amber, no other desirable regional commodities existed or that, for whatever reasons, those commodities did not make it onto the inter-regional market. Therefore, there had to be commodities in the amber transit trade framework that performed an intermediary equivalent’s role exclusively. The amber trade began in the mid first century in the Lower Vistula region. Within the territory of the Aestii cultures, different exchange and trade activities started up. The trade process required relationships with close neighbours and the necessity of intermediaries, the use of an intrinsic value system and a local scale of equivalents. However, judging by the number of Roman coins and the quantity of other imports and their quality, there were no elements of a monetary system in the communities of the Aestii who lived in Lithuania. Therefore, it is not easy to understand what the Aestii who lived in the territory of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and who were obviously involved in the revived market, might have been able to offer their closest trade partners, knowing that their predominant commodity, imported in large quantities was bronze (or copper alloy), as well as other non-ferrous metals (tin and lead) and, at the end of the Late Antique period, silver that was used for jewellery-making. Other imported artefacts, as is mentioned above, even glass beads or Roman coins, are scarce. Unique imports into Lithuania are rare (Figs. 14; 15; 61; 63). It is traditionally thought that the regional and inter-regional trade equivalents could have been fur, skins, honey, wax, and other archaeologically unidentifiable objects.417 In regional trade, salt and iron played a large role. It is not without good reason that the locations of the Przeworsk culture’s amber workshops, salt mines and iron smelting places coincide (Fig. 9). Slaves

417 Puzinas, Naujausių proistorinių tyrinėjimų duomenys, 64; Gimbutienė, Baltai priešistoriniais laikais, p. 88; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 217.

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may have been traded,418 although it is not clear whether the Aestii were not pulled into the slave trade, but considering the above-mentioned profile of their society it is possible that there were slaves. Tacitus and other authors of Antiquity mention that the various barbarian tribes had slaves, which were usually the first casualties the Romans forced into the barbaricum territory and victims of the internecine warfare between barbarians. It is possible to believe that the Suiones, who were localized in Uppland and the Lake Mälar region, had slaves. About those people, Tacitus writes when he begins his paragraph on the Aestii that “weapons are not in general use here, as in the rest of Germany, but are kept locked up under the guard of a slave”.419 It is possible that cod and other fish (Baltic herring etc.), cattle, oxen, horses, horsehair and maybe even women’s hair, lard, timber and other objects invisible in the archaeological record were traded. Perhaps grain was traded, though maybe just in the narrow regional market. Tacitus indicates that the Aestii cultivated “grain and other crops . . . with a perseverance unusual among the generally lethargic Germans”.420 Although the climate of the eastern Baltic region has to have been warmer and drier during Late Antiquity than it is now,421 the level of farming in this northeastern, heavilyforested and swampy edge of Europe could not have been very high. However, forested Lithuania may have been an exporter of timber. Therefore, it seems, one of the main export goods is likely to have been ox hides and other domesticated and wild animal hides, which were necessary for the enormous Roman army’s equipage (from soldiers’ shoes, belts and sword scabbards to tents) and for horse gear, and ship sails, which were made from tanned skins. Sails made from tanned oxen skins are known about from Caesar’s description of the Veneti as good sailors.422 Import Redistribution and Trade The relations of the Aestii cultures with the provinces of the Roman Empire occurred through many intermediaries of the Germanic cultures, who got most of the Roman imports. This was a different set-up from the

418 Jerzy Kolendo, “Eksport niewolników pochodzących z Europy barbarzyńskiej na teren cesarstwa rzymskiego”, Światowit. Nowa seria, vol. II (XLIII), fascykuł B: Archeologia pradziejowa i średniowieczna. Archeologia Polski (2000), p. 113ff. 419 Tacitus, Germany, § 44. 420 Tacitus, Germany, § 45. 421 Alfonsas Basalykas, ed., “Lietuvos TSR fizinė geografija”, vol. 1 (Vilnius, 1958), p. 100. 422 Caesar, Commnetarii de Bello Gallico, II.13.

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communications model of the Romans and barbarians who lived beyond the limes, and the barbarians who were settled further north. During the third to fourth centuries within the territory of the barbaricum, Roman imports were redistributed and the redistribution mechanism was largely dependent on the different groups of barbarians’ various lifestyle peculiarities, which most often were not of an economic origin, but were inspired by the political realities inside the barbaricum. Among the factors that determine import redistribution there were Romans’ gifts to the highest German chieftains and military leaders, the gifts exchanged between the nobility of various tribes, war booty, and acquired trophies, as well as various taxes and tributes, which from the second half of the third century were paid by the Romans to the barbarians, and also payments to military leaders of Germanic descent etc.423 One of the characteristics of the barbaricum that has been little studied are the “commodities” that are actually war trophies, which spread across the northern territories after the Marcomannic Wars.424 Exchange and trade of war booty may have taken place in those same marketplaces along those same trade routes as other goods. The thought arises as to whether trophies may have been offered in sacrifices like in the northern Germanic lands,425 although few Late Antique offerings have been found in the territory of the Aestii cultures.426 These factors influenced redistribution of the commodities inflow within the vast territory of the barbaricum. Some of those commodities travelled into the territory of the Aestii cultures. Therefore, it is possible that exclusively rare imports in Lithuania might have appeared not as trade commodities which arrived via different trade routes or another manner of communication, but it may have been that these lavish items occur here as a result of a particular social phenomenon—exchange between local and regional elites. Different trade relations, or rather redistribution of the incoming commodities, took place between the Wielbark and Dollkeim-Kovrovo cultures. A further regional redistribution then happened, or let’s say the remainder of the imports were redistributed or exchanged between communities of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo and the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and peoples of the Lower Neman region. A similar framework of redistribution 423 Jerzy Kolendo, “Central Europe and the Mediterranean World in the 1st–5th Centuries AD”, in Origins of Central Europe, ed. Przemyław Urbańczyk (Warsaw, 1997), p. 11ff. 424 Nowakowski, “Rzymskie importy przemysłowe na terytorium zachodniobałtyjskiego kręgu kulturowego”, p. 99ff. 425 Raddatz, Der Thorsberger Moorfund. Gürtelteile und Körperschmuck; Jørgensen, “The Warriors, Soldiers and Conscripts”, pp. 12–18, figs. 6–8. 426 Urtāns, Senākie depozīto Latvijā, p. 96ff.

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of commodities connected the societies of the Bogaczewo culture and central eastern Lithuania.427 Also, one cannot forget that different cultures and regions were separated by “no-man’s lands”. The “no-man’s land” between the Aestii and the Germans is frequently referred to as a “zone of mutual terror”. This term is thought to describe the nature of contacts between two ethnically distinct people.428 On the other hand, regional marketplaces may have been located on the peripheries of “no-man’s lands”. In the third century, one of the most important intermediaries in the redistribution of imports between the Roman Empire, Scandinavia, and the southeastern, as well as the eastern Baltic regions, were the communities of eastern Zealand.429 Imports from these territories, which arrived via maritime routes, are found in Lithuania as well (Figs. 9; 63.2). From the third century to the mid fourth century within the territory of the Aestii cultures, certain relations existed with southern Scandinavia, the Jutland Peninsula and the islands of the Baltic Sea. Without doubt, the people of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture carried and placed in graves amber artefacts crafted from amber collected along the coast. To this western culture it was always very important to conduct trade along the Baltic coast (Figs. 9; 14; 16). Also, one must not forget that in the eastern Baltic region, as well as on the Lithuanian coast, lathe-turned amber artefacts of rare forms, usually created by craftspeople of the Przeworsk, Wielbark or Dollkeim-Kovrovo cultures, are known. Therefore, a portion of the amber beads found along the Lithuanian coast and in other territories of Lithuania were the result of trade exchange or were the result of several regional transactions. In both cases those amber artefacts are imports. The spread of amber artefacts within this cultural unit allows one to postulate that active trade occurred between the peoples of West

427 Kolendo, “Central Europe and the Mediterranean World in the 1st–5th Centuries AD”, p. 11; Lund Hansen, “Chieftains and traders looking East—the Late Roman and Early Germanic Period”, p. 81; Sidrys, “Roman Imports among the West Balts: Commerce or ‘Beads for the Natives’?”, fig. 6. 428 Adam Cieśliński, Wojciech Nowakowski, “Die Passarge—ein barbarischer Rubikon”, pp. 254–262, figs. 1–3. 429 Lund Hansen, “Chieftains and traders looking East—the Late Roman and Early Germanic Period”, p. 81; Michelbertas, “Zu den Handels-und Kulturbeziehungen der Bewohner Litauens mit Skandinavien in der römischen Kaiserzeit”, p. 63ff, figs. 1 and 2; Tamulynas, “Apie du išskirtinius romėniškojo laikotarpio radinius iš Jogučių kapinyno”, pp. 83–89; Bursche, “Roman Age Coinage on the South Baltic Coast”, p. 5ff; Rasa Banytė-Rowell, “Vėlyvojo romėniškojo laikotarpio žiedas iš Baitų kapinyno. Pavidalo kilmė Baltijos jūros kultūrinių ryšių plotmėje”, LA 30 (2007), p. 27ff, fig. 4.

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Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and their closest neighbours (Fig. 16; Appendix B; Table 1). The development of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture, as the rulers of the Lithuanian amber coast, shows that people from the coast had a multi-layered cultural influence on the Collective Barrow culture.430 Therefore, amber in the western part of the Collective Barrow culture might have been traded from the Lithuanian coast (Fig. 16). However, in the rest of this cultural unit amber came as an import from the south. Regional trade must have taken over land routes and rivers routes and maritime communication.431 Nevertheless, amber (except lathe-turned amber artefacts) was not traded with the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture’s people. The geographical environment of the Lower Neman region, and the location of its settlements and burial sites, allows one to argue that the Neman delta tributaries may have served as trade routes. However, if during the first millennium the Neman River flowed into the Pregolia, then via the Sambian Peninsula it was possible to reach the Baltic Sea easily.432 Furthermore, on the Curonian Spit and the Vistula Spit there were natural channels and so from both those lagoons it was also possible to reach the sea. Therefore, communication between the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture (on the Sambian Peninsula) and western or central Lithuania was simple enough.433 From the Baltic Sea, the vicinities of Klaipėda and Kretinga were easily accessible and so Lazdininkai—one of the most impressive grave fields of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture—while a safe distance from the sea was at the same time easily reachable from the Baltic Sea, further inland, through communication arteries using the Šventoji and Darba Rivers.

430 Banytė-Rowell, “Vėlyvojo romėniškojo laikotarpio žiedas iš Baitų kapinyno”, p. 15ff, figs. 4, 5; Bliujienė, “Iš baltų amatininkystės istorijos: baltiški Berlock kabučiai”, p. 120ff, fig. 2. 431 Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 217; Jonas Genys, “Trade routes and trade centres in Western Lithuania during the early Middle Ages”, AB 2 (1997), pp. 141–154. fig. 3; Sidrys, “Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje”, p. 59ff; Vladas Žulkus, “Armed and Expected. Traders and their ways in the Viking Times”, AB 8 (2007), pp. 311–317, plate V. 432 Moora, Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 n. Chr., vol. II, p. 602, fig. 89. Albertas Bitinas et. al., “Geological development of the Neman Delta and adjacent areas, West Lithuania”, Geological Quarterly 46(4) (2002), pp. 375–389; Žulkus, “The Lower Reaches of the Neman (Memel ) and Prieglius (Pregel ). The Settlement Situation in the Lower Reaches in the 6th–11th Centuries”, in Transformatio Mundi: The Transformation from the Late Migration Period to the Early Viking Age in the East Baltic, ed. Mindaugas Bertašius (Kaunas, 2006), p. 17ff, figs. 1–3. 433 Otto Kleemann, “Eine Ausgrabungsgeschichte aus Wiskiauten”, Alt–Preussen, Vierteljahresschrift für Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde 1 (1938), 6ff, fig. 1.

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Whatever the case, from the Neman delta it was possible to reach the settlements of central Lithuania. The Neman’s confluences with its right tributaries, the Rivers Jūra, Dubysa, Nevėžis and Neris made up the smaller parts of the inland water routes and tracks system. The people who lived along the Lower Neman region occupied the comfortable gateway position that allowed them to control the inflow of commodities. Some amber artefacts ended up in the Lower Neman region from the Lithuanian coast. Another part of the amber came to the Lower Neman area from the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture. The societies of the Lower Neman group were intermediaries between the Dollkeim-Kovrovo and the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves cultures. Therefore, amber artefacts in the Lower Neman region appeared as products of regional trade (Fig. 16). Independent trade exchange, unrelated to the coast, is also borne out by the central and east Lithuanian burial sites data (Figs. 9; 14; 16). Amber beads in the grave fields of central Lithuania, as well as in the east Lithuanian barrow fields, turn up as a result of trade with culturally close regions and migration processes within the territory the western Balts. Inter-Regional Trade Exchange and the “Amber Route” The immense barbarian territory, for a number of reasons, was constantly expanding, gathering into its cultural sphere somewhat more civilized barbarian tribes, who were all pushing either into the very epicentre of barbaricum politics or towards the Roman Empire.434 The amber amassed in the Vistula Delta was traded in the commercia. The people of the Wielbark culture seemingly did not themselves engage in transporting amber to the southern amber-working centres. At first, traders from adjoining territories had been dealing in their marketplaces. But in the second half of the first century, after the trade mission visited the northern marketplaces of the barbaricum, it seems that Roman merchants or merchants from Roman provinces traded here as well.435 So, the trade and the marketplaces, and the so-called “Amber Route” had crystallized into a highly-organized interregional exchange network. The “Amber Route” in terms of content (raw materials, crafted goods, even money), in magnitude, in network extension and directionality (commodities were flowing from north to south and vice

434 435

Nowakowski, “Hic Svebiae Finis”, pp. 218–230. Kolendo, “Wyprawa po bursztyn bałtycki za Nerona”, p. 47.

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versa) has all the main characteristics of exchange networks.436 To the Aestii cultures it was important that they manage to use the “Amber Route” not only as an instrument of trade, but also as an infrastructure that served as a source of exchange of cultural ideas and a particular framework to spread those ideas (Figs. 9; 14).437 Pliny the Elder wrote about a trade model that we can today call longdistance trade, that runs on a down-the-line model. He showed that amber was conveyed by the Germans mostly into the province of Pannonia. From there it was firstly brought to prominence by the Veneti, who were close neighbours of the Pannonians.438 Having left the swampy Lower Vistula Delta with its wooden plank roads and platforms (Fig. 12), traders from the amber coast continued on their way but on roads that were beaten down by wagon wheels and men’s feet (Fig. 13). In the Late Antique period, the main route which was used to transport amber, having begun in the Lower Vistula, spread across all of Central Europe and then later separated into its eastern and western branches (Fig. 9). Throughout the whole of Late Antiquity, trade was important to other Central European regions, which had strategic raw materials, such as salt, silver and gold, or non-ferrous metals and iron. Therefore, the Przework culture’s iron-mining and smelting and salt-mining centres became amber transit trade places and amber craft centres with many workshops (Fig. 9). In this manner, those craft and trading regions of the Przework culture acquired the status of inter-regional marketplaces and merged with the “Amber Route”. The amber workshops and the largest concentration of amber artefacts in the Przeworsk culture are essentially aligned with the regions where salt was mined and where iron was produced.439 It would seem that some of the amber and its traders followed this route only as far as the Przeworsk culture, where they sold the raw amber and acquired salt, metal and amber

436 Fred Plog, “Modeling Economic Exchange”, in Earle and Ericson, Exchange Systems in Prehistory, p. 128ff. 437 Navarro, “Prehistoric Routes between Northern Europe and Italy Defined by the Amber Trade”, plate II; Michelbertas, “Prekybiniai ryšiai su Romos imperija”, p. 65ff, figs. 21 and 22; J. Wielowiejski, Główny szlak bursztynowy w czasach Cesarstwa Rzymskiego, pp. 36–136, map 1; Kolendo, “Napływ burztynu z Północy na tereny imperium rzymskiego”, pp. 91–99; Lund Hansen, Römischer Import im Norden, p. 235ff, fig. 149; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 260ff, figs. 156–158. 438 Plini, Naturalis Historiae, XXXVII, § 43; Pliny, Natural History XXXVII, § 43. 439 J. Wielowiejski, Główny szlak bursztynowy w czasach Cesarstwa Rzymskiego, map 1; P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich”, fig. 18; Karol E. Natkański, “Burztyn—złoto północy”, in Łaszczewska, Szlak bursztynowy, fig. 2; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 156.

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artefacts, in addition to other commodities, and then returned. In Lithuania’s Late Antique burial sites, a portion of the found amber beads, according to their form, were crafted in the Przeworsk culture’s amber workshops. It may be that amber beads ended up in Lithuania as the result of a similar inter-regional trade process, organized in stages (Fig. 16.IV.18; VI.26–27; VII.28–30). Seemingly traders from Carnuntum (Petronell ) or Vindobona (Vienna) and other limes fortresses travelled towards the Przeworsk culture’s trade centres and reached the marketplaces of the Lower Vistula region. Some of the amber, via Carnuntum, arrived in Aquileia. It should be noted that several amber workshops of the Antique world produced similar lathed amber beads (Fig. 24.1). The sea routes had great significance for the inhabitants of the Baltic Sea coast. From the mouth of the Rhine it was possible to reach the Jutland Peninsula, the Oder and the Lower Vistula marketplaces, and, seemingly, the Pregolia–Neman and Western Dvina Rivers.440 Recent archaeological material from the Lithuanian coast clearly shows the significance of maritime communication with the Jutland Peninsula, southern Scandinavia and the islands of the Baltic Sea (Fig. 14). From the third century to the beginning of the fifth century, there was an eastern route which was called the “Black Sea Route”. This route follows the Dnieper River, then via the Goryn and Sluch Rivers it was possible to turn towards the Bug River.441 In the middle reaches of the Bug River the route branched off towards the Neman and eastern Lithuania. Therefore, it would appear that the Roman imports found in the East Lithuanian Barrow culture territory may have arrived along this route at least from the middle reaches of the Bug. It is clear that some of the imports remained with the peoples of the Bogaczewo and Sudovian cultures (one of the redistribution stages in regional trade) (Figs. 9; 14). However, in the Lithuanian historiograpical tradition, it is believed that the eastern route travelled along the Neman and Western Dvina Rivers.442 The “Black Sea Route” had already been in use by the first half of the first century BC and was revived circa the mid second century when a part of the Wielbark culture territory population was forced

440 Nowakowski, “Rzymskie importy przemysłowe na terytorium zachodniobałtyjskiego kręgu kulturowego”, p. 100ff; Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 216; Jørgensen, “The Warriors, Soldiers and Conscripts”, fig. 6. 441 Kropotkin, Klady rimskikh monet na territorii SSSR, p. 31, figs. 23 and 25; Domański, “Szlak czarnomorski”, fig. 1. 442 Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 217.

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to move from their homeland to the environs of the Black Sea, where the Chernyakhov-Sîntana de Mureş culture formed.443 The “Black Sea Route” linked the Chernyakhov-Sîntana de Mureş and Wielbark cultures with Scandinavia. Significance of the Glesum Epoch and “Amber Route” to the Aestiorum Gentes and to the Eastern Baltic Region In the trade system of the Late Antique period, amber remained one of the most prestigious objects of exchange. Furthermore, as a result of the Romans’ desire for luxury and the barbarian’s desire to replicate this lifestyle and seek luxury, amber became equal to a strategic raw material. Therefore, by the second half of the first century in the Lower Vistula River region, as a northern point on the trade route, a well-organized, functioning infrastructure was developed that was called the “Amber Route”. This trade route allowed the maintenance of sustained and intensive inter-regional and regional trade using the most varied commodities, amber among them. Because of the limited amount of the resource, the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture peoples traded amber in a local and narrow regional market. However, the amber trade that took place in the Lower Vistula and the Przeworsk culture marketplaces, as well as the spread of cultural ideas, enlivened and amplified every aspect of Late Antique Aestii material and spiritual culture. Therefore, the intense system of exchange that was created determined the general rise of the Aestii economy and the quick development of their social structure, making it in many respects similar to that of the Central European barbaricum. At the same time, various ideas that were adopted and adapted from Germanic tribes influenced Aestii culture and brought about great changes. The standard of living among the Aestii jumped to levels that had been unheard of until that point. Although the meaning of new ideas and changes were unevenly reflected in the Dollkeim-Kovrovo, Bogaczewo and West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves cultures444 and in other regions, the new influences intensified the evolution of the entire territory and the quick development of the Aestii cultures. Therefore, the Late Antique period, for the Aestii cultures, has been deemed a “golden age”.445

443

Domański, “Szlak czarnomorski”, p. 182ff. Sidrys, “Roman Imports among the West Balts: Commerce or ‘Beads for the Natives’?”, pp. 159–168, fig. 6. 445 Gimbutienė, Baltai priešistoriniais laikais, pp. 86–108. 444

CHAPTER FOUR

AMBER IN MEDIEVAL LITHUANIA Changes in the East Baltic Region: Split, Regrouping and Resettlement Enormous changes in the territory between the Neman in the south and the Western Dvina in the north by the first half of the fifth century are evident, some of which were determined by internal factors, and others clearly by external factors, both regional and European. In recent years in Lithuania, new evidence has emerged suggesting that by the end of the fourth century to the beginning of the fifth century, far-reaching changes were happening in the inner settlement structure and network of settlements all over the territory of the Balts. Hill-forts as fortified hill-top settlements and communities’ dwelling-places were abandoned. The dwelling-place of ordinary members of the communities started to be fortified or unfortified settlements, or so-called foot settlements that were directly associated with the hill-forts. Henceforth, a number of hill-top settlements or hill-forts enjoyed future development and here wooden castles were constructed, and these newly-fortified sites became dwelling-places of persons of the highest social strata. At the same time, some new, small, well-fortified hill-forts were founded and these sites acquired the status of strongholds and were the hiding-places of communities during the constant outbreaks of tribal and inter-tribal conflicts. These changes to the settlement structure led to the important agricultural changes which affected the societies’ stratification process and ultimately influenced ideological changes. The above-mentioned circumstances are part of the internal factors which together with the European migratory movement provoked the regrouping of some Balt tribes within their territory. The processes of the Migration period and their repercussions had already reached the territory of Lithuania by the end of the fourth century.1 Archaeological evidence from the fifth to the first half of the sixth century shows quite significant regional ties between the Middle Danube, and southern and central

1

Žulkus, “Vakarų baltai gotų-gepidų migracijoje”, pp. 96–107.

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Scandinavia.2 These processes, once they began within the territory of the Balts, changed its ethnocultural make-up: all the Late Antique period cultural groups which occupied large territories in this region were already in decline and in many respects fundamentally changed by the beginning of the fifth century (Figs. 5; 65). Their place was taken by new ethnocultural groups, with different cultural identities, which in the Lithuanian historiographical tradition are connected with the Balt tribes that were mentioned in later Medieval chronicles.3 In addition to that, in the mid sixth century, Jordanes’s heroic epic book about the Goths’ origins and the history of their migrations, De origine et actibusque Getarum, known as Getica, tells of a real or so-called Aestii/Balts subordination to the Ostrogoths at the end of the Late Antique period. So once again it would seem, the Aestii found themselves within the realm of history. Getica included two paragraphs which give short descriptions of the Aestii. Jordanes indicates that Ermanric (Hermanaricus, died 375 or 376), with bravery and cleverness enslaved the Aestii who lived along the elongated Germanic ocean coastline.4 Seemingly, the enslaving of the Aestii, as described by Jordanes was nothing more than a tribal alliance, including the Aestii—the amber gatherers mentioned by Tacitus.5 In another paragraph Jordanes writes: On the very edge of the Ocean’s shores, where the Vistula waters in three streams flow [into the ocean, see Fig. 3], live Vidivarii, comprised of a variety of tribes. Beyond them live the Aestii, a very peaceful tribe.6

So, Jordanes emphasizes that the Lower Vistula region was a geopolitically important territory which was ethnically heterogeneous. After the extinction 2 Audronė Bliujienė and Donatas Butkus, “VII a. pirmosios pusės karys iš Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio)”, AL 3 (2002), pp. 81–99; Šimėnas, “Barzūnų kapinynas”, p. 143ff; Žulkus, Kuršiai Baltijos jūros erdvėje, pp. 25–36. 3 Adolfas Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 44ff, fig. 1; Gintautas Zabiela, Lietuvos medinės pilys (Vilnius, 1995), p. 47ff, fig. 35; Māris Atgāzis, “Vidējais dzelzs laikmets 400.–800. g.”, in Latvijas senākā vēsture 9. g. t. pr. Kr.—1200. g. (Rīga, 2001), p. 235ff, fig. 175; Mindaugas Bertašius, Vidurio Lietuva VIII–XII a. pp. 33–48 and p. 206ff; Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje pirmojo mūsų eros tūkstantmečio viduryje, p. 42ff, and p. 99ff; Bliujienė, “Watershed between Eastern and Western Lithuania during the Early and Late Migration period”, pp. 123–138. 4 Jordanes, “De origine et actibusque Getarum”, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Ed. Theodor Mommsen. Iordanis Romana et Getica. (Berlin, 1882), V, XXIII, § 120. 5 Michelbertas, Senasis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 5; Magdalena Mączyńska, Die Völkerwanderung. Geschichte einer ruhelosen Epoche im 4. und 5. Jahrhundert (Düsseldorf, 1998), p. 45ff. 6 Jordanes, “De origine et actibusque Getarum”: “Ad litus autem Oceani, ubi tribus faucibus fluenta Vistulae, fluminis ebibuntur, Vidivarii resident, ex diversis nationibus adgregati: post quos ripam Oceani item Aesti tenent, pacatum hominum genus omnino”.

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Fig. 65. The Balt lands and their neighbours during the Middle Ages: 1 The Curonians; 2 The Lamatians; 3 The Scalvians; 4 The Central Lithuanian (Upland Lithuanians) sites; 5 The Samogitians; 6 The Semigallians; 7 The Selonians; 8 The East Lithuanian Barrows; 9 Southeastern Lithuanian Burial Sites (The Jatvingians); 10 The Sudovians; 11 The Dollkeim-Kovrovo people (Prusians); 12 The Elbląg group; 13 The Olsztyn group. Schematic map prepared by the author with additions, after Adolfas Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, fig. 1; Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, “The Key Problems of the late Migration Period in the Balt Lands”, fig. 1.

of the Wielbark culture, the Aestii were penetrating in the direction of a largely desolated Lower Vistula region and crossed the former border between the Germanic and Baltic tribes—the Pasłęka River. Therefore, it is possible to believe that the Vidivarii, mentioned by Jordanes, who lived beside the Vistula, were actually an ethnically mixed people made up of Germans, possibly also including Scandinavians and perhaps Aestii. Now the Vidivarii mentioned by Jordanes are associated with the people of the Elbląg group (Fig. 65.12).

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The Lithuanian and Latvian coastal territory looked quite deserted during the early Migration period. The number of inhabitants significantly decreased in west Lithuania. The people, and the concentration of their power, moved from the coast further inland to more marginal sites of this region, although several of the old centres of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture survived and were still operating. However, as a result of the above-mentioned internal and external factors, the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and its peripheral zone, the Southwest Latvian Grave Sites, split into the Curonian (to the north) and Lamatian (to the south) cultural groups (Figs. 5.1; 65.1, 2). The material culture of the latter, the historically-noted Lamata Land, in the fifth to eighth centuries had some important features (different funeral rites and, as is usual for the Balts, particular ornaments and amulets, and a particular manner of wearing them) that distinguished this cultural group from its closest neighbours. In the early Migration period, from being in background, the Curonian culture rapidly advanced and intensified in the second half of the sixth century. Therefore, at the end of the sixth and the beginning of the seventh century the Curonians from the Klaipėda–Kretinga environs managed to change the geopolitical situation on the Baltic Sea coast. The Curonians, or inhabitants of coastal Lithuania and southwestern Latvia, began to come to life and make their way into the influential ranks. They controlled the main communication routes which led north and south. The Curonian centres had obvious far-flung connections with the Elbląg (in the Elbląg Heights) and Olsztyn (in the Great Mazurian Lakes) groups. Up until the end of the tenth century and early eleventh century, the Curonians did not generally cremate their deceased; although from the ninth century the first pit-cremation burials appear. Cremation as a burial practice increased rapidly, but for a long time inhumation and cremation burial rites coexisted. The furnishing of their cremation burials reflects very complicated features of the funeral rites. The Curonian culture is mostly familiar to us from very richly furnished inhumation and cremation burials with lots of additional grave goods. The former Lower Neman Grave Fields group also experienced great transformations (Figs. 5.2; 65.3). In the mid fifth century or the beginning of the sixth century, a small multi-ethnic group of people moved into the region, therefore, this region was directly touched by the migration movement.7 However, in general the Lower Neman region from the Middle Ages

7 Valdemaras Šimėnas, “Legenda apie Videvutį ir Brutenį (legendos šaltinių klausimu)”, in Prūsijos kultūra. Senovės baltų kultūra (Vilnius, 1994), p. 38ff.

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was inhabited by the Scalvians, one of the Balt tribes. The concentration of the ruling authority and power returned to the geopolitically significant Lower Neman region. In this region a series of grave fields fell out of use at the end of the Roman period, but a few of the grave fields have continuity (Barzūnai, Greižėnai, Šaukėnai, etc.) into the Middle Ages. At the same time, several new grave fields were founded in the new places (Rubokai, Vidgiriai, Vėluikiai, etc.). Thus concentration of the sites in the Lower Neman region and demonstration of power from the fifth to the mid sixth century occur through exceptionally high status men’s graves with riding horses, weapons and fashionable silver ornaments, and exceptional burial traditions.8 From the end of the sixth century, the first pit cremations occur, but in most cases, the grave goods are not affected by the fire. Cremation burials only become the predominant tradition during the seventh century. At the beginning of the fifth century, the Collective Barrow culture, a fairly culturally homogeneous unit, split into three quite distinct groups (Figs. 5.3; 65.5–7). Strong independent ethnic groups, which used to be surrounded by other Balts, emerged as the Samogitians, the Semigallians and the Selonians, communities that had especially distinctive funeral rites and lots of different bronze ornaments. The Samogitians and Semigallians buried their deceased in flat grave fields in inhumation graves, with men and women facing opposite directions. Only the Selonians maintained the tradition of barrow burial, retaining this funeral rite into the thirteenth century. The Samogitians sometimes buried a horse’s head or a horse’s head and limbs with a man. The Semigallians are famous for the large amounts of silver ornaments found in their graves, deposits and sacrificial offerings. The Central Lithuanian Grave Fields culture territory expanded (Figs. 5.4; 65.4). During the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century, this ethnocultural group’s dead were buried in inhumation graves, with the bodies of men and women facing in opposite directions. The wealth, rank and concentration of power were clearly visible in this region. In the fifth century, the first cremation graves appeared, but cremation only becomes prevalent at the beginning of the seventh century. The burials of cremated individuals, in comparison with previous inhumations, are not so richly furnished. In the grave fields of central Lithuania, burials of single horses become more common with the spread and development of cremation burial rites. At that

8 Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje pirmojo mūsų eros tūkstantmečio viduryje, pp. 43–52, figs. 15, 19, 20 and 42–51; Jovaiša, “Baltų visuomenė ankstyvųjų viduramžių pradžioje (V–VI a.)”, p. 9ff.

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time, horse inhumation graves can no longer be associated with individual human cremation burials and become intermixed among them. Thus with the appearance and development of cremation burial rites, views regarding horses change once again. Fitted out with ornate bridles, horses are even buried in a separate part of the grave field, that is to say there is no sense of connection between horse graves and human ones. The entire complex of burial rites of central Lithuania would suggest that horses began to be buried not only at the time when individual persons was cremated, but also, apparently, when celebrating members of the community during certain holidays, and it seems that horses were an offering to the adult and competent freemen of the community.9 The central Lithuanian grave fields are associated with the Upland Lithuanians (in Lithuanian, aukštaičiai). The East Lithuanian Barrow culture during Late Antiquity was largely formed after the internal Aestii/Balt migrations, first of all caused by the area’s southeastern neighbours, the Sudovians. However, at the beginning of the Migration period, the East Lithuanian Barrow culture began to vary more distinctly. This culture’s western margin approached the Šventoji River and this boundary became the watershed between the western and eastern parts of the entire Baltic region. The cultural influence of the northeastern European forest belt zone also stopped at this river. The eastern border extended across all of western Belarus as far as Lake Narach (Fig. 65.8). Thus the East Lithuanian Barrow culture formed independently, as if it, in my opinion, had no direct ties with those people going west and beyond the Šventoji River. The principal relationships of this territory in the beginning and the first quarter of the fifth century were with the wave of newcomers from culturally diverse regions. From the mid fifth century to the first quarter of the sixth century, the main formative links of the East Lithuanian Barrow culture and its people were with the Middle Danube. The main reason for those ties might be the fall of the Hun “empire” after 454. This fall, like a “domino effect” provoked an extensive migratory movement of various tribes of Europe, including ones who had not previously been involved in European politics or which only felt the first migration waves at the beginning of the fifth century. In eastern Lithuania at the beginning of the fifth century, the dead were buried following inhumation burial traditions, and mostly only one grave is found per barrow. In the mid fifth century, however, cremation burial rites

9 Mindaugas Bertašius, Marvelė. Ein Bestattungsplatz mit Mittellitauischer Pferdegräber. Marvelė žirgų kapinynas, II vol. (Kaunas, 2009), p. 110ff.

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spread rapidly, becoming the predominant burial practice until the sunset of this culture in the twelfth century. Anything from several up to a dozen, but most often three to eight, individual burials are found in a barrow. Therefore, barrows became collective burial places, associated with families. Men are buried with a standard weapons set. The women’s inhumation graves of the first half of the fifth century are very richly furnished. However, cremation burials are the opposite—quite poor. As with the other Balt tribes, horse burials were quite common in the East Lithuanian Barrow culture. Horses were commonly buried not just in a separate barrow, but even in a separate part of the barrow field. The East Lithuanian Barrow culture is associated with the Lithuanians. One of the most poorly investigated regions of Lithuania is southeastern Lithuania, with its barrow fields with mounds built from piled stones, and with inhumations as well as cremation burials. Those barrow fields were constructed by the Sudovians and the Jatvingians (Fig. 65.9, 10). The so-called Olsztyn group (mostly known as the masurgermanische Kultur), with its extensive inter-regional links, occurs in the Great Mazurian Lakes region in the former territory of the Bogaczewo culture during the mid fifth century (Fig. 65.13). Recent studies of this cultural unit revealed new ideas about the origins of the Olsztyn group (the Bogaczewo culture population, or the Galindians, mentioned by Ptolemy10 was involved in the process of formation of the Olsztyn group), its development and, of course, its decline, which is likely to have been in the seventh century or even the beginning of the eighth century.11 Later, this territory is known as the domain of the Balts tribe the Galindians.

10 The Galindians (in Latin Galindite, Galindiae), who can be identified with the Bogaczewo culture’s people, and the (in Latin) Soudinoi, who can be associated with the Sudovians, were mentioned by Ptolemy. 11 Jacek Kowalski, “Z badań nad chronologią okresu wędrówek ludów na ziemiach zachodniobałtyjskich (faza E)”, in Archeologia Bałtyska. Materiały z konferencji Olsztyn, 24–25 kwietnia 1988 roku (Olsztyn, 1991), p. 82ff, fig. 8; J. Kowalski, “Chronologia grupy elbląskiej i olsztyńskiej kręgu zachodniobałtyjskiego (V–VII w.). Zarys problematyki”, in Barbaricum: Materialy do archeologii dawnych ziem pruskich, vol. 6 (Warszawa, 2000), pp. 230–236, table 39; A. Bitner-Wróblewska, “Observers or participants? The Balts during turbulent epoch”, in: The Turbulent Epoch. New materials from the Late Roman Period and the Migration Period, vol. I. Eds. Barbara Niezabitowska-Wiśniewska et al. (Lublin, 2008), p. 104ff; Volker Hilberg, Masurische Bügelfibeln. Studien zu den Fernbeziehungen der völkerwanderungszeitlichen Brangräberfelder von Daumen und Kellaren: Daumen und Kellaren—Tumiany i Kielary, Band 2, Schriften des Archäologischen Landesmuseums, Band 9 (Neumünster, 2009).

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In the early sixth century, the Aestii, from now on known as the Hestii (Æstii), are again mentioned in written sources. It is important to emphasize that the Hestii were again mentioned because of amber. Cassiodorus (Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator, from 490–c. 585), secretary to the Ostrogoth king Theodoric the Great (Theodoricus c. 454–526), Benedictine monk, and finally a historian, in his Variae Epistolae mentions Hestii and succinum. From this collection of correspondence, Theodoric the Great’s reply to the Aestii, written about 514–517 or 523–526, is known. However, recent scholarship regards this more as a bit of a rhetorical exercise than an authentic source for the contemporary history of the Balt lands or a genuine description of what had actually happened.12 The Aestii’s letter to the Gothic king did not survive. It is questionable whether such a letter was written. Some inferences can be made from the king’s answer which survives. In it he speaks very obscurely of the regulation of political relationships. Besides that, he also mentions amber here, which the Aestii sent to the king through envoys as a diplomatic gift (Fig. 66). In Theodoric’s letter it is written: It is gratifying to us to know that you have heard of our fame, and have sent ambassadors who have pressed through so many strange nations to seek our friendship. We have received the amber which you have sent us. You say that you gather this lightest of all substances from the shores of the ocean, but how it comes thither you know not. But, as an author named Cornelius [Tacitus] informs us, it is gathered in the innermost islands of the ocean, being formed originally of the juice of a tree (whence its name succinum) . . . We have thought it better to point this out to you, lest you should imagine that your supposed secrets have escaped our knowledge. We send you some presents by our ambassadors, and shall be glad to receive further visits from you by the road which you have thus opened up, and to show you future favours.13

12 See: Nowakowski, Od Galindai do Galinditae, p. 83; Walter Goffart, Barbarian Tides. The Migration Age and the Later Roman Empire (Philadelphia, 2006), p. 60ff. 13 Cassiodorus (Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator), The Letters of Cassiodorus Being a Condensed Translation of the Variae Epistolae of Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator, trans. Thomas Hodgkin [online]. Available from http://www.pgdp.net/ (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/ Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr/) [Accessed 18 August 2009]; Latin text from: Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus, Haestis Theodoricus Rex c. 523–526, in BMRŠ, vol. I, ed. Norbertas Vėlius (Vilnius, 1996), p. 156 “Illo et illo legatis vestris venientibus, grande vos studium notitiae nostrae habuisse cognovimus, ut in Oceani litoribus constituti, cum nostra mente iungamini. Suavis nobis admodum et grata petitio, ut ad vos perveniret fama nostra, ad quos nulla potuimus

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Fig. 66. Solidus of Theodoric the Great (AD 493–526) adopted as disc-brooch, found in Sinigallia, near Arcona (Italy). After Bursche, “Roman Gold Medallions as Power Symbols of the Germanic Élite”, fig. 13.

Cassiodorus’s text in its essence is an example of an exercise in Latin stylistics, which is full of pleasant phrases and no concrete or important information or even information that had not been inspired by Tacitus or Pliny the Elder, or any of the other authors of Late Antiquity that he would have read. However, in the context of Lithuanian historiography the text is interpreted both by historians and archaeologists without any doubt as the evidence for the Aestii nobility’s diplomatic gift to Theodoric and their desire to renew and reinvigorate the amber trade.14 If the document is not merely diplomatic flattery, then the gift of amber brought by the envoys to Ravenna was intended destinare mandata . . . Et ideo salutatione vos affectuosa requirentes, indicamus succina, quae a vobis per harum portitores directa sunt, gratio animo fuisse suscepta, quae ad vos Oceani unda descendens, hanc levissimam substantiam, sicut et vestrorum realatio continebat, exportat, sed unde veniat incognitum vos habere, dixerunt, quam ante omnes homines patria vestra offerente suscipis. Haec quodam Cornelio . . . Quod ideo iudicavimus iudicandum, ne omnino putetis notitiam nostram fugere, quod occultum creditis vos habere. Proinde requirite nos saepius per vias, quas amor vester peruit. Quia semper prodest divitum regum acquisita concordia. Qui dum parvo munere leniuntur, maiore semper compensatione prospiciunt. Aliqua vobis etiam per legatos vestros verbo mandavimus, per quos quae grata esse debeant, nos destinasse declaramus”. 14 Gudavičius, “Baltų gentys ir jų arealai”, p. 124ff; Jovaiša, “Baltų visuomenė ankstyvųjų viduramžių pradžioje (V–VI a.)”, p. 12ff.

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as a reminder of their relatives, the Goths and their descendents, who were still living in the Vistula Delta, after the particularly painful consequences of the Migration period that changed the map of the Lower Vistula region, desolating it.15 Because the passage of Tacitus’s text about amber gatherers and amber formation written at the end of the first century is included in Theodoric’s answer, we can surmise that the text was intended for the forefathers of the Aestii. On the other hand, Theodoric was interested in establishing relationships with his kinsmen residing on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, because not only did he need to wear the garments of his tribe, as has been emphasized by his chroniclers, but he needed to prove his ancestors’ roots, no less honourable than those of the Roman nobility, and point up the ethnic pride of the Goths themselves.16 Therefore, the answer from Ravenna, firstly, could have been a sign of political acquiescence. In addition to that, it may have been a certain reminder of common roots, and without a doubt, the intent was to support trade ties with neighbours to the north. From the second half of the fifth century/beginning of the sixth, the Ostrogoths played an important role in Europe. There is no doubt that they were attempting to expand their political influence and support more active trade ties with their northern neighbours. Part of the attempts to develop these relationships are the famous Frombork (formerly Frauenburg, Braniewo district, Poland) and Młoteczno (formerly Hammersdorf, presently in Poland) hoards found in the lower reaches of the Pasłęka River. The Frombork scrap metal hoard contains a number of intact and broken ornaments, mainly buckles and fibulae, as well as Roman coins including a Theodosius II (408–450) solidus.17 The fifth-century hoard C from Młoteczno includes two gold neck-rings.18 Furthermore, standard-shaped amber beads spread across the larger part of fifth- to sixth-century Europe, forcing one to believe that

15 Urbańczyk, “The Goths in Poland—where did they come from and when did they leave?”, p. 404ff. 16 Ibid., p. 404. 17 Kazimierz Godłowski, “The chronology of the Late Roman and Early Migration Periods in Central Europe”, Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersitetu Jagiellońskiego. Prace Archeologiczne, 11 (1970), p. 56. 18 Neck-rings’ weight: 549.4 grams and 991.5 grams. For this, see: Vladimir I. Kulakov, “People of the south-eastern Baltic region in the Merovingian time”, in Merowingerzeit: Europa ohne Grenzen. Archäologie und Geschichte des 5. bis 8. Jahrhunderts. Kataloghandbuch, ed. Wilfried Menghin (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin–Preußsicher Kulturbesitz, 2007), p. 139ff and p. 368.

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amber extraction and the marketplaces themselves, in addition to the trade route to the marketplaces on the Vistula Delta, still existed. In Lithuania from the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century, compared with the Late Antique period, the amount of amber artefacts and raw amber in graves increased significantly (Fig. 67; Appendix B; C; Tables 1; 2). Necklaces strung with amber beads, as well as amulets, spread all over Lithuania. During this period, in almost all of Lithuania, amber beads were prevalent.19 In those necklaces, much rarer than before, amber beads were mixed with glass beads and bronze spirals. Beads made from leather, pewter or corals turn up. In the fifth century and the first half of the sixth century, there was a renaissance of amber-wearing traditions. Amber was worn as it never was before and never has been since. It looks like the “golden age” of amber. Diversity of Amber Artefacts: Beads, Spindle Whorls and Fine Raw Amber Pieces In the fifth century and the first half of the sixth century, amber beads spread all over Lithuania (Fig. 67). In addition, there were more beads than ever in graves.20 However, amber, like in the Late Antique period in Lithuania, is still known from burial sites. Some of the amber beads from the first half of the fifth century and even from the first half of the sixth century are the same shapes as were worn during the Late Antique period.21 However, other types of Late Antiquity beads and pendants disappear around the first half of the fifth century. In Lithuania, the new lathe-turned and semi-lathed beads, peculiar to the mid first millennium, become prevalent and are found at burial sites of the lower reaches of the Neman River, central and eastern Lithuania. However, these beads were imported from the Kuiavia region (Przeworsk culture),22 the Sambian Peninsula and other regions that had

19 Astrauskas, Marvelės bendruomenė (II a. pabaiga—V a.); Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, figs. 196a, 197–204. 20 Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 186ff; Sidrys, “Gintaro įkapės senojo ir viduriniojo geležies amžiaus kapuose”, pp. 28–42; Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, fig. 1; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 195. 21 Beads and pendants belonging to Late Antiquity and the very beginning of the Middle Ages are discussed in Chapter Three. 22 P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich”, pp. 317– 361.

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Fig. 67. Spread of amber artefacts in Lithuania and southwestern Latvia from the fifth to the late sixth century (for find-spots list see: Appendix C). Map prepared by the author referring to data from excavation reports.

their own workshops.23 In the mid fifth century, in Konary and Świlcza,24 amber workshops, and perhaps workshops in the other late Przeworsk culture sites, were still in existence and were producing semi-lathed and latheturned beads of the same shapes as those found in Lithuania and in the vast barbaricum territory. It is a pity that in most cases, for a number of

23 It should be stressed that it is not always possible to ascertain where standard amber beads typical of the Migration period were crafted. 24 Gruszczyńska, “Amber-workers of the fourth and fifth centuries AD from Świlcza near Rzeszów”, pp. 183–190.

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reasons, it is not clear where certain amber beads were crafted. It should be emphasized that the technically complicated crafted amber beads characteristic of this time disappear in the mid sixth century, without having had any influence on the further evolution of bead shapes (Fig. 17.V–IX.16–49). In the sixth century and the first half of the seventh century, only in the one Curonian grave field at Lazdininkai are beads found that are similar to those found in previous periods, which could have been produced as a continuation of the old bead forms. However, it might be that amber beads from Lazdininkai are simply imitations of typical late Migration period glass beads, or that these beads are heirlooms. From the end of the sixth century in Lithuania, the simplest spherical and bi-truncated conical amber beads dominated. At least seven main bead groups can be identified in Lithuania during the Middle Ages. The first group consists of small (or larger) flattened spherical beads, although they were not very popular (Fig. 68.I.1). In the fifth century and first half of the sixth century in Lithuania, as during the Late Antique period, most of the beads found were handmade or semi-lathed bi-truncated conical ones (Types TM395a, b, TM396, TM433 and TM434). Small in size, bi-truncated conical beads were the most popular amber find in coastal Lithuanian grave fields. The larger bi-truncated conical beads were most often found in the grave fields of Samogitia and other Lithuanian regions. Some of them have a sharp edge, while others have rounded edges (Figs. 68.II.2–10; 69.1). Among the bi-truncated conical beads group are beads which have a low central bulge on the edge (Fig. 68.II.7, 8). In the first half of the fifth century, those types of beads were found in the grave fields of western Lithuania (Baitai, Lazdininkai, etc.). However, beads with a central bulge on the edge were the most common amber bead type at Vidgiriai grave field in the Lower Neman region. Similar beads with a central bulge were already being crafted in the workshops of the Jacewo site 4 (Przeworsk culture) during the Late Antique period. Amber workshops in the Jacewo 4 settlement were the most famous because of the high quality of the lathe-turned beads, and judging from about 5,000 different amber finds, these workshops were some of the biggest in the territory of the Przeworsk culture.25

25 P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich”, pp. 317– 361; Cofta-Broniewska, “Amber craft in Kuiavia in the Era of Przeworsk Culture”, pp. 149– 165, figs. 4 and 5; table 1.

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Fig. 68. The typology of handmade, semi-lathed and lathe-turned amber beads from Lithuanian burial sites. Groups I–VIII. Fifth century to the first half of the sixth century.

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Fig. 69. Amber beads found in Vidgiriai grave field in the Lower Neman region, Šilutė district. After Valdemaras Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje, figs. 37–39.

The third group consists of beads with a fairly high central bulge, which are close to the semi-lathed beads of the Type TM450c, which was known in Late Antiquity (Figs. 17.III.28–30; 68.III.11–14).26 Some beads from this group are bi-truncated conical shaped while others have a cylindrical form. In Lithuania, those types of beads are found in the fifth century and in the first half of the sixth century. In Lithuania’s coastal grave fields, elongated bi-truncated conical beads which are close to the Type TM447 are quite common.27 These beads occur in Lithuania during the Late Antique period, but are quite often found with artefacts dated to the fifth century (Užpelkiai and Lazdininkai) (Fig. 68.IV.15– 17). Elongated amber beads that are close to the Type TM410 (Fig. 68.IV.17) might be attributed to this fourth group as a subtype. These beads were found in the Samogitian (Sauginiai), central (Kalniškiai and Plinkaigalis), 26 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, plates 17 and 69. 27 Ibid., p. 79, plates 17 and 69.

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southeastern (Zapsė) and eastern (Baliuliai and Žvirbliai) Lithuanian burial sites. Not many beads of this group were found in Lithuania. The fifth amber bead group from the fifth to the first half of the sixth century comprises cylindrical beads with a smooth surface (Fig. 68.V.18–19) and with incised linear decoration (Figs. 68.V.20, 21, 24–28; 69.2) or with deep grooves (Figs. 68.V.22, 23, 29–31; 69.3). Some of this group’s beads are close to Type TM440 and Type 441, which belong to the Basonia beads type (Fig. 68.V.20, 24).28 This large group of beads is quite varied. Most of them are lathe-turned. However, judging from the simpler processing technology, some of the cylindrical beads found in Lithuania were produced locally (Fig. 68.V.21, 25–28). Single amber beads of the fifth group are often found in men’s graves. In women’s graves they were strung into necklaces, together with other forms of amber beads. Most of the cylindrical beads with deep grooves were found in the Lower Neman region (Vidgiriai), Samogitia (Sauginiai and Paprūdžiai) and central Lithuania (Plinkaigalis). However, only single beads with deep grooves are known along the coast in the fifth-century graves.29 Beads with incised linear decoration and with deep grooves, like the Basonia type beads, were widespread in Europe at that time (Fig. 70.8, 13–15). The sixth and the largest and most varied group of beads are the Basonia type beads, which are named after their find-spot, not far from Lublin in Poland. Basonia type beads are of a few standard forms, attributed to Types TM430, TM437, TM438, TM440, TM441, TM442, TM443 and TM451.30 Until the mid fifth century, semi-lathed Basonia type beads were produced in Świlcza, Konary and other Przeworsk culture amber workshops (Fig. 71.1).31 Certain beads ascribed to the Basonia types are found in the grave fields

28

Ibid., p. 77ff, fig. 12, plates 16 and 63. Several beads with deep grooves are known in the southwestern Latvian burial site at Medzes Kapsēde, but the find circumstances are not very clear. For this, see: Kruse, Necrolivonica, plate 33.A. 30 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 77, fig. 12; P. Wielowiejski, “Skarb bursztynu z późniego okresu rzymskiego odkryty w miejscowości Basonia”, p. 108ff; P. Wielowiejski, “Bernstein in der Przeworsk-Kultur”, pp. 305–312, fig. 20; Sidrys, “Gintaro įkapės senojo ir viduriniojo geležies amžiaus kapuose”, pp. 36–41, figs. 8 and 10. 31 Gruszczyńska, “Amber-workers of the fourth and fifth centuries AD from Świlcza near Rzeszów”, pp. 183–188, fig. 6; P. Wielowiejski, “Skarb bursztynu z późniego okresu rzymskiego odkryty w miejscowości Basonia, woj. Lubelskie”, p. 111. P. Wielowiejski, “Pracownie obróbki bursztynu z okresu wpływów rzymskich”, fig. 20; Cofta-Broniewska, “Amber craft in Kuiavia in the Era of Przeworsk Culture”, p. 150ff; Cofta-Broniewska, “Amber in the material culture of the communities of the region of Kuiavia during the Roman period”, pp. 157–175; Mastykova, “Iantarnye busy s nareznym dekorom epokhi Velikogo Pereseleniia narodov”, pp. 55–62, fig. 1. 29

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Fig. 70. Amber beads and pendants from cemeteries in Viminacium-1 (Burdelj) and Viminacium-2 (Više Grobalja), now Kostolac in Serbia. After Vujadin Ivanišević et al., Les nécropoles de Viminacium, figs. 51, 58, 59, 62, 65.

of the Wielbark culture, together with materials from the end of the second century and the beginning of the third. These beads were also worn in the fourth century.32 Between the years 430 to 480/490, the Basonia type amber beads have been found within the vast territory of the barbaricum.33 These beads have a vast distribution territory; they have been spread across Central Europe, the Middle Danube, the central Balkans, southern 32 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 77ff, fig. 12, plate 68; P. Wielowiejski, “Skarb bursztynu z późniego okresu rzymskiego odkryty w miejscowości Basonia”, p. 111. 33 Mastykova, “Iantarnye busy s nareznym dekorom epokhi Velikogo Pereseleniia narodov”, pp. 57–65.

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Fig. 71. Amber beads produced in Świlcza 3 (Rzesów voivodship in Poland) workshop (1) and amber necklace found in Marvelė grave field in Central Lithuania, woman’s grave 281 (2). After Aleksandra Gruszczyńska, “Amber-workers of the fourth and fifth centuries AD from Świlcza”, fig. 6; Photograph by S. Czopek; Mindaugas Bertašius, Ein Gräberfeld Mittellitauens, plate CXVI.1.

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Scandinavia, Bornholm and Öland islands, Pomerania, the Sambian Peninsula, the Great Mazurian Lakes and the Sudovian sites.34 In Lithuania, the first Basonia type beads appear in the second half of the third century and were used during the fourth century, though most often they are found together with material from the fifth century to the beginning of the sixth century (Fig. 68.VI.32–53).35 In Lithuania, the Basonia type beads most often occur in the Lower Neman region and central Lithuania (Vidgiriai, Kalniškiai, Kiduliai, Marvelė, Panevėžiukas and Obeliai). Only single Basonia beads have been found along the coast (Užpelkiai, Rūdaičiai I, etc.) and in Samogitia (Šarkai, Sauginiai, etc.). The territory of Lithuania is the northernmost area in which the Basonia type beads have been found on such a large scale. The Basonia type beads found in Lithuania are semi-lathed and lathe-turned, and therefore could have been produced in different workshops and then traded via different trade routes (Figs. 68.V.32–53; 71; 72). The step-cut beads make up a small but important group of beads found in Lithuania. These types of beads occur during the Late Antique period (Figs. 17.X.38–49; 34).36 At the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth, beads with a step-cut surface are mostly found in the grave fields of western Lithuania (Užpelkiai and Stragnai). Single step-cut beads have been discovered in central and northern Lithuania (Kalniškiai and Diržiai).37 Step-cut beads are precisely lathed, but during the fifth century, coastal dwellers, for example the Curonians, did not have lathes.38 Because in Lithuania lathed step-cut beads had spread in a limited coastal territory and were worn for a relatively short time, it would seem that they were imported from the Wielbark culture during the process of its demise at the beginning of the fifth century. It may be that the step-cut beads were crafted locally in amber workshops by travelling masters well acquainted with lathe-turning 34 Kolendo, “Napływ burztynu z Północy na tereny imperium rzymskiego”, p. 98; P. Wielowiejski, “Skarb bursztynu z późniego okresu rzymskiego odkryty w miejscowości Basonia”, pp. 102–114; Nowakowski, Das Samland in der römischen Kaiserzeit, plate 36.6 and 38.7; Mastykova, “Amber beads with incised linear decoration in the Great Migration Period”, pp. 345–358, figs. 2; 3; 4–11; Anna Mastykova, “Iantarnye busy s nareznym dekorom epokhi Velikogo Pereseleniia narodov”, Rossiiskaia arkheologiia 3 (2004), pp. 55–65, fig. 1.1–7; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 208. 35 Sidrys, “Gintaro įkapės senojo ir viduriniojo geležies amžiaus kapuose”, p. 40, fig. 10; Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age to Early Middle Ages”, p. 60; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 347ff, fig. 207. 36 See Chapter Three. 37 Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, p. 176ff, figs. 4 and 5; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 353–360, figs. 210 and 211. 38 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 283–287. For lathe use also see: Chapter Three.

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Fig. 72. Schematic map of the fifth- to seventh-century cultural links and trade ties between the eastern Baltic region and Europe. Amber spread in Lithuania (circles with light grey shadow): I—Lithuanian coast; II—The Lower Neman region; III— Central Lithuania; IV—Eastern Lithuania. S—Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture; O—Olsztyn group; E—Elbląg group (circles with dark grey shadow): A—amber spread during the fifth to sixth centuries in modern-day Hungary, Romania and Crimea. B—amber spread in the seventh century. Schematic map drawn by the author referring to Wojciech Nowakowski, “Die Olsztyn-Gruppe (Masurgermanische Kultur)”, fig. 5; Curta, “Amber Trail”, figs. 1 and 2.

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techniques and other technology. Such an assumption allows one to propose that certain Balt jewellery types of the fifth to the beginning of the sixth century were produced by travelling jewellers (craftsmen). These precisely lathed amber beads may have been made by travelling craftsmen, who were well versed in technologies spread in the Germans lands, as well as stylistic trends unknown to the Balts. Travelling jewellers were known in Scandinavia and in continental Europe by Late Antiquity.39 It is likely that during the troubled times of the Migration period, travelling jewellers reached western Lithuania and were knowledgeable in the technology necessary to produce step-cut amber beads and, without a doubt, to produce other artefacts. Lithuania’s amber craftsmen sometimes imitated imported step-cut beads. Handmade beads with regular or irregular incised linear decoration or beads that allude to the step-cut beads have been found along the coast and in some localities of northwestern Lithuania (Ringuvėnai and Sūdėnai). Irregular-shaped amber beads belong to the seventh bead group (Fig. 68.VII.54–60). Irregular-shaped beads are quite close to Type TM403. These beads were especially widespread on the Sambian Peninsula, and in Pomerania, the Great Mazurian Lakes and the Lower Vistula region, where they were found together with materials from the end of the second century and beginning of the third century.40 From the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century, simple irregular-shaped beads look like semi-finished artefacts. They may have been created by the most elementary methods. Irregular-shaped beads found in Lithuania can be divided into two subgroups, according to the level of their completeness and the quality of processing. The largest amounts of both groups of irregular-shaped beads were found in the burial sites of the Lower Neman group, central, and northern as well as eastern Lithuania (Jauneikiai, Kalniškiai, Marvelė, Pašekščiai, Plauciškiai, Pavajuonis–Rėkučiai, Sauginiai, Vidgiriai and Zastaučiai). As is shown by the materials from the burial sites of Pašekščiai and Marvelė, these types of beads turned up in Lithuania in the mid fourth century or a bit earlier (Figs. 32; 33). The first subgroup of irregular-shaped beads have sharp, unpolished or poorly polished edges (Fig. 68.VII.54–58). These look like beads which are semi-finished or were only being prepared for further processing. In essence, they are not suitable to be used as ornaments in necklaces and may have

39 Kent Andersson, Romartida guldsmide i Norden. 3, Övriga smycken, teknisk analys och verkstadsgrupper, Aun 21 (Uppsala, 1995), p. 26ff. 40 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 69ff, plates 15 and 64; Bitner-Wróblewska, Netta: a Balt Cemetery, p. 66.

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had symbolic meaning. Perhaps they are some sort of particular grave good that were specially crafted to be placed in the grave, although in Lithuania those beads are found in short necklaces. The territory in which irregularshaped beads were spread is not entirely clear. It is noteworthy that during the Migration period they cannot be found in the grave fields of coastal Lithuania. Irregular-shaped beads in pretty huge quantities were discovered in the fifth- to mid sixth-century grave fields of central Lithuania (Kalniškiai, Kiduliai, Marvelė and Seredžius), as well as northern and northeastern Lithuania (Berčiūnai, Diktarai, Jauneikiai, Riklikai, Sauginiai and Šašiai). Especially large quantities of the roughly made or semi-finished irregular-shaped beads are found in cremation graves of the third quarter of the fifth century to the first quarter of the sixth century on the Sambian Peninsula. Most of the Pionerski Zarechnye on so-called “Gora Velikanov” Hill (formerly Rantau “Hünnenberg”) cremation graves contained semi-finished irregular-shaped beads and retouched flint blades, which may have been used to work amber or to scrape the surface and to make holes.41 The second subgroup of irregular-shaped beads are those with polished surface and edges (Fig. 68.VII.59–60). Because both the subgroups of irregular-shaped beads are almost never found along the Lithuanian coast, one must consider that these amber beads may have been imported from the Sambian Peninsula, and were then polished locally. So, beads with unpolished or poorly polished edges would have been suitable only for enclosing in graves as symbols of amber itself or as a symbol of the necklace. Polished beads may have served as adornments in everyday life and in the afterlife. It is worth mentioning that single irregular-shaped beads were suspended from weapons as “magical sword pendants”, therefore functioning as amulets.42 In the graves of the first half of the fifth century, rare amber beads are also found which are close to Types TM407, TM409 and TM412, and figureof-eight-shaped pendants still occur (Figs. 39.10; 43.1; 73.3).43 However, in the first half of the fifth century, very few amber pendants are found.44 In Barzūnai men’s grave 27, a uniquely formed amber pendant in the shape of a pear was discovered (Fig. 68.VIII.61). In the second half of the fifth century, all amber pendants disappear, and don’t have any further impact on the later evolution of Balt pendants.

41

Kulakov, “Istoki kul’tury prussov”, p. 115ff, fig. 4. Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 362, fig. 209.8, 10, 11, 13. 43 See: Chapter Three. 44 Baliuliai (TM465), Barzūnai (local imitation), Plinkaigalis (TM471d), Zapsė (TM471d) and Žviliai (TM471d). 42

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Fig. 73. The first quarter of the fifth-century grave assemblage of child’s grave 261 from Žviliai (Šilalė district): 1, 2, 4, 6–8, 10 bronze; 3 amber; 5 glass, amber, bronze; 9 iron. After Laima Vaikunskienė, Žvilių kapinynas, fig. 96. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR487) in Vilnius.

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During the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century, spindle whorls, as earlier, were mostly made from sandstone and clay, or antler. However, the number of amber spindle whorls increased, and, as during the Late Antique period, were found along the coast and in the Lower Neman region. During the Migration period they also occur in Samogitian burial sites (Figs. 74; 75.2).45 In certain central Lithuanian grave fields, large amber beads are known, but unfortunately they are stray finds.46 It is, therefore, unclear if these finds might have been spindle whorls or served as dagger-knife pommels or were “magical sword pendants”. However, spindle whorls were not found in the coastal grave fields that have large quantities of amber artefacts (for example, Užpelkiai). In Lazdininkai grave field, where relatively-speaking a lot of amber has been found in graves dated from the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century, only eight amber spindle whorls were found. Meanwhile, in the Tūbausiai grave field, where only 18 amber artefacts were found, in one woman’s grave an amber cylindrical spindle whorl was discovered. Cylindrical, usually unornamented, amber spindle whorls are also found (Figs. 74.2; 75.2). Only occasionally, spindle whorls are decorated with rows of small dots, incisions, or their sides are decorated with grooves (Fig. 74.1, 3–6). In the fifth century and first half of the sixth century in Lithuania, the tradition of placing single, particularly beautiful raw amber bits noticeably increases (Figs. 54.1, 2, 4–7; 76.1). Raw amber is found in various places in the grave: beside the head of the deceased (Lieporiai, grave 77; Užpelkiai, grave 94), on the chest (Lazdininkai, grave 39/1940, Pagrybis, men’s grave 134), and in the area of the waist (Maudžiorai, women’s grave 175, Užpelkiai, men’s graves 16 and 66, women’s grave 84). In Lieporiai grave field men’s grave 66, raw amber was found beside the deceased’s chin.47 At Užpelkiai grave field in woman’s grave 84, the burial of a woman between the age of 30 and 40, a specially selected bit of raw amber that had a natural opening was found close to the woman’s waist on the left side. It seems that a sash was attached through the opening, creating a pendant (Figs. 54.7a–b; 76.1). The find circumstances clearly show that the amber bit was used both as a pendant and as an apotropaic amulet.48 This amber 45 Amber spindle whorls were found in Kurmaičiai III, Kurmaičiai-Pajuodupis, Baitai, Lazdininkai, Slengiai, Vidgiriai and Pakalniškiai grave fields. 46 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 217.4, 5. 47 Birutė Salatkienė, Lieporių kapinyno (Šiauliai) 1990–1991 metų tyrinėjimų ataskaitos (Unpublished excavation reports from 1990–1991, in LII R, f., 1, nos. 1733, 1834). 48 The same phenomenon is known from Rucavas Mazkatuži. For this see Chapter Three, Figs. 48 and 49.

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Fig. 74. Amber spindle whorls: 1–3 Lazdininkai (Kretinga district): graves 56/1958, 67/1958 and 37/1998; 4 Pagrybis (Šilalė district) grave 33; 5 Baitai (Klaipėda district) grave 42; 6 Pakalniškiai (Šilalė district) stray find. After Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, fig. 8; Rasa Banytė-Rowell, “Baitų kapinynas”, in ATL in 2002, fig. 35. Drawings by Audronė Ruzienė and Virgilijus Truklickas. Courtesy of the LNM (AR552: 111; AR567: 4) in Vilnius and KrM (10581) in Kretinga.

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Fig. 75. Part of the beginning of the fifth-century woman’s grave assemblage from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district) grave 16/1940: 1 bronze; 2 amber; 3 amber and glass. After Eugenija Butėnienė, “Lazdininkų kapinynas”, fig. 6.

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Fig. 76. The fifth-century woman’s grave 84 from Užpelkiai (Kretinga district) in situ and grave assemblage: 1–3 amber; 4, 5, 7 bronze; 6 iron. After Bliujienė, Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė.

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pendant-amulet proves another phenomenon: the emergence of the western Baltic women’s tradition of wearing various, usually metal, pendants suspended from the left side of the waist as protective amulets.49 However, not all raw amber bits that are found in graves can be considered to be amulets or just additional grave goods. Based on pagan tradition, the additional grave goods placed into the deceased’s grave can be interpreted as a part of their wealth that showed social status, or raw amber bits can show that the person was associated with amber collecting, trade or amber working, or was one of those who were controlling the amber-bearing coast.50 The Evolution of the Balts’ Amber Usage Traditions and Regional Differences Lithuania is the northernmost territory of the barbaricum where the use of amber was so wide-spread. Although there are many amber find-spots, they are not evenly distributed. It is evident that Lithuania’s various ethnocultural regions used amber differently. Paradoxically, the longest, most ornate and most fashionable amber bead necklaces were found not along the coast, but in the burial sites of the Lower Neman region and those of central and even eastern Lithuania. The amber found in these burial sites is not connected with the Lithuanian coast. In the fifth century and the first half of the sixth century, the greatest number of find-spots of amber artefacts are located on the Lithuanian coast and belong to the Curonians (Appendix C; Table 2). However, only three coastal grave fields are known for their large amount of amber beads: Užpelkiai, Lazdininkai and Rūdaičiai I. The most prevalent necklaces from the coastal region are short bead sets strung from bi-truncated conical amber beads (up to 30 beads). Sometimes beads with a central bulge, cylindrical or elongated etc. beads were used to form these necklaces, though most of the time only three to eight, but not more than ten, fine small beads were used. Most such necklaces are found in the graves of women and girls (Figs. 75.3–78; Table 2). The size of the beads allows one to conclude that they were made from small pieces of local drift amber. These necklaces were mostly found in the area of the chest and would have been connected to the dress with one or two simple iron crook-like pins (Figs. 76.2, 3; 77.5; 78.1, 3, 4). In the men’s graves, beads are usually found singly or several amber beads per grave (Table 2). 49 Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age to Early Middle Ages”, pp. 64–71, figs. 1–6. 50 Audronė Bliujienė, “Investigation at the Užpelkiai Cemetery”, AB 3 (1998), p. 284.

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Fig. 77. The fifth-century necklaces and single amber bead from Užpelkiai (Kretinga district) graves 77 (1–2); 64 (3); 63 (4) and 92 (5): 1 amber, bronze; 2 bronze; 3, 4 amber; 5 amber, iron. After Bliujienė, Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno. Drawings by VirgilijusTruklickas. Courtesy of the MLIM in Klaipėda.

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Fig. 78. The fifth-century necklaces from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district) graves 37/1998 (1); 38/1998 (2); 55/1998 (3) and Užpelkiai (Kretinga district) grave 86 (4). After Bliujienė, “Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio) kapinyno”, Bliujienė, “Užpelkių plokštinio kapinyno tyrinėjimai 1996 metais”, fig. 20.2, 3. Drawings by Virgilijus Truklickas. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga and MLIM in Klaipėda.

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The Scalvian grave fields of the Lower Neman region have been studied far less.51 However, when comparing the amount of amber artefacts found in researched grave fields of the Curonians as opposed to the Scalvians, the available data allows one to argue that the overall amount of amber beads is 2.41 times larger in the Lower Neman region than it is in the grave fields excavated along the coast (Table 2). The Scalvian women wore amber necklaces; they also wore amber beads fastened to dress pins and caps, and of course they wore single amber beads.52 In Vidgiriai grave field, the average amount of amber in women’s graves works out at 9.4 beads per grave (Figs. 79; 80.4–6). However, some of them have more than 70 amber beads in the grave. A few amber spindle whorls were also found here. Most of the beads found in this grave field are semilathed and lathe-turned; the Basonia type beads that are similar to those found in the rest of Europe (Figs. 69.2, 3; 70; 71; 79; 80.1–3). Judging by the style of graves and the materials left behind, Vidgiriai grave field allows us to consider that this multi-ethnic community of the end of the fifth to the mid sixth century, had ties with the Middle Danube, Pannonian Plain, nomadic cultures, and the Baltic Sea islands of Öland and Gotland.53 Therefore, in the context of the Lower Neman region, this grave field is distinguished by its archaeological evidence and many distinctive funerary rites. One of these rites being that the women’s necklaces strung with amber beads were found not on their chests, but in the area of their waists or thighs, perhaps suspended from tablet-woven sashes or placed into birch-bark boxes, several amber beads were tied to special headdress pins or chaplets, and some amber beads were placed in the graves singly. In the Vidgiriai grave field women’s graves, no amber necklaces were found on the chest. Some of the buried women held their necklaces in their hands.54 In Vidgiriai grave 21, a buried woman held in her right hand, as an indicator of her social status, a necklace made up of 66 amber beads of the Basonia type beads. In her left hand she held an amber spindle whorl as a marker of her gender (Figs. 79; 80.4, 6).55 Women’s graves with necklaces or even bracelets strung with amber beads and pendants have quite good parallels in the Germanic cultures of the 51 Data from the nine coastal grave fields and from the four grave fields located in the Lower Neman region were summarized (Table 2). Therefore, the comparison of the data is not completely correct. 52 Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 171; Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje pirmojo mūsų eros tūkstantmečio viduryje, figs. 35–39. 53 Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje pirmojo mūsų eros tūkstantmečio viduryje, pp. 56 and 68. 54 The woman buried in grave 34 held 15 amber beads in the palm of her right hand. 55 Šimėnas, Vidgirių kapinyno, Šilutės raj., 1987 m. kasinėjimų ataskaita, pp. 4–26.

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Fig. 79. The end of the fifth-century woman’s grave 21 in situ, Vidgiriai, the Lower Neman region Šilutė district grave field: in the woman’s right hand there is a necklace strung from 66 amber beads. In her left hand there is an amber spindle whorl. Photograph by Valdemaras Šimėnas.

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Fig. 80. Gepidian woman’s (grave 22) amber necklaces from BiharkeresztesKisfarkasdomb grave field in Hungary (1–3) and amber ornaments and spindle whorl from Vidgiriai (Šilutė district) grave field, woman’s grave 21 (4–7). End of the fifth century. After Karoly Mesterházy, “Bemerkungen zum gepidischen Corpus”, fig. 9; Valdemaras Šimėnas, Etnokultūriniai procesai Vakarų Lietuvoje, figs. 35 and 36. Photograph by Kazimieras Vainoras.

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Late Antique and Migration periods. A fine illustration of these parallels is woman’s grave 226 from Mautern cemetery in Austria.56 The woman from grave 226 held six figure-of-eight pendants in her right hand. In terms of funeral rites, Vidgiriai grave field corresponds to the Late Antique period Wielbark culture high-ranking women buried in the so-called “sleeping position”, with fashionable necklaces and amulets in their hands or in their right hand (Fig. 46.1).57 Graves with people buried in the sleeping position, or a position close to it, are known from different cultures. However, amber or amulets crafted from amber enclosed in the women’s right hands, considering the qualities of “northern gold” as a substance—a warm and pleasurable material, may have had several meanings but primarily could embody worldly warmth and light or maybe even signify the sun itself. On the other hand, the ornate necklace (pectoral ornament), deliberately moved in the grave from its usual position, may be a leading identity marker of the woman of high social status. At the same time, the ornate pectoral ornaments give particular assistance in the difficult moment—the journey to the afterlife. Coming back to the world of the Balt women, it is possible to assume that the tradition of taking the necklaces off a woman’s chest when she prepared to enter the afterlife and by so doing changing the base identity of the woman by taking away the symbol of social status—the necklace or pectoral ornament—has deep traditions that reach back to the Late Antique period and which were continued during the Middle Ages: in Samogitia, a woman’s decorative pectoral ornament was removed from her clothing and placed on her chest. This tradition known from the burial rites has good parallels in men’s burial customs. For the southern Curonians, a man’s main indicator of social status was his belt. After death, the belt was removed and placed into the grave not in the position that it was worn. At the same time, in the recently researched Barzūnai grave field in the Lower Neman region, which is not far from Vidgiriai, most of the amber beads were traditional bi-truncated conical ones (Table 2). Burial practices were also different. In Barzūnai grave field in the graves of women and girls, necklaces were found on the chests. Besides that, in the graves of men, women and children, many single amber beads were found.58 In Barzūnai women’s 56 Marianne Pollak, Spätantike Grabfunde aus Favianis/Mautern (Wien, 1993), p. 103 and p. 206, plate 32; Mastykova, “Iantarnye busy s nareznym dekorom epokhi Velikogo Pereseleniia narodov”, p. 173. 57 Bursche and Okulicz-Kozaryn, “Groby z monetami rzymskimi na cmentarzysku kultury wielbarskiej w Weklicach koło Elbląga”, p. 143ff. 58 Šimėnas, Barzūnų kapinyno, Tauragės apskr. Pagėgių seniūnija, 2000 m. kasinėjimų ataskaita, p. 18ff; Šimėnas, “Barzūnų kapinyno tyrinėjimai”, p. 273ff; Šimėnas, Barzūnų kapinynas, p. 103ff.

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and men’s graves many amber beads were found, both among those who were buried in richly furnished graves and those who were buried in poorly furnished ones (Table 2). In the men’s graves, short amber necklaces were placed on the men’s necks together with bronze neck-rings. An especially large amount of amber beads were found in the graves of wealthy men, who were buried together with their horses. During the fifth century and the first half of the sixth century in the Curonian (Užpelkiai), Lamatian (Rubokai) and Lower Neman (Barzūnai and Vidgiriai) grave fields, graves occur of well-armed horsemen, who belong to the highest social strata. These men are buried together with their horse or sometimes even two horses. However, it wasn’t complete horses that were buried, only the ritual parts: the head, the head and limbs, or the head, limbs, and skin or sometimes only the teeth. Sometimes a few amber beads or pieces of raw amber are found beside the horse’s head or ritual parts of the horse (Fig. 54.2, 5–6; Table 3). Therefore, it is believed that the amber may have decorated the horses’ manes, or it may have been placed in the horses’ graves for some other reason. During this period, compared with the Lithuanian coast and the Lower Neman region, the number of amber artefacts and the number of graves containing amber in central Lithuania is much higher. The greatest number of amber beads were found in the grave fields of central Lithuania, which were left behind by the Upland Lithuanians (Table 2). The largest amounts of amber artefacts were found in three grave fields: Plinkaigalis, Kalniškiai and Marvelė. Although data from Sargėnai, Veršvai and other central Lithuanian grave fields excavated before World War II are inaccurate, the whole region’s archaeological evidence allows one to argue that the largest amount of amber was found in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Kaunas—at the confluence of the largest Lithuanian rivers, the Neman and the Neris. The bi-truncated conical, irregular-shaped and Basonia type beads prevail in the central Lithuanian sites (Fig. 71.2). In the necklaces of the central Lithuanian women, anything from 5 to 170 amber beads are included, most of them of the Basonia type (Figs. 71.2; 81.9; 82.5).59 However, there are not many such ornate amber necklaces. In Kalniškiai grave field, among 45 women’s graves in which amber beads were found, ornate amber necklaces strung from 20 to 40 beads were found in only five graves. Men also acquired necklaces. In their graves, necklaces have been

59

Vytautas Kazakevičius, Plinkaigalio kapinynas, Monografija, LA, 10 (1993), p. 99, fig. 162.4; V. Kazakevičius, “Tyrinėjimų Kalniškiuose dešimtmetis”, in ATL Lietuvoje 1996 ir 1997 metais (Vilnius, 1998), p. 199.

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Fig. 81. The first half of sixth-century woman’s grave 55 from Plinkaigalis (Kėdainiai district) grave field: 1, 3, 6–8, 10–15 bronze; 2 iron; 4, 5 amber; 9 amber, glass (six tin beads, didn’t survived in this necklace). After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 197. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR700: 246–258) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 82. The first half of sixth-century woman’s grave 56 from Plinkaigalis (Kėdainiai district) grave field: 1–3, bronze; 4, 5 amber, glass and six tin beads (didn’t survive); 6 iron; 7 potsherd. After Vytautas Kazakevičius, Plinkaigalio kapinynas, fig. 162; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 198. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR700: 261–266) in Vilnius.

found that were sometimes strung from 5 to 20 beads (Kalniškiai, graves 5A and 9; Plinkaigalis, graves 51 and 54). Most of the small necklaces that were strung with just a few beads were found in children’s graves. Often one or two beads were hung around their necks. The women and men of Kalniškiai were fond of attaching one or two amber beads to their other jewellery (40 women’s and 27 men’s graves). Single amber beads sometimes decorated the metal chaplets of the Upland Lithuanian women (Fig. 83.1a–b). Many single beads were found in the graves of men in the central Lithuanian grave fields. They were often hung around the neck or, like in Plinkaigalis warrior’s grave 144,60 a large amber bead may have been attached to a silver sheet metal bow brooch (Fig. 84.5). The Plinkaigalis grave field is

60 Grave 144, after anthropological investigations, belongs to a man between the ages of 45 and 50. For this, see Kazakevičius, Plinkaigalio kapinynas, p. 152. However in the other parts of Europe, where only the sheet metal bow brooch were worn, these fibulae are found nearby only in female graves and mostly in pairs.

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Fig. 83. Women’s amber bead usage traditions: 1 Obeliai (Ukmergė district), grave 185, periphery of the Central Lithuanian Grave Fields group (Upland Lithuania), fifth century to the first half of the sixth century; 2 Žviliai, grave 183 (Samogitian), seventh century; 3 Sauginiai, grave 32 (Samogitian), fifth century to the first half of the sixth century. 1 bronze, amber; 2 bronze, amber, woollen fibres; 3 iron, amber. Drawings by Audronė Ruzienė and Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR621; AR487; AR507) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 84. Burial of warrior between the age of 45 and 50 years, grave 144 from Plinkaigalis (Kėdainiai district) grave field: 1, 2 iron; 3 silver, bronze, iron; 4 bronze; 5 amber. End of the fifth century/beginning of the sixth century. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR700) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 85. The fifth-century to the first half of the sixth-century amber usage traditions: amber beads are only attached to men’s, most commonly warriors’, brooches. 1–3 Paprūdžiai (Kelmė district), grave 24; 4–6 Pagrybis (Šilalė district), grave 193; 7–8 Pagrybis, grave 85. Bronze, amber. After Laima Vaitkunskienė, Pagrybio kapinynas, figs. 6 and 118; Mykolas Michelbertas, “Ein Kriegergrab der mittleren Eisenzeit aus Paprūdžiai”, fig. 6. Drawings by Audronė Ruzienė and Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius.

located in western central Lithuania, or on the ethnic boundary with Upland Lithuania, therefore the funerary rites of this grave field have aspects that are common with the Samogitians.61 One of these general characteristics, shared with the Samogitians, is attaching an amber bead as an amulet to brooches worn by men. From the fifth to the first half of the sixth century in the Samogitian grave fields, a bit less amber was found compared with the coastal grave fields, and much less than in the Lower Neman region (Table 2). Bi-truncated conical form, irregular-shaped and Basonia type beads are found in the Samogitian grave fields (Figs. 68; 83.2, 3; 85; 86). Amber beads, with only a few exceptions, were worn singly, attached to bronze ornaments. Amber mixed with

61

Kazakevičius, Plinkaigalio kapinynas, p. 137ff.

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Fig. 86. The fifth-century to the first half of the sixth-century amber necklaces from Kalniškiai (Raseiniai district), grave 118 (1); Kairėnėliai (Radviliškis district), grave 9 (2) and Sauginiai (Šiauliai district) graves 28 and 30 (3, 4). After Vytautas Kazakevičius, “Kalniškių, Raseinių raj., Ariogalos apyl., kapinyno 1990 metų tyrinėjimų ataskaita”, fig. 43; Algimantas Merkevičius, “Sauginių plokštinis kapinynas”; Jonas Stankus, “Kairėnėlių plokštinis kapinynas”, fig. 8. Drawings by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR507; AR632) in Vilnius.

glass beads and bronze spiral necklaces are rare in Samogitia (Fig. 86.2, 3). The Samogitian culture is known not only for men and women being buried laid out in opposite directions, but also with different types of ornaments. Only men wore brooches and only women wore two pins connected by several rows of bronze chains to ornate pectoral ornaments. To men’s brooches and women’s pins one to two amber beads were sometimes attached (Figs. 83.2,

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3; 85). One or two small amber beads were not only fastened to the men’s brooches, but sometimes sewn to their clothing, or attached to the hilts of their battle knives and daggers. Generalizing the manner in which single amber beads were worn (sometimes they were worn or found in a similar position to glass beads), one may argue that most of the time they were fastened to brooches or pins, or were found on the deceased’s chest, which would mean that single beads were hung from the neck. The forms of singly-worn beads do not differ from that of those found in necklaces. They can be interpreted as a decorative element on the clothing, a visible fashion accent. Therefore, it is not possible to attribute unambiguous single beads to amulets. However, some of the single beads that are found in graves, judging by their find circumstances, had to have been visible (attached to ornaments, belts and weapons, or worn suspended around the neck). With other beads it was the opposite. These were hidden (sewn directly to the garments or headdress, put into a purse, etc.). Sometimes single beads were placed beside the deceased person’s head or under his or her head. In Kalniškiai grave 38, nine amber beads were placed in the mouth of a man who was judged to be 50–55 years old.62 Single amber beads were also found at the feet of the deceased (Plinkaigalis, graves 16 and 65), at the bottom of the grave pit, or in other unusual places. Therefore, judging from the positioning of amber beads in the grave, its connection with other grave furnishings, the general funerary rite of one region or another and the cultural tendencies of a particular period, it is possible to surmise that single amber beads or pieces of raw amber, under certain circumstances, may have been amulets—that had to be hidden from outsiders. Sometimes the opposite was true and beads were shown to the people round about. These circumstances allow one to consider that single amber beads may have been used as amulets for a variety of purposes. A portion of the single beads found placed in unusual positions in the grave may be interpreted as the offerings of relatives or as additional grave goods which were widely placed in graves in Lithuania during the Middle Ages. One more traditional manner of wearing amber was prevalent in the fifth century within the territory of the Balts cultures: the amber bead was attached to the dagger-knife or spatha hilt. In the Central Lithuanian Grave Fields, single, large, mostly the Basonia type, amber beads were sometimes

62 Vytautas Kazakevičius, Kalniškių, Raseinių raj., Ariogalos apyl., kapinyno 1990 metų tyrinėjimų ataskaita (Unpublished excavation report from 1990. In LII R, f. 1, no. 1768), pp. 12–24.

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fastened to dagger-knife hilts (Marvelė, grave 323),63 or a tablet-woven sash, or a belt—and sometimes on the right side (Kalniškiai, graves 211 and 223), but mostly on the left (Lieporiai, graves 48 and 59). The Curonians took over this tradition, and therefore large amber beads, and later amber combshaped pendants, like amulets, were suspended from the dagger-knife or sword hilts. The tradition of attaching a large bead to the dagger-knife or sword hilt, called “magical sword pendant”, or decorating the sword pommel with glass, limestone or chalcedony and other semi-precious stones, as well as amber, at the end of the second century and in the beginning of the third century was the result of the close contacts between the Sarmatian and Germanic elites.64 Therefore, it is no small wonder that the tradition spread among the Germans. This custom is also confirmed by the rich war booty offerings in lakes, bogs and wetlands (Thorsberg, Vimose, Nydam and Porskær, Skedemosse on Öland Island). The tradition of attaching a pendant to the hilt of a sword was known to the people of the Eastern cultures. The same tradition was practised by the Huns. Therefore, with the expansion of the Hunnic Empire, and after its collapse, the tradition of attaching a “magical sword pendant” took on a new force of development.65 The sword pendant performed not only the role of amulet, but also had a practical function—it regulated the belt of the sword hilt, which was possibly wrapped around the wrist, so that the sword would not slip from the hand during battle. However, amber is a fragile material and for this reason could not have been used solely to perform this practical function. Swords with amber pendantamulets have been found from southwestern and southern Britain and from the region between the Upper Rhine and the Danube, in the Middle Danube region, and the Carpathian Basin. One find-spot is known on the island of

63 Audrius Astrauskas and Mindaugas Bertašius, Marvelės kapinyno/Kaunas/ 1995–1996 m. tyrinėjimų ataskaita (Unpublished excavation reports from 1995–1996, in LII R, f. 1, nos. 2569 and 2570), pp. 8–53. 64 Werner, “Die magischen Schwertanhänger”, pp. 26–37; Khrapunov, Mogil’nik Družnoe (III–IV vv. našej ery), p. 43ff, fig. 72.1; C. von Carnap-Bornheim, “Zu „magischen” Schwertperlen und propellerförmigen Seitenstangen in kaiserzeitlichen Moorfunden”, p. 371ff; Ilya R Akhmedov et al., “The forest zone of Eastern Europe in the Migration Period and Early Middle Ages”, in Menghin, Merowingerzeit, p. 359; Vujadin Ivanišević and Michel Kazanski, “Das nördliche Illyrien im 5. und 6. Jahrhundert”, in Rom e, et, und, and, y die Barbaren (München, 2008), p. 188ff, fig. 2; Istvánovits et al., “The Barbarian Warrior Burial from Tiszalök-Rázompusta in the 3rd century History of the Upper Tisza Region”, p. 102ff. 65 Werner, “Die magischen Schwertanhänger”, pp. 26–37, 120–129; plates 50 and 75; Klaus Raddatz, “Zu den „magischen” Schwertanhängern des Thorsberger Moorfundes”, Offa, 16 (1958), pp. 81ff; Hagberg, The Archaeology of Skedemosse, vol. I, pp. 43ff; Vera I. Evidson, “An Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Alton, Hampshire”, in Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society: Monograph, vol. 4, ed. Kenneth E. Qualmann (Hampshire, 1988), p. 45.

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Gotland (Lilla Bjärge).66 Single weapon graves with amber sword amulets are known from the Vendel period and the beginning of the Viking Age grave fields in Scandinavia (Stave in Norway; Nørre Sandegård Vest on Bornholm Island).67 Returning to the Balts settled between the Neman and Western Dvina, it is possible to argue that from the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century there were very few amber beads in the grave fields of the Semigallians, and they were almost entirely absent in the Selonian borrows (Appendix C; Table 2). In the inhumation graves of women and children in the barrow fields of east Lithuania in the first quarter of the fifth century, ornate necklaces are found which included many amber, glass, glass paste and even coral beads (Figs. 87; 88; 89). Such necklaces were found in the Baliuliai, Žvirbliai, Pavajuonis–Rėkučiai, Liūlinė III and Riklikai barrow fields, in addition to the Diktarai grave field (Table 2).68 So, there aren’t many barrow fields and graves in which amber was found in east Lithuania, but the amount of amber is not that much less than in Samogitia (Table 2). The east Lithuanian barrow fields archaeological evidence indicates that irregular-shaped polished and spherical flattened amber beads dominated (Figs. 43; 87–91). In Baliuliai barrow field barrow 12, woman’s grave 1, the longest amber bead necklace of the Migration period in Lithuania was found. The first quarter of the fifth-century necklace contained 178 amber beads (Types TM403, TM408, TM409, TM410 and TM412), 58 glass and glass paste beads and four bronze spirals (Fig. 89).

66 In Europe, according to data from 1983, amber beads fastened to sword hilts were known from 16 find-spots. Also at Jakuszowice in Poland (close to Kraków) in a princely grave, a sword was found with an amber pommel (diameter 6 cm). See: J. Werner, “Die magischen Schwertanhänger”, p. 123; Wilfried Menghin, Das Schwert im Frühen Mittelalter. Chronologisch-typologische Untersuchungen zu Langschwertern aus germanischen Gräbern des 5. bis 7 Jahrhunderts n. Chr. In Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums: Wissenschaftliche Beibände, 1 (Stuttgart, 1983), p. 143ff, p. 356, map 19. 67 Anne Nørgård Jørgensen, Waffen und Gräber. Typologische und chronologische Studien zu skandinavischen Waffengräber 520/30 bis 900 n. Chr., Nordiske fortidsminder, Serie B, 17 (København, 1999), p. 233 and p. 253, plate 55 and 86. 68 Vidas Semėnas, “Pavajuonio–Rėkučių pilkapyno tyrinėjimai 1996 metais”, in ATL in 1996 and 1997 (Vilnius, 1998), p. 150ff; Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts in the Middle of the First Millennium”, p. 176; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 344, figs. 199 and 200; Laurynas Kurila and Vida Kliaugaitė, “Baliulių pilkapiai (Švenčionių r.)”, LA 30 (2007), p. 173ff, figs. 66 and 68; Grażyna Iwanowska, Cmentarzysko kurhanowe w Żwirbliach pod Wilnem Wprowadzenie w problematykę. Katalog, ed. Anna Bitner-Wróblewska (Warszawa, 2006), p. 46, plate XII.1; Vida Kliaugaitė, “Liūlinės pilkapynas III”, in ATL in 2005 (Vilnius, 2006), p. 90ff.

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Fig. 87. The first quarter of the fifth-century woman’s grave 2 assemblage from barrow field in Pavajuonys–Rėkučiai (Ignalina district), barrow 11: 1 amber; 2 bronze; 3–9 silver; 10 corals, glass, glass paste. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 218. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the ŠNM in Švenčionys.

It is noteworthy that in the first quarter of the fifth century, inhumation graves of women and children are very richly furnished. In addition to silver crossbow brooches, finger-rings and Kolbenarmring type bracelets, plenty of amber beads are found. Brooches from eastern Lithuania have parallels in the Crimean Peninsula, in material from the northern shores of the Black Sea and in the Middle Dnieper region (the late Chernyakhov–Sîntana de Mureş culture).69 The burial traditions of these wealthy women and children were not typical of the region, not only in terms of the wealthy grave goods, but also according to the position of the deceased. Some of them were buried half sitting up. Their grave goods were enclosed in small wooden boxes. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that this eastern Lithuanian region in the

69

Anatolii K. Аmbroz, “Fibuly iuga evropeiskoi chasti SSSR II v. do n.e.—IV v. n. e”, in Arkheologia SSSR. Svod arkheologicheskikh istochnikov, vypusk D 1–30, ed. Boris A. Rybakov (Moskva, 1966), p. 66, fig. 11.20, plate 24.3; Alekseeva, Antichnye busy severnogo prichernamor’ia, plates 23 and 24.

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Fig. 88. The first quarter of the fifth-century woman’s grave assemblage from barrow field in Baliuliai (Švenčionys district), barrow 8: 1, 5 silver; 2 bronze; 3, 4 wood fragments; 6 amber, glass paste, bronze. After Bliujienė, “Watershed between Eastern and Western Lithuania”, fig. 2. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius.

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Fig. 89. The first quarter of the fifth-century woman’s grave assemblage from barrow field in Baliuliai (Švenčionys district), barrow 12, grave 1: 1, 4–6 bronze; 2 amber, glass paste, glass; 3, 7 silver; 8, 9 iron; 10 iron, pewter. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 199. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius.

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Fig. 90. The first quarter of the fifth-century amber necklace from barrow field in Žvirbliai (Vilnius district), barrow 17, child’s grave 1. After Grażyna Iwanowska, Cmentarzysko kurhanowe w Żwirbliach, plate XII. Courtesy of the PMA in Warsaw.

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Fig. 91. The first half of the fifth-century woman’s grave assemblage from barrow field in Riklikai (Anykščiai district), barrow XII, grave A: 1, 3–5 bronze; 2 amber, bronze; 6 iron. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR449) in Vilnius.

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first quarter of the fifth century was reached by a wave of newcomers from the southeast. On the northern edge of the East Lithuanian Barrow culture, two burial sites with amber are known: Diktarai and Riklikai. In these sites, the women were buried with much simpler necklaces strung from bronze spirals and irregular-shaped amber beads or single irregular-shaped amber beads. The amber may have turned up in these two burial sites as a result of internal exchange between communities of eastern Lithuania or have made its way here from central Lithuania. The available materials allow for the argument that wealthy women’s and children’s graves with amber vanished from the East Lithuanian Barrow culture during the first half of the fifth century, at the same time as amber artefacts disappear altogether. Fifth to Sixth Century Amber Distribution and Redistribution Within the Eastern Baltic Region Necklaces strung from amber and glass beads during the fifth and sixth centuries were also popular in the wider European contexts. The noble women of the eastern Baltic region did not lag behind the nobility of other European areas in their conception of fashion and prestige (Fig. 80). In the territory of Lithuania, the find-spots of amber artefacts during the fifth and sixth centuries are concentrated in four main micro-regions: the coast, the Lower Neman region, central and eastern Lithuania. Amber concentration in these regions quite naturally shows the various directions from which amber made its way into Lithuania (Fig. 72). Besides, different types of amber beads were characteristic of these different micro-regions. On the coast, amber beads were made by local craftspeople, whereas lathe-turned beads were imports or processed by travelling craftsmen. Along the coast, as previously, amber beads were traded in the local market. On the other hand, the general distribution of amber in Lithuania and its various bead types are concentrated in different regions, allowing one to believe that amber reached Lithuania from the European workshops via the well-worn trails of the Late Antique period. The fashionable necklaces and the entire archaeological evidence of the Lower Neman and central Lithuania emphasizes especially well the different trade routes and long-distance trade, the far-flung interchange of commodities. From the Sambian Peninsula and the Olsztyn group, amber arrived in the Lower Neman region and central Lithuania. From here, after internal transactions and redistribution of the imported amber, amber artefacts reached tribal border areas and, for instance, travelled to the Samogitians (Fig. 72).

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One of the means by which amber artefacts reached eastern Lithuania was the former “Eastern Route” or “Black Sea Route”. It would seem that the people of the Olsztyn group which settled in the former the Bogaczewo culture territory, as a result of their diverse nature, active long-distance connections, trade relationships, political alliances, etc., performed the role of one of the main distributors of different inflowing commodities, in this case in the northeasterly direction. However, in the grave fields of the Olsztyn group, very few amber beads were found.70 Notwithstanding that, it is believed that this group’s people were intermediaries in the amber trade.71 Therefore, a portion of amber artefacts reached eastern Lithuania via the traditional southwestern and southeastern routes, from the Great Mazurian Lakes region via Sudovian territory. This is shown not only by the amber artefacts found in the barrow fields of eastern Lithuania, but also by the spread of certain ornaments (for example, the Prague type brooches). However, a large part of the amber found in east Lithuania in the first quarter of the fifth century arrived in this territory with the newcomers from the southeast via the eastern route—the Dnieper River. But there is the question of whether amber was traded on the eastern route, because there is almost no amber in the many researched sites of the Kiev and Pen’kovka cultures in the forest-steppe belt of southern Ukraine, as well as northwards in the Tushemlia and Kolochino cultures of the upper reaches of the Western Dvina and Dnieper Rivers.72 A View Into the Traditions of European Amber Use of the Fifth Century to the First Half of the Seventh Century During the turbulent epoch of movement provoked by the Huns after the collapse of the Hunnic Empire, there was plenty of amber in Europe. There 70 Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, “Archeologiczne księgi inwentarzowe dawnego PrussiaMuseum/Die archäologischen Inventarbücher aus dem ehemaligen Prussia-Museum/Arkheologicheskie inventarnye knygi muzeia ‘Prussia’ ”, in Aestiorum Hereditas, vol. I, ed. Anna Bitner-Wróblewska (Olsztyn, 2008); Audronė Bliujienė, “The Backcountry Balts (Aestii) and the ‘Northern Gold’ in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages”, in Neglected Barbarians. Studies in the Early Middle Ages, vol. 32, ed. Florin Curta (Turnhout, 2011), pp. 13–29. 71 Vladimir I. Kulakov, “Mogil’niki zapadnoi chasti Mazurskogo poozeria konca V—nachala VII veka”, in Barbaricum, 1989 (Warszawa, 1990), pp. 167–168 and 177–201; Florin Curta, Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c. 500–700 (Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 195ff, figs. 14 and 15; Curta, “The Amber Trail in early medieval Eastern Europe”, p. 64ff. 72 Curta, “The Amber Trail in early medieval Eastern Europe”, p. 67. There are some amber beads in the Gaponovskii hoard dated to the second half of the seventh century. For this see: Anna V. Mastykova, “Busy”, in Igor O. Gavritukhin and Andrei M. Oblomsky, Gaponovskii klad i ego kul’kturno-istoricheski kontekst, Ranneslavianskii myr 3 (Moskva, 1996), 42ff.

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was no lack of amber beads of standard shapes and sizes, which spread widely within the barbaricum (Figs. 69; 70; 71; 79; 80). From the central Balkans to the Crimean Peninsula, the coast of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the Carpathian Basin and almost all over Europe, amber was found in graves and settlements, as well as known amber workshops in the previous Przeworsk culture territory. Amber hoards have been found in settlements, and of course amber has been sacrificed in votive offerings in bogs and wetlands.73 During the fifth to seventh centuries, succinite remained a desirable commodity and had its consumers even in the Eastern Empire. The evidence for relationships between amber gatherers in the north and the Eastern Empire is supported by large gold Byzantine solidi hoards found in the Bay of Puck (a shallow western branch of the Bay of Gdańsk in Pomerania, Poland).74 Despite the fact that the Przeworsk culture vanished in the mid fifth century and the last amber workshops that produced standard beads stopped functioning, or were destroyed by the turbulent events that followed the collapse of the Hunnic Empire,75 judging by the massive spread of standard beads, they continued to be produced in places which had experience in amber working and were able to get raw amber from the north (Figs. 70; 71; 80). During the fifth to sixth century in Europe, two small areas with a large amount of amber artefacts might be defined: the southeastern part of the Crimean Peninsula and the Middle Tisza River basin (Fig. 72.A).

73 Mastykova, “Amber beads with incised linear decoration in the Great Migration Period”, pp. 341–358, figs. 1–9; Mastykova, “Busy”, p. 45ff, fig. 23.1–12; Mastykova, “Iantarnye busy s nareznym dekorom epokhi Velikogo Pereseleniia narodov”, pp. 55–65; Hagberg, The Archaeology of Skedemosse, II vol., p. 102ff, fig. 41; P. Wielowiejski, “Skarb bursztynu z późniego okresu rzymskiego odkryty w miejscowości Basonia”, p. 101ff; Stjernquist, “2. Amber in Iron Age Finds in Sweden”, pp. 10–28; Elsara Chajredinowa, “Die Tracht der Krimgoten im 6. und 7. Jahrhundert”, in Unbekannte Krim. Archäologische Schätze aus drei Jahrtausenden, eds. Thomas Werner, Renate Ludwig, Aleksandr I. Aĭbadin (Heidelberg, 1999), p. 86ff, figs. 71–75; Jaroslav Tejral, “The Problem of the Primary Acculturation at the Beginning of the Migration Period”, in Die spätrömische Kaiserzeit und die frühe Völkerwanderungszeit (Łódź, 2000), p. 25ff; A.V. Pyankov, “Pogrebenie s serebrenoi fibuloi s antropomorfnoi nakladkoi iz mogil’nika Bzhid 1”, Donskaya Arkheologia 1–2 (14–15) (2002), pp. 75–82, fig. 4; Curta, Making of the Slavs, p. 195ff, figs. 14 and 15; Curta, “The Amber Trail in medieval Eastern Europe”, pp. 61–67, maps 4.1 and 4.2; Vujadin Ivanišević, et al., Les nécropoles de Viminacium à l’époque des Grandes Migrations, Monographies 22 (Paris, 2006); Palavestra, “Amber in Archaeology”, p. 82; Sprincz, “Amber Artefacts of Hungary from Middle Bronze Age to the Hungarian Conquest, ” p. 210; Akhmedov et al., “The forest zone of Eastern Europe in the Migration Period and Early Middle Ages”, p. 359. 74 Andrzej Zbierski, “Early Medieval amber craft in Gdańsk”, in AMBERIF (Gdańsk– Warsaw, 2006), p. 135. 75 Gruszczyńska, “Amber-workers of the fourth and fifth centuries AD from Świlcza near Rzeszów”, p. 186ff, fig. 6; Karoly Mesterházy, “Bemerkungen zum gepidischen Corpus”, Acta Archaeologia Academiae Scientiarum Hungary 58 (2007), p. 282ff, fig. 9.

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However, in the seventh century in both of these areas the number of cemeteries with amber decreases.76 Plenty of standard form semi-lathed amber beads are found in the cemeteries of the Middle Tisza River region, in the Gepid women’s graves.77 Perhaps amber beads in these graves served as a marker of the highest social status. Among the ornate amber necklaces, there are some unique amber artefacts, like the realistic “negro’s head” (height 1.3 centimetres) carved from translucent reddish amber, which was found in the Hódmezővásárhely–Kishomok cemetery in woman’s grave 37.78 At the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century, among the Germanic tribes the fashion of wearing ornate necklaces with amber beads remains, but the brooch types from which the necklaces were suspended, as well as components of the beads sets, begin to change, because included in the necklaces were different metal pendants (small axes, peltashaped pendants, round ones, etc.).79 German women in the Middle Danube, who belonged to the society’s elite, composed their necklaces of amber beads with incised linear decoration and beads of other types. They incorporated individual amber beads into various amulet bunches and ornamentations of rows of beads, presumably suspended from belts, including among them the Thor/Donar and other amulets.80 Ornate bead necklaces or pectoral ornaments, which covered the chest, were an important detail in the garments of noble woman of Germanic society, during both the early and late

76 Curta, Making of the Slavs, pp. 195–198, figs. 14 and 15; Curta, “The Amber Trail in medieval Eastern Europe”, p. 63. 77 János Cseh et al., Gepidische Gräberfelder im Theissgebiet II, Monumenta Germanorum Archæologica Hungariciæ, vol. 2. Monumenta Gepidica (Budapest, 2005), p. 177, plate 38; Mesterházy, “Bemerkungen zum gepidischen Corpus”, figs. 7.3 and 8.1, 2; Curta, “The Amber Trail in medieval Eastern Europe”, p. 63ff. 78 Margyt Nagy, “Hódmezővásárhely-Kishomok. Fundanalyse”, in Gepidische Gräberfelder im Theissgebiet, vol. I. Monumenta Germanorum Archaeologica Hungariæ, 2. Monumenta Gepidica, eds. István Bóna, Éva Garam and Tivadar Vida (Budapest, 2002), p. 48ff, p. 118, fig. 58.37, plate 12.3. 79 Wilhelm Gebers, Hermann Hinz and Ulrich Drenhaus, “Ein Körpergrab der Völkerwanderungszeit aus Bosau, Kreis Ostholstein”, pp. 14–35, figs. 8, 12 and 13; Max Martin, “Tradition und Wandel der Fibelgeschmückten Frühmittelalterlichen Frauenkleidung”, pp. 662–670, figs. 39 and 41. 80 Volker Bierbrauer, “Alamannische Funde der frühen Ostgonzeit aus Oberitalien”, in Studien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichtlichen Archäologie. Festschrift für Joachim Werner zum 65. Geburtstag, vol. II Frühmittelalter, ed. G. Kossack und G. Ulbert (München, 1974), fig. 5; Christel Bücker, “Reibschalen, Gläser und Militärgürtel. Römischer Lebensstil im Freien Germanien”, in Die Alamannen (Stuttgart, 1997), p. 138ff, figs. 140 and 141; Alfried Wieczorek and Patrick Périn, eds., “Katalog”, in Das Gold der Barbarenfürsten. Schätze aus Prunkgräbern ldes 5. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. zwischen Kaukasus und Gallien (Stuttgart, 2001), p. 135ff.

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Migration periods, although certainly not all of the beads in those necklaces were of amber.81 It is thought that ornate belts with metal mounts were mostly worn by Germanic women. However, certain types of belts were worn by both women and men. In the context of amber use, a unique item is the belt buckle with rectangular buckle plate from the Bajuwarish grave field at the Straubing– Bajuwarenstraße I. The belt buckle with rectangular plate was discovered in man’s grave 316 dated to the second half of the fifth century. The buckle’s plate base was covered with gold foil and an amber panel. The amber panel is adorned which garnet inlays and it is especially rare in that the amber had been applied using a cloisonné technique.82 Amber beads are particularly abundant in the sixth and seventh century grave assemblages in the Crimean Peninsula (Fig. 72.B).83 Some of the amber moved to the Middle Danube region or to Crimea may have passed through communities of the Olsztyn group in the Great Mazurian Lakes region. If so, then it is remarkable that only a few amber beads were retained for local use.84 Judging by amber artefacts, raw amber, semi-produced items and the waste from amber production, amber working begins in the Scandinavian centres, like Gudme and Lundeborg on southeast of Funen and perhaps on Bornholm; in the early Medieval Åhus (northeastern Scania in Sweden), amber working was one of the crafts that concentrated on the production

81 Märit Gaimster, “Vendel period bracteates on Gotland On the significance of Germanic art”, Acta Archaeologia Lundensia, Series in 8°, 27 (Lund, 1998), p. 242ff; Anna Mastykova, “Glass Beads as an Archaeological Source”, in Craft Specialization: Operational Sequences and Beyond. Papers from the EAA Third Annual Meeting at Ravenna 1997, vol. IV, eds. Sarah Milliken and Massimo Vidale. BAR International Series, 720 (Oxford, 1998), p. 140ff, fig. 2; Mastykova, “Iantarnye busy s nareznym dekorom epokhi Velikogo Pereseleniia narodov”, pp. 57–65. 82 Dieter Quast, Die merowingerzeitlichen Grabfunde aus Gültlingen (Stadt Wildberg, Kreis Calw), Forschungen und Berichte zur vor- und Frühgeschichte in Baden-Württemberg, 52 (Stuttgart, 1993), p. 135, figs. 50.f and 51; Hans Geisler, “Das frühbairische Gräberfeld Straubing-Bajuwarenstraße I.1, Katalog der archäologischen Befunde und Funde. Textband” in Internalionale Archäologie, 30, eds. Claus Dobiat and Klaus Leidorf (München, 1998), p. 102. 83 In Crimea, the sixth- to seventh-century cemetery at Suuk Su produced over 1,200 amber specimens. For this, see: Elsara Chajredinowa, “Die Tracht der Krimgoten im 6. und 7. Jahrhundert”, p. 86ff, figs. 71–75; Curta, Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, p. 195ff, figs. 14 and 15; Curta, “The Amber Trail in medieval Eastern Europe”, p. 62. 84 Kulakov, “Mogil’niki zapadnoi chasti Mazurskogo poozeria konca V—nachala VII veka”, p. 167ff, pp. 177–201; Bitner-Wróblewska „Archeologiczne księgi inwentarzowe dawnego Prussia-Museum”, pp. 198–447.

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of beads and axe-shaped pendants.85 As far as the grave materials allows us to judge, the use of amber in the Pannonian Plain decreases greatly during the seventh century, but doesn’t disappear from grave assemblages until the beginning of the eighth century (Fig. 72.B).86 In the necklaces, glass and glass paste beads and semi-precious stone beads (mostly produced from carnelian) again begin to dominate. For instance, on Bornholm Island during the seventh to eighth centuries (the so-called Late Germanic Iron Age), ornate necklaces were composed of approximately 100 glass beads, but amber beads were very rarely included in these fashionable bead sets.87 Not much amber is found in the seventh- to the beginning of the eighthcentury Avar cemeteries in the Carpathian Basin.88 In the historiographical tradition, the dominant opinion is that the vanishing of the antique “Amber Route”, as a strategic trade artery, is concerned with the Avar Qaganate policy, which closed down communication between the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean.89 However, the theory that the Avars disrupted the trade routes network developed by the Romans isn’t strictly true. The large distribution of the same types of glass beads suggest the existence of quite close longdistance trade relations as well as particular cultural contacts between remote territories. After the extension of the Avar Qaganate’s sphere of influence, 85 Stjernquist, “2. Amber in Iron Age Finds in Sweden”, p. 12ff; Johan Callmer, “NorthEuropean trading centres and the Early Medieval craftsman. Craftsmen at Åhus, north-eastern Scania, Sweden ca. AD 750–850+”, in Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 39. Central Places in the Migration and Merovingian Periods. Papers from the 52nd Sachsensymposium Lund, August 2001, Uppåkrastudier 6, ed. by B. Hårdh and L. Larsson (Lund, 2002), p. 133ff; “Catalogue”, in Jørgensen, Storgaard and Thomsen, The Spoils of Victory, p. 429. 86 Curta, “The Amber Trail in medieval Eastern Europe”, p. 71ff. 87 Lars Jørgensen and Anne Nørgård Jørgensen, Nørre Sandegård Vest. A cemetery from the 6th–8th Centuries on Bornholm, Nordiske Fortidsminder Serie B—in quarto, 14 (København, 1997), p. 47, plates 27–34. 88 Elvyra H. Tóth and Attila Horváth, Kunbábony: Das Grab eines Awarenkhagans (Kecskemét, 1992), p. 205ff; Éva Garam, Das awarenzeitliche Gräberfeld von Tiszafüred, Cemeteries of the Avar Period (567–829) in Hungary, vol. 3, eds. Attila Kiss and Éva Garam (Budapest, 1995), pp. 290–298; Attila Kiss (mit Beiträgen von M. Martin, P. Stadler und I. Takács), Das awarenzeitliche gepidische Gräberfeld von Kölked-Feketekapu A, Studien zur Archäologie der Awaren, 5. Monographien zur Frühgeschichte und Mittelalterarchäologie, 2, ed. Falko Daim (Innsbruck, 1996), p. 197; Éva Garam et al., Avar Finds in the Hungarian National Museum, Cemeteries of the Avar period, 567–829 in Hungary, vol. 1 (Budapest, 1975); Anton Distelberger, Österreichs Awarinnen. Frauen aus Gräbern des 7. und 8. Jahrhunderts, Archäologische Forschungen in Niederösterreich, 3, eds. Ernst Lauermann and Willibald Rosner (St. Pölten, 2004), pp. 33–34, figs. 8–58; Curta, “The Amber Trail in medieval Eastern Europe”, p. 71ff. 89 Herbert Jankuhn, Haithabu. Ein Handelsplatz der Wikingerzeit. 8., neuarbeitete und stark erweiterte Auflage (Neumünster, 1986), p. 18ff; Michael McCormick, Origins of the European Economy. Communications and Commerce, A.D. 300–900 (Cambridge, 2001), p. 78 and p. 370.

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horse-riding gear similar to that of the Avars appears in the Balt lands: stirrups and bridle bits with bone or antler cheek pieces. Communities in a Gateway Position: Possible Amber Stocks, Particular Amber Beads From the second half of the sixth century to the eighth century, the number of amber beads in the territory of Lithuania significantly decreases (Fig. 8.1). Therefore, the unique traditions of using amber remain only with some southern Curonian communities which managed to maintain broad relations with the peoples of the Olsztyn and Elbląg groups, and Scandinavia (Figs. 65; 72). Unique bead forms and especially-ornate amber necklaces make the communities of the Lamata Land (in Latin, terra Lamata) quite distinct. From the second half of the sixth century to the eighth century in the Lower Neman region, between the Curonians and the Scalvians (in western Lithuania between the modern-day townships of Šilutė, Priekulė and Švėkšna) and not quite reaching the Baltic coast, a small region which is unique according to its archaeological evidence, the so-called Lamata Land, occupied a small area of just under 900 square miles (Fig. 92; Appendix D).90 The distinctive qualities of this region are mostly known through its unusual women’s ornaments, including amber beads, dated to the end of the sixth century to the eighth century, and the style in which they were worn. The inhabitants of this territory, known from historical sources, were settled in an especially favourable geopolitical situation. First of all, inhabitants of the land controlled the trade routes which led from the Sambian Peninsula and the Great Mazurian Lakes region to the north (Baltic Sea coast), and to the east (central and eastern Lithuania). Being situated on the crossroads of inter-regional importance, this Balt territory thrived.91 One of the reasons why Lamata was able to be prosperous was because of amber mining and the trade that was going on in this area. The much larger distribution of amber artefacts in distinctive forms than in the neighbouring regions, allows one

90

V. Žulkus, Kuršiai Baltijos jūros erdvėje, p. 44ff, fig. 7. Genys, “Trade routes and trade centres in Western Lithuania during the early Middle Ages”, p. 142ff, figs. 1 and 2; Wojciech Nowakowski, “Die Balten zwischen Weichsel und Memel zwischen 400 und 800 n. Chr. Ein Entwurf der Forschungsproblematik”, AB 4 (2000), pp. 10–25; Audronė Bliujienė, “Amulets of Western Baltic Women in the Merovingian Period and their Germanic Parallels”, Muinasaja teadus 13. Travelling with an Archaeologist through the Baltic Countries Studies in Honour of Jüri Selirand, eds. Valter Lang and Ülle Tamla (2003), p. 67; Žulkus, Kuršiai Baltijos jūros erdvėje, p. 44ff. 91

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to conclude that at the time, amber may have been mined in Lamata. North of Priekulė, not far from the sea, is a locality called Bernsteingruben (Amber Mine) (Fig. 92).92 In the second half of the nineteenth century, the leading amber mining company Stantien & Becker searched for amber and tried to mine it in the Priekulė vicinity. The company failed in their attempts, which may be because from the end of the sixth century the Lamatian communities successfully exploited the amber-bearing layers. The fact that amber was always plentiful in Lamata is confirmed not only by the quantity of amber artefacts found in grave fields but also by the place-names of several of those Lamatian burial sites: Mockaičiai grave field to this day is still known as the “Amber Hillock”. However, the grave fields in Lamata have undergone very little excavation, while data from the excavations of German archaeologists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century is still scantily published.93 In this region and in the territories of the Scalvians, who lived eastwards from the Lamata, a number of significant imports are concentrated: “Slavic” bow fibulae of Werner’s class IB, a gilded silver belt set with animal-shaped terminals of Ostrogothic or Gepidic provenance, a silver belt buckle with a double strap end from the Švėkšna, etc. These items have good parallels in the fifth- and sixth-century assemblages in Central Europe, the Middle Danube and the Balkans, thus these imports point to miscellaneous longdistance contacts of the communities dwelling in the Lower Neman region (Figs. 65; 72).94 Large numbers of lathe-turned and semi-lathed amber beads were produced in the territory of Lamata between the late sixth and the ninth centuries. Over 1,000 specimens have so far been recorded in several museums in Lithuania as found on 14 different sites. Most, if not all beads from Lamata, have been found during field surveys or are stray finds, possibly from destroyed grave assemblages. In contrast, the amount of amber discovered in 20 other grave fields of Lithuania is remarkably small (Fig. 8.1; Appendix D). Standardized local forms of amber beads, mass-produced and widespread in local use, are not found anywhere else in Europe. Therefore, mass-produced original forms of Lamatian amber beads are not only a unique cultural aspect

92

Hollack, Erläuterungen zur vorgeschichtlichen Übersichtskarte von Ostpreussen, map. Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 77ff. 94 Adolfas Tautavičius, “Prekybiniai-kultūriniai ryšiai V–VIII amžiais”, in Lietuvos gyventojų prekybiniai ryšiai I–XIII a., ed. Mykolas Michelbertas (Vilnius, 1972), p. 146ff, fig. 18; Audronė Bliujienė, “A microregion between Šilutė–Priekulė and Švėkšna in western Lithuania or alternatively Lamata land according to archaeological data”, AL 4 (2003), pp. 123–132. 93

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Fig. 92. An amber bog (•Bernsteinbruch) in the contemporary city of Klaipėda and an amber mine (•Bernsteingruben) north of Priekulė. The spread of amber artefacts in the sites in the Lamata Land (for find-spots list see: Appendix D.5–14). Map redrawn with author additions after Emil Hollack, Erläuterungen zur vorgeschictlichen Übersichtskarte von Ostpreussen.

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of this small land area among the Balt territories, but are also unique within a larger European context. Amber beads from Lamata may be divided into six groups of beads, according to their particular shape. The first group of Lamatian amber beads consists of high bi-truncated conical beads with narrowing ends (Fig. 93.1–6). Amber beads belonging to this group have edges that are not evenly sharpened and do not narrow evenly. These beads come in various sizes. Some of them are semi-lathed while others are handmade. They are found with materials from the end of the sixth century to the beginning of the seventh century (Figs. 94.2; 95). The larger beads of this group are most likely from a later period and could belong to the seventh to eighth centuries or even to the beginning of the ninth century. Only a few similar beads were found in the grave fields of the closest northern neighbours—the Samogitians (Žviliai in Šilalė district).95 The second group of Lamatian amber beads are bi-truncated conical beads with narrowing ends but with a central bulge (Fig. 93.7–12). Beads of this form are especially prevalent in the grave fields of Lamata. These beads are usually not that large. Such beads were found in the grave fields at Dvyliai, Vėžaičiai, Jurgaičiai and Vilkų Kampas, together with material from the end of the sixth century to the early seventh century (Fig. 96). Beads of this group were found only in one Samogitian grave field at Paluknys (formerly Jasnagurka), but with much later material dated to the ninth to eleventh centuries.96 The third bead group, which is unique to Lamata, consists of cylindrical beads with a central bulge (Fig. 93.13–20). Additionally, the ends of this group of beads are straight while the others have slightly narrowing ends. Among beads of this type there are especially long beads, even 4–5 centimetres in length (Figs. 94.4; 96; 97). Amber beads of this group are found in the sixth- to seventh-century graves, or even with material from the early ninth century. The fourth bead group typical of Lamata comprises the bi-truncated conical beads with narrowing ends and grooves or incised linear decoration (Figs. 93.21–24; 95.1). For the moment, those unique beads found in grave fields are dated to the end of the sixth to the beginning of the seventh century.97 95

Vaitkunskienė, Žvilių kapinynas, p. 161ff, fig. 172.21. Tadeusz Dowgird, “Pamiątki z czasów przedhistorycznych na Żmujdzi. Mełźyn–Kapas pod Jasnagórką”, Pamiętnik Fizyografizcny VIII/1887 (1887), pp. 18–26, plates III and IV. 97 Bliujienė, “A microregion between Šilutė–Priekulė and Švėkšna in western Lithuania”, fig. 6.2. 96

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Fig. 93. The typology of amber beads found in Lamatian grave fields (Groups I–VI).

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Fig. 94. The end of the sixth-century to eighth-century necklaces and caps decorated with pelta-shaped silver pendants typical of Lamatian women. Jurgaičiai (Šilutė district): 1 grave 10; 2 grave 17; 3, 6 grave 7; 4 grave 4; 5–5a Vėžaičiai (formerly Weszeiten, Šilutė district). Cap reconstructions after Dorotea Waetzoldt, “Zur Tracht der Bewohner des Memelgebietes”, fig. 1, and Regina Kulikauskienė and Rimutė Rimantienė, “Senovės liaudies menas”, fig. 363. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR406) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 95. The end of the sixth-century to the first half of the seventh-century woman’s grave assemblage from Dvyliai (Klaipėda district), grave 1: 1, 1a, 8 amber, bonze; 2, 5, 9–13 bronze; 3 antler; 4 amber; 6 white metal; 7, 14, 15 iron. After Bliujienė, “A microregion between Šilutė–Priekulė and Švėkšna”, fig. 6. Courtesy of the LDM in Vilnius.

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Fig. 96. Part of woman’s grave assemblage from Vėžaičiai (formerly Weszeiten, Šilutė district) grave field, grave 404. Amber, bronze. After the Kurt Voigtmann archive currently stored at the SMB+PK/MVF, PM-IXc in Berlin. Courtesy of the MVF in Berlin.

Fig. 97. The third group of Lamantian amber beads. Stray finds from Daukšaičiai (1) and Mockaičiai (2) grave fields in Klaipėda district. Photograph by the author. Courtesy of the LDM in Vilnius.

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The fifth, rather small, Lamatian bead group is made up of beads that are close to the Type TM447 (Fig. 93.25).98 Similar beads, together with materials from the fifth to sixth centuries, are found in the southern Curonian grave fields. The sixth Lamatian bead group consists of low bi-truncated conical beads with widening ends (Fig. 93.26–30). Beads of this group can be divided into two subgroups. The main difference between these subgroups is the size and height of the bead. Some of these beads are short and comparatively small (Fig. 93.26). Others of this group are large, ranging from 2.5 to 4.2–4.5 centimetres in diameter, but only 0.8–1.2 centimetres in height (Fig. 93.27–30). Although these beads are large, the diameter of their opening is too small for inserting a bobbin, therefore they can’t have served as spindle whorls. Besides this, these large short beads are too light for spindle whorls. Because material from grave complexes containing these large beads has not been published, it is not clear how they would have been worn. It is not known that these types of beads would have been strung together into long necklaces.99 Thus the chronological range of the sixth bead group is not clear. The available material suggests that they had to have been the latest Lamatian beads group, most likely worn in the ninth century if not later, because some such beads were found in horse graves (Pakalniškiai, horse grave 106). Comparing the seventh- to eighth-century amber artefacts found in grave fields of the southern Curonians with those of the Lamatians, it is clear that in Lamata there were many more grave fields containing amber. Also, many more amber bead necklaces were found in the graves (Fig. 8.1; Appendix D). Therefore, it is possible to believe that amber beads found in Lamata were produced by the local amber craftsmen. However, it is paradoxical that the craftsmen and traders of Lamata did not engage in active trade of amber beads with their neighbours. The most typical beads of the third, fourth and sixth groups, for example, were found only within the territory of Lamata Land (Fig. 93.III.13–20, IV.21–24; 94; 95). In the grave fields of the Samogitians and the Curonians, only a few similar bi-truncated conical beads with narrowing ends, bi-truncated conical beads with a central bulge and beads similar to the Type TM447 are found. These amber beads are the most universal of those produced throughout Lamata and found in neighbouring regions. Therefore, it seems, from the end of the sixth century to the end of eighth century, the Lamatians processed unique shaped amber beads, mostly for their own purposes. 98 Tempelman-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 79, plates 17 and 68. 99 Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 42ff.

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From the end of the sixth century to the eighth century, the Lamatian women differed from their neighbours in that necklaces strung with lots of amber beads and bronze spirals were worn not on their necks but, like ribbons, were suspended from typical crossbow fibula with slightly widened feet, so that the necklaces reached to the woman’s waist. In addition, several amber beads were very often attached to hairpins, or amber beads were sewn directly onto a headdress (Fig. 95).100 The Baltic Sea, the Curonians and Amber (Specific Artefact Types from the Second Half of the Sixth Century to the End of the Seventh Century) From the end of the sixth century to the beginning of the seventh century, the southern Curonians, who lived in the modern-day Klaipėda and Kretinga regions, had few grave fields that contained amber artefacts (Appendix D). There is an especially conspicuous contrast when comparing the amount of amber found in the Lamatian grave fields and in graves with the amount of amber found in the Curonian grave fields and graves (Fig. 8.1; Appendix D). However, in the southern Curonian territory lies Lazdininkai grave field where, along with a large amount of amber, many of the very richly furnished graves with rare grave goods were found. These graves generally date to the second half of the sixth century/first half of the seventh century. In these well-armed men’s and fashionable women’s graves are found rare or even unique amber artefacts, even if those rarities are few (Fig. 98). Of course, the predominant type of bead was the small bi-truncated conical bead (Fig. 98.1). Among the rarer beads should be mentioned first of all the large truncated conical beads with a smooth or step-cut surface. These beads were used to decorate the pommels of one-edged swords and scramasax hilts (grave 100/2008) or they served as sword pendants, because the base of these beads were mounted in metal foil (graves 73/1978 and 98/2008) (Fig. 98.2, 3). One to two fine semi-lathed bi-truncated conical and double bi-truncated conical, close to Type TM454, beads are found in women’s graves (Fig. 98.1). Double bi-truncated conical amber beads are very rare and until this point known only from the Late Antique period Wielbark culture Cieple grave field in Poland.101 Therefore, the few double amber beads found in Lazdininkai 100 Nakaitė, “Jurgaičių kapinyno VII–VIII a. kapai”, MAD, A 4/41 (1972 ), pp. 101–121, fig. 10.9; Bliujienė, “A microregion between Šilutė–Priekulė and Švėkšna in western Lithuania”, figs. 4 and 5; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 381ff. 101 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Die Perlen der römischen Kaiserzeit und der frühen Phase der Völkerwanderungszeit, p. 80, plates 17 and 69.

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Fig. 98. The mid sixth-century to the seventh-century amber beads and discs from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district) 1, 3, 7 grave 98/2008; 2 grave 100/2008; 4 grave 18/1976; 6 grave 17/1976, and 5 Laiviai (Kretinga district) grave 28. After Donatas Butkus, Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio) kapinyno Kretingos raj. Archeologiniai tyrinėjimai 2008 m.; Eugenija Gintautaitė-Butėnienė and Eugenijus Butėnas, “Laivių kapinynas,” fig. 39.9. Drawings by Izolda Maciukaitė; photograph by the author. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga.

are heirlooms or their forms are influenced by the double multicoloured glass paste beads. Double glass beads are found in several other south Curonian sixth- to seventh-century graves (Kurmaičiai-Pajuodupis).102 The closest

102 Jonas Stankus, “Kurmaičių-Pajuodupio (Kretingos raj.) VI–VII m.e.a. kapinynas”, MAD, A 2 (1988), pp. 35–40; Donatas Butkus, Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio) kapinyno Kretingos raj. Archeologiniai tyrinėjimai 2008 m. (Unpublished excavation report from 2008. In LII R, f. 1).

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Fig. 99. The seventh-century to ninth-century Curonian necklaces: 1 Genčai I child’s grave 170 (129); 2 Palanga woman’s grave 161; 3 Laiviai grave 41/1949. 1, 2 amber; 3 amber, glass, bronze. Drawings by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR694; AR2) in Vilnius.

region in which double bi-conical glass paste beads were widespread, and with whom the Curonian’s relations are obvious, is that of the communities of the Olsztyn group.103 Archaeological evidence shows that from the second half of the sixth century to the first half of the seventh century, the Curonians maintained close ties with the Elbląg group peoples, central Scandinavia and Gotland.104 However, amber necklaces are not typical of the sixth to seventh centuries and later Curonian culture. They are most likely an exception, which are mostly found in the graves of children. Only occasionally do amber necklaces occur in the women’s graves (Fig. 99).

103 Kulakov, “Mogil’niki zapadnoi chasti Mazurskogo poozeria konca V—nachala VII veka”, p. 167ff, and pp. 177–201; Bliujienė and Butkus, “VII a. pirmosios pusės karys iš Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio)”, pp. 83–96; Bitner-Wróblewska, “Archeologiczne księgi inwentarzowe dawnego Prussia-Museum”, pp. 198–447. 104 Bliujienė and Butkus, “VII a. pirmosios pusės karys iš Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio)”, p. 96.

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The so-called historical Mėguva Land, in the environs of modern-day Kretinga, is exceptional for its distinctive amber artefacts that were peculiar to either men or to women. The men of this historical land wore amber comb-shaped pendant-amulets, and only the women wore amber discs with a smooth surface, and without a suspension hole (Figs. 98.7; 100.3; 101). The first amber discs occur in the end of the sixth-century to the first half

Fig. 100. The seventh-century to eighth-century woman’s grave 236(180) assemblage from Genčai I: 1 bronze, leather, and birch-bark; 2 bronze, thread; 3, 8 amber; 4, 9 iron; 5–7 bronze. After Algimantas Merkevičius, Genčių km. I kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 247. Courtesy of the LNM (AR694) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 101. Amber discs from Palanga grave field (graves 34a and 142). After Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts”, fig. 12. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR396: 297, 1141) in Vilnius.

of the seventh-century inhumation graves of wealthy Curonian women. On the side of the disc found in Lazdininkai grave 98/2008 is carved five small dots (Fig. 98.7). They become more popular in the eighth to ninth centuries.105 These discs are unique amber items to the entire eastern Baltic region. However at this time, only about 30 such dics are known from eight grave fields. The amber discs are 3.5–5.5 centimetres in diameter and about 0.5–1.5 centimetres thick. Mostly these items are not precisely polished, and sometimes only roughly carved. The discs are not ornamented, with the exception of one found in Palanga grave field grave 260. The surface of this amber disc is engraved with irregular lines. One amber disc was found by chance in Gotland in the Rone Autsarve locality.106 Amber discs are found beside or under the deceased woman’s head. Therefore, it is believed that the discs may have been sewn into 105 106

Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 278. Gotland Historical Museum in Visby, inventory GHM 9468: 2.

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headdresses. Sometimes the discs are placed in small boxes or are found wrapped up in cloth or even placed in miniature cups.107 The find circumstances of the amber discs indicate that these specific objects had no practical function. Therefore, it is likely that they served as amulets. It may be that because of the electrostatic qualities of amber, the Curonian women of the time believed that the amber discs as amulets would remove various illnesses from their bodies.108 During the first half of the seventh century, unique amber pendants occur which are called “combs” after their characteristic appearance; usually these pedants have a jagged edge at the base (Figs. 102; 103). Only southern Curonian men wore comb-shaped amber pendants on their chests, or suspended from their belts or their one-edged sword hilts (Figs. 104.2; 105.6). The seventh-century amber comb-shaped pendants have specially carved handles (Figs. 102.3, 4; 104.2).109 The comb-shaped pendants are flat, generally trapezoid, triangular or half-rounded, or they are of irregular shape. These pendants are rather large, ranging from around 4–7 centimetres in length to 3–5 centimetres in width with suspension hole in the narrowing end. Some of them are ornamented with small drilled holes or with irregular incisions. The southern Curonians wore such pendants till the ninth century, while single ones turn up in graves dating from the tenth century (Fig. 105.6).110 In total, only about 40 comb-shaped pendants have been found. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, the amber comb-shaped pendants worn by the southern Curonian men were replaced with comb-pendants made from thin bronze plates, which were spread throughout the entire Curonian territory at that time.111 These comb-shaped pendants made of bronze plates had no practical use. However, archaeological evidence shows that they were suspended from belts, brooches or other clothing details, and from sword hilts or scabbards. The greatest number of bronze comb-shaped pendants was found in men’s cremation graves (Fig. 106.2–6). Some of the simpler comb-shaped pendants produced from bronze plates are similar to the combs from sash-weaving implement sets which were very common

107 Varnas, “Gintaro apdirbimas”, p. 121; Volkaitė-Kulikauskienė, Lietuva valstybės priešaušriu, p. 304. 108 Vaitkunskienė, “Amber in the Art and Religion of the Ancient Balts”, p. 54, fig. 4. 109 Murnikaitė, “Gintaro dirbiniai Lazdininkų (Kretingos raj.)”, p. 35. 110 Murnikaitė, “Gintaro dirbiniai Lazdininkų (Kretingos raj.)”, p. 34ff; Varnas, “Gintaro apdirbimas”, p. 121ff; Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 277ff; Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts from the Roman Iron Age to Early Middle Ages”, p. 66ff, fig. 15; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, pp. 404–409, figs. 254–257. 111 Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 278.

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Fig. 102. Amber comb-shaped pendants from men’s graves found in Lazdininkai (2–4, 6, 7, 10) and Palanga (1, 5, 8–9, 11–12) grave fields. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 255; Kazimiera Gabriūnaitė, Lazdininkų senkapio tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga, VDKM in Kaunas and the LNM (AR396) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 103. The seventh-century amber comb-shaped pendants from Lazdininkai grave field: 1 grave 173/1976; 2 grave 184/1976; 3 grave 183/1976. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 257. Photograph by Antanas Lukšėnas. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga.

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Fig. 104. The end of the sixth-century to the first half of the seventh-century warrior grave 10/1978 in situ and grave assemblage from Lazdininkai grave field. After Kazimiera Gabriūnaitė, Lazdininkų senkapio tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai, fig. 12.

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Fig. 105. The end of the eighth-century man’s grave assemblage from Genčai I grave field, grave 173(123): 1, 12, 15, 17–20 iron; 2, 3–5, 7–11, 14 bronze; 6, 16 amber; 13 clay. After Algimantas Merkevičius, Genčių km. I kapinyno, Kurmaičių apyl., Kretingos r., tyrinėjimų ataskaitos. Courtesy of the LNM (AR694) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 106. The seventh-century to the eleventh-century bronze comb-shaped pendantamulets from Curonian men’s graves found in Kašučiai (1), Genčai I (2, 3), Griežė (4) and Palanga (5, 6) grave fields. Drawings by Virgilijus Truklickas and Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga and LNM (AR694; AR185; AR396) in Vilnius.

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among women’s working tool sets.112 The Curonian amber comb-shaped pendants have parallels with metal and antler combs in Gotland and Finland.113 It would seem that following Gotlandic influence during the first half of the seventh century, Curonian craftsmen have formed handles to amber comb-shaped pendants. Therefore, this feature ties them to the antler comb prototypes from Gotland. Certainly, the amber comb-shaped pendants were symbolically representing the antler or bone combs that were used in everyday life. In Balt mythology there are well-known stories about how a hero, wanting to escape his persecutors, throws a comb so that a thick impenetrable forest appears, which helps him escape.114 Amber comb-shaped pendants were amulets of apotropaic value. The bronze combs inherited that same meaning from their amber predecessors. In Lazdininkai grave field, in the rich warrior’s grave 141/1976, an amber artefact which is unique not only to Lithuania but to the entire eastern Baltic region, was found—an amber spoon (Fig. 107). The spoon was found in a disturbed seventh-century man’s grave, around the area of the waist, on the left side. The handle of the spoon resembles the head of a waterfowl.115 Images of waterfowl in Balt jewellery of this time are extremely rare.116 Trying to evaluate the function of this amber spon, the Curonian funerary rites in which drinks were used are brought to mind. In the Curonian’s inhumation as well as cremation graves, miniature cups, and vessels used in everyday life, as well as drinking horns, are found. Therefore, it may be that this unique amber spoon was an attribute of a ritual associated with drinking.117

112 Alfred Götze, “Brettchenweberei im Altertum”, Zeitschrift für Etnologie 40 (1908), pp. 481–500; Laima Nakaitė, “Miniatiūrinės IX–XII amžių įkapės Lietuvoje”, MAD, A 2/17 (1964), p. 64, fig. 8; Gintautaitė-Butėnienė and Butėnas, “Laivių kapinynas”, LA 22 (2002), p. 25, fig. 15.8–13. 113 Birger Nerman, Die Vendelzeit Gotlands. II. Tafeln. Monografier. Kungl. Vitterhets-, historie- och antikvitetsakademien, 48 (Stockholm, 1969), p. 37ff and p. 120ff; Ella Kivikoski, Die Eisenzeit Finnlands. Bildwerk und Text (Helsinki, 1973), p. 614. 114 Vaitkunskienė, “Amber in the Art and Religion of the Ancient Balts”, p. 54. 115 Ibid., p. 55ff. 116 Gaerte, Urgeschichte Ostpreußens, fig. 258.c. 117 Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 46ff; Viktorija Bebre, “Drinking horns in Latvia (3rd–13th century)”, Humanities and Social Sciences: Latvia. Art, Applied art and Symbols in Latvian Archaeology 2(39) (2003), p. 31ff; Audronė Bliujienė, “Kad dūšia nejaustų troškulio ir alkio arba baltų palaidojimų indai”, LA 28 (2005), pp. 81–92.

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Fig. 107. The first half of the seventh-century amber spoon from Lazdininkai grave field warrior’s grave 14/1976. After Bliujienė “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts”, fig. 16. Photograph by Antanas Lukšėnas. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga.

The Baltic Sea, the Curonians, Amber and Amber Trade During the eighth to eleventh centuries, the Curonian’s various unique forms of amber artefacts, produced for a multitude of purposes, gradually began to disappear. These included the discs, the comb-shaped pendants and the spindle whorls, as well as unique artefacts such as the awl with an amber handle found in Palanga grave field woman’s grave 34a (Fig. 108.9). However, the last unique feature of amber in Curonian culture comes from women’s graves: miniature sash-weaving implement sets produced from amber (Fig. 108). Amber sash-weaving implement sets are known only from Palanga and Lazdininkai grave fields. This group of miniature implements is a further reflection of the general Curonian tradition of placing various miniature items in the graves of men and women: working tools, weapons, jewellery and small or tiny cups.118 Various miniature artefacts had already spread in the seventh century in central and southern

118

Nakaitė, “Miniatiūrinės IX–XII amžių įkapės Lietuvoje”, pp. 53–68.

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Fig. 108. Amber sash-weaving and spinning implements from Palanga (1–9 grave 34a and 64, and stray find) and Lazdininkai (10–12 grave 26/1976) grave fields. 1–8, 10–12 amber; 9 amber and iron. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 250. Courtesy of the LNM (AR396) in Vilnius and KrM (10581) in Kretinga.

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Scandinavia and on Gotland. Amulet rings with Thor’s hammers, staffs or clubs; miniature weapons; strike-a-lights; sickles and scythes are the best known Viking Age amulets.119 During the Middle Ages, the southern Curonians maintained fairly close connections with central Scandinavia and Gotland.120 So, even if these miniature Curonian crafts are clearly the result of a Scandinavian influence, they are at the same time originally rethought and reflect the Balts’ culture and pagan world view. The sets of sash-weaving tools are one of those miniature Curonian crafts. These tool sets were usually made from bronze, or even silver, and in essence are only symbolic copies of real tools of this kind. Most often the bronze sash-weaving implement sets were made up of as many as five square tablets, a needle, sometimes an awl, a tiny comb, a small bronze whisk, a metal distaff and a weft-knife (Fig. 109.7–14).121 The sets of sash-weaving tools were the most common kind of grave good in the tenth- to twelfth-century cremation graves. However, only in the grave fields of Palanga (graves 64, 70, 151 and 341) and Lazdininkai (grave 26/1976) were parts of amber sash-weaving implement sets found (square tablets with holes in the corners, a spindle whorl, distaff and miniature weft-knife) (Fig. 108.1–8, 10–12). Usually, the distaff is also part of the bronze miniature sash-weaving implement set. Such a distaff consists of a thin bronze wire (bobbin) and a round bronze plate—a symbol of the spindle whorl which was fixed on the wire (Fig. 110). In Palanga grave field, an amber distaff and several rough unfinished amber bobbins were found (Fig. 108.6, 7). Amber sash-weaving implement sets belong to the second half of the seventh century to the eighth century, and occur only in women’s inhumation graves. These sets are not only the first Curonian women’s miniature items, but also the first Curonian culture symbolic working tools. It is possible to believe that the bronze sashweaving implement sets, which had more components, evolved from these symbolic amber sash-weaving implement sets (Figs. 108; 109.7–14). Several factors contributed to the spread of various Curonian miniatures. The development of the close communication system with cultures with a

119 Neil S. Price, The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia, Aun 31 (Uppsala, 2002), p. 203ff, figs. 3.99–3.103; Gräslund, “Some Viking-age Amulets—the Birka Evidence”, p. 90ff, figs. 1 and 3. 120 Anna Bitner-Wróblewska and Wojciech Wróblewski, “Unikowate okucia rogów do picia z okresu Vendel z cmentarzysk w Anduln/Anduliai (zachodnia Litwa) i Valsgärde (śródkowa Szwecja)”, Światowit Supplement Series P (2001), pp. 19–26; Bliujienė and Butkus, “VII a. pirmosios pusės karys iš Lazdininkų (Kalnalaukio)”, p. 92ff. 121 Nakaitė, “Miniatiūrinės IX–XII amžių įkapės Lietuvoje”, pp. 58–64, figs. 4, 6 and 8; Gintautaitė-Butėnienė and Butėnas, “Laivių kapinynas”, p. 25, fig. 15.

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Fig. 109. The eleventh-century woman’s grave assemblage from double cremation burial 31. Genčai I (Kretinga district) grave field: 1, 2, 4 bronze; 3 amber, glass, bronze; 5 bronze, textile; 6 textile; 7–14 bronze set of sash-weaving implements. After Algimantas Merkevičius, Genčių km. I kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 245a. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR694) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 110. Bronze miniature distaffs from the eleventh- to twelfth-century Griežė (Mažeikiai district) grave field: 1 symbolic grave 22; 2 the miniature distaff was found in a special pit for sacrifices. After Algirdas Varnas, Griežės kapinyno (Mažeikių raj.) 1981 m. archeologinių tyrimų ataskaita; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 251. Courtesy of the LNM (AR185) in Vilnius.

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common economy and lifestyle across the Baltic Sea rim stimulated common ideas and gave rise to the formation of culturally close regions. This process coincided in the Curonian culture with the establishment of cremation as a burial practice, which made funerary rites more and more ritualized. In order to perform rituals which greatly increased with the development of cremation burial rites, it was necessary to have more and more material objects that served as symbols and which made those rituals meaningful when releasing a person to the afterlife. Distaffs and spindle whorls played a particular role in those rituals (Fig. 110). The amber sash-weaving tool sets were the prelude to the introduction of this tradition. The theme of sash-weaving is expanded by one more tool that is associated with spinning—the amber spindle whorls. Amber spindle whorls are a common attribute of the Curonian women’s graves of the seventh to ninth centuries (Figs. 100.8; 111.8; 112; 113.1). Many amber spindle whorls were also found in Lamatian women’s graves (Fig. 95.4). The spindle whorls found in the graves of Curonian women are generally miniatures and are reminiscent of large beads (Fig. 114.9–12, 14, 16, 18, 23). They differ from larger amber beads not only in terms of form and size, but also for their holes, into which a wooden bobbin could be placed. In Curonian graves, the positions of amber beads and spindle whorls are distinct. Usually, spindle whorls, along with other accomanying grave goods, were placed inside a birch-bark box that was placed above the head of the deceased woman, together with a miniature cup. However, sometimes the spindle whorl is found on the chest and in the area of the waist. That could mean that the spindle whorls had been suspended from the sash on the waist, or even enclosed in the woman’s palm. Curonian women’s spindle whorls are of various shapes: bi-truncated conical, cylindrical and spherical (Fig. 112). The size of the spindle whorl also varies. The most common size is 2.5–5 centimetres in diameter. The main part of the spindle whorls are not decorated. Sometimes, the spindle whorls’ surface, or even the sides, are decorated with carved holes or engraved lines.122 In the tenth century, the tradition of placing any type of spindle whorl, including amber spindle whorls, into a woman’s grave began to disappear in the Curonian culture, finally vanishing altogether in the eleventh century. During the eighth to twelfth centuries, common bi-truncated conical and round flattened amber beads were spread throughout the territory occupied by the Curonians and in the larger region between the Neman and Western

122

Gintautaitė-Butėnienė and Butėnas, “Laivių kapinynas”, p. 24, fig. 14.1–3, 5.

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Fig. 111. The end of the sixth-century to the first half of the seventh-century grave assemblage of woman’s grave 72/2000 from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district): 1 clay; 2 bronze, leather, birch-bark; 3–4, 6 silver, bronze, silver plates, blue glass inlays; 5 silver; 7 bronze, birch-bark; 8 amber; 9 iron. After Bliujienė, “Some notes on Curonian women’s bead sets”, fig. 3. Drawing by Virgilijus Truklickas. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga.

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Fig. 112. Amber spindle whorls: 1–3, 5–8 Palanga (in the city of Palanga) grave field, graves 48, 265, 20, 8 and stray finds; 4 Paupinis (Medsėdžiai, Šilalė district); 9 Genčai I (Kretinga district), grave 130. After Bliujienė, “Lithuanian Amber Artefacts”, fig. 14. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR396; AR155; AR694) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 113. The seventh- to eighth-century women’s grave assemblages from Lazdininkai (Kretinga district, grave 36/1979) and Kašučiai (Kretinga district; grave 20) grave fields: 1–3, 9, 10 amber; 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 bronze; 5, 12 bronze, silver plates, blue glass inlays. After Kazimiera Gabriūnaitė, Lazdininkų senkapio tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai 1978–1981; Efrosinija Radzvilovaitė, Kašučių kapinyno. Drawings by Izolda Maciukaitė. Courtesy of the KrM in Kretinga and VDKM in Kaunas.

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Fig. 114. Middle Ages Curonian amber bead types. After Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 235.

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Dvina Rivers. However, amber beads were not widely used. Quite the opposite. Even though the known number of grave fields containing amber is larger, the quantity of amber in the graves is small. However, a few grave fields of the southern Curonian territory from the eighth to twelfth centuries are exceptions in terms of amber use. These grave fields are in Palanga, Lazdininkai, Ėgliškiai–Anduliai, Genčai I and in Laiviai (Figs. 115; 116; Appendix E). In these sites, quite a lot of amber artefacts were found. The sites were small central settlements that belonged to the Curonian historical lands Mėguva ir Ceklis (Laiviai) territorial administrative system (terra or land with castellatura that comprise several hill-forts and settlements). As in previous periods, not much amber was found in cultural layers of excavated hill-forts and settlements. But in the settlements of Palanga, in the southern, so-called Birutė’s hill-fort foot settlement and in the so-called

Fig. 115. The late eighth-century to the twelfth-century amber distribution in Lithuania and southwestern Latvia (for find-spots list see: Appendix E). Map prepared referring to data from excavation reports.

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Fig. 116. Diagram of the ninth-century to the beginning of the eleventh-century southern Curonian grave fields showing inhumation graves containing amber. Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports.

Samogitian Hillock, raw amber was stored in special pits. Here, a large amount of raw amber was found together with some amber pieces prepared for processing, semi-finished amber pieces and several completed artefacts. This collection of amber indicates that an amber workshop was once located in this area (Fig. 117).123 Easily accessible drift amber (the Palanga settlements are located directly on the Baltic Sea coast), stores of raw amber and amber workshops distinguish Palanga from the other southern Curonians sites. In Palanga grave field, the largest amount of amber artefacts were found, compared with the other southern Curonian grave fields (Fig. 116). Single, one to three small, or even quite the opposite, large amber beads were worn by the Curonian men, on their chests, or attached to brooches and belts (Figs. 114.4–8; 118). Meanwhile, women suspended amber from their headdresses or fastened it on pins, or wore it on their chests (Fig. 113.2, 3, 9, 10).124 All the same, mostly single amber beads or pendants are found on the chest. However, that does not always mean that this is how they were worn. 123

Žulkus, Palangos viduramžių gyvenvietės, p. 274ff, figs. 182–184.3. Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, 276ff; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, appendices 17 and 18. 124

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Fig. 117. Semi-finished plates for processing amber tablets for weaving sashes (1–3, 5–6) and pendants (7), an incomplete figurine of a cat (4), and amber pendants (9, 10) found in a southern settlement at Palanga (in the city of Palanga). A fragment of an amber ring from man’s cremation burial 10 in Kretinga grave field (8). After Žulkus, Palangos viduramžių gyvenvietės, figs. 182–184; Ignas Jablonskis, Kretingos senkapio 1983 metų tyrinėjimai, fig. 23.

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Fig. 118. The seventh- to eighth-century man’s grave 199(158) assemblage from Genčai I (Kretinga district) grave field: 1, 6–9 iron; 2 bronze, silver plate, blue glass inlay; 3, 5 bronze; 4 amber. After Algimantas Merkevičius, Genčių km. I kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 239. Courtesy of the LNM (AR694) in Vilnius.

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Amber artefacts found on men’s chests may have been attached to belts, sashes, sword hilts or even scabbards, because in a lot of cases the Curonians would place the belt and battle knife or the belt and sword on the deceased person’s chest. Therefore, it is often no longer possible to say whether amber beads or pendants were worn on the chest or neck, or attached to weapons or garments. One must also emphasize that the men and women of separate Curonian communities wore amber beads differently. Single amber beads are found in pretty much equal amounts in men’s or women’s graves in the grave fields of Genčai I, Girkaliai, Kiauleikiai, Palanga and Pryšmančiai I. Meanwhile, in the Lazdininkai, Gintališkė and Kašučiai communities, men preferred single beads. In contrast, in the Laiviai community single beads were often placed in women’s graves.125 Single amber beads were given special meaning. Large or small amber beads were worn by both women and men as amulets. One can judge the importance of the amber beads from the fact that during the Viking Age the notched blue glass beads did not have such an emphasized and special role, even though sometimes thick glass beads were worn as amulets (for instance, a few glass beads were suspended from their pins (Lazdininkai, grave 137/1976)) or were used as spindle whorls.126 Lithuanian historiography mentions that amber beads or bits of raw amber were often suspended from the bridle bits or lance shafts found in Curonian men’s graves.127 However, only 14 cases are known128 where an amber bead or bit of raw amber was found beside the lances or bridle bits (Fig. 105.16, 17). This position did not always indicate that the bead was attached to the weapon or the riding gear. In the Curonian graves, additional grave goods— ornaments, weapons and bridle bits, miniature cups, etc.—were placed in the area of the head. During the Middle Ages, the bridle bit was the main artefact symbolizing the horse in Curonian culture.129 The Mėguva Land, modern-day Kretinga district, was a quite vital farming and cultural entity, but the tradition of attaching an amber bead to the lance shafts or bridle bits can be viewed only from quite a small amount of evidence from the Palanga community from the end of the eighth century to beginning of the

125

Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, appendix 17. Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 277. 127 Ibid., p. 86 and p. 277. 128 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, appendix 18. 129 Iron bridle bits are part of the leather bridles. Only in one cremation grave from Bandužiai dated to the eleventh century were a big iron bell and buckle from horse bridles found. But there’s no question of a connection of the amber beads found in this grave with the bridles. For this, see: Fig. 124. 126

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tenth century. Other Mėguva Land grave fields’ material does not confirm such a tradition. The Curonian women rarely wore exclusively amber bead necklaces. More favoured were necklaces made up of glass beads, metal beads or bronze spirals. By comparison, lots of glass beads were found in the Curonian grave fields of West Lithuania.130 The Curonian bead necklaces are more often found in boxes placed above the deceased’s head than on the neck. However, only in rare necklaces are one to three amber beads strung (Fig. 99.3). Simple necklaces made up only of amber beads are more often found in the graves of children, mostly in girls’ graves (Fig. 99.1, 3). So, drift amber for Curonians was easily accessible and common and did not have much value as a raw material. Therefore, simple amber bead necklaces were worn by children. Along the Lithuanian coast once again then, the amber-wearing traditions of the Late Antique period are repeated—this raw material, so ordinary to the inhabitants of the coastal region, was easily accessible even to members of society that did not hold high rank, like the children in this case. However, it will be observed that the same or similar situation of amber usage existed in some other European regions. For instance in Bohemia, where amber occurred in the ninth century and was used in the first half of the eleventh century, amber beads are predominantly found in women’s and juveniles’, and even little girls’ graves. Amber beads are also frequent finds from Bohemian warrior graves, probably those well-armed men who belonged to the ducal retinue.131 The women of Gotland are notable for the manner in which they traditionally wore amber beads in the eighth to ninth centuries. In their necklaces, one to three larger amber beads are found, which were an accent to the ornament (Fig. 119).132 In Gotland, miniature amber axes, miniature chairs, trapezeshaped and irregular-shaped pendants, and pendants peculiar to Gotland are found (Fig. 120). Miniature amber chairs have been interpreted as symbols of high rank, as the ruler’s throne, the high seats of Odin, Freya and Thor

130

Ona Kuncienė, “IX–XIII a. stiklo karoliai Lietuvoje”, LA 2 (1981), pp. 84–90, fig. 2. Zdenka Krumphanzlová, “Amber: Its significance in the Early Middle Ages”, Památky Archeologické 83/2 (1992), p. 365. 132 Lena Thunmark-Nylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. I Abbildungen der Grabfunde (Stockholm, 1995); L. Thunmark-Nylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. II Typentafeln, figs. 311–315 (Stockholm, 1998); L. Thunmark-Nylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. III: 1–2 Text (Stockholm, 2006), p. 188ff; Bente Magnus, “The Importance of Amber in the Viking Period in the Nordic Countries with a Retrospective Glance at Earlier Periods and an Etymological Appendix”, in Amber in Archaeology, Talsi (Riga, 2003), p. 133. 131

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Fig. 119. The eighth- to ninth-century necklaces and bead sets strung from amber, glass, glass paste beads and metal Fischschwanzförmige pendants from Grötlingbo, Hellvi and Hemse cemeteries on Gotland. After Lena Thunmark-Nylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. I Abbildungen der Grabfunde, figs. 57, 117b, 228.

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Fig. 120. Amber pendants from Hemse, Grötlingbo, Västerhejde and Halla cemeteries on Gotland. After Lena Thunmark-Nylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. II Typentafelen, fig. 117.1–10.

(Fig. 120.7).133 In Gotland, as in the other parts of Scandinavia, miniature pendants, among them amber pendants, come from women’s graves, from settlements and from hoards. Regrettably, some of these amber amulets’ find circumstances are unknown.134 133

Zeiten, “Amulets and Amulet use in Viking Age Denmark”, p. 21ff, figs. 24, 25 and 49; Price, The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia, 163ff, fig. 3.37–3.49. 134 Thunmark-Nylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. II Typentafeln, fig. 172; Zeiten, “Amulets and Amulet use in Viking Age Denmark”, pp. 35–52, tab. 4.

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The only east Baltic chair-shaped pendant was found in Daugmale hill-fort (Fig. 121.13).135 In Gotland, several amber pendants have been found that are unique to the island. These are amber copies of metal pendants resembling a fish tail (Fischschwanzförmige). Like their metal prototypes, they were found in women’s graves (Figs. 119.3; 120.1, 8).136 However, around the Baltic Sea rim during the Middle Ages, monochrome or multicoloured glass beads began to take the place of amber beads, as did beads made from semi-precious stones, especially carnelian beads whose colour was similar to that of amber.137 Therefore, it is possible to posit that the Curonian women, in not wearing amber bead necklaces, were following the general Baltic Sea region fashion and were trying not to lag behind in style. During the eighth to twelfth centuries, the commonest southern Curonian women’s and men’s grave amber finds were bi-truncated conical with narrowing ends, conical, cylindrical, slightly retouched irregular-shaped beads and beads similar to semi-finished items. Often the surface of these amber beads is only roughly retouched, not polished (Fig. 114.1, 3, 13). A large part of the Curonian beads are made up of conical beads with rounded tops, some of which are handmade, while others are semi-lathed. Among this group of beads occur fine worked beads, the entire surface of which is decorated with small dots (Fig. 118.4). A flat amber disc with three openings found in Laiviai grave field, grave 28 (Fig. 98.5), is a unique Middle Ages Curonian artefact.138 All groups of amber beads and even necklaces processed by Curonian craftsmen are found in both men’s and women’s inhumation and cremation graves (Figs. 116; 122–124).139 In the southern Curonian lands, as cremation traditions became prevalent, the number of amber beads decreased (Figs. 115; 122). However, if amber was placed in a cremation grave, it was placed there in a consistent amount of one or two amber beads (Table 5). Therefore, the small amount of amber beads in Curonian cremation graves is not only connected with the cremation burial rite itself, but was a result of the development of cremation burial customs and the whole complicated

135 Radiņš, “The Daugmale Antiquities Complex”, in Contacts Across the Baltic Sea (Lund, 1992), p. 121, fig. 10. 136 Thunmark-Nylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. II Typentafeln, fig. 172.1–2; ThunmarkNylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. III: 1–2 Text, p. 222ff. 137 Stjernquist, “2. Amber in Iron Age Finds in Sweden”, p. 33; Thunmark-Nylén. Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. I Abbildungen der Grabfunde. 138 Gintautaitė-Butėnienė and Butėnas, “Laivių kapinynas”, fig. 39.9. 139 Based only on archaeological evidence, it is difficult to estimate children’s graves. However, there is not much anthropological analysis of children’s graves performed.

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Fig. 121. Daugmale amber workshop production (Rīgas district, Latvia). After Arnis Radiņš, “The Daugmale Antiquities Complex”, figs. 4–10; Ēvalds Mugurēvičs, “Viking Age and Medieval Finds”, fig. 1.

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Fig. 122. Amber amount in southern Curonian cremation burials dated to the tenth to twelfth centuries. Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports.

Fig. 123. Amber amount in Samogitian and Semigallian inhumation graves and Curonian cremation burials dated to the tenth to twelfth centuries. Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports.

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Fig. 124. The eleventh-century warrior cremation burial 36 assemblage from Bandužiai (in the city of Klaipėda) grave field: 1, 8, 10–12, 14 iron; 2, 3, 6, 9, 13 bronze; 4, 5 amber. After Jonas Stankus, Bandužių kapinyno 1985–1989 metų tyrinėjimų ataskaitos. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė.

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and miscellaneous rituals system that accompanied burials. So, the complex cremation burial rites can only be further explained through the wider analyses of the whole graves’ context. Even in the eleventh century in the southern Curonian lands, once cremation practices had firmly taken hold, some of the artefacts found in cremation burials (for example, drinking horns) were never placed into the fire. While burying their cremated tribesmen, the Curonians much more often broke their weapons and other parts of a grave assemblage, and during the funeral feast deliberately broke vessels. This is evident from all the material from the cremation burials of the Curonian lands.140 Curonian cremation burial rites are diverse in their content, therefore in the same grave it is possible to find not only deliberately bent and broken but melted or partially melted artefacts. At the same time, quite a number of amber and glass beads, remains of textiles, wood and leather occur in cremation burials (Fig. 109). Therefore, it seems that the Curonian cremation customs may have turned amber from an artefact with a decorative function into an amulet. Pieces of raw amber have been found in small quantities in the Curonian graves. As in earlier times, a piece of amber with specific characteristics of some kind would be placed in the grave (Fig. 125.7). Raw amber, as a grave good, is found in the graves of men, women and children, placed above the head or on the chest or waist, or perhaps enclosed in a cloth sack.141 It is possible to think that at the end of the sixth century to the seventh century, unique Curonian amber crafts: comb-shaped pendants, discs, sashweaving implement sets and others, like the distinctive wearing of amber beads, were a characteristic feature of this culture’s pagan belief system. Yet on the other hand, during the Middle Ages the traditional manner in which amber was worn reflected the general cultural tendencies of the entire Baltic Sea region, as well as the predominant ideological and religious attitudes, and also the fashion of the time.

140 Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, pp. 85–91; Bliujienė, “Kad dūšia nejaustų troškulio ir alkio arba baltų palaidojimų indai”, pp. 84–91, fig. 6; A. Bliujienė, “Pottery in Curonian Cremation Graves. Some Aspects of Interaction across the Baltic Sea in the Late Viking Age and Early Medieval Period”, in Interarcheologia 1 (Tartu, 2005), fig. 8. 141 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, appendix 18.

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Fig. 125. The ninth-century grave 174 assemblage from Genčai I (Kretinga district) grave field: 1, 5, 6, 8 bronze; 2–4 bronze, wood; 7 amber. After Algimantas Merkevičius, Genčių km. I kapinyno; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, fig. 259.

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Amber Usage Traditions between the Neman and the Western Dvina: Livs, Samogitians, Semigallians, Upland Lithuanians, Selonians and Latgallians During the tenth to twelfth centuries, the Curonian’s northern neighbours, the Finno-Ugrians—Livs or Daugava Livs—who inhabited the lower Western Dvina River basin, were known for their distinctive traditions of wearing amber. Single distinctive amber bead-amulets were found in the graves of men, women and children in the burial sites of Salaspils Laukskolas, Doles Raušu, Aizkraukles, Salaspils Lipšu, Doles Vampeniešu and Ogresgala Čabas.142 In the Salaspils Laukskolas burial site (on the left bank of the Western Dvina River), amber beads and pendants were found in at least 40% of the total number of graves (Fig. 126).143 Offerings of grave goods and distinct artefacts and even raw amber pieces constitute a special category in the Liv burial sites. Two such complicated offerings were recently found at the Ogresgala Čabas barrow field. One consisting of a complete set of women’s jewellery and another of 22 natural pieces of flint and 24 bits of amber were found in the ditch surrounding the barrow with man’s grave 32.144 These special deposits in the burial site may have been peculiar additional grave goods, or they may have been finds that were enclosed after the funeral to commemorate the deceased person, or they were offerings to the ancestors. Alternatively, they may have been connected with the intentional hoarding of valuables in the ancient cemeteries.145 In the Liv men’s graves, amber beads or perforated flat raw amber pieces are usually found beside weapons, enclosed in purses, and attached to belts and ornaments. Among the amber pendants found in the Liv men’s graves, miniature amber axes, similar to those in Scandinavia, are noteworthy (Fig. 120.7, 8). Miniature amber axes are found in the graves of both men

142 Ciglis et al., Lībieši senatnē. The Livs in Antiquity (Rīga, 2001), p. 45; Zariņa, Salaspils Laukskolas kapulauks 10–13. gadsimts (Rīga, 2006), p. 419; Roberts Spirģis, Bruņrupuču saktas ar krūšu važiņrotām un lībiešu kultūras attīstība Dauguvas lejtecē 10.–13. gadsimtā (Rīga, 2008), p. 208, table 16. 143 246 graves in total: 74 adult males, 64 adult females, 98 children and 10 indeterminate graves. See: Zariņa, Salaspils Laukskolas kapulauks, p. 419, fig. 135.1–4, 6–9. 144 Rūdolfs Brūzis and Roberts Spirģis, “Ogresgala Čabas Cemetery and Horse Sacrifice”, AB 11 (2009), p. 286ff, fig. 4. 145 Audronė Bliujienė, “Trade, Warfare, Looting: Attributes of Viking Age Contacts across the Baltic Sea”, in Pētījumi kuršu senatnē, Rakstu krājums. Latvijas vēstures muzeja raksti. Arheoloģija, vol. 14 (Rīga, 2008), p. 173.

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and women.146 Such pendants were produced in Daugmale, located on the left bank of the Western Dvina River, in a huge Middle Ages craft centre and inter-regional marketplace (Fig. 121.12, 14–19). The Liv women pierced flat raw amber pieces, suspending the elaborate pectoral ornaments together with other amulets worn in great quantities: carnivore bones (teeth, claws and vertebrae), tooth-shaped pendants of bronze, miniature animal and waterfowl figures etc. (Fig. 127). Sometimes discoid-shaped beads or spindle whorls are found in women’s graves. Liv beads are usually poorly worked; just perforated bits of raw amber. Often, the surface of such an artefact is not precisely polished (Fig. 126.1–3). Liv women rarely mixed amber beads with glass ones. Instead, necklaces strung from glass beads, cowry shells and a variety of metal pendants were commonly worn. However, necklaces made of amber alone are rarely found in Liv women’s graves.147 Although during the ninth to twelfth centuries their traditions of amber wearing were similar to those of the Curonians, Samogitians and Semigallians, and all amber artefacts were worn as amulets, much more amber has been found in the Liv graves than in those of the Samogitians or Semigallians. During the Middle Ages, the Samogitians almost never cremated their dead. However, single beads are found in their cremation graves.148 In Samogitian graves, not many amber beads are found. Usually they are found in about a quarter of excavated graves (Fig. 123; Table 4). Therefore, the tradition of placing amber beads into graves and, presumably, wearing amber beads in everyday life was not as universally widespread as one would think. Only in the seventh to the ninth centuries does the Samogitian Lieporiai grave field become unique for its greater tradition of wearing amber. This is because here amber was found in 28 out of the 95 excavated graves.149 Besides the amber beads, here one finds beads with unfinished perforations, and bits of

146 Anna Zariņa, Lībiešu apģērbs 10.–13 gs. (Rīga, 1988), fig. 37; Zariņa, Salaspils Laukskolas kapulauks 10–13. Gadsimts, fig. 135. 8–9. 147 Zariņa, Lībiešu apģērbs, figs. 31 and 32, plate XV; Zariņa, Salaspils Laukskolas kapulauks, p. 416ff, fig. 155. 148 Several cremation graves, a result of the influence of the Curonian culture’s cremation traditions it would seem, were found in the Semigallian (Pavirvytė-Gudai) and Samogitian (Bikavėnai and Žąsinas) grave fields. In one of the most extensively researched Samogitian grave fields, at Bikavėnai, 272 graves were discovered. Of that number only five were cremation graves. In one of those graves (woman’s grave 105), a piece of raw amber was found. 149 Birutė Salatkienė, Lieporių kapinyno (Šiauliai) 1990–1991 metų tyrinėjimų ataskaitos (Unpublished excavation reports from 1990–1991, in LII R, f., 1, nos. 1733, 1834); B. Salatkienė, “Lieporių (Šiauliai) kapinyno 1990 ir 1991 m. tyrinėjimai”, in ATL in 1990 and 1991, vol. I (Vilnius, 1992), p. 120.

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Fig. 126. The eleventh- to twelfth-century Liv amber amulets from Salaspils Laukskolas (Rīga district, Latvia) burial site. After Zariņa, Salaspils Laukskolas kapulauks, plate 135.1–9.

raw amber. In Lieporiai grave field, amber beads are found around the area of the waist, by the legs, on the bottom of the grave pit, beside the head and on the chest. In men’s grave 59, four amber beads were found, which were apparently attached to the sword scabbard.150 During the ninth to twelfth centuries, the Samogitians, as earlier, wore amber bead-amulets in their own distinctive manner. The one, or two, or three, small bi-truncated conical or flattened round beads that were found

150 Salatkienė, “Lieporių (Šiauliai) kapinyno 1990 ir 1991 m. tyrinėjimai”, p. 120; Salatkienė, Lieporių kapinyno (Šiauliai) 1990–1991 metų tyrinėjimų ataskaitos.

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Fig. 127. Woman’s grave assemblage from Salaspils Laukskolas burial site, grave 480 (Rīga district, Latvia): amber, glass, bronze, cowry shells and claw from a carnivore. Second half of the eleventh century to the first half of the twelfth century. After Zariņa, Salaspils Laukskolas kapulauks, plate 173.

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in women’s graves were suspended from two pins by chains connected to ornate pectoral ornaments (Fig. 128). In men’s graves, single amber beads, as previously, were attached to brooches (Fig. 129).151 The Samogitian women, like the Semigallians, did not wear amber or glass bead necklaces.152 In the graves of Samogitian women, besides amber beads, a few amber spindle whorls were found.153 There are a few exceptional graves in which amber beads are used in an unusual manner. For example, in the Žąsinas grave field, amber bead-secured scraps of cloth into which cremated bones had been poured were found.154 Amber beads in Samogitian graves are distributed rather evenly according to gender. However, it is difficult to establish the gender of a rather large number of the deceased.155 It may be that these graves are those of children. Among the Samogitians, Semigallians, Selonians and Upland Lithuanians, amber beads are handmade and semi-lathed with almost only bi-truncated conical forms. Rarely do irregular-shaped or cylindrical amber beads occur (Fig. 130). During the sixth to eighth centuries, the Semigallians used very little amber. Amber beads, together with raw amber materials, were found only in a few excavated grave fields from this time (Appendix D).156 In most of the excavated grave fields of this period, as in Jauneikiai,157 amber artefacts are not found at all. Somewhat larger quantities of amber beads are found only in the Bāļas–Śķērstaiņi burial site, not far from Dobele in Latvia. In 1928, in 11 of the 31 excavated graves, a total of only 44 amber beads were found.158

151

Dowgird, “Pamiątki z czasów przedhistorycznych na Żmujdzi. Mełźyn–Kapas pod Jasnagórką”, pp. 18–26, plates III–VI; Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 41; Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 276. 152 A necklace strung from glass beads was found in Pavirvytė-Gudai grave field, women’s grave 138, and this case is exceptional in the entire Semigallian region. For this, see: Ilona Vaškevičiūtė, Žiemgaliai V–XII amžiuje (Vilnius, 2004), p. 64, fig. 53. 153 Only one spindle whorl, in women’s grave 45, was discovered at Bikavėnai grave field among a total of 86 amber beads found in this site. For this, see: Adolfas Tautavičius, Bikavėnų kapinyno Šilutės raj. 1967–1968 m. tyrinėjimų ataskaitos (Unpublished excavation reports from 1967–1968. In LII R, f. 1, nos. 289a–b); Tautavičius, Vidurinis geležies amžius Lietuvoje, p. 123. 154 Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 41. 155 In Bikavėnai grave field, one to two amber beads were found in 67 graves (15 men, 23 women, 4 children and 25 individuals of indeterminate gender). In Žąsinas grave field, single amber beads were discovered in 34 graves (15 men, 11 women, 1 child and 7 individuals of indeterminate gender). 156 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, appendix 14.4. 157 Ilona Vaškevičiūtė, “Jauneikių (Joniškio raj.) V–XI a. kapinynas (3. Galvos ir kaklo papuošalai)”, MAD, A 1(98) (1987), p. 26ff. 158 LVM archive of the Latvian National History Museum in Rīga.

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Fig. 128. The ninth-century woman’s grave 183 assemblage from Bikavėnai (Šilalė district): 1–3 amber; 4 bronze; 5 bronze, silver plates. After Adolfas Tautavičius, Bikavėnų kapinyno. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR490) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 129. The tenth-century men’s ornaments and belt mount from Žąsinas grave field: 1–3 grave 67; 4–8 grave 81; 9–12 grave 77A. 1, 4, 9, 10 amber; 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12 bronze; 6 bronze and leather. After Laima Vaitkunskienė, Žąsino kapinyno Šilalės raj. 1976–1978 m. kasinėjimų ataskaitos”. Drawing by Audronė Ruzienė. Courtesy of the LNM (AR618) in Vilnius.

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Fig. 130. The ninth- to eleventh-century amber beads from the Samogitian, Semigallian and Sellonian grave fields. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė. Illustration prepared referring to data from excavation reports.

Only in one grave of the Bāļas–Śķērstaiņi grave field was a necklace strung from 10 lathe-turned bi-truncated conical and round flattened amber beads enclosed. The necklace adorned the deceased woman’s neck, six more amber beads were found on the woman’s chest and in the area of the legs.159 The Semigallians did not wear much more amber in the Middle Ages than in Late Antiquity. The main, though small in number, Semigallian amber find-spots are concentrated in the Lower Western Dvina region and middle reaches of the Lielupe River. Understandably, these areas are close to the main trade routes.160 However, of the 1582 excavated graves dated to the tenth to twelfth centuries, only in 75 graves were beads found (90 in total), that is only 4.74 percent of the number of excavated graves (Fig. 123). A large

159

Ibid. Ernestas Vasiliauskas, “Žiemgalos prekybiniai keliai ir centrai VIII–XII a.”, LA, 18 (1999), fig. 1. 160

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Fig. 131. The twelfth- to thirteenth-century necklace strung from cowry shells, glass paste and amber beads, and bronze bells found in woman’s grave 45 in Jakštaičiai grave field. Photograph by Kęstutis Stoškus. Courtesy of the LNM (AR539:104) in Vilnius.

number of Semigallian graves had already been robbed during the Middle Ages. Obviously, this may be why not much amber is found in these graves. Be that as it may, the Samogitian tradition of wearing amber is greater. Out of 676 graves of this period, 248 amber beads were found in 175 graves (Fig. 123). Semigallian women extremely rarely affixed one or two amber beads to the many pins they wore or to their chains, instead they strung amber beads together with cowry shells, bronze bells or single glass beads (Fig. 131).161 In especially rare cases, small amber beads were suspended from the caps of men or women (Papilė, graves 1 and 3). Very occasionally, small bits of raw amber are found in the Semigallian graves. Therefore, it is noteworthy that in the Šukioniai grave field, a very unusual-shaped piece of raw amber was found in woman’s grave 121, near the woman’s bronze neck-ring bow.162 Amber beads are rarely found in the graves of Semigallian men. Usually beads are found in the area of the chest or not far from a brooch. Based on 161 Vaškevičiūtė, Žiemgaliai V–XII amžiuje, p. 64ff, fig. 53; Ilona Vaškevičiūtė and Adelė Cholodinskienė, Pavirvytės kapinynas (X–XIII amžiai) (Vilnius, 2008), p. 122; Griciuvienė et al., “Ritual artefacts”, in The Semigallians. Baltic Archaeological Exhbition. Catalogue (Vilnius, 2005), p. 110ff. 162 Ilona Vaškevičiūtė, “Šukionių kapinynas (Pakruojo rajonas, Lygumų apylinkė)”, LA 20 (2000), p. 172ff, fig. 28.7.

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research of the Semigallian, Samogitian and Curonian burial traditions at the end of the Middle Ages, one can come to the conclusion that amber in funerary rites, and in life, performed the function of an amulet. On the other hand, women of all the Balt tribes wore necklaces very rarely. This is partially connected with the Balt tradition of wearing bronze neck-rings and lots of ornate bronze ornaments. Therefore, amber, like the glass bead on occasion, played the role of an amulet. Amber beads are almost never found in the Middle Ages in the cremation graves of the Upland Lithuanians.163 In this ethnic cultural region, amber beads are usually found in the graves of horses. Amber beads were not found in the ninth to twelfth century east Lithuanian barrow fields (Fig. 115; Appendix E). The lack of amber artefacts in the barrow fields of east Lithuania is explained by the cremation burial rites. Here, ornaments, like weapons, were cremated together with the deceased.164 Single amber beads in women’s necklaces are rare in the Middle Ages Selonian barrow fields (Fig. 115; Appendix E).165 A rather more interesting style of wearing beads can be seen in Visėtiškiai barrow field, barrow 13, grave 11, where a bi-truncated conical bead was found together with a bronze spiral located in the region of the left side of the deceased’s waist. Some single raw amber pieces were found at Selonian hill-forts at Juodonys and Turdvaris in Rokiškis district, and more than 80 amber beads were found in the Dumblynė Island hoard or as votive offerings in the water (Figs. 60; 115; Appendix E).166 Amber beads, incidentally, like glass beads, are not at all typical of the burial sites of the Middle Ages Latgallians. For example, in the Nukši (Ludzas district in Latvia) grave field, in 218 excavated graves, not one amber bead was found. In only two graves were glass beads discovered (women’s graves 17 and 215).167

163 Single amber beads were found in Upland Lithuanian graves at Marvelė, grave 330; Pernarava, graves V, VII, 51 and 54; Rimaisai, grave 1 and Ruseiniai, grave 69. 164 Adolfas Tautavičius, Rytų Lietuva mūsų eros pirmajame tūkstantmetyje (Unpublished PhD thesis defended in Vilnius University in 1953, in LII R, f. 157), p. 257ff. 165 Kazakevičius, “Visėtiškių pilkapynas”, p. 54, fig. 76; V. Kazakevičius, “Sėlių kapai Miškinių pilkapyne”, LA 20 (2000), 120, fig. 18.3. 166 For this, see: Chapter Three. 167 Elvyra Šnore, Nukshinskii mogil’nik, Materialy i issledovaniia po arkheologii Latviiskoi SSR, 1 (Rīga, 1957), p. 36, plate II. 11; Anna Zariņa, Seno latgaļu apģērbs 7.–13. gs. (Rīga, 1970).

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Amber Production in the Emporia Around the Baltic Sea and Lithuania During the Middle Ages168 around the North and the Baltic Seas, a number of craft centres and emporia (marketplaces) or ports of trade were established (Fig. 132). Amber processing, together with bone and antler working, was one of the occupations of these craft centres.169 Sometimes it is even posited that emerging colonies in the eastern Baltic region, like Grobiņa (Seeburg, in southwestern Latvia), could have been encouraged by the development of the international amber trade. There is also some postulation that the appearance of the Scandinavian colonists from Gotland and central Sweden at Grobiņa and its vicinity was prompted by their desire to wrest from the Curonians the control of the amber trade.170 However, no amber has been found in the barrow fields left by immigrants in the Grobiņa surroundings.171 In the material from the colonists’ settlements there is a lack of artefacts that would be typical of other Baltic Sea craft centres and marketplaces (a larger amount of coins, hand-held beam balances, weights, scales, silver ingots, chopped silver, etc.). Grobiņa, as a craft centre, lacks some of the major traces of production for a large regional market that are characteristic of the other marketplaces around the Baltic Sea.172 There are no imports that would bear witness to trade activity. It would seem that farmers settled in the Grobiņa vicinity who could manage to control a territory of about 30 kilometres with access to the sea.173

168 In the northern European chronology, the first emporia were already in operation by the end of the late Germanic Iron Age, but most of these centres only really developed during the Viking Age or Middle Ages. 169 Holger Arbman, Birka: Untersuchungen und Studien. 1, Die Gräber: Tafeln (Stockholm, 1940), plate 115; Callmer, “North-European trading centres and the Early Medieval craftsman”, p. 133ff. 170 Jacob T. Ozols, “Der Bernsteinhandel und die Skandinavischen Kolonien in Kurland”, in Papers presented at the Third Conference on Baltic Studies in Scandinavia. Hässelby Castle, June 13–16 1975, vol. 1 (Stockholm, 1977), p. 96ff, fig. 2. 171 Birger Nerman, Grobin-Seeburg Ausgrabungen und Funde. Monografier. Kungl. Vitterhets-, historie- och antikvitetsakademien, 41(Stockholm, 1958). 172 Mateusz Bogucki, “Grobiņa—a Sign of an Early Future Port of Trade in the Balt Lands”, in Transformatio Mundi: The Transformation from the Late Migration Period to the Early Viking Age in the East Baltic, ed. Mindaugas Bertašius (Kaunas, 2006), pp. 95–103; Sebastian Brather, “Early Dirham Finds in the South-east Baltic. Chronological Problems in the Light of Finds from Janów Pomorski (Truso)”, in Bertašius, Transformatio Mundi, p. 133ff, fig. 1. 173 Valerij Petrenko and Juris Urtāns, The Archaeological Monuments of Grobiņa (Riga, 1995), p. 5ff.

314 chapter four Fig. 132. The main Viking Age emporia and trade directions. After Hildegard Elsner, Wikinger Museum Haithabu, p. 98, map supplemented by the author.

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Apparently, the establishment around the Baltic Sea of ports of trade in vantage-ground areas, coves of the small lagoon lakes, and the crossroads of maritime and inland water routes was influenced not only by the amber trade, but by the general economic evolution of the entire region. Of course, trade in raw amber and amber artefacts and amber crafts were part of the emporia’s activities. Marketplaces like Truso (Janów Pomorski in Poland), Kaup-Wiskiauten (Mohovoe on the Sambian Peninsula, Kaliningrad region, Russia), Palanga (at the Ražė River confluence with the Baltic Sea in Lithuania), Linkuhnen (Rzshevskoe in the Lower Neman region in Russia) and Daugmale (in the Lower Western Dvina region in Latvia) and others, established themselves in strategically important places from where it was easy to comprehensively control the larger coastal and hinterland regions (Fig. 132). Along the entire coast, from Haithabu to Daugmale, amber, in varying amounts, was accessible and easily acquired in the mercantile process or might be obtained in plundering raids. Certainly, in terms of raw amber, the most advantageous position was Kaup-Wiskiauten, with the huge amber deposits in the Sambian Peninsula. However, we still do not have a lot of information regarding Scandinavian settlement structures and the amber craftsmanship that took place in this region during the Viking Age, although it is believed that this marketplace, going by the name of Gintijar in the first half of the tenth century, was mentioned by Arabian geographer Abū Abdu Allāh Muhammad Ibn Muhammad al-Idrīsī (1100–1166).174 Taking a look at the distribution of Lithuanian amber from the eighth century to the twelfth century, it seems that amber was the most widely used at this time (Fig. 115). However, this is deceptive. What actually happened is that the number of burial sites where amber is found increases; but, in individual find-spots, with the exception of the southern Curonian grave fields and the distinctive Lamata Land, there is not much amber. In most of the sites it constitutes only 20–30 (or one-fifth) of the artefacts found. Throughout this entire period, amber artefacts are found not only in burial sites, but in a few hill-forts and settlements and even in two sacrificial offerings in the water (Celmiņi and Dumblynė) (Fig. 60; Appendix E).175 Not far from

174 Žulkus, Kuršiai Baltijos jūros erdvėje, p. 96ff. In recent years in the Mohovoe/KaupWiskiauten settlement complex, research has not revealed the meaning of the exceptional amber finds of this complex. For this, see: Wiskiauten/Mohovoe [online] Available from: http://www.wiskiauten.eu/index.php/ [Accessed 22 May 2009]; Timo Ibsen and Johannes Frenzel, “In Search of the Early Medieval Settlement of Wiskiauten/Mohovoe in the Kaliningrad Region”, LA 36 (2010), p. 50ff. 175 Urtāns, Senākie depozīto Latvijā, p. 96ff, fig. 101; Grižas, “Sartų ežero salos žvalgomieji tyrinėjimai”, p. 194ff; Grižas, “Sartų ežero salos Dumblynės gyvenvietė”, p. 29ff.

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Daugmale, on the right bank of the Western Dvina, in Kābeļu settlement in the basement of a twelfth-century building, the largest the eastern Baltic amber store was found. The amber found there weighed 25 kilograms.176 It was apparently stored in the basement so that it would not oxidize and would not lose its colour. Amber craftsmen used the same methods of storage in the Kurpie ethnic region in Poland.177 During the Middle Ages in the cultural layers of the Palanga, Romai and Žardė settlements, as well as in the Eketė hill-fort top settlement, small raw amber pieces were found together with semi-finished amber and a few unfinished artefacts.178 In the southern Palanga settlement in a pit, 77 pieces of raw amber of varying size were discovered. The size of the amber pieces was suitable for crafting. Therefore, this pit is considered to be an amber store.179 Similarly, at the so-called Birutė’s hill-fort foot settlement, two small collections of 8–11 stored fine bits of raw amber were discovered. One of these collections was found beside the building and the other was found inside the building, not far from the hearth. Because of the fineness of the amber pieces, it was not suitable for craftsmanship. Therefore, both finds are connected with rituals and offerings.180 By comparison, the small amount of amber artefacts in the southern Curonian grave fields indicates amber output in their coastal craft centres. Judging from the largest find of amber artefacts in the graves of the Palanga grave field, one can conclude that amber artefacts were crafted first and foremost for their own use (Figs. 116; 117). On the other hand, the relationship between raw amber, amber prepared for crafting, semi-worked amber pieces, waste from production and finished artefacts, in addition to specific amber amulets (comb-shaped pendants, flat discs) and other crafts (sash-weaving tablets) from the southern settlements of Palanga, show that production took place for the restricted local market (Fig. 117.1–7). The manner in which amber was worn was different among the southern Curonians, dwellers of the Palanga and Kretinga environs, and the Curonians who lived northwards beyond the Šventoji River. At the same time, the spread of amber along the coast shows not only close internal contacts in the one Curonian administrative centre—terra/land as a quite integral farming and cultural entity, but

176 Jolanta Daiga, “Kābełu apmentne”, in Zinātniskās atskaites sesijas materiali par arheologu, antropologu un etnogrāfu 1972. gada pētījumu rezultatiem (Rīga, 1973), p. 33ff. 177 Adam Chętnik, “Przemysł i sztuka bursztyniarska nad Narwią”, p. 387. 178 Žulkus, “Palangos viduramžių gyvenvietės”, p. 274ff. 179 Ibid., p. 274. 180 Ibid., p. 278. Also see, Chapter Three.

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also indicates clear ties between inhabitants of all the southern Curonian lands and their distant neighbours. However, amber mass-production (amber beads, poorly worked pendants) is not expressive, and therefore it is difficult, if not impossible, to judge where such crafts were produced (Figs. 99; 114; 130). On the other hand, the largest amount of the Samogitian and Semigallian beads, like the beads found in the Upland Lithuanians’ horse graves, is made up of bi-truncated conical form beads. However, the Curonians’ bi-truncated conical beads were produced the least during the Middle Ages. Therefore, the Curonians may have traded raw amber with their closest neighbours. During the Middle Ages in craft centres, the relationship between raw amber, semi-finished crafts and artefacts is about the same as found in the Palanga settlements and in the Eketė hill-fort top settlement. Such a relationship between amber artefacts and raw amber, in addition to the similarity of amber bead forms known from the Curonian grave fields and from craft centres, could show that amber artefacts were produced for a broader market. In the southern Palanga settlement, a flat semi-finished figurine of an animal resembling a crouching cat has been discovered (Fig. 117.4). In Lithuania this amber animal figurine is unique, but in the emporia around the Baltic Sea, images of such animals were commonplace and widespread (Fig. 133.5, 6).181 In Scandinavian Viking culture, the cat was the goddess Freya’s symbol or Freya’s animal. In Scandinavian mythology, amber has the meaning of the frozen tears of Freya.182 In the eleventh-century man’s cremation burial 10 from Kretinga grave field, a fragment of amber ring untouched by fire was discovered (Fig. 117.8).183 Such amber rings were widespread in many emporia around the Baltic Sea, where they were produced and worn as pendants.184 It is not necessarily true that only amber traders existed. It would seem that amber was traded amongst other commodities. The data regarding grave fields, although scarce, refers to how amber beads must have been sold according to their weight. At Lazdininkai grave field in cremation grave 107/1976, an amber bead was found inside the iron box of a hand-held beam balance.

181 Greta Arwidsson, “8. Bernstein”, in Birka: Untersuchungen und Studien. 2, Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, ed. Greta Arwidsson (Stockholm, 1989), p. 53ff, fig. 8.1: a. 182 Magnus, “The importance of Amber in the Viking Period in the Nordic Countries”, p. 134. 183 Jablonskis, Kretingos senkapio 1983 metų tyrinėjimai (Unpublished excavation report from 1983, in LII R, f. 1, no. 1056), p. 18, fig. 14. 184 Ingrid Ulbricht, “Bernsteinfunde aus Haithabu”, Offa 41 (1984), p. 174, fig. 4.7; Ulbricht, “Bernsteinverarbeitung in Haithabu”, plate 12.1–6.

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Fig. 133. Amber animal-shaped disc, gripping-beasts, cats, horse figure, bird engraving, and bridge for a musical instrument: 1, 5, 8 Wolin (Poland); 2, 3 Inderøy, North Trødelag and Haugesten Østfold (Norway); 6 Birka (Sweden); 7 Haithabu (Germany). After Eleonora Tabaczyńska, “A thousand years of amber-craft in Gdańsk”, fig. 4.20; Bente Magnus, “The importance of Amber in the Viking Period”, figs. 3 and 4; James Graham-Campbell and Dafydd Kidd, The Vikings, fig. 74; Jerzy Wojtasik, “Bursztyn ze stanowisk wykopaliskowych”, plates V.2; VI.15.

In grave 108/1976, an amber bead was found in a cloth sack together with bronze balance weights and small stones, terminals of penannular brooches and bronze beads used as weights.185 It would seem that in both of these Lazdininkai grave field graves of the eleventh century, traders were buried who traded in amber beads and perhaps in raw amber.186 Although the possibility also exists that the traders’ amulet-beads were placed in the mentioned scale boxes. Such a thought would be logical, since in the tenth century to

185 Patkauskas, Lazdininkų senkapio (Kretingos raj.) 1976 metų archeologinių tyrinėjimų ataskaita (Unpublished excavation report from 1976, in LII R, f. 1, no. 453 b–c). 186 Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, appendix 19.

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the twelfth century the main amber artefact, which was worn as an amulet, was a bead. During the Middle Ages, Daugmale became an important emporium. Amber must have been worked here because a quantity of evidence of amber processing was found. Here, amber beads and pendants were produced, together with Thor’s hammers, miniature axes, miniature chairs and Christian crosses (Fig. 121).187 It is noteworthy that as of yet, no amber artefacts that bear witness to Christianity have been found in Palanga settlements from the Middle Ages. Such evidence has not been found in other parts of Lithuania either. In the southeastern Baltic region and in the Scandinavian emporia, various artefacts were produced from amber, starting with the most simple amber beads and pendants, and ending with finger-rings and complicated multifaceted beads, with a surface treatment similar to the faceted face of semiprecious (crystal and carnelian) stones and glass beads.188 However, amber beads that were treated in such a manner were more typical of the eleventh to twelfth centuries (Fig. 134.16–18, 21, 22).189 So, amber craftsmen trying to make amber beads more fascinating and following the fashions of the time, were imitating the shapes and treatment of semi-precious stones and glass beads. In the emporia around the Baltic Sea rim, also produced from amber were: miniature axes, Thor’s hammers and clubs; miniature chairs and, of course, chess pieces, as well as dice from other favourite Viking games. Even a bridge from a stringed musical instrument was found (Fig. 133.4; 134.1–14). Among amber representations of humans from the Middle Ages, the most popular were small, flat statuettes of full-figured females, men’s heads and busts (perhaps chessmen), swaddled infants and, of course, feet (Fig. 135).190 All of these amber artefacts have clear stylistic equivalents in the other artefacts of that time. Wearing a variety of amulets was typical of the entire Baltic region

187

Mugurēvičs, Vostochnaia Latvia i sosednye zemli, plate VIII. 15–29; Radiņš, “The Daugmale Antiquities Complex”, p. 116ff, figs. 4–10. 188 Johan Callmer, Trade beads and beads trade in Scandinavia ca. 800–1000 A.D., Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 4°, 1 (Bonn, Lund, 1997), plates 21–22. 189 Rostislav L. Rozenfel’dt, “Iantar’ na Rusi (10–13 v.v.)”, in Problemy sovetskoi arkheologii, ed. Vladislav V. Kropotkin (Moskva, 1978), p. 202, figs. 1.4–6, 10–15, 17, 18; Ulbricht, “Bernsteinfunde aus Haithabu”, pp. 169–177; Ulbricht, “Bernsteinverarbeitung in Haithabu”, pp. 63–120; Jaroslav G. Zverygo, “Slaviano-baltyskie sviazi rannem srednevekovye (po materialam Belarusii)”, in Problemy etnogeneza i etnicheskoi istorii baltov (Vilnius, 1985), p. 106, fig. 3.12. 190 Hildegard Elsner, Wikinger-Museum Haithabu Schaufenster einer frühen Stadt (Neumünster, 1994) p. 79, fig. 5.

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Fig. 134. Amber pendants, chess figures and dice, beads, rings and spindle whorl. 1, 3, 6, 12, 13 Gdańsk (Poland); 2, 7, 8 Birka “Black Earth” and grave 473 (Sweden); 4, 5, 9, 11, 14–17, 19 Wolin (Poland); 10 Yläne-Anivehmaanmäki grave 4 (Finland); 18, 20–22 Grodno, Volkovysk and Polock (Belarus); 23 Haithabu (Germany). After Eleonora Tabaczyńska, “A thousand years”, figs. 3 and 4; Greta Arwidsson, “8. Bernstein”, fig. 8; Jaroslav G. Zverygo, “Slaviano-baltyskie sviazi rannem srednevekovye (po materialam Belarusii)”, fig. 3; James Graham-Campbell and Dafydd Kidd, The Vikings, fig. 74; Jerzy Wojtasik, “Materialy bursztynowe z Wolina—Starego Miasta”, plate III; J. Wojtasik, “Bursztyn ze stanowisk wykopaliskowych”, plates V, VI.

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Fig. 135. Amber human figures, heads and feet. 1 Wolin; 2 Kaupang, Vestfold (Norway); 3 Præsto fjord (Denmark) 4 Longva Haram (Norway); 5, 6 Haithabu; 7 Denmark, find-spot unknown; 8 Frederikskavn Markjorder (Denmark). After Hildegard Elsner, Wikinger Museum Haithabu, p. 78ff; Bente Magnus, “The importance of Amber in the Viking Period”, fig. 6; Jørgen Jensen, Rav, p. 182ff; Jerzy Wojtasik, “Bursztyn ze stanowisk wykopaliskowych”, plate VI.17.

during the Middle Ages. Scandinavian Vikings wore a variety of different amber amulets, the style of which corresponded to the general Viking Age artistic trends. The importance of the amulet to an individual is reflected in the ideological principles, emotional attitude and the pagan religious practice. Therefore, some amulets are considered to be representatives of certain gods (Odin, Thor and Freya) or to be the images of god-like creatures (Valkyries). Some of these amulets (feet) may have been votive offerings.191 191

Wojtasik, “Bursztyn ze stanowisk wykopaliskowych 5, 6 oraz znaleziony luźno na starym Mieście”, p. 190ff; Filipowiak, “Słowiańskie wierzenia pogańskie u ujścia Odry”, pp. 20–42; Price, The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia, pp. 154–169; Magnus, “The Importance of Amber in the Viking Period in the Nordic Countries”, p. 132ff;

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In the Middle Ages, three dimensional or round and flat sculptures of all sorts of different animals were produced. Often these were cats, although clearly horses and the gripping beast were popular (Fig. 133).192 Images engraved onto a flat surface were also found,193 which, according to the manner in which they were produced, may have been engraved by a person who did not have much experience. On the other hand, many of the Baltic Sea emporia amber artefacts were created for local purposes and therefore these artefacts are not of a high professional quality. Conversely, the treatment of metal artefacts, especially jewellery or glass beads was of a much higher quality. It may be that amber was worked by craftsmen who were juggling several crafts. It is most likely that the craftsmen who produced artefacts from bone and antler also produced the amber artefacts. However, materials from craft centres like Wolin reveal that for a short time, craftsmen of great professional experience in amber treatment worked here.194 In Wolin, amber working was one of the main trades from the seventh century when the settlement was founded till the end of it in the eleventh century, when this well-known craft centre and port of trade faded away.195 Here mass amber production was manufactured from raw amber obtained from the closest amber-bearing coast (Kukanie, Górki, Rzewnowo, Rarwino and Jarszewo) and maybe from the Jutland or the Sambian Peninsula. Amber workshops, semi-finished products, the waste from production, and as many as 7,320 amber fragments with traces of processing from the tenth to thirteenth centuries were discovered in Gdańsk.196

Thunmark-Nylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands. III: 1–2, p. 222ff; Zeiten, “Amulets and Amulet use in Viking Age Denmark”, p. 53ff; Gräslund, “Some Viking-age Amulets—the Birka Evidence”, p. 94, fig. 5.c 192 Jerzy Wojtasik, “Bursztyn ze stanowisk wykopaliskowych 5, 6 oraz znaleziony luźno na starym Mieście”, Materiały Zachodniopomorskie 38 (1992), p. 190ff, plates 6.I.5; 6.V.15; Magnus, “The importance of Amber in the Viking Period in the Nordic Countries”, p. 131ff, figs. 3 and 4; Zeiten, “Amulets and Amulet use in Viking Age Denmark”, p. 56. 193 James Graham-Campbell and Dafydd Kidd, The Vikings (British Museum Publication, 1980), p. 134, fig. 74. 194 Ulbricht, “Bernsteinverarbeitung in Haithabu”, p. 103ff; Marcus Gerds, “Worked and Unworked Amber from Early Medieval Trading Places in the South-Western Baltic Region”, Offa 58 (2001), p. 121. 195 Jerzy Wojtasik, “Znalezisko bursztynowe ze stanowiska 4 w Wolinie”, Materiały zachodnio-pomorskie 3 (1957), pp. 137–145; Wojtasik, “Bursztyn ze stanowisk wykopaliskowych 5, 6 oraz znaleziony luźno na starym Mieście”, p. 190ff. 196 Amber working in Gdańsk got an especially good chance for development after the Polish Kingdom in the Thirteen Years’ War (the War of the Towns) defeated the Teutonic Knights; Casimir IV the Jagiellonian (1447–1492) gave many privileges to the towns of Pomerania and craftsmen, including the right to the free access to the sea coast for everybody. Gdańsk was given the right of free extraction of amber on the coast. See: Anna Wapińska, “Ze

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The portion of the southern Curonians’ amber beads and other amber artefacts from the Middle Ages is standard and does not differ from those produced in the craft centres around the Baltic Sea (Figs. 99; 114; 130). Everywhere, the largest part of the artefacts were processed by carving and scraping out the amber, piercing and polishing, meaning that handmade production was prevalent. Semi-lathed and lathe-turned beads began to be produced in the eleventh century.197 However, beads of more complex shapes, as well as diverse elaborate forms of other amber artefacts, are found in Åhus, Ravlunda, Paviken, Visby, Birka and Helgö (all in Sweden); Ribe (in Denamrk); Haithabu, Gross Strömkendorfe, Menzline, Gross Strömkendorf (all in Germany); Kołobrzeg, Kamień Pomorski, Wolin, Gdańsk (Danzig), Truso (all in Poland), and in the other emporia around the Baltic Sea rim rather than in the eastern Baltic region (Fig. 132).198 Much less elaborate amber artefacts are found in Lithuania. Diverse amber production is known from Staraya Ladoga, Novgorod (Iljinsk trench), Kiev, Staraya Riazan, Rostov Velikij and other Old Russian towns. In addition, amber is found in the Slavonic (Radimichi, Viatichi and Krivichi) barrow fields.199 Amber as

studiów nad wczesniośredniowiecznym bursztyniarstwem Gdańskim (X–XIII w.)”, Pomorania Antiqua XV (1991), pp. 57–72; Eleonora Tabaczyńska, “A thousand years of amber-craft in Gdańsk”, in Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Paner, Investigations into Amber, pp. 177–182, figs. 3 and 4; Zbierski, “Early Medieval ambercraft in Gdańsk”, pp. 130–135, figs. 3–6. 197 Eleonora Tabaczyńska, “Obróbka metali nieżelaznych, rogu i kości oraz bursztynu w wczesnośredniowiecznym Kołobrzegu”, in Z badań nad rzemiosłem we wczesnośredniowiecznym Kołobrzegu. Prace Komisji Archeologicznej. Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk. Wydział Historii i Nauk Społecznych, 4/1/1–2 (1959), p. 105ff; Wojtasik, “Znalezisko bursztynowe ze stanowiska 4 w Wolinie”, p. 132ff. 198 Eugeniusz Cnotliwy, “Rzemiosło rogownicze we wczesnośredniowiecznych ośrodkach miejskich na Pomorzu Zachodnim”, Szczecin 7/8 (10/11) (1958), pp. 113–122; Ulbricht, “Bernsteinfunde aus Haithabu”, pp. 169–174; Ulbricht, “Bernsteinverarbeitung in Haithabu”, pp. 79ff, fig. 7.1–34; Filipowiak, “Słowiańskie wierzenia pogańskie u ujścia Odry”, pp. 21– 44; Gerds, “Worked and Unworked Amber from Early Medieval Trading Places”, pp. 115– 121; Tabaczyńska, “Z badań nad rzemiosłem we wczesnośredniowiecznym Kołobrzegu”, pp. 95–115; Tabaczyńska, “A thousand years of amber-craft in Gdańsk”, pp. 177–183; Janina Bukowska-Gedigowa, “Wyroby bursztynów z Opola-Ostrówka”, in Studia nad kulturą wczesnopolskiego Opola Militaria—Wyroby bursztynowe. Prace Komisji Archeologicznej 2 (Wrocław), ed. Bogusław Gediga (Wrocław, Warszawa, Kraków, Gdańsk, Łódź), 1984, pp. 113–129; Arwidsson, “8. Bernstein”, p. 53ff; Wapińska, “Ze studiów nad wczesniośredniowiecznym bursztyniarstwem Gdańskim”, pp. 57–72; Stjernquist, “2. Amber in Iron Age Finds in Sweden”, p. 33ff, fig. 18. 199 Boris A. Kolchin and Natalia B Chernykh, “Il’inskii raskop (stratigrafiia i khronologiia)”, in Arkheologicheskie izucheniia Novgoroda, eds. B.A. Kolchin and V.L. Ianin (Moskva, 1978), p. 113; Boris A. Kolchin and Aleksandr S. Khoroshev, “Mikhailovskii raskop”, in Arkheologicheskie izucheniia Novgoroda, eds. B.A. Kolchin and V.L. Ianin (Moskva, 1978), p. 168ff; Rozenfel’dt, “Iantar’ na Rusi (10–13 v.v.)”, p. 197ff, fig. 1.4–19; Frida D. Gurevich, Drevnii Novogrudok posad—okol’nii gorod (Leningrad, 1981), p. 145; Marina D. Poluboiarinova,

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a raw material was transported to Russia via the Baltic Sea, then southeast by the Neva River, Ladoga Lake, Volchov River and the Western Dvina– Dnieper Rivers. The Slavonic craftsmen’s amber production was similar to those items that were produced in the Baltic Sea workshops: beads of various forms, spacer plates, buttons, pendants, different dice, spindle whorls and Latin-form crosses (Figs. 134; 136: 7–10).200 However, in Russian amber workshops in the twelfth to thirteenth centuries, amber crosses of a unique form were produced that were similar to a rhombus with branches. This type of cross was found in Gdańsk, as well as in other centres where the people had accepted Christianity.201 As Christianity began to take a firmer hold in the emporia of the southeastern and eastern Baltic Sea regions, more crosses and rosaries and finger-rings began to be produced. It seems that on particular request in the cities of Kołobrzeg and Gdańsk, as well as in Volkovysk, Polock, Novogrudok, Vitebsk, Lukomlia, Grodno, etc., special amber fingerrings and crosses were produced (Figs. 134.20; 136).202 Amber Beads in the Horse Graves of Central Lithuania: A Phenomenon without Parallel in Europe In central and southwestern Lithuania and close adjacent territories, a concentration of Upland Lithuanian grave fields with cremated human burials and mass horse graves is known, dating to the ninth to twelfth centuries and even the fourteenth century.203 So far 23 such grave fields with cremated human burials and mass horse graves have been discovered. However, not all of these horses, for various reasons, can be concretely connected with “Poludrogocennye kamni i iantar’ v drevnem Novgorode”, in Novgorodslie arkheologicheskie chteniia k 60–letiiu izucheniia Novgoroda i 90–letiiu A.V. Artsikhovskogo (Novgorod, 1994), pp. 75–82. 200 Rozenfel’dt, “Iantar’ na Rusi (10–13 v.v.)”, pp. 197–207. 201 Ibid. 202 Zverygo, “Slaviano-baltyskie sviazi rannem srednevekovye (po materialam Belarusii)”, p. 106, fig. 3; Tabaczyńska, “A thousand years of amber-craft in Gdańsk”, p. 177ff, figs. 3 and 4; Bukowska-Gedigowa, “Wyroby bursztynów z Opola-Ostrówka”, p. 121; Wapińska, “Ze studiów nad wczesniośredniowiecznym bursztyniarstwem Gdańskim (X–XIII w.)”, pp. 59–72; Jerzy Wojtasik, “Materialy bursztynowe ze Srebrnego Wzgórza w Wolinie”, Materiały Zachodniopomorskie 32 (1986), pp. 140–150; J. Wojtasik, “Materialy bursztynowe z Wolina—Starego Miasta (stanowiska 1, wykopy 7 i 8)”, Materiały Zachodniopomorskie 37 (1991), p. 83; Zbierski, “Early Medieval ambercraft in Gdańsk”, fig. 5. 203 Ona Navickaitė, “Žirgo apranga Veršvų kapinyne”, in Iš lietuvių kultūros istorijos, vol. I (Vilnius, 1958), p. 85; Regina Volkaitė-Kulikauskienė, Lietuvio kario žirgas. Acta historica Lituanica, VII (Vilnius, 1971), p. 11ff; Bertašius, Vidurio Lietuva VIII–XII a., p. 171, fig. 75, appendix I; Bertašius, Ein Bestattungsplatz mit Mittellitauischer Pferdegräber, p. 110ff.

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Fig. 136. Middle Ages amber crosses. 1–4 Daugmale (Latvia); 5, 6 Gdańsk (Poland); 7–10 Volkovysk and Polock (Belarus). After Eleonora Tabaczyńska, “A thousand years”, fig. 3; Jaroslav G. Zverygo, “Slaviano-baltyskie sviazi rannem srednevekovye (po materialam Belarusii)”, fig. 3; Ēvalds Mugurēvičs, “Viking Age and Medieval Finds”, fig. 1.

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Fig. 137. Amber amount in horse inhumation and symbolic graves from central Lithuanian grave fields dated to the ninth to fourteenth centuries. Diagram prepared referring to data from excavation reports.

human cremation. Horses were mostly buried in a separate part of the grave field especially assigned to horses. The horses are mentioned in the context of amber research because in the 17 excavated grave fields from one to several horses were found whose manes or bridles were adorned with one or two amber beads (Fig. 137). During the Middle Ages, horses, it would seem, were sacrificed, although it is not altogether clear how these offerings are connected with contemporary persons buried in a cremation burial. It could be that such an offering place was found in the twelfth- to thirteenth-century Pavilkijis grave field (Šakiai district). Here, 15 pits with horse offerings were found. In these offering pits, the bones of individual horses were discovered, most often only the remains of the head and the limbs. Besides ritual horse sacrifices, horse bridles were offered, and seven bridles with one amber bead each survived.204

204

Algirdas Varnas, “Pavilkijo kapinynas”, in ATL in 1986 and 1987 (Vilnius, 1988), p. 110ff.

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In the territory of Lithuania, the first amber artefacts and small raw amber bits are found in horse graves in the Late Antique period (Table 3).205 Horse graves in the Merovingian and Viking Ages in Europe were quite common, but amber did not occur in these horse graves. Especially large concentrations of horse graves are known in the Sambian Peninsula. Horse graves are found in the burial sites of the Elbląg highlands, but amber was not found in these horse graves.206 Therefore, amber beads found in horse inhumations, cremations and symbolic graves (horse sacrifices) in central Lithuania are a unique phenomenon in Europe at that time. The traditional bi-truncated conical beads are most often found in the horse graves, although sometimes barrel- and conical- or irregular-shaped beads also occur (Figs. 138; 139). Usually small beads are found in horse’s graves, although occasional beads that are 1.5 centimetres high or 2.7 centimetres in diameter have been found. Besides that, in horse graves, like in people’s graves, pieces of raw amber have been found (Pakalniškiai, grave 26 and grave 122).207 In central and southeastern Lithuania during the Middle Ages, amber beads are found especially seldom in human cremation burials. Amber beads found in horse graves are not at all different in any way from those that are found in the graves of the Samogitian or Semigallian humans. In human and in horse graves, the most frequently found type of beads are bi-truncated conical beads, some of them artistically semi-lathed, others just roughly retouched with an unpolished surface.208 The amber beads are most often found in the horse graves above the horses’ heads or beside the right or left jaw, beside the ear or neck, or in the centre of the grave pit. Amber beads and, rarely, raw amber or glass beads are found beside bronze spirals (Ruseiniai, grave 8/1939; Rimaisai, grave 1). Therefore, it can be surmised that amber beads were used to decorate the horses’ manes and bridles (Figs. 138.6, 8; 139.15–15.a).

205

Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 417ff, fig. 264, appendices 20 and 20.1. Michael Müller-Wille, “Pferdegrab und Pferdeopfer im frühen Mittelalter”, Berichten van de Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek, Jaargang 20–21 (1970–1971), pp. 192–233, figs. 1 and 2; Bartosz Kontny et al., “Horse Graves in the Elbląg group. The Case of and Cemetery at Nowinka, Tolkmicko Commune”, AB 11 (2009), pp. 166–182. 207 Kazimiera Gabriūnaitė, Pakalniškių kapinyno (Šakių raj.) tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai 1963– 1964 m. (Unpublished excavation reports from 1963–1964, in LII R, f. 1, nos. 194–196); Juozas Antanavičius, Pakalniškių kapinyno (Šakių raj.) tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai, 1971–1974 m. (Unpublished excavation reports, in LII R, f. 1, nos. 370–372, 437–438 and 462). 208 Navickaitė, “Žirgo apranga Veršvų kapinyne”, p. 85; Juozas Antanavičius, “Pakapių kaimo žirgų kapai”, Kraštotyra (1971), p. 152; Bertašius, Vidurio Lietuva VIII–XII a., p. 171. 206

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Fig. 138. Amber beads found in horse graves in the Pakalniškiai (Šakiai district) grave field (graves 106, 83, 28, 70, 96 and 60). Horse grave 26 in situ and grave assemblage: 1–4 iron; 6 fragment of horse mane with attached amber beads; 5 fragment of leather sack. After Kazimiera Gabriūnaitė, Pakalniškių kapinyno (Šakių raj.) tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai 1963–1964 m.; Juozas Antanavičius, Pakalniškių kapinyno (Šakių raj.) tyrinėjimų dienoraščiai, 1971–1974 m. Drawing by Izolda Maciukaitė.

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Fig. 139. Amber beads (1–9, 14) and horses’ bronze adornments for the mane and tail (10–13) from Marvelė (in the city of Kaunas) and Graužiai (Kėdainiai district) horse graves. Barinė (Panevėžys district) grave field, horse grave 3: bridle (15a) and horse forehead adorned with amber bead and bronze spirals. Tenth to twelfth centuries. After Vytautas Urbanavičius, Griaužių senkapis, Kėdainių raj., 1969 m. tyrinėjimų ataskaita; Audrius Astrauskas and Mindaugas Bertašius, Marvelės kapinyno/Kaunas/1995–1996 m. tyrinėjimų ataskaita; Alfreda Petrulienė, “Barinės senkapis”, fig. 21. Courtesy of the LNM in Vilnius, VDKM in Kaunas and the PKM in Panevėžys.

In the tenth- to fourteenth-century horse graves, most often only one amber bead is found. Two amber beads are rarely found in horse graves. Horses buried with one or two beads make up 22.6 percent of all horse graves of the Middle Ages (Fig. 137). In more widely investigated grave fields, like Graužiai, Ruseiniai and Veršvai, horse skeletons are found more frequently than amber beads. In less excavated grave fields, amber beads were found in half of the horse graves. But this data is not statistically objective because only a small number of graves were excavated. In the grave fields located on the banks of the Neman River, and at its confluence with the Neris River, like the important communications arteries, more amber beads are found in the graves of horses (Pakalniškiai, Marvelė and Veršvai). At the same time, in

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grave fields that are further away from the main trade routes (Barinė, Masteikiai and Tulpiakiemis) fewer amber beads are found, but here horses are buried with lavishly adorned bridles (Fig. 139.15).209 However, the tradition of interweaving an amber bead into the mane of a horse or affixing it to the bridle was not widespread. Usually one, and more rarely two, amber beads were interwoven into the horse’s mane, together with various bronze spirals and maybe even coloured thread (Fig. 139.15).210 The bi-truncated conical beads together with bronze spirals found in the horse graves either made up the complicated forehead decoration, or amber beads were interwoven into the horse’s mane. However, horse bridles were decorated not only with amber beads; sometimes glass beads were used as horse mane or bridle decoration (Barinė, grave 2; Obeliai, grave 18 and Pakapiai, grave 9). Amber beads were interwoven with or suspended from the horse’s mane and may not have been visible. Therefore, it is believed that these beads had magic value and were amulets determining fortune.211 Based on the positioning of amber beads in the horse graves, it is difficult to support this opinion, but it is also impossible to deny it. In recent Lithuanian archaeological literature there is some discussion as to whether these amber beads, because of their standardized form, were not just warrior amulets and good luck charms (magical charms) but, like lavishly adorned bridles, came to be items displaying a warrior’s social status.212 Clearly, amber beads are most often found in richly furnished horse graves and in ornate bridles, but they are also found in the graves of horses that display no such finery. The relationship between amber and horses can be interpreted according to the Balt and Indo-European world view and beliefs regarding the afterlife. Therefore, from the viewpoint of religion, almost universally, the horse is given the role of intermediary between the two worlds—life and the afterlife. Another popular explanation is that the person on his way to the next world needed some protection. Thus the horse, like its owner, was sent off with an amber amulet.213 However, in the central Lithuanian

209 Alfreda Petrulienė, “Barinės senkapis”, LA 11 (1995), p. 56; Algirdas Varnas, “Tulpiakiemio senkapiai”, LA 11 (1995), p. 251. 210 Petrulienė, “Barinės senkapis”, p. 55ff, figs. 20–22; Varnas, “Tulpiakiemio senkapiai”, p. 250ff, figs. 6.7 and 8.1–3; Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 42. 211 Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 42; Varnas, “Tulpiakiemio senkapiai”, p. 251; Bertašius, Vidurio Lietuva VIII–XII a., p. 200. 212 Bertašius, Vidurio Lietuva VIII–XII a., p. 200. 213 Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 42.

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cremation graves of humans from this time, amber is found especially rarely, which suggests that warrior amulets could not only be amber. Besides, horse graves in which amber was found are few. These graves are not as widespread as horse graves themselves. Therefore, the relationship between horse and amber is not that obvious. The Balt Amber-Wearing Traditions in the Middle Ages In Lithuania from the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century, compared with the Late Antique period, there was a renaissance of amberwearing traditions (many more sites and more amber per grave). Necklaces strung from amber beads and amulets spread all over Lithuania. Amber was worn in quantities never seen before and never seen since. It was a sort of “golden age” of amber. Standard-shaped amber beads spread all over Lithuania, replacing glass beads and beads made from other materials in necklaces.214 There was no lack of amber beads of standard shape and size, which spread widely within the barbaricum from the Carpathian Basin and the central Balkans to the Crimean Peninsula, the coast of the Black Sea, and almost all over Europe (Figs. 70–72). The vast territory of distribution of the standardshaped beads suggests that they were produced in large quantities and sold in inter-regional, regional and local markets (Fig. 72). Amber concentration at the coast, in the Lower Neman region, and central and eastern Lithuania quite naturally shows the various directions from which amber as a commodity made its way into Lithuania (Fig. 72). Lithuania is the northernmost territory of the barbaricum where the use of amber was so widespread (Figs. 67–69; 71–91). However, this “golden age” of amber in Lithuania was short-lived, because by the second half of the sixth century amber in graves had decreased and by the eighth century this reduction was overwhelming. In the seventh century, the number of cemeteries with amber in Europe decreased, especially in the areas previously abundant in amber: the Crimean Peninsula and the Middle Tisza River basin (Fig. 72.B).215 It is possible to suggest that, as with similar cultural traditions, simultaneous economical and political causes determined amber-wearing fashions in Europe. Therefore, amber-wearing fashions in one or another region that were related by different links were more or less

214 Astrauskas, Marvelės bendruomenė (II a. pabaiga–V a.), p. 20ff, tables 34–35; Bliujienė, Lietuvos priešistorės gintaras, p. 342ff, figs. 196a, 197–204. 215 Curta, “The Amber Trail in medieval Eastern Europe”, pp. 61–67, maps 4.1 and 4.2.

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chronologically synchronized processes, even if in Lithuania fashions for amber vanish earlier. In the late Middle Ages only communities that had their own amber source—Curonians, people from the coast and people from the Lower Neman region (or the so-called Lamata Land)—were wearing amber, and even specific amber beads and special items were created (Figs. 93; 98; 101–103; 107; 108). It might be that the economy of Lamata was based on transit trade that also included amber. Amber beads weren’t commonly part of a necklace. Mostly amber beads suspended from pins, chains or brooches were used for general embellishment of heavy bronze jewellery. However, judging by its marginal and very specific usage, at the end of the Middle Ages, it is possible to conclude that amber in funerary rites, and in life, might perform the function of an amulet (Figs. 83–85; 113; 124; 127–129). Amber beads were sometimes used to decorate horses’ manes and bridles in Upland Lithuania during the ninth to twelfth centuries and even in the fourteenth century (Figs. 137; 138; 139.15– 15.a). And even if the relationship between horse and amber is not that obvious, it is believed that these beads had a magical value and were amulets determining fortune.216 Therefore, for humans and for horses, amber beads became amulets in the late Middle Ages. Lithuania during the Middle Ages—or specifically the Viking Age (c. 800– 1050)217—was involved in the economic, political and cultural life across the Baltic Sea.218 Some emporia (marketplaces) or ports of trade were established in the eastern Baltic region and Lithuania (Fig. 132). Amber processing, together with bone and antler working, was one of the occupations of these craft centres. However, when comparing the amount of raw amber, the semifinished, the few unfinished and the finished amber artefacts, and of course amber chips and flakes found in cultural layers of Palanga hill-fort and settlements with similar findings from Daugmale hill-fort,219 it is possible to argue that in Daugmale were found more amber products, of all sorts, and its manufacturing waste. Amber from easily-accessible sources on the coast was accumulated and kept220 at the Palanga settlement complex, and along with

216 Vaitkunskienė, “Gintaras senovės baltų mene ir tikėjimuose”, p. 42; Varnas, “Tulpiakiemio senkapiai”, p. 251; Bertašius, Vidurio Lietuva VIII–XII a., p. 200. 217 For this see Table A2 in the section “Chronological System used in the Book”. 218 Žulkus, Kuršiai Baltijos jūros erdvėje, pp. 107–122. 219 Radiņš, “The Daugmale Antiquities Complex”, p. 116ff, figs. 4–10; Žulkus, Palangos viduramžių gyvenvietės, p. 274ff, figs. 182–184.3. 220 Some of the small amber deposits found in Palanga are connected with rituals and offerings. See footnote 180 in this chapter and Chapter Three.

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unique amber artefacts produced there, made this site distinguishable among the other southern Curonian centres. However, according to the spread of Palanga’s amber workshops’ production, it is possible to argue that these unique artefacts were produced for local needs and for a fairly narrow market. Daugmale, on the other hand, which was located on the left bank of the Western Dvina River approx. 25 km away from the Bay of Riga had less accessible raw amber,221 but because of its strategically-important position and developed trade links, this emporium was a huge Middle Age craft centre in the region, producing amber artefacts for the inter-regional marketplace, besides other items (Figs. 1; 121; 132; 136.1–4).222 During the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries and afterwards till the seventeenth century, amber artefacts in Lithuania’s graveyards are especially rare. In the formation of towns of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, highly specialized workshops came into existence, where among other crafts, artefacts were produced from amber. Already in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the people who had lived in the towns and their surroundings were baptized, and Christianity gradually changed old customs. Burial rites were at the forefront of this process of change, and the tradition of enclosing a range of grave goods ceased. The tradition of wearing bronze jewellery also gradually vanished. However, in Lithuania’s graveyards of the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries, amber crosses and rosaries are also notable for their absence in the graves, even though these Christian artefacts were mass-produced in the Hansa League towns.223 In the twelfth to fourteenth centuries and later, finger-rings, often signets, were made of amber.224 As in the previous periods, fine amber artefacts were imported to Lithuania. One signet ring was found in Lithuania in the Akmeniai graveyard (Kelmė district) in a woman’s grave dated to the second half of the sixteenth century. Judging from the inscribed coat of arms, the woman might have belonged to the noble family of Jan Karoł Chodkiewicz (1560–1621). The ring may have been produced in Poland (Fig. 140). Although the amber of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries is not the topic of this book, the available data suggests that amber was no longer a significant aspect of the culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 221

Katinas, Iantar’ i iantarenosnye otlozheniia v iuzhnoi Pribaltiki, p. 140ff, fig. 12. Daugmale itself and other centres in the Lower Western Dvina region were important amber-working centres in the Bronze Age. For this see: Ots, “Changes in the Use of Amber in Estonia and the Neighboring Countries in the Bronze Age”, p. 55ff, fig. 2. 223 Rozenfel’dt, “Iantar’ na Rusi (10–13 v.v.)”, pp. 204–207, figs. 1.28–35 and 2.1–5; Choińska-Bochdan, “Bursztyn w kulturze”, p. 101ff. 224 Rozenfel’dt, “Iantar’ na Rusi (10–13 v.v.)”, fig. 2.8–18. 222

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Fig. 140. The second half of the sixteenth-century amber signet ring found in the Akmeniai barrow I, used as village graveyard (Kelmė district), woman’s grave 3. Photograph by the author. Courtesy of the LNM (AR 488: 8) in Vilnius.

CONCLUSIONS

NORTHERN GOLD: AMBER IN LITHUANIA (C. 100 TO C. 1200) The idea of this book was the systematic analysis and synthesis of the huge and, in most cases, completely new archaeological evidence on amber from Lithuania and the surrounding regions. Comprehensive synthesis of archaeological evidence offered the opportunity to develop new viewpoints on the amber sources, extraction methods and amber-wearing traditions of different ethnocultural groups and people of different social status, age and gender, as well as the amber trade in different markets in Lithuania and the whole of the eastern Baltic region. Some statistical analyses were used when analyzing the quantity of amber in separate ethnocultural groups, examining amber usage traditions according to gender, comparing amber usage traditions with a person’s social status etc. The important milestone of this study is the interdisciplinary dimension. Baltic Amber: Distribution, Main Sources and Accessibility Baltic amber (fossil resin), or succinite, of the same origin occurs naturally in the vast territory from the Frisian Islands and Jutland Peninsula in the southwest to the Gulf of Riga in the northeast (Fig. 1). In Poland, western Belarus and southwestern Ukraine, Baltic amber occurs in some places inland. The amber-bearing layers of varying richness extend beyond the western and eastern Baltic Sea coasts to emerge as part of the sea floor sediments overlying at an uneven depth, and have been eroded differently by intense seasonal storms. Alluvial amber deposits on the sea coast and in the inland marshy meadows were of different magnitude all over this enormous territory of amber spread. The largest Baltic amber deposits in the world are in the northwestern promontory of the Sambian Peninsula in what is now the Kaliningrad region of Russia. The amber-bearing sediments are found in the so-called “blue earth”, which represents maritime sediments from the Eocene and Oligocene Epochs. For various reasons, not all the amber-bearing deposits that are known today could have been exploited in prehistory. There is not enough reliable evidence that amber from Ukraine (Scythia) would have been used in Late Antiquity. A high percentage of succinic acid (from 3% to

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8%) is the main feature that essentially distinguishes Baltic amber from other fossil resins. Baltic amber has several varieties, but generally succinite is of the same composition. Unfortunately, it is impossible to distinguish between varieties of Baltic amber (succinite) in its vast territorial spread, even using the most advanced physiochemical analysis. Within the Balt/Aestii territory there were three independent amber-bearing deposits of unequal wealth. The main amber stock was on the Sambian Peninsula and was possessed by the people of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture (the Prussians in the Middle Ages) (Figs. 1; 2; 3; 5; 6). Various methods were used to obtain amber in the Great Mazurian Lakes. This amber stock belonged to the Bogaczewo culture in Late Antiquity (in the Middle Ages, the people of the Olsztyn group, later the Galindians) (Figs. 1; 5). Drift amber and amber from small, swampy or waterlogged coastal lakes and particularly marshy areas of the Lower Neman region may have been available to peoples of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and the Southwest Latvian Burial Sites on its periphery (in the Middle Ages, the people of Lamata Land). A further independent amber-bearing coast in the Gdańsk Bay and Vistula Delta was ruled by the Wielbark culture people (the Goths) (Fig. 11). People who lived along the southeastern and eastern Baltic Sea coasts had different levels of opportunity to participate in the amber trade and to use it for their own purposes. Certainly, it is difficult to ascertain how much amber it was possible to obtain from the Baltic coast of Lithuania and from a certain distance inland where the main amber source was drift amber available for collection after seasonal storms. Various direct and indirect data indicate that the amount of raw amber on the Lithuanian coast was scant. Amber in Lithuanian Historiography The evaluation of all the scholarly work based on the study of amber up to articles appearing in Lithuania in recent years, and not just according to their titles but according to their content, can be separated into work that discusses written sources from Antiquity and the amber trade, as well as the so-called “Amber Routes”; aspects of the importance of amber in funeral rites and beliefs following the approaches of theoretical archaeology; and the research on the typology of amber artefacts. However, the largest body of work on the theme of amber still consists of popular publications, such as museum guide books, which, up to now, have influenced scientific literature. In the Lithuanian historiographical tradition, based on written sources from Late Antiquity, and not adequately evaluating Lithuania’s archaeological material, never has it been questioned how many Aestii who lived on the

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Lithuanian coast could realistically have collected raw amber and whether they were able to gather enough amber for far-reaching exchanges, as the Baltic Sea’s coastal changes (transgressions and regressions) affected the accessibility of amber, as did, in various periods, the structure of coastal settlements and the development of its network (according to population density). Further, how was raw amber graded, initially processed and prepared for trade, and was this process reflected in material from habitation sites; were amber deposits found in the settlements’ cultural layers and dwellings or ultimately close to accessible trade routes? In other words, the amber trade or exchange, was never aligned with any other leading actions taken to increase the spread of economic activity, only with one of its segments—import—the quantity and quality of which shows that the exchanges were uneven. The question of whether amber was the only exchange equivalent has never been rationally discussed in the Lithuanian historiographical tradition. It would seem that the region’s societies had other equivalent exchanges, though. In the Lithuanian historiography of amber there are too many rather romantic attitudes. However, invoking current research and the organization of amber networks, it is possible to argue that amber reached central and southern Europe as the end result of various transactions. In addition to the uncritical adaptation of some theoretical models to amber exchange, uncertain archaeological evidence regarding amber usage traditions in everyday life and funeral rites has further distorted research on amber in Lithuania. Amber usage traditions in Lithuania during the first millennium AD or as in this book, c. 100 to c. 1200, were variable. There were periods when amber was used rarely and there was a particular time that can be called the “golden age” of amber. However, in Lithuanian historiography, the attempt has never been made to synchronize the tendencies of amber use in Lithuania with that of the rest of the Baltic region, and Europe generally. As a result, the separation of the Aestii from the active European economic and cultural processes has been equivalent to leaving them only with the mystical role of amber gatherers and providers. Succinite, or Baltic amber, is spread over such a large territory, and in prehistory various sources of amber were used (Fig. 1). However, in Lithuania the term “Amber of the Balts” has appeared and has almost insensibly become associated only with the Balts of the current reality. Ipso facto, “Amber of the Balts” or just amber (succinite), has become synonymous with Lithuania and has helped create its image as the land of amber. Today in Lithuania, and strangely enough in other countries as well, published studies about amber often incorporate, or mention in one respect or another, “Jūratė and Kastytis”, the folk narrative which has been popularized

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by Lithuanian writers, composers, artists and fans of prehistory. This narrative was created by Liudvikas Adomas Jucevičius (1813–1846), a collector of folklore and a romantic poet who was searching for inspiration for his creative work in folk culture. A strange mythification, yet only in popular literature on amber, happened with the one of the oldest and beautiful Lithuanian folk tales “Eglė, Queen of the Grass Snakes”, which does not mention an amber palace in its Lithuanian versions. Nor does it specify that the Grass Snake King was crowned with an amber crown. The action in the tale almost never takes place along the coast. However, the narrative “Jūratė and Kastytis” and the tale “Eglė, Queen of the Grass Snakes”, both created by Jucevičius, have made their way into popular Lithuanian literature, and soon the time will come when they will be quoted in Lithuanian scientific literature. These Lithuanian historiographical tradition’s misunderstandings have made their way into popular literature, tourist publications, encyclopaedias and, unfortunately, into scholarly works, and uphold Lithuania’s amber land image. The Aestii and the Glesum Epoch The Aestii/Balts lived from Pasłęka (formerly Passarge, Poland) in the west; in the south their borders reached the Łyna (formerly Alle) River headwaters and the Great Mazurian Lakes in Poland; in the east and northeast the Balts’ territory extended to the middle reaches of the Neman, Neris and Western Dvina Rivers (Fig. 5). The Finno-Ugric people of the Tarand-Grave culture bordered the Balts’ territory in the north. Beyond the borders of what is present-day Lithuania lived the Dnieper-Western Dvina culture and the larger part of Late Stroke Decorated Pottery culture, which are identified with the eastern Balts. The territory of Lithuania was culturally “diverse”. As many as six ethnocultural groups, quite distinct in terms of aspects of material culture, as well as economic and social development, and especially in forms of funerary rites and jewellery, were present during the Late Antique period (the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and in its peripheral zone, the South Latvian Burial Sites; the Lower Neman Grave Fields, the Collective Barrow culture, the Central Lithuanian Grave Fields, the Southeastern Lithuanian Burial Sites and the East Lithuanian Barrow culture). The Sambian Peninsula was the main domain of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo or Sambian-Natangian culture, while the Great Mazurian Lakes region was the centre of the Bogaczewo culture. Both of these cultures had a significant

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influence on the evolution of their northern neighbours inhabiting Lithuania, as well as performing the role of trade intermediaries within the territory of the Aestii and of a cultural conduit between the entire Aestii region and the Germans. Around the year 98, the Roman historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus mentioned the Aestiorum gentes in his work De origine et situ Germanorum (“Concerning the Origin and Situation of the Germans”). Nowadays, researchers often link them with the western Balts or the inhabitants of the southeastern and eastern Baltic regions. The Aestii are mentioned in the work because of their land’s exceptional treasure—amber or glesum (glaesum). The plural Aestiorum gentes, mentioned by Tacitus, suggests that we are dealing with more than one distinct group of people. Amber’s traits, as well as methods of amber collection and trade, are mentioned as characteristic features of the Aestii lifestyle which distinguish them from the other barbarians. Tacitus described the Aestii fairly precisely, because some of his propositions in connection to amber collection methods, its trade and use in their everyday life are possible to prove by archaeological evidence (Figs. 8.1–8.2). Pliny the Elder’s work Natural History describes everything that he knows about amber (its territorial spread, characteristics, uses), based on a variety of sources available to him, along with a mission that was organized during the reign of the Emperor Nero around 60–61/62 to bring amber to Rome from the amber-bearing coast in Germania (Fig. 10). The low density of settlements and grave field networks, scarce raw amber stock of the coast and the Lower Neman region, likewise the local people’s material culture wealth, and quantity and quality of imports argue against the idea that the trade mission recorded by Pliny would have visited the coast of Lithuania (Figs. 14; 15). Amber artefacts and raw amber are extremely rarely found in Lithuanian burial sites dating from the time of Tacitus and Pliny and right up until the end of the second century (Fig. 8.1,2). The poor distribution of amber artefacts coincides with the extremely low spread of Roman imports, which are concentrated not on the coast but inland in so-called Samogitia and central Lithuania (Figs. 14; 15). These facts clearly indicate that in the mid first century to the end of the second century, the main trade directions were unrelated to the Lithuanian coast. It must be emphasized that in the first- to second-century sites of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo, West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves and Bogaczewo cultures, despite the fact that each of these cultures had differing supplies of amber, the trends of amber usage were quite similar. People of those cultures, at that time, used very little amber. This supports Tacitus’s comment about the Aestii not using amber themselves.

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In Lithuania at the end of the second century and the beginning of the third, new grave fields appear in which amber is found. Henceforth more amber artefacts are found in graves. Then necklaces with mixed single amber beads gradually begin to appear, or one or two simple worked amber beads are found among the other grave furnishings (Figs. 20; 22; 31). However, Aestii noblewomen had a preference for multicoloured glass paste, millefiori, and glass gold foil beads, as well as different-shaped bronze pendants and beads that shone like gold (Fig. 21). The predominant Late Antique amber artefacts found in the territory of Lithuania consist of several forms of beads: bi-truncated conical, flattened spherical, cylindrical, cylindrical form beads with decorated grooves, beads with incised concentric lines, conical with convex sides and rounded top, beads with a central bulge, plano-convex, step cut and irregularly-shaped beads. Simple, handmade bi-truncated conical and flattened spherical beads of varying sizes were the most common (Fig. 17). Semi-lathed and latheturned beads and pendants found in Lithuania may have been crafted in the Przeworsk, Dollkeim-Kovrovo, Wielbark or Chernyakhov cultures’ amber workshops. On the coast of Lithuania, in the Lower Neman region, and in other areas of the western Balts’ territories, many different amber pendants of the Roman period have been found. The figure-of-eight-shaped amber pendants, and the many derivatives of this pendant group, are among the most impressive amber jewellery found within the Aestii territory (Figs. 39; 40). The figureof-eight-shaped pendants were extremely widespread within the territory of the barbaricum. In the necklaces found in Lithuania, one to two or four to five figure-of-eight-shaped pendants are strung in the centre, together with other pendant types and a variety of glass beads. Another large group of amber pendants consists of those which essentially resemble hammers, clubs, staffs and axes. During Late Antiquity, the Aestii from Lithuania produced hammer and staff and axe pendants only from amber. The rectangular pendants with a bi-concave base and extended rounded ends, which may be a particular local transformation of an axe pendant, are a distinctive form of amber artefact that originated in the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture environment (Figs. 39.53–55; 40.9). Pendants with a bi-concave base, in terms of stylistics and technology, are similar and therefore might have been produced in the same workshops, and these ornaments were produced for the local market. The hammer, club, staff and axe pendants may have been amulets associated with the Aestii/ Balt sky and fertility god—the Thunder God Perkūnas, who was analogous to the Germanic Thor (Donar). The Thunder God attributes in the Aestii

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cultural environment were carried by both men and women (Fig. 40.11–14). Amber capsules, round flat pendants with holes, trapezoid and rectangular and some other amber pendant groups are not very common in the Lithuanian archaeological evidence. In the eastern Baltic region, amber pendants are found in forms that are much more varied than in other parts of the barbaricum, because the independent evolution of pendants within the territory of the Aestii cultures influenced the appearance of original derivatives. The variety of the eastern Baltic region pendants demonstrates not only the innovation of their creators, but also their creativity and skill in interpreting a multitude of variations of the same form in a unique and original manner (Figs. 37–45). In the territory of the Aestii cultures, spindle whorls were mainly made of sandstone, although some were clay. In the late Roman period in the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and the Lower Neman region graves, the first amber spindle whorls (only flywheels) make their appearance. The amber spindle whorls of this time period are not symbolic (Fig. 53); they are the tools of fine women’s work. Amber spindle whorls are a distinctive attribute, unique to the Aestii women from Lithuania. The West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture people during the Late Antique period, as well as later on, placed very few raw amber pieces into their graves, but they chose particularly beautiful bits of unusual shape or of an attractive colour (Fig. 54). On the Lithuanian coast, the tradition of placing raw amber into graves was not as widespread as among the people of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture who placed raw amber in their graves that had no outwardly special identifying features. Whatever the case, the tradition of placing raw amber in graves connects the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture people with their southwestern neighbours, the people of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture. At the same time, these small differences in burial traditions begin to identify the unique aspects of a region. Within the territory of the Aestii cultures, sites with amber artefacts and amber in graves begin to increase at the end of the second century to the beginning of the third (Figs. 8; 16; 19). Although the growth in amber use in Lithuania was not significant in terms of amount, it is important in that it reflected a number of external and internal changes. First of all, the increased use of amber artefacts coincided with the general increase in amber use inside the barbaricum after the Romans’ interest in amber declined at the end of the second century. Amber consumption increased in the huge territories between the Rhine, the Elbe and the Vistula Rivers (Figs. 18; 23; 26; 27; 28.2). Amber use in Lithuania was encouraged by the fashion of necklaces composed of a variety of beads and pendants which was widespread within the

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barbaricum. These fashionable bead sets became indicators of social status and prestige. This symbol was taken up by the Aestii very quickly, with the spread and the use of fashionable necklaces of glass, amber or metal beads across their entire territory. In Lithuania, the number of burial sites and necklaces with amber beads or pendants once again saw a fairly large increase in the first half of the third century (Fig. 8.1). The considerable growth of amber consumption is observed until the end of the Roman period. Amber in Lithuanian burial sites increases again at the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth century. However, in Lithuania considerably less amber was found during the late Roman period than in the areas remote from the amber-bearing sources of the vast barbaricum. Using written sources and archaeological evidence, it is possible to argue that in the Late Antique period Aestii social stratification was based on three main groups. First of all there were the people of the highest social strata or the nobility. The second and more diverse group of people, who had lower social status, may have been freemen judging by their grave assemblages. Archaeological evidence and other available sources do not help too much with defining the third group—dependent people. The evidence from the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture territory and the Lower Neman region indicates that the perception of amber usage in both cultural groups clearly delineates three separate groups of women and, seemingly, girls, reflecting the social stratification of Aestii society. The most clearly differentiated horizon is the graves of the women of the highest social strata. Women who belonged to the elite, besides other grave goods, were buried with elaborate necklaces—pectoral ornaments—that covered the entire chest. These necklaces, depending on the chronological phase, either included or did not include amber beads. The value of these necklaces is not dependent on the number of amber beads or pendants included, but on the entirety of the necklace (glass, bronze and amber beads and pendants) (Figs. 20; 31; 33; 42; 47). In the third and fourth centuries these necklaces contained more and more local elements and their use spread throughout the territory of Lithuania. Only once was a necklace found that contained over 76 amber beads and pendants exclusively (Fig. 48). In opposition to what was considered lavish during the late Roman period, in a strange copy of the afore-mentioned type of necklaces, were bead sets in which more amber beads are included and whose bulk is dominated by bronze spirals and ordinary glass beads which were common across the barbaricum. These women’s grave assemblages allow one to argue that these were the burials of women of a lower social status (Figs. 30; 37; 41; 59).

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The third late Roman period grave group is made up of poorly furnished graves. Among the grave goods, amber beads and pendants are found, and most often these sets were tied to simple iron crook-like pins or brooches. However, wearers of those simple amber necklaces are impossible to determine as a social group, but are rather assigned only to an age group—children (Figs. 29; 50; 51; 55). The West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and the Lower Neman region chieftains’ and military leaders’ graves are undistinguished by wealthy grave assemblages or weapons. Some of the noblemen’s graves contain single amber beads and a bronze spiral. The differences in male social status in Aestii society is defined by weapons and by graves with horses (containing only the ritual parts of the horse) or only horse equipment, with which sometimes occur horse mane adornments in the form of amber beads or pendants. A significant link between the barbarian amber gatherers and traders of the “northern gold” is the tradition of performing votive offerings in the water: in bogs, shallow lagoons, and in damp meadows, with the most important aspect of the ceremony being the amber offering (Fig. 60). The northern frontier of the spread of amber sacrifices in the water coincides with the Pasłęka River, which is the traditional cultural border between the Germans and the Aestii/Balts. In Lithuania there is only secondary evidence of the existence of amber votive offerings in the water during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. There is no doubt that during the Late Antique period, amber was an exchange equivalent within the territory of the Aestii cultures and was a payment in inter-regional trade. However, the material from the coast clearly shows that Lithuania’s coastal communities were not able to find their way into either the regional or the inter-regional amber market. They could not realistically compete because of the small amount of amber that was washed up from the sea or even extracted in the shallows of lagoons. However, the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture peoples managed to find their way into regional trade, but these exchanges did not affect the amber because in the amber trade Lithuanian coastal communities were blocked by the Dollkeim-Kovrovo peoples from the Sambian Peninsula with their large amounts of easily accessible amber. On the Lithuanian coast, raw amber was most likely used for local trade that took place within the network of the same culture and the closest adjoining territories (Figs. 14; 61). The opportunity to acquire imports of differing quality may have been dependent on how much and what quality of amber was provided into the local market and the regional coastal marketplaces, and naturally on the

344

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ability to offer other commodities to the different levels of markets. In the regional and inter-regional exchange equivalents, besides amber, different commodities may have played the role of equivalents or performed the function of an intermediary equivalent exclusively. Pliny the Elder wrote about a trade model that we can today name long-distance trade that runs on a down-the-line basis (Fig. 9). People of the Aestii/Balts cultures created a similar situation, which required relationships with close neighbours and the necessity of intermediaries and the use of an intrinsic value system and a local scale of equivalents. Judging by mass imports—glass beads, the small amount of Roman coins and the rarity of other imported artefacts and their quality, there were no elements of a monetary system in the Aestii communities who lived in Lithuania (Figs. 14; 15; 61; 63). Therefore, it is not easy to understand what the Aestii who lived in the territory of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and who were obviously involved in the local and regional and only small-scale inter-regional market might have been able to offer their closest trade partners, knowing that their predominant commodity was bronze (or copper alloy) imported in large quantities, as well as other non-ferrous metals (tin and lead) that were used for making jewellery. It is traditionally thought that regional and inter-regional trade equivalents could have been fur, skins, honey, wax and other archaeologically invisible objects. In regional trade, salt and iron played a large role. It is not without good reason that the locations of the Przeworsk culture’s amber workshops, salt mines and iron-smelting places coincide. Slaves may have been traded, although it is not clear whether the Aestii were involved in this trade. It is possible that cod and other Baltic Sea fish, cattle, oxen, horses, horsehair, lard and timber were the commodities which the Aestii offered for sale to the regional market. In the trade system of the Roman period, amber remained one of the most prestigious objects of exchange. Increasingly, as a result of the Romans’ aspiration for luxury and the barbarians’ desire to replicate their lifestyle and seek luxury, amber became equal to a strategic raw material. Therefore, by the second half of the first century in the Vistula Delta, as a northern point on the trade route, a well-organized, functioning infrastructure was developed that was called the “Amber Route” (Figs. 11; 12; 13). This trade route allowed the maintenance of sustained and intensive inter-regional and regional trade using the most varied commodities, amber among them. The trade and marketplaces, and the so-called “Amber Route”, crystallized into an inter-regional exchange network. The “Amber Route” in content (raw materials, crafted goods and even money), in magnitude, in network extension

conclusions

345

and directionality (commodities were flowing from north to south and vice versa) corresponds to the main characteristics of large exchange networks. To the Aestii cultures it was important that they managed to use the “Amber Route”, not only as an instrument of trade, but also as an infrastructure that served as a source of exchange of cultural ideas and a particular framework to spread those ideas (Figs. 9; 14; 61). The intense system of exchange that was created determined the general rise of the Aestii economy and quick development of their social structure, making it in many respects similar to that of the Central European barbaricum. At the same time, various ideas that were adopted and adapted from the Germans influenced Aestii culture and brought about great changes. The standard of living among the Aestii jumped to levels that had been unheard of until that point. Although the meaning of new ideas and changes were unevenly reflected in the DollkeimKovrovo, Bogaczewo and West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves cultures and in other regions, the new influences intensified the evolution of the entire territory and the quick development of the Aestii cultures. Therefore, the Late Antique period has been deemed a “golden age” for the Aestii cultures. Amber in Middle Ages Lithuania Enormous changes were evident in the territory between the Neman in the south and the Western Dvina in the north by the early Migration period, some of which were determined by internal factors, others clearly determined by external factors, both regional and European. Lithuanian archaeological evidence from the Migration period shows quite significant regional ties between the Middle Danube and southern and central Scandinavia. These processes, once they began within the territory of the Balts, changed its ethnocultural make-up: all the Late Antique period cultural groups which occupied large territories in this region were already in decline and in many respects fundamentally changed by the beginning of the fifth century. Their places were taken by new ethnocultural groups, with distinct cultural identities, which in the Lithuanian historiographical tradition are connected with the Balt tribes (Curonians, Scalvians, Samogitians, Semigallians, Upland Lithuanians and Lithuanians) mentioned in later Medieval chronicles (Fig. 65). In the early sixth century, the Aestii, from now on known as the Hestii (Æstii), are again mentioned in written sources and once again the reason why they were noticed was amber. Cassiodorus in his Variae Epistolae mentions Hestii and succinum. Even if recent scholarship regards this more as a bit of a rhetorical exercise than an authentic source for the contemporary

346

conclusions

history of the Balt lands, it is important that the Aestii were known to European historiography of that time. In Lithuania from the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century, compared with the Late Antique period, there was a renaissance of amberwearing traditions (with many more sites and more amber per grave). Necklaces strung from amber beads and amulets spread all over Lithuania. Amber was worn in quantities as it was never worn before and has never been worn since. It was a sort of “golden age” of amber. Lithuania is the northernmost territory of the barbaricum where the use of amber was so widespread (Figs. 67–69; 73–91). There was no lack of amber beads of standard shape and size, which spread widely within the barbaricum from the Carpathian Basin and the central Balkans to the Crimean Peninsula, the coast the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, almost all over Europe (Figs. 70–72). However, in the seventh century the number of cemeteries with amber in Europe decreased. In Lithuania, some of the amber beads from the first half of the fifth century and even from the first half of the sixth century are the same shapes as were worn during Late Antiquity. However, a portion of the Late Antiquity beads and all pendants disappear around the first half of the fifth century. At least eight main bead groups can be identified in Lithuania (Fig. 68). In the fifth century and first half of the sixth century in Lithuania, as during the Late Antique period, most of the beads found were handmade or semi-lathed bi-truncated conical ones. The most famous amber beads of this period are the Basonia type beads. Irregular-shaped beads were also fairly popular. The number of amber spindle whorls increases in the coastal grave fields and in the Lower Neman region; those working tools occur in Samogitian burial sites. In the fifth century and first half of the sixth century in Lithuania, the tradition of placing single and more beautiful raw amber pieces in graves noticeably increases (Fig. 76). It is evident that Lithuania’s communities in the various ethnocultural regions used amber differently. The longest, most ornate and most fashionable amber bead necklaces were found not along the coast but in the burial sites of the Lower Neman region and those of central and even eastern Lithuania (Figs. 79–83; 89–90). The amber found in these burial sites is not connected with the Lithuanian coast. In Lithuania, the find-spots of amber artefacts during the fifth to sixth centuries are concentrated in four microregions: the coast, the Lower Neman region, central and eastern Lithuania (Fig. 72). Amber concentration in these regions quite naturally shows the various directions from which amber made its way into Lithuania. Along the coast, as previously, amber beads were made from local amber by local

conclusions

347

craftspeople and traded in the local market, whereas lathe-turned beads were imports or processed by travelling craftsmen. In Lithuania, the new shaped lathe-turned and semi-lathed beads, peculiar to the mid first millennium, become prevalent and are found at grave fields of the Lower Neman region, central and eastern Lithuania. But these beads were imported from the Kuiavia region (Przeworsk culture). The Sambian Peninsula and other regions had their own workshops, because semi-lathed and lathe-turned beads of the same shape as those are found Lithuania. The general distribution of amber and its various bead types in Lithuania are concentrated in different regions, allowing one to believe that amber reached Lithuania from the European workshops via the well-worn trails of the Late Antique period. The fashionable necklaces and the entire archaeological evidence of the Lower Neman and central Lithuania especially emphasizes different trade routes and longdistance trade, the far-flung interchange of commodities. During the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century, the most common necklaces of the Curonian sites, which are widespread on the Lithuanian coast, are short bead sets strung from bi-truncated conical amber beads (up to 30 beads, though, most of the time only three to eight, but not more than ten fine small beads were used to compose these necklaces). Most such necklaces are found in the graves of women and girls (Figs. 75–78). In the men’s graves, beads are usually found singly or several amber beads per grave. Comparing the amount of amber artefacts found in researched grave fields of the Curonians, with that of the Scalvian’s, the available data allows one to argue that the overall amount of amber beads is 2.41 times greater in the Lower Neman region than in the grave fields excavated along the coast. The Scalvian women wore amber necklaces; they also wore amber beads fastened to dress pins and caps, and of course they wore single amber beads. The Vidgiriai grave field from the Lower Neman region was left by a multiethnic community from the end of the fifth century to the mid sixth century which had ties with the Middle Danube, the Pannonian Plain, nomadic cultures, and the Baltic Sea islands of Öland and Gotland. In the context of the Lower Neman region, this grave field is distinguished by its archaeological evidence (for example, the average amount of amber in women’s graves is 9.4 beads per grave) and many distinctive funerary rites. One of these rites being that the women’s necklaces were found not on their chests, but in the area of their thighs, perhaps suspended from tablet-woven sashes, or they were placed in birch bark boxes, or amber beads were tied to special headdress pins or chaplets and placed in the graves singly. Some of the buried women held their necklaces in their hands (Figs. 79; 80.4–7).

348

conclusions

From the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century, compared with the Lithuanian coast and the Lower Neman region, the amount of amber artefacts and the amount of graves containing amber in central Lithuania is much greater. The highest number of amber beads were found in the grave fields of central Lithuania, which were left behind by the Upland Lithuanians. The bi-truncated conical, irregular-shaped and Basonia type beads predominate in the central Lithuanian sites. In the necklaces of the central Lithuanian women, from 5–170 amber beads are included, most of them of the Basonia type (Figs. 81; 82). Many single beads were found in the graves of men (Fig. 84). From the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century in the Samogitian grave fields, a bit less amber was found compared with the coastal grave fields, and much less than in the Lower Neman region. The bi-truncated conical, irregular-shaped and Basonia type beads are found in the Samogitian grave fields (Fig. 86). Only men wore brooches and only women wore two pins connected to ornate pectoral ornaments by several rows of bronze chains. Sometimes one or two amber beads were attached to the Samogitian men’s brooches and women’s pins (Figs. 83; 85). One or two small amber beads were not only fastened to the men’s brooches, but were sometimes sewn to their clothing. In the barrow fields of eastern Lithuania in the first quarter of the fifth century, women and children were buried with rich grave assemblages with ornate necklaces and single beads among them. These wealthy women’s and children’s graves with amber vanish from the East Lithuanian Barrow culture during the first half of the fifth century, at the same time as amber artefacts disappear altogether (Figs. 87–91). In the territory of Lithuania, the number of amber beads from the second half of the sixth century to the eighth century decreases greatly. However, the peak of the very richly furnished graves of the second half of the sixth to the first half of the seventh century occurs in the environs of modern-day Kretinga, or the so-called historical Mėguva Land (Fig. 98). In the wealthily furnished graves of well-armed men and fashionable women are found rare or even unique amber artefacts, even if those rarities are few. These graves are exceptional for their distinctive amber artefacts that were unique to men (special shaped beads, comb-shaped pendants and even a unique spoon) or to women (double conical beads, flat discs, sash-weaving implement sets, spindle whorls) (Figs. 100–108). Some of the unique beads were used to decorate the pommels of one-edged swords or were attached to the sword hilt as a “magical sword pendant” (Fig. 98.2–3).

conclusions

349

Strange bead forms (divided into six groups) and especially ornate amber necklaces make the communities of the Lamata Land quite distinct (Figs. 92–97). Large numbers of lathe-turned and semi-lathed amber beads were produced in this region between the late sixth and the ninth centuries, although generally the beads were used within the limits of this land. The distinctive amber qualities of this region are mostly known through its unusual women’s ornaments, including amber beads, and the style in which they were worn. Necklaces like ribbons were suspended from typical crossbow fibula, therefore the ornament reached to the woman’s waist (Fig. 95). In addition, several amber beads were very often attached to hairpins, or amber beads were directly sewn onto a headdress. A number of craft centres or emporia (marketplaces) or ports of trade were established around the Baltic Sea during the Middle Ages or the socalled Viking Age. Amber processing, together with bone and antler working, was one of the occupations of these craft centres. Such craft centres were found in Palanga and Daugmale. In both of these centres, amber was processed (Figs. 117; 121). Taking a look at the distribution of Lithuanian amber from the eighth century to the twelfth century, it seems that amber was the most widely used at this time (Fig. 115). However, this is deceptive. What actually happens is that the number of burial sites where amber is found increases; however, in individual find-spots, with the exception of the southern Curonian grave fields and the distinctive Lamata Land, there is not much amber between the Neman and Western Dvina Rivers. In most of the sites it constitutes only 20–30 (or one-fifth) of the artefacts found. During this period, the most common southern Curonian women’s and men’s grave amber finds were bi-truncated conical, conical, cylindrical and slightly retouched irregularshaped beads as well as beads similar to semi-finished items (Fig. 114). The main amber wearers are still women and children, but necklaces strung from amber beads are not common with the Curonians of this time. Women of all the Balt tribes wore necklaces very rarely during the late Middle Ages. This is partially connected with the Balt tradition of wearing bronze neck-rings and lots of ornate bronze ornaments. However, during the Middle Ages the traditional manner in which amber was worn in the territory of Lithuania reflected the cultural tendencies of the entire Baltic Sea region, and the predominant ideological and religious attitudes, as well as the fashion of the time. Single amber beads are found in both inhumation and cremation graves— men’s and women’s. In the southern Curonian lands, as cremation traditions

350

conclusions

became prevalent, the number of amber beads decreased. However, if amber was placed in a cremation grave it was placed there in a consistent amount of one or two amber beads (Figs. 109; 122–124). The small amount of amber beads in Curonian cremation graves is not only connected with cremation burial rites themselves, but was a result of the development of cremation burial rites and the whole complicated and miscellaneous rituals system that accompanied burials. During the tenth to twelfth centuries, the Curonian’s northern neighbours, the Finno-Ugrian Livs living in the Western Dvina River basin, were known for their distinctive traditions of wearing amber (Figs. 126; 127). In the ninth to twelfth centuries, the Samogitians, like earlier, wore amber bead-amulets in their own distinctive manner. The one, or two, or three, small bi-truncated conical or flattened round beads that can be found in women’s graves were suspended from two pins by chains connected to ornate pectoral ornaments (Fig. 128). In men’s graves, single amber beads, as previously, were attached to brooches (Fig. 129). The Semigallians’ amber-wearing traditions are very low during the eighth to twelfth centuries. Only very seldom did the Semigallian men attach amber beads to brooches, and women extremely rarely affixed one or two amber beads to the many pins they wore or to their chains, instead they strung amber beads together with cowry shells, bronze bells or single glass beads (Fig. 131). Amber almost totally disappeared from Upland Lithuanian, Selonian and Latgallian graves. Based on research of the Semigallian, Samogitian and Curonian burial traditions, it is possible to conclude that during the end of the late Middle Ages, amber in funerary rites, and perhaps in everyday life, performed the function of an amulet. In central and southwestern Lithuania and adjacent territories, a concentration of Upland Lithuanian grave fields with cremated human graves and mass horse burials is known, dating to the ninth to twelfth centuries and even the fourteenth century. So far 23 such grave fields with cremated human graves and mass horse graves have been discovered. In the 17 excavated grave fields, from one to several horses were found whose manes or bridles were adorned with one or two amber beads, which are of the same shapes as those found in human graves—the most frequently found are bi-truncated conical beads (Figs. 137–139). In Lithuania, the first amber artefacts and small raw amber bits are found in horse graves during the Late Antique period and early Middle Ages. Horse graves in the Merovingian and Viking Ages in Europe were quite common, but amber did not occur in these horse burials. Especially large concentrations of horse graves are known in the Sambian

conclusions

351

Peninsula and Elbląg highlands, but amber was not found in these horse burials either. Amber beads have been found in horse inhumations, cremations and symbolic graves (horse sacrifices) in central Lithuania. They are a unique phenomenon in Europe of the late Middle Ages. Horses buried with one or two beads make up 22.6 percent of all horse burials of the Middle Ages. Therefore, the tradition of interweaving an amber bead into the mane of a horse or affixing it to the bridle was not widespread. During the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries and the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries, amber artefacts in Lithuania’s graveyards are especially rare. In the formation of towns of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, highly specialized workshops came into existence, where among other crafts, artefacts were produced from amber. By the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries, the people who lived in the towns and their surroundings were baptized, and Christianity gradually changed old customs. Burial rites were at the forefront of this process of change, and the tradition of enclosing a range of grave goods ceased. The tradition of wearing bronze jewellery also gradually vanished. However, in Lithuania’s graveyards of the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries, amber crosses and rosaries are also notable for their absence in graves, even though these Christian artefacts were mass-produced in the Hansa League towns. On the other hand, as in the previous periods, fine amber artefacts were imported to Lithuania (Fig. 140). Although the amber of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries is not the topic of this book, the available data allows one to believe that amber was no longer a significant aspect of the culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

APPENDICES AND TABLES Appendices Appendix A: List of sites with amber artefacts in Lithuania from the second half of the first century to the end of the second century (for map, see Fig. 14). 1

2

3

4

5

The West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and its peripheral zone— the Southwest Latvian Burial Sites 1 Padvariai.

Kretinga, LT

22

2

2

•The Lower Neman Grave Fields 2 Kulautuva

Kaunas, LT

8

1

4

?

1S

The Collective Barrow culture 3 Bajoriškiai

Kupiškis, LT

2 barrows

Abbreviations: 1 running number and site name; 2 district and country; 3 total number of researched graves; 4 number of graves containing amber artefacts; 5 total amount of amber artefacts LT = Lithuania; S = stray finds/or contents of the grave are lost.

354

appendices and tables

Appendix B: List of sites with amber artefacts in Lithuania and southwestern Latvia from the end of the second century to the end of the fourth century (for map, see Fig. 16).1 1

2

3

4

5

(1–27) The West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and its peripheral zone— the Southwest Latvian Burial Sites 1 Kapsēde Medzes 2 Rucavas Mazkatuži 3 Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis) 4 Kašučiai 5 Kurmaičiai 6 Rūdaičiai I 7 Užpelkiai 8 Pryšmančiai II 9 Gintarai 10 Kurmaičiai hill-fort 11 Palanga 12 Ėgliškiai-Anduliai (f. Andullen, Zeipen Görge, StranzSchlaudern/StanzSchlaudern) 13 Bandužiai 14 Baitai (Baičiai, f. Baiten) 15 Šernai (f. Schernen) 16 Stragnai 17 Jogučiai (f. Jagutten, Spirkiai) 18 Jogučiai (Stančiai) settlement 18a Stančiai settlement2 19 Šilininkai 20 Pleškučiai-Pangėsai (f. Pangessen) 21 Gerduvėnai

Liepāja, LV Liepāja, LV Kretinga, LT

? 63 79

1 25 23

45 ≈ 225 ≈ 100

Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Palanga city, LT Kretinga, LT

7 48 13 4 6 25 605m2 22 7

2 4 1 2 – 13 4 3

3 10 1 11 2S 42 > 20 19 10

Klaipėda city, LT Klaipėda, LT

24 39

5 22

26 ≈ 87

Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT

≈ 107 23 1

17 9 1

≈ 50–60 40 1

Klaipėda, LT

700m2

Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT

3180m2 7 2

1 –

≈ 10R 3 1S

Klaipėda, LT

43 m2

?

1

1

1 Stray amber finds are not included in statistical counts. However, with the aim of showing the spread of amber during Late Antiquity, stray amber finds are included in the main table, if there is no doubt that it belongs to that time period. 2 Chronology of the raw amber pieces is not clear, because a Roman sestertius from the end of the second century and pottery dated to Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages have been found in researched area.

appendices and tables

355

Appendix B (cont.) 1

2

22 Pėžaičiai 23 Barzdūnai (f. Barsduhnen) 24 Barvai (f. Barwen)/ Miesteliai 25 Šarkai 26 Žviliai 27 Naujasis Obelynas

3

4

5

Klaipėda, LT Šilutė, LT

3 9

2 1

6 1?

Šilutė, LT

2

1

6

Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT

25 34 8

1 5 1

2 10 1

≈ 548

142

Total: 24 Grave Fields

≈ 792–802

(28–34) Absent exact data about graves with amber artefacts or data lacking for site attribution to correct cultural unit 28 Aukštkiemiai (Oberhof ) 29 Laistai (f. Leisten) 30 Laukžemiai (f. Dautzin-Niklau) 31 Mockaičiai 32 Nikėlai 33 Paulaičiai 34 Vilkyčiai (f. Wilkieten)

Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT

(35–40) The Lower Neman Grave Fields 35(1) Barzūnai (f. Barsuhnen) 36(2) Bendiglaukis (f. Bendiglauken) 37(3) Lumpėnai (f. Lumpönen) 38(4) Strazdai-Ječiškės 39(5) Dauglaukis 40(6) Šaukėnai

Šilutė, LT

14

2

15

Sovietsk, Russia, RU Šilutė, LT

2?

2

18+17S

22

10

34

4 116 50

1 35 2

1 86 4

208

52

175

3 1

1 4 4

Šilutė, LT Tauragė, LT Tauragė, LT

Total: 6

(41–47) The Collective Barrow culture 41(1) Gailīši 42(2) Berčiūnai 43(3) Noruišiai 3

Dobele, LV Panevėžys, LT Kelmė, LT

3B, 28 69 barrows3 3

Barrows are very disturbed, therefore the precise grave number is uncertain.

356

appendices and tables

Appendix B (cont.) 1 44(4) 45(5) 46(6) 47(7)

Maudžiorai Pajuostė Zastaučiai Žaduvėnai

2

3

4

5

Kelmė, LT Panevėžys, LT Mažeikiai, LT Telšiai, LT

15 22 27 39

2 – 1 2

254 1S 1 2

203

9

37

47 1955 343 ≈ 348 22 2 72

6 8 3 19 2 1 1

39 79 4 ≈ 40 3 14 1

≈ 1029

40

≈ 180

Total: 7

(48–54) The Central Lithuanian Grave Fields 48(1) 49(2) 50(3) 51(4) 52(5) 53(6) 54(7)

Eiguliai Marvelė Sargėnai Veršvai Lauksvydai Gėluva II Seredžius

Kaunas city, LT Kaunas city, LT Kaunas city, LT Kaunas city, LT Kaunas, LT Raseiniai, LT Jurbarkas, LT

Total: 7

(55)The Southwestern Lithuanian Burial Sites 55(1) Stanaičiai

Vilkaviškis, LT

1

(56–58) The East Lithuanian Barrow Fields 56(1) Pakalniai 57(2) Pilviškės 58(3) Pašekščiai Total: 3

Vilnius, LT Vilnius, LT Molėtai, LT

1B, 2 graves 1B, 1 grave 9B, 10 graves

1 1 1

2 1 53

13

3

56

Abbreviations: 1 running number and site name; 2 district and country; 3 total number of researched graves or square metres in a habitation site; 4 number of graves containing amber artefacts; 5 total amount of amber artefacts LT = Lithuania; LV = Latvia; RU = Russia; f. = formerly; R = raw amber lumps; S = stray finds.

4

Total amber amount: from grave assemblages and stray finds. After data published by Astrauskas, Marvelės bendruomenė (II a. pabaiga–V a.) and Bertašius, Marvelė. Ein Gräberfeld Mittellitauens Band I. 5

appendices and tables

357

Appendix C: List of sites with amber artefacts in Lithuania and southwestern Latvia from the fifth century to the late sixth century (for map, see Fig. 67). 1

2 (1–21) The Curonian Grave Fields

1 Ošenieki Vērgales 2 Ģeistauti Rucavas 3 Kapsēde Medzes 4 Rucavas Mazkatuži 5 Kiviliai (Kalviai) 6 Reketė 7 Sūdėnai 8 Tūbausiai 9 Uogučiai 10 Sakuočiai 11 Užpelkiai 12 Rūdaičiai I 13 Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis) 14 Kurmaičiai III 15 Kurmaičiai-Pajuodupiai 16 Pryšmančiai II 17 Kalno Grikštai 18 Bandužiai 19 Slengiai 20 Baitai (Baičiai, f. Baiten) 21 Šernai (f. Schernen)

Liepāja, LV Liepāja, LV Liepāja, LV Liepāja, LV Akmenė, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Plungė, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Klaipėda city, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT

(22–25) Lacking exact data about grave contents 22 23 24 25

Aukštkiemiai (f. Oberhof ) Laistai (f. Leisten) Laukžemiai (f. Dautzin-Niklau) Juodkrantė (f. Schwarzort)

Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Neringa city, LT

(26–34) The Lamatian Grave Fields 26(1) 27(2) 28(3) 29(4) 30(5) 31(6) 32(7) 33(8) 34(9)

Rubokai (f. Rubocken) Mockaičiai Nikėlai Paulaičiai Vilkyčiai (f. Wilkieten) Stragnai Barvai (f. Barwen)/Miesteliai Vėžaičiai (f. Weszeiten) Pociai

Šilutė, LT Klaipėda, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Klaipėda, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT

358

appendices and tables

Appendix C (cont.) 1

2

•(35–44) The Scalvian Grave Fields 35(1) 36(2) 37(3) 38(4) 39(5) 40(6) 41(7) 42(8) 43(9) 44(10)

Rambynas Vidgiriai Barzūnai/ (f. Barsuhnen) Sodėnai Kreivėnai Lumpėnai (f. Lumpönen) Vėluikiai Greižėnai (Greyszönen) Viešvilė II Smalininkai

Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Tauragė, LT Šilutė, LT Tauragė, LT Tauragė, LT Jurbarkas, LT Jurbarkas, LT

(45–61) The Samogitian Grave Fields 45(1) 46(2) 47(3) 48(4) 49(5) 50(6) 51(7) 52(8) 53(9) 54(10) 55(11) 56(12) 57(13) 58(14) 59(15) 60(16) 61(17)

Zastaučiai Naujasis Obelynas Pakalniškiai Pagrybis Šarkai Žviliai Paprūdžiai Paklibakiai Maudžiorai Akmeniai Berčiūnai Paluknys (f. Jasnagurka) Kairėnėliai Sauginiai Rekošaičiai Lieporiai Šiauliai II

Mažeikiai, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Kelmė, LT Kelmė, LT Kelmė, LT Kelmė, LT Panevėžys, LT Raseiniai, LT Radviliškis, LT Šiauliai, LT Raseiniai, LT Šiauliai, LT Šiauliai city, LT

•(62–68) The Semigallian Grave Fields 62(1) 63(2) 64(3) 65(4) 66(5) 67(6) 68(7)

Diržiai Plauciškiai Jauneikiai Meldinai Šašiai Jakštaičiai-Meškiai Ringuvėnai

Pakruojis, LT Pakruojis, LT Joniškis, LT Pasvalys, LT Radviliškis, LT Šiauliai, LT Šiauliai, LT

appendices and tables

359

Appendix C (cont.) 1

2

(69–86) The Central Lithuanian (Upland Lithuanians) Grave Fields 69(1) 70(2) 71(3) 72(4) 73(5) 74(6) 75(7) 76(8) 77(9) 78(10) 79(11) 80(12) 81(13) 82(14) 83(15) 84(16) 85(17) 86(18)

Upytė Pernarava Rinkšeliai Graužiai Kalniškiai (Baževalė) Plinkaigalis Radikiai Kiduliai Labūnava Rupunionys Seredžius Marvelė Veliuona Gėluva II Veršvai Panevėžiukas Pavilkijis Obeliai

Panevėžys, LT Kėdainiai, LT Raseiniai, LT Kėdainiai, LT Raseiniai, LT Kėdainiai, LT Kaunas, LT Šakiai, LT Kėdainiai, LT Kaunas, LT Jurbarkas, LT Kaunas city, LT Jurbarkas, LT Raseiniai, LT Kaunas city, LT Kaunas, LT Šakiai, LT Ukmergė, LT

(87) The Selonian Barrow Fields 87(1) Visėtiškės

Anykščiai, LT (88–93) The East Lithuanian Barrow Fields

88(1) 89(2) 90(3) 91(4) 92(5) 93(6)

Baliuliai Pavajuonys-Rėkučiai Liūlinė III Žvirbliai Riklikai Diktarai

Švenčionys, LT Ignalina, LT Švenčionys, LT Vilnius, LT Anykščiai, LT Anykščiai, LT

(94–95) The Southeastern Lithuanian Burial Sites 94(1) Stanaičiai 95(2) Zapsė Abbreviations: 1 running number and site name; 2 district and country LT = Lithuania; LV = Latvia; f. = formerly.

Vilkaviškis, LT Lazdijai, LT

360

appendices and tables

Appendix D: List of sites with amber artefacts from Lithuania from the end of the sixth century to the end of the eighth century (for Lamatian graves, see Fig. 92). 1

2

3

4

5

(1–4) The Curonian Grave Fields 1 2 3 4

Ėgliškiai-Anduliai Kiauleikiai Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis) Kurmaičiai-Pajuodupiai

Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT

Total: 4

≈3 4 ≈ 87 16

1 2 ≈ 24 3

2 4 ≈ 46 8

≈ 110

≈ 30

≈ 60

(5–14) The Lamatian Grave Fields6 5(1) 6(2) 7(3) 8(4) 9(5) 10(6) 11(7) 12(8) 13(9) 14(10) 15(11) 16(12) 17(13) 18(14)

Daukščiai Dreižiai Dvyliai (f. Stolzentietz) Pėžaičiai Mockaičiai Stragnai Barvai (f. Barwen)/Miesteliai Jurgaičiai Nikėlai Paulaičiai Švėkšna Vėžaičiai (f. Weszeiten) Vilkyčiai (f. Wilkieten) Vilkų Kampas

Total: 14

Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT

1

11

22

15

8

2

31

28

> 133S > 8S > 11+224S ≈ 10S > 130S > 100 > 20 83 ≈ 100 ≈ 100 > 115 > 100 > 11 5 ≈ 1150

6 Many sites in Lamata were excavated in the late nineteenth/beginning of the twentieth century by German scholars. The archaeological material from these excavations was taken to the Prussia Museum in Königsberg, the building of which was badly destroyed during World War II. Therefore, only a small portion of the former collection remains. The other half of the Prussia Museum’s collection was evacuated and ended up in the museums of Poland, Germany and Russia. As a consequence, both artefacts and excavation reports in most cases have been lost, and the huge amount of surviving material is still not published. Therefore, the extent of the previous excavations is not known. In recent years in Lithuania, many amber beads have been found during fieldwalking surveys, although, unfortunately, most of them were found in destroyed graves.

appendices and tables

361

Appendix D (cont.) 1

2

•(19) 19(1) Kreivėnai

3

4

5

The Scalvian Grave Fields Tauragė, LT

Total: 1

7

5

25

7

5

25

14 40

4 25

4 20

54

29

24

34 317 > 70

2 11 1

2 44 3

135

14

49

(20–21) The Samogitian Grave Fields 20(1) Pailgotis 21(2) Kaštaunaliai

Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT

Total: 2

•(22–24) The Semigallian Grave Fields 22(1) Pļavniekkalns 23(2) Bāļas-Śķēstaini 24(3) Oši (Dobeles Oši)

Rīga, LV Dobele, LV Dobele, LV

Total: 3

(25–28) The Central Lithuanian (Upland Lithuanians) Grave Fields 25(1) 26(2) 27(3) 28(4)

Seredžius Plinkaigalis Pernarava Krūvandai II

Total: 4

Jurbarkas, LT Kėdainiai, LT Kėdainiai, LT Kaunas, LT

1 7 9 3

1 1 4 2

1 2 6 3

20

8

12

Abbreviations: 1 running number and site name; 2 district and country; 3 number of researched graves; 4 number of graves containing amber; 5 amount of amber artefacts LT = Lithuania; LV = Latvia; f. = formerly; S = stray finds.

7

Investigations of 1928.

362

appendices and tables

Appendix E: List of sites with amber artefacts from Lithuania and southern Latvia from the late eighth century to the twelfth century (for map, see Fig. 115). 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41.

Daugmale Tojāti Krievu kapi Talsu Vilkumuižas Lake Talsu Tiltiņi Durbe Kapsēde Bunkas muiža Jāči Puze Apuolė Klaišiai Griežė Kukiai Godeliai Nausodis (Mardosai) Gintališkė Žemaičių Kalvarija (Varduva) Gargždo Laukas Siraičiai Paplienija Šatrija Dimitravas Ėgliškiai-Anduliai Jazdai Genčai I Genčai II Kašučiai Užpelkiai Kiauleikiai Pryšmančiai II Kretinga Imbarė Laiviai Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis) Gintarai Palanga Palanga settlements Girkaliai (f. Ramutten-Jan, Melašiai) Gerduvėnai

2

3

Rīga, LV Tukuma, LV Tukuma, LV Talsu, LV Talsu, LV Liepāja, LV Liepāja, LV Liepāja, LV Liepāja, LV Liepāja, LV Venspils, LV Skuodas, LT Skuodas, LT Mažeikiai, LT Mažeikiai, LT Plungė, LT Plungė, LT Plungė, LT Plungė, LT Telšiai, LT Telšiai, LT Telšiai, LT Telšiai, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga city, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Kretinga, LT Palanga city, LT Palanga city, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT

■ • • •; ■ • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ■ ■ • • • • • • • • • • ■ • • • • ■ • •

appendices and tables

363

Appendix E (cont.)

42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83.

1

2

3

Romai settlement Kalnuvėnai (f. Gündeln-Urban) Aukštkiemiai (f.Oberhof ) Slengiai Pėžaičiai Laistai (Leisten) Laistai (Leisten) Žardė Bandužiai Stragnai Daukšaičiai Dvyliai (f. Stolzentietz) Mockaičiai Paulaičiai Vėžaičiai (f. Weszeiten) Švėkšna Nikėlai Barvai (f. Barwen) Pociai Sodėnai Kreivėnai Pūteļi Tērvete Oši Dobeles Dreņģeri-Čunkāni Bāļas-Šķērstaiņi Podiņi Rušiņi Mežotne Ciemalde Pavirvytė-Gudai Papilė Jauneikiai Stungiai Diržiai Kutaičiai Šukionys Meldinai Linksmučiai Pamiškiai Piepaliai-Lopai Jakštaičiai-Meškiai Maudžiorai

Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda city, LT Klaipėda city, LT Klaipėda city, LT Klaipėda city, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Klaipėda, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilutė, LT Tauragės, LT Rīga, LV Dobele, LV Dobele, LV Bauska, LV Dobele, LV Bauska, LV Bauska, LV Jelgava, LV Mažeikiai, LT Akmenė, LT Joniškis, LT Joniškis, LT Pakruojis, LT Pakruojis, LT Pakruojis, LT Pakruojis, LT Pakruojis, LT Pasvalys, LT Radviliškis, LT Šiauliai, LT Kelmė, LT

■ • • ■ • • ■ ■ • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ■ • • • • ■ • • • • • • • • • • • • •

364

appendices and tables

Appendix E (cont.) 1 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126.

Paprūdžiai Bikavėnai Žąsinas Žviliai Jurkiškė Upyna Burbiškiai Didkiemis Šiaudaliai Lingių ferma Pailgotis Paupinis (Medsėdžiai) Paragaudis Požerė (Paežerys) Lieporiai Lieporių gyvenvietė Kuršėnai-Palemonas Valdomai Paluknys (Jasnagurka) Vėžlaukis Pajuostė Dumblynė Juodonys Turdvaris Miškiniai Visėtiškės Viešvilė Seredžius Pakalniškiai Pavilkijis Mikytai Pernarava Graužiai Ruseiniai Rimaisiai Veršvai Marvelė Radikiai Karmėlava Krūvandai II Pakapiai Radikiai Obeliai

2

3

Kelmė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šiauliai city, LT Šiauliai city, LT Šiauliai city, LT Šiauliai, LT Raseiniai, LT Raseiniai, LT Panevėžys, LT Rokiškis, LT Rokiškis, LT Rokiškis, LT Anykščiai, LT Anykščiai, LT Jurbarkas, LT Jurbarkas, LT Šakiai, LT Šakiai, LT Šakiai, LT Kėdainiai, LT Kėdainiai, LT Kėdainiai, LT Panevėžys, LT Kaunas city, LT Kaunas city, LT Kaunas, LT Kaunas, LT Kaunas, LT Kaunas, LT Kaunas, LT Ukmergė, LT

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ■ • • • • • ■ • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

appendices and tables

365

Appendix E (cont.) 1 127. 128. 129. 130.

Kumelionys Nedriniai Kaukai Mažulionys

2 Marijampolė city, LT Marijampolė, LT Alytus, LT Ignalina, LT

Abbreviations: • grave fields; ■ hill-forts or settlements; votive offerings or hoards LT = Lithuania; LV = Latvia; f. = formerly.

3

■ • ■ ■

366

appendices and tables Tables

Table 1: Quantity of amber artefacts and raw amber in men’s, women’s, children’s and undetermined burials of Late Antiquity. 1

2

3

4

5

6

The West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture and its peripheral zone— the Southwest Latvian Burial Sites Rucavas Mazkatuži

4/1924 15/1924

♀ ♀

2/1942 5/1942 6/1942 7/1942 8/1942 9/1942 10/1942 11/1942 12/1942 14/1942 15/1942

♂ ♀ ♀ ♂ ♂ ♂ ? ♂ ♀ ♂ ♀

16/1942 17/1942 18/1942

♂ ♂ ♂

19/1942 20/1942

♂ ♀

1/1960 2/1960 4/1960

♀ ♀ ♀

7/1960

♂

9/1960

♀

10/1960

♀

1(TM395a) N:76(TM416a,422a,b,426b, 2(TM395)+UnP 447,450c, 391,395a,b, UnP); N: 11(TM391,395a,b)+ 53TM40 4(TM395) 1(TM395)+1(G) 10(TM395a) 1raw 2(TM395a)+2(TM422a) 2(TM450b) 8(TM395a)+2(TM450b) 2(TM422a)+1(TM417(?) TM395a TM395a TM450b 6(TM395a,388a)+ 2(TM30a) 4(TM395a) 1(TM388a)+1(TM30a) 2(TM465)+1(TM477)+ 1(TM397)+1(TM449)+ 2(TM395a)+2(TM388a) 3(TM395a) 18(TM395a,388a,450c)+ 2(TM465)+4(TM30a)+brS TM397 2(TM397) 9(TM395a,b,388a)+ 1(TM471a) 5(TM429)+6(TM450b, 465,416a) 9(TM465)+10(TM395a, 400a,433,450b) 3(TM399,400, 416a)

5 14

3 5 4 11 3 4 3 3 6 4 5 3 4 7 2 6 3 3 5 4 6 3

appendices and tables

367

Table 1 (cont.) 1 Lazdininkai

Kurmaičiai

Rūdaičiai I

2

3

38/1940 39/1940 202/1976 2/1991 13/1992 14/1992 16/1992 17/1992 22/1992 23/1996

♂ ♂ ♀ ♀ 0 ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♀

26/1993 40/1998 57/1998 59/1998 60/2000

♀ ♀ ♂ ♂ ♀

61/2000 63/2000 66/2000+H 7/20008 76/2001 79/2001 81/2003 83/2003

? ♀ ♂ H ♂ ♀ ♀ ♀

5/1940 7/1940

♀ ♀

8/1940 337/1951

♀ ?

59

♀

4

5 TM388a TM388a

3(TM388a)+3(TM2a,12) TM388a 4(TM395a)+2(TM388a) 2(TM388a) TM388a 3(TM395a+450c) TM388a 15(TM395a)+12(TM388a)+ 3(TM450c)+2(TM450b)+ 6(TM465)+2(TM30a)+ TM309d+13(FeP)

6 22 7 6 2 16 6 8 14 10 11

2TM395a TM395a; Sp TM395a 3(TM395a,388a)

8 6 16 8

TM395a

9 19 31 2 9 8 9 9

2(TM395a)+9(TM30a)+ 1(FeP) 2(TM427a)+1(TM30b) HaP+TM453 1 Raw 2(TM388a) 5(TM388a) 2(TM395a,b)+brP 2(TM395a) 3(TM395a)+brS

11 10

3(TM395a)+6G TM388a

15 2

3(TM395a)+close toTM83+TM336B(?)

TM395a+TM520

8 Beside men’s grave 66/2000 and grave 7/2000, a horse’s head is buried. In the Stragnai grave field in man’s grave 13/1985, a horse’s head and legs were found. In Baitai grave field in graves 4, 22, and 31, together with men the following parts of a horse were buried: the head and legs, or just the head or only the horse’s teeth. In graves 22 and 31, amber was found beside the horse’s head (for this, see Table 3).

13

368

appendices and tables

Table 1 (cont.) 1 Užpelkiai

Palanga

Gintarai

Bandužiai

2

3

20 43

♀ ♀

7 11

♂ 0

16 17

0 ♀

3 5 6 11 129

0 0 0 0 0

13 14 15

0 0 0

16

0

18

♀

19 20 25

0 0 0

63

♀

71 85

♂ ♀

91

♀

4

5 TM395a

3 3

TM395a TM395a+brS

7 7

2(TM395a)

3 12

4(TM388a)+1(TM389)+ 3(TM395b)+1(TM465)+ 1(TM433) 2(TM395a)+ 2(TM416a)+brS 2(TM391)+TM416a+brS 8(TM388a, 395a)+3brS

2(TM395a,b) 3(TM395a+? TM387)+brS 3(TM395a)+AgP+brS 3(TM395a,b)+brS 4(TM395a)+2(TM57)+ TM51+brS 3(TM395a,b)+1TM 388a 3(TM395a) 1(TM 388a)+1(TM143)+brC 1(TM398)+6(TM23,24) +brS 5(TM388a,395a)+30a+ 387b+AgC 9(TM388a,395a,403)

6

TM395a

2 3 3 3 2 3 3 2 3 5

TM450b 2(TM395b) N: 4(TM 388a)+32a+29; TM395a N:4(TM+388a)+32b+34+ 36b+2(TM30a)+479; N: TM388a+2(TM32a)+479 1raw N:3(TM388a)+2(TM395a)+ 18(TM30a)+136+ 2(TM119)+7brS; N: 7(TM395a)+3(TM30a) 2(TM395a)

9 Beside the grave, a small fragment of a bracelet was found, together with part of a horse tooth.

3 3 3 11

7 14

15

appendices and tables

369

Table 1 (cont.) 1 ĖgliškiaiAnduliai Baitai

Šernai

2

3

4

I XV XVII

♀ 0 ♀

2(TM395a)+2G 5(TM395a)+brS

1 2

♀ ♀

410

♂

5

0

8 9 11A 13 18 19 21 22+H 22A 24 25 28 29 31+H

♀ 0 ♂ ? ♀ ♀ ♀ ♂ ♂ ♀ ? ? ♀ ♂

2(TM388,395a)+1TM30b TM471a+TM388+ 2(TM41)+2(TM33)+ TM30a+brC 2imitations of TM465 or 471e+4TM431 4(TM395a)+1(TM388)+ 2(TM416a)+TM41 10(TM393)+29G+19FeP

35 36 37 39

♂ ♀ ♀ ♀

2 10

♀ ♀

12 20

0 ?

5

1raw

6 16 8 8 3 ? 5 2

TM395a 2(TM395a) 2(TM395a) 3(TM395a)+388+30a 5(TM395a)+2(TM30b) 4(TM395a)+388+41? 2(TM395a)+388+468+30b TM429 2(TM395a)+2(TM429) 2(TM388+429) 2(TM395a+388) 3(TM395a) 9(TM388,395a,b,399)+416+ Horse:3(TM395a) 42b+126 +3(TM47,126) 2(TM395a,b) TM395a+4(TM388a) 4(TM388,395a)+30a+brP 5(TM388,395a)+5G+brS TM389(?)+G+3feP Ca 40 beads: TM 388,395a,397,400, 417(?),438(?)+126,245, 252,255b,294c,302,338b, 339a,350e,362h+feP+brS 2(TM395a) 1

10 Many fine details were found that could have been several parts of one artefact or various artefacts.

9 3 2 1 11 2 11? ? ? ? 3 4 4 ? 5 3 7 4 5 13

5 2

370

appendices and tables

Table 1 (cont.) 1

2

3

4

5

6

22 24 45 50c 56 61 65

♀ ? ♀ ♂ ? ♂ ?

73 89 98

♀ ♀ ♀

104 107

♂ ♂

4/1985

♀

7/1985 11/1985 13/1985+H 14/1985 17/1985 19/1985 20/1985 22/1985

♀ ♀ ♂ ♀ ♀ ♀ ♀ ♀

Naujasis Obelynas

10

♀

1 close to Basonia BII

5

Šarkai

17

♀

2(TM 395a)

3

Žviliai

86 87 89

0 ♀ ♀

1(TM395a) 2(TM395a)

4 8 6

291

♀

297

♀

Jogučiai

1

♂

Šilininkai

5

0

3(TM433)+4(G)

4

Barvai/ Miesteliai

1

♂

6(TM395a+)brS

20

Stragnai

2+brS 1 1+brS+AgS 1 1 raw 6+1G 5(TM395a,1TM388a, TM416a)

11 1 1 5 1 14

TM395a+1 raw TM 454

6 5 4

1 1

5 5

11+TM54,111+ 3(TM54,126)

I: 3(TM395b)+4(TM18,30a) II: 3(TM395)+6(TM30a) 6(TM395b)

10 2(TM395b) TM433

12(TM395a+416a) 6(TM395b) 2(TM395b+brS) 5(TM395b+G) 2(TM395a)

3(TM395a)+3(TM30b)+ 2 AgP 3(TM395a) +5(TM30b,TM32a) 1(TM391)+18(G)+2(brS)

6 3 18 4 4 2 4 2

4 3 TM395a

12

appendices and tables

371

Table 1 (cont.) 1

2

3

4

5

6

•The Lower Neman Grave Fields Bendiglaukis 1/1910

♂

Barzūnai

2/1911

♀

14

♀

2/C 5 9 10 12 13 14 16 19 22

Lumpėnai

Dauglaukis

1

11

15(TM388+1TM471+ 1TM407)+1(G) 3(TM388)+brS

5

♀ ♂ ♀ 0 ? ♂ ♀ ♂ ♀ ♂

1+4G 7 TM391+3 2+4(TM61) TM471 9 7+TM61

12 10 11 6 2 9 9 15 8 11

1 8 20 34 36

♀ ♂ ♂ ♀ ♀

1(TM395a)+18(TM387)

37

♀

38 39

? ♀

53 55 62 63

♂ ♀ ♂ ♀

64 70 78 79 82 85

5

TM391 1 TM391+2(TM61)

N: 2(TM395)+10(287bTM) N:9(TM395,388)+ 6(TM147)+1(TM387a) N: 2(TM 395)+18(brS) N: 1(TM 395)+85(brS)

Close to TM442 TM395a 3Raw 2(TM 395a)+3brC

9 TM395a

3 7

TM395 Sp

9 7 3 9

N:4(TM395)+1(TM287b)+ 4(brS) N: 60(brP) 1(TM395)+2(brS) 5(TM395a,388)+1(416a)+ 26(TM35,70,267d,387b) 1 (TM395)+brS 1(TM465)+1brS

♀ ? ♀ 0? 2(haP+Ot) 0/♀ 1(TM395a)+3(brS+ brB+brP) 0

3 7 4 5 17

TM395

5 3 6 2 2

TM395a

5

372

appendices and tables

Table 1 (cont.) 1

2

3

89 90

? ♀

93 94 95 96 102 103 104 105 106 108 109 110

♀ ♂ ♂ ♀ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♀ ♀ 0 ♀ ♀

113 114

♀ 0

116

0

4

5

1(TM395)+1(brS) 8(TM388, 395a)+8(G)+4(FeP) 6 (TM395)+2(brS)

6 2 6

Ot 2(TM395a) 2(TM395)+4(G)+3(brS) TM395a 3(TM395a) TM395a TM388 2(TM395)+1(FeP) TM395a 2(TM395)+2(brS) 5(TM395)+13(brS)+ 22(brP) TM395a 3(TM395a,395)+ 3(brS) 4(TM395)+1(G)+1(brS)

6 5 5 5 3 7 9 7 5 4 5 11 7 8 4

•The Collective Barrow Culture 19B, Gr1 35B, Gr3 58B, Gr1

♀ ♀

2(TM403)+2brS

5 5 8

Noruišiai

1

♀

4(TM395)+3(TM126+35a)

7

Zastaučiai

7

♀

Žaduvėnai

14 35

♀ ♀

Berčiūnai

TM388a TM388a

TM389

5

Sp

2 3

1(TM388a)+7 brS

■The Central Lithuanian Grave Fields Eiguliai

2

♀

7 12 13 20 29

♀ ♀ ♀ ♀ ♀

15(TM388a, 390, 397,403)+brS 14(TM403) 1(TM396a)+8(G) 1(TM450b)+35(G) 6(TM 388a,389)+G N: ca 20(TM23); N: ca 1(TM388a)+ 18(TM30a, 32a)

6 TM388

2 3 4 7 5

appendices and tables

373

Table 1 (cont.) 1

2

3

99

♀

100 136 139 294 305 314 345

0 ♂ 0 ♀ ♀ ♀ ♀

Lauksvydai

2 3

♀ 0

Gėluva II

2

♀

Marvelė

4

5

I: 4(TM389,438,439); II: 6(TM395,389)+ 3(430,440)

7 TM388

TM388+25(TM2a, 4a,6,11) TM388+8(TM141,63) 20(TM388,403) 43(TM403) TM391 2(TM403)+4(TM56,163) TM388a TM388a, 395a 14(TM388a, 395a,403)

6

4 2 3 4 5 4 4 5 4 5

•The East Lithuanian Barrow Fields Pakalniai

7B, Gr2

0

2(TM399)+4(TM10)+ TM198+TM362+TM387a, b+4brP+4brC+3brS

5

Pašekščiai

12B

♀

I: 53(TM403)+16(TM4–55, TM121,TM119); II: SnP

4

Abbreviations: 1 site name; 2 grave number; 3 gender: ♂ male, ♀ female, 0 children, undetermined, H horse; 4 composition of the necklaces: TM amber and glass beads type after Tempelmann-Mączyńska; 5 single amber beads, of raw amber (raw), pendants, spindle whorls (Sp) and chaplets; 6 NAT = the number of artefact types in grave reP = rectangular pendants with curved base; haP = hammer-shaped pendant; UnP = unique amber pendants; Ot = other types; G = glass and glass paste beads of unidentified type; brS = bronze spirals, brB = bronze beads, brP = bronze or AgP silver pendants; brC = bronze or AgC silver cylinders, feP = iron bell-shaped pendants; brP = bronze bucket-shaped pendants, SnP = tin plates, beads and spirals; N = necklace; Sp = spindle whorl B = barrow; Gr = grave; C = cremation; S = stray find.

374

appendices and tables

Table 2: Quantity of amber artefacts in the more comprehensively researched grave fields dated from the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century. 1

2

3

4

5

6

(1–9) The Curonian Grave Fields 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Reketė Sūdėnai Tūbausiai Sakuočiai Užpelkiai Rūdaičiai I Lazdininkai Kurmaičiai Bandužiai

Total: 9

12 22 18 2 153 102 120 10 ≈ 30

51 23 83 2 91 42 84 4 31

3(7) 1(1) 1?(1) 7(11) 6(10) 5(10) 1(2) 2(8)

≈ 469

411

26(50)

1Un(1) 4(23) 5Un(6) 8Un(9) 8(29) 1(2) 27(70)

2(4) 4(11) 1(1) 23(133) 8(63) 25(110) 2(6) 4(22) 69(350)

(10) The Lamatian Grave Fields 10(1) Rubokai

86

51

12(29)

2(26)+1Un(2) 6(29)

Total:

86

51

12(29)

2(26)+1Un(2) 6(29)

•(11–14) 11(1) 12(2) 13(3) 14(4)

Vidgiriai Barzūnai Greižėnai Sodėnai

Total: 4

The Scalvian Grave Fields

435 223 16 17

63 24 18 3

19(52) 5(71) 6(6) 2(17)

5(62) 1(2)+1Un(1)

22(321) 11(149) 4(10)

691

108

32(146)

7(65)

37(480)

(15–22) The Samogitian Grave Fields 15(1) 16(2) 17(3) 18(4) 19(6) 20(6) 20(7) 21(8) 22(9)

Maudžiorai Naujasis Obelynas Pagrybis Šarkai Žviliai Paprūdžiai Kairėnėliai Sauginiai Lieporiai12

Total: 9

77 2 44 2 79 14 13 40 39

118 2 217 18 152 24 30 36 95

310

692

1(2) 13(14) 1(1) 22(46) 5(7)

7(10) 1(1)

13(20)

11(15)

1(1) 4Un(5)

14(33) 2(5) 4(13) 8(39) 13(19)

53(85)

15(19)

54(129)

1(1)+1Un(1)

12 Most of the grave field material from Lieporiai belongs to the fifth to early seventh centuries.

appendices and tables

375

Table 2 (cont.) 1

2

•(23–24)

3

4

5

6

The Semigallian Grave Fields

23(1) Šašiai 24(2) Jauneikiai

4 5

5 27

1(4) 4(5)

Total: 2

9

32

5(9)

(25–32) The Central Lithuanian (Upland Lithuanians) Grave Fields 25(1) 26(2) 27(3) 28(4) 29(5) 30(6) 31(7) 32(8)

Upytė Pernarava Kalniškiai Plinkaigalis Rupunionys Seredžius Marvelė Obeliai

Total: 8

11 5 392 557 3 12 387 2

51 29 230 361 6 8 ? 90

1369

775

1(11)

20(49)

2(5) 13Un(18) 30(91) 1Un(3) 1(10) 6(44)

65(167)

53(171)

27(61) 18(57)

45(313) 33(409) 1(2) 29(294) 1(2) 110(1031)

(33–38) The East Lithuanian Barrows 33(1) 34(2) 35(3) 36(4) 37(5) 38(6)

Baliuliai Pavajuonys-Rėkučiai Liūlinė III Žvirbliai Riklikai Diktarai

Total: 6

182 1 13 46 21 1

16 1 2 3 26 10

264

58

2(182) 1(1) 1(3)

1(10) 2(45)

1(1) 2(4)

3(55)

1(1) 2(20) 1(1) 7(205)

Abbreviations: 1 running number and site name; 2 total amount of amber in the site; 3 total amount of graves; 4 amount of men’s graves containing amber (in brackets is the amber amount in graves); 5 amount of children’s or undetermined person’s (Un) graves containing amber (in brackets is the amber amount in the graves); 6 amount of women’s and girls’ graves containing amber (in brackets is the amber amount in the graves).

376

appendices and tables Table 3: Amber in horse graves during the late Roman period to the Migration period. 1

2

3

4

5

6

The West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture (late Roman period) 2 Lazdininkai 7 3 Baitai 22

HoL

31♂

HoH

HoH/66/2000 1 raw Ho + 2(TM395a)+ Ho 388+468+30b + 3TM395a+ Hu and Ho 3TM47,126

The Early Curonian culture (Migration period) 4 Užpelkiai

2

HoH

2(raw)

Ho

The Lamatian Grave Fields (Migration period) 5 Rubokai

10 horses with ♂ grave goods

Sk?

+

2

?

•The Scalvian Grave Fields (Migration period) 6 Barzūnai

7 Vidgiriai

5♂

HoL

+

2+brS

15♂

Sk

+

2

18♂ 23 36♂

HoH + Hls + 2HoH +

1 2 2

On a horse mane Close to bridle bits Ho Ho Ho

Abbreviations: 1 running number and site name; 2 human or horse grave number, human gender (♂, ♀, 0 children, ? undetermined); 3 horse in human grave: head only (HoH); horse head and legs (HoL), skeleton (Sk), head, legs and skin (Hls); 4 single horse grave in association with human (head only (HoH); skeleton (Sk)); 5 amber artefacts; 6 amber associated with horse (Ho); amber associated with human (Hu); unclear whether amber associated with human or horse (?).

appendices and tables

377

Table 4: Amounts of amber in the Samogitian and the Semigallian grave fields of the eighth to twelfth centuries. 1

2

3

4

5

206 272 203 24 106 71 17

28 67 34 10 34 30 7

47 86 54 15 46 47 12

899

210

307

621 27? 16 149 92 440 25 105 134

17 1 5 18 8 13 4 4 5

19 3 6 21 8 14 9 5 5

1609

75

90

(1–7) The Samogitian Grave Fields 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Maudžiorai Bikavėnai Žąsinas Žviliai Upyna Paragaudis Paluknys (Jasnagurka)

Kelmė, LT Šilutė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Šilalė, LT Raseiniai, LT

Total: 6

•(8–16) The Semigallian Grave Fields 8(1) Dreņģeri–Čunkāni 9(2) Ciemalde Jaunsvirlaukas 10(3) Papilė 11(4) Pavirvytė-Gudai 12(5) Diržiai 13(6) Jauneikiai 14(7) Stungiai 15(8) Jakštaičiai-Meškiai 16(9) Šukionys Total: 9

Dobeles, LV Jelgavas, LV Akmenė, LT Akmenė, LT Pakruojis, LT Joniškis, LT Joniškis, LT Šiauliai, LT Pakruojis, LT

Abbreviations: 1 running number and site name; 2 district and country; 3 number of researched graves; 4 number of graves containing amber; 5 amount of amber artefacts LT = Lithuania; LV = Latvia.

378

appendices and tables Table 5: The Curonian cremation burials connected with amber. 1

2

3

4

5

6

%

Bandužiai Genčai I Genčai II Gintališkė Girkaliai Jazdai Kretinga Kiauleikiai Laiviai Lazdininkai Palanga Pryšmančiai Siraičiai

1 4 4 2 8 1 2 0 10 29 20 3 3

2 8 6 3 19 1 3 0 20 44 32 3 3

0,50 0,50 0,67 0,67 0,42 1,00 0,67

29 72 25 59 39 13 51 6 105 111 138 51 21

1 4 4 2 8 1 2 0 10 29 20 3 3

3,45 5,56 16,00 3,39 20,51 7,69 3,92 0,00 9,52 26,13 14,49 5,88 14,29

0,50 0,66 0,63 1,00 1,00

Abbreviations: 1 running number and site name; 2 number of cremations containing amber; 3 amount of amber artefacts; 4 ratio; 5 number of researched burials in the grave field; 6 number of cremations containing amber; 7 percentage of researched burials containing amber.

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INDEX Abkhazia, 114 Adriatic Sea, 82 Agrippa Marcus Vipsanius, General of Roman Army, 19n13, 55 Adl. Heydekrug, township, 12 see Šilutė Aestii, Aestiorum gentes, 35n2, 40, 40n3, 41n7, 50, 202, 339 Aestii, 17–19, 21–29, 35, 35n2, 38–40, 40n3, 41n6, 43, 47–51, 51n46, 52, 54, 54n55, 55, 70, 73, 80, 81, 98, 108 fig. 39, 109, 113, 121, 123–126, 135–141, 145, 147, 149, 152–156, 159, 160, 162, 168, 171, 172, 174, 176–179, 181, 182, 185, 186, 188–197, 199, 202, 204, 205, 210–212, 336–346 Aestii, Haestii, Hestii, Esti, Haisti, Eistir, 35n2, 210, 345 see Aestii/Balts, see Balts Aestii cultures, cultural groups, 35n2, 38, 52, 80, 98, 121, 123, 135–139, 141, 147, 152–156, 162, 171, 174, 176–178, 182, 185, 186, 188–190, 194–197, 200, 202, 341, 343, 345 see Bogaczewo culture, Central Lithuanian Grave Fields, Collective Barrows culture, Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture, East Lithuanian Barrows culture, Lower Neman Grave Fields, Southwestern Latvian Burial Sites, Southeastern Lithuanian Burial Sites, West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture, Sudovian culture Aestii society structure Chieftains, tribal leaders, military leaders, 26, 27, 155, 156, 159, 179, 180, 196, 343 Dependent people, 156, 342 Highest social strata, 73, 82n102, 86, 150, 151, 153, 156, 157n270, 178, 181, 203, 237, 255, 342 Lower social status, 140, 150, 156, 157, 342 Nobility, 65, 155, 156, 157, 178, 196, 211, 212, 252, 342 Noblewomen, 73, 75, 88, 340 Pagan priests, 27, 156 Slaves, 156, 194, 195, 344

Afterlife, 38, 49, 80, 139, 153, 167, 169, 181, 182, 224, 236, 284, 330 Aistmarės Spit, 10 fig. 3 see Frische Nehrung, Vistula Lagoon Al-Idrisi, Abū Abdu Allāh Muhammad Ibn Muhammad al-Idrīsī, 315 Alkas, 28, 164, 169 see sacred places Alexandria, 52 see Ptolemy Agricola, Gnaeus Julius, governor of Britain, 46, 49 Åhus, Scania in Sweden, 256, 323 Amber: Accessibility of, 5, 20, 335, 337 Dzintars, 45n18 Giñtaras, 45, 160 Glesum, glaesum, 35, 40, 41, 41n6, 45, 160, 192, 202, 339 Glēsum, 45n18 Glīsis, gentars, 41n6, 45n18 Amber artefacts as New Year greetings, 82, 82n102 Amber artefacts distribution, 1, 15, 21, 26, 29, 53 fig. 8.1, 66 fig. 14, 68, 68n81, 70 fig. 16, 78, 78n90, 80–82, 86, 88, 91, 92, 119, 123, 126, 132, 135–137, 139, 141, 143, 143n225, 144, 145, 145n229, 146–150, 156n268, 159, 162–165, 168, 170, 171, 185, 197–201, 213, 214 fig. 67; 217, 223, 226, 230, 233, 237, 252–256, 258, 259, 260 fig. 92, 266, 267, 270, 278–289 fig. 115, 290, 293, 297, 301, 303, 304, 307, 312, 313, 315–317, 319, 322, 323, 327, 332, 333, 339–341, 344, 346–349, 351 Amber beads typology, 71 fig. 17, 215–227, 216 fig. 68, 217 fig. 69, 219 fig. 70, 262 fig. 93, 288 fig. 114, 310 fig. 130 Basonia bead types, 31, 93, 96, 163, 163n296, 218, 219, 221, 233, 237, 242, 244, 346, 348 Beads with a central bulge, 94, 97, 215, 217, 230, 261, 266, 340 Beads with convex sides (paukenförmige), 95, 98, 340 Beads with incised concentric lines, 96, 98, 340

408

index

Bi-truncated conical spherical beads, 92, 94, 138n218, 151, 215, 217, 230, 236, 237, 242, 261, 266, 267, 284, 297, 305, 307, 310, 312, 317, 327, 330, 340, 346–350 Cylindrical beads, 94–97, 217, 218, 226, 230, 261, 297, 307, 340, 349 Flattened spherical beads, 94, 137, 151, 215, 340 Irregularly-shaped beads, 102, 340 Step-cut beads, 94, 102, 105, 221, 223 Amber-bearing sediments, 5, 6 fig. 1, 335 Re-deposited amber, 6 fig. 1 Amber deposits of Sambia in Kaliningradskaia oblast, 6 fig. 1, 8, 141n222, 315, 335 see Kaliningrad region of Russia Amber bibliography, 15, 15n2, 16 Amber colours, 9, 41n6, 50, 60n71, 92, 138, 139, 164, 167, 169, 255, 316, 341 Amber crosses, 319, 324, 325 fig. 136, 333, 351 Amber deposits of Chłapowo, Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 6 fig. 1 Amber deposits of Grodno, Grodno region in Belarus, 6 fig. 1 Amber deposits of Obuchov, Kiev region in Ukraine, 6 fig. 1 Amber figures of animals, 82, 136, 179, 191, 317, 318 fig. 133, 322 Amber figures of humans, 82n102, 84, 86, 179, 319, 321, 321 fig. 135 Amber-gatherers, 7 fig. 2, 21, 26, 149, 162, 165, 167, 204, 212, 254, 337, 343 Amber inlays, 88 Amber islands, 21, 45, 192 Austeravia, Island, 45, 149 Glaesaria, Island, 45, 149 Amber Land, 32, 34, 338 see Land of amber Amber lumps, 27, 32, 32n78, 59, 68, 68n82, 92, 138, 143n225, 163, 163n296, 169, 170 Amber manufacturing process: Handmade, 71 fig. 17, 92, 100, 119, 147, 151, 215, 216 fig. 68, 223, 261, 297, 307, 323, 340, 346 Semi-lathed, 71 fig. 17, 92, 93, 96, 97, 102, 119, 134, 151, 181, 213–215, 216 fig. 68, 217, 218, 221, 255, 259, 261, 297, 307, 323, 327, 340, 346, 347, 349 Lathe-turned, 71 fig. 17, 86, 91, 93, 94, 97, 100, 105, 147, 151, 181, 197, 198, 213, 215, 216 fig. 68, 218, 221, 233, 252, 259, 310, 323, 347, 349 Amber Museum in Palanga, 15n1

Amber pendants typology, 108 fig. 39, 273 fig. 102, 274 fig. 103, 277 fig. 106, 295 fig. 119, 296 fig. 120, 297, 320 fig. 134 Beetles, 27, 120, 121n162 Bees, 27, 121n162 Capsules, 132, 133, 168, 341 Chafers, 27, 121n162 Crescent-shaped pendants, 136 Comb-shaped, 28, 272, 273 fig. 102, 274 fig. 103, 278, 279, 301, 316, 348 Drop-shaped pendants, 132 Egyptian scarabs, 27, 121n162 Figure of eight-shaped, 28, 94, 113–115, 119–123, 134, 153, 224, 340 Hammers, staffs, clubs and axes shaped pendants, polyhedral cylindrical pendants, 123, 124, 125, 132, 168, 281, 294, 303, 319, 340 see Perkūnas, see Thor, Donar Amber pieces, 148n241, 213, 290, 303, 304, 312, 316, 341, 346 see raw amber Amber qualities, 181, 236, 349 Antiseptic, electrostatic, incense, medicinal, 28, 41, 149, 149n244, 167, 168, 181, 272 Amber Routes, 1, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23 fig. 4, 24, 34, 56, 60, 64, 84, 190, 191, 199, 200, 202, 236, 257, 336, 344, 345, 349 see Black Sea Route, see Eastern Route, see Route of the Goths Amber spindle whorls, 92, 137, 137n211, 137n212, 138, 138n218, 169, 213, 226, 226n45, 227 fig. 74, 233, 234 fig. 79, 235 fig. 80, 266, 281, 284, 286 fig. 112, 293, 304, 307, 307n153, 320 fig. 134, 324, 341, 346, 348 Amber trade, 2, 15–17, 19, 20, 22, 23 fig. 4, 24–26, 29, 30, 44, 46, 47, 58, 62, 80, 84, 86, 139, 141, 148, 156, 161, 175, 191–194, 200, 202, 211, 253, 279, 313, 315, 317, 335–337, 343, 344 Amber trade mission, 17, 18, 58, 59n67, 60, 62–68, 171, 193, 199, 339 Amber workshops, 25, 57 fig. 9, 58, 72, 86, 88, 91, 93, 94, 131, 138, 152, 163, 170, 194, 200, 201, 214, 221, 252, 254, 290, 322, 324, 333, 340, 344, 347, 351 Amber workshops and places of salt extraction at: Inowrocław, Kuiavian-Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 57 fig. 9 Jacewo, Kuyavian-Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 57 fig. 9, 215

index Konary, Kuyavian-Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 57 fig. 9, 214, 218 Krusza Zamkowa, Kuiavian-Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 57 fig. 9 Łojewo, Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 57 fig. 9, 214, 218 Amber-using traditions, 2, 28, 45, 72 fig. 18, 139, 148, 154, 167, 230, 240 fig. 83, 242 fig. 85, 253, 258, 303, 335–337, 350 Amulets, bead-amulets, 2, 26, 27, 82, 84, 86, 123, 124, 136, 139, 146, 149, 167, 168, 169, 206, 213, 224, 226, 230, 236, 242, 244, 245, 246, 255, 270, 272, 278, 281, 293, 296, 301, 303–305 fig. 126, 312, 316, 318, 319, 321, 330, 331, 332, 340, 346, 350 Antique world, 28, 182, 201 Aquileia, 82, 83 fig. 24, 84, 85 fig. 25, 86, 135, 168 Aquileia amber workshops, 82, 83 fig. 24, 84, 85 fig. 25, 135 Aquincum, Budapest, 57 fig. 9 Archaeological evidence, 2, 3, 18, 19, 26, 27, 28, 30, 44, 46, 51, 52, 63n75, 80, 91, 145, 151, 154, 156, 189, 191, 203, 233, 237, 246, 252, 258, 269, 272, 297n139, 335, 337, 339, 341, 342, 347 Ašmena River, 33n82 Augustus, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, 19n15, 161n286 Austria, 58, 236 Avars, Avar Qaganate, 257–258 Azov Sea, 254, 346 Bągart River, 64 fig. 12 Bay of Gdańsk, 22, 254 see Gdańsk Bay Bay of Riga, 333 see Gulf of Riga Balkans, 140, 259 Central Balkans, 114, 219, 254, 331 Baltic amber, 1, 5, 6 fig. 1, 8, 9, 11, 15, 20–22, 316, 335–337 Amber of the Balts, 21, 337 Fossil resin, 5, 8n4, 9, 22, 41, 41n6, 335, 336 Northern gold, 1, 2, 5, 9, 21, 47, 60, 160, 236, 335, 343 Succinite, 1, 5, 8n4, 9, 11, 20, 21, 22, 254, 335–337 Sunny stone, 5 Baltic region, 27, 133, 208, 297, 301, 319, 337, 349 East Baltic region, 91, 203, 92, 122, 154, 297

409

Eastern Baltic region, 2, 16, 18, 20, 21, 30, 40, 46, 51, 52, 57 fig. 9, 66 fig. 14, 68, 120 fig. 48, 123, 134, 137, 139, 150, 154, 157, 171, 172n337, 177, 191, 193, 195, 197, 202, 203, 222 fig. 72, 252, 271, 313, 316, 323, 324, 332, 335, 339, 341 Southern Baltic region, 52, 68, 139, 319 Baltic Sea, 2, 5, 8, 9, 12, 19n15, 21, 28, 32n78, 35, 42, 63, 64, 67 fig. 14, 123, 144, 182, 185, 189, 195, 257, 267, 279, 297, 301, 313, 315, 317, 322, 323, 324, 344, 349 see Suebian Sea Baltic Sea coast, coastline, 19, 31, 50, 58, 86, 159, 165, 171, 185, 201, 206, 212, 257, 290, 335, 337 Baltic Sea islands, 162, 182, 189, 197, 201, 233, 347 Baltic Sea rim, 28, 284, 297, 319, 323 Balts, 21, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 35, 35n1, 35n2, 45, 50, 91, 92, 98, 113, 123, 133, 136, 160, 168, 169, 171, 182, 190, 191, 199, 203, 204, 206, 207, 209, 210, 223, 230, 244, 246, 281, 337, 338, 343, 344, 345 Western Balts, 35, 35n2, 40, 94, 113, 133, 136, 147, 169, 199, 339, 340 Eastern Balts, 21, 35, 338 Balts’ beliefs, 27 Balts’ Religion, 26 Balt lands and their neighbours, 185, 210, 205 fig. 65, 222 fig. 72, 210, 258, 346 Barbaricum, 31, 39, 42, 49, 52, 52n48, 55–57 fig. 9, 58, 62, 63, 84, 86, 91, 94, 94n129, 96, 113, 115, 140, 141, 148–150, 153, 156, 157, 160, 167, 177, 179, 180, 182, 191, 195, 196, 199, 202, 214, 219, 230, 254, 331, 340–342, 345, 346 Barrow fields: Baliuliai, Švenčionys district in Lithuania, 218, 224n44, 246, 247 fig. 87, 249 fig. 89 Diktarai, Anykščiai district in Lithuania, 224, 246, 252 Gibaičiai, Šiauliai district in Lithuania, 188 Liūlinė, Švenčionys district in Lithuania, 246 Muoriškiai, Biržai district in Lithuania, 109 fig. 40, 124 Ogresgala Čabas, Rīgas district in Latvia, 303 Pakalniai, Vilnius district in Lithuania, 77 fig. 22, 78, 95 Paragaudis, Šilalės district in Lithuania, 67 fig. 14, 69 fig. 15, 184 fig. 63, 186 Pašekščiai, Molėtai districtin Lithuania, 102, 103 fig. 34, 147, 151, 152, 223

410

index

Pavajuonys-Rėkučiai, Ignalina district in Lithuania, 112 fig. 43, 223, 248 fig. 88 Paviekiai, Šiauliai district in Lithuania, 76 fig. 21 Plauciškiai, Pakruojis district in Lithuania, 223 Pilviškiai, Vilnius district in Lithuania, 92 Riklikai, Anykščiai district in Lithuania, 224, 246, 251 fig. 91, 252 Sūdėnai, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 98, 132, 223 Szwajcaria, Podlaskie voivodship in Poland, 128 fig. 52, 135 Visėtiškiai, Anykščiai district in Lithuania, 312 Žaduvėnai, Telšiai district in Lithuania, 137 Žvirbliai, Vilnius district in Lithuania, 218, 246, 250 fig. 90 Bastoncelli, distaffs, 82, 83 fig. 24, 84, 86, 88, 89 Belarus, 5, 6 fig. 1, 33n82, 38, 183, 185, 208, 320 fig. 134, 325 fig. 136, 335 Beowulf, poem, 50 Bernsteinbruch bog, 161, 260 fig. 92 Bernsteingruben mine of amber, 11, 161, 259, 260 fig. 92 Birka, emporium, Björkö Island, Mälaren Lake in Sweden, 318 fig. 133, 320 fig. 134, 323 Biskupice, Izdebno Kościelne, Regów, amber workshops, in Poland, 57 fig. 9 Bitterfeld, 8, 8n4 see Halle Black Sea, 19n15, 91, 138, 151, 176, 183, 185, 202, 247, 254, 331, 346 Black Sea Route, 91, 176, 183, 201, 202, 253 see Eastern Route, see Route of the Goths “Blue earth” sediments of, 5, 12, 45, 141n222, 191, 335 Boar, pig, 47, 49 Boar, Gullinbursti, 49 Boar images, 47, 48, 49, 50, 156 Boar shaped brooches, 49 Boar figures, 48, 50 Boars-head standards, carnyxes, war-trumpets, 49 Bogaczewo culture, 8, 37 fig. 5, 38–40, 51, 54, 69, 78, 94, 122, 132, 136, 138, 146, 147, 151, 159, 174, 175, 181, 189, 192, 197, 201, 202, 209, 209n10, 253, 336, 338, 339, 345 see Galindians, see Olsztyn Group

Bohemia, region in central Europe, 154, 294 Bornholm, Island, 114, 162, 189, 221, 246, 256, 257 see Baltic Sea islands Bracelets, 46, 46n26, 233, 247 Brigetio, Szőny, Central Transdanubian region in Hungary, 57 fig. 9 Britain, 46, 48, 49, 245 Britons, 40, 46 Bronze Age, 18, 20, 22, 23 fig. 4, 163–165, 168, 194, 333n222 Bronze rosette-shaped tutulus brooches and pins, 88, 90 fig. 28, 102, 157, 191 Bronze spirals, 119 fig. 47, 145, 150, 157, 165, 213, 246, 252, 267, 329 fig. 139, 330, 342 Byzantine Empire, Byzantium, 47n29, 254 Calisia, Καλισία, Trenčín city, Trenčín region in Slovakia, 56 see Leukaristos, Laugaricio/Leugaricio, see Trenčín Capua, province of Caserta in Italy, 189 Carboni, Careotae, 54 see Ptolemy Carnuntum in Pannnonia, PetronellCarnuntum village, Lower Austria, 18, 57 fig. 9, 58, 60, 65, 201 Carpathian Basin, 245, 254, 257, 331, 346 Casimir IV the Jagiellonian, King of Poland, 322n196 Cassiodorus, Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator, 24, 24n38, 210, 211, 345 see Variae Epistolae by Cassiodorus Castellatura, 289 Caucasus, 25 Ceklis Land, historical part of Curonian, 289 Celmiņi Rīga district in Latvia, 315 Celtic culture, 46, 47, 48, 49 Celtic languages, 46 Celtic-style, 46 Central Europe, 48, 140, 200, 202, 259, 345 Central Lithuanian Grave Fields, 37 fig. 5, 38, 146 Champlevé technique, 171, 190 Charon’s Obolus, 182 Chernyakhov culture, Chernyakhov-Sîntana de Mureş culture, 91 114, 122, 123, 132, 138, 151, 183, 185, 202, 247, 340 Chesinos River, 58 see Western Dvina River, see Venta Eiver Christianity, 28, 319, 324, 333, 351

index Chrononis, Chronos River, 58 see Priegolia River, see Neman River, see Nemunas River Chthonic deities, 86 Classic Mayan ceremonial centres, 29 Collective Barrow culture, 37 fig. 5, 38, 145, 146, 174, 175, 177, 178, 183, 188, 198, 207, 338 Cologne, Köln, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, 57 fig. 9, 86 Commentarii de Bello Gallico, The Gallic Wars, by Caesar, 154 Commercia, 18, 59, 62, 63, 199 Commodities, 25, 29, 30, 84, 98, 136, 170, 179, 181, 185, 194, 196, 197, 199, 201, 202, 252, 253, 317, 344, 345, 347 see Luxury goods Commodus, Liucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus, Roman Emperor, 176, 181 Craftspeople, 15n1, 133, 141, 197, 252, 346 Cremation graves, 36, 39, 78n91, 80, 113 fig. 44, 136, 169, 170, 170n326, 206, 207, 224, 244, 272, 278, 281, 283 fig. 110, 297, 301, 304, 304n148, 305, 326, 327, 331, 349, 350 see inhumation graves Crescens, Lucius Aemilius, Roman soldier, sepulchral bas-relief, Baden-Baden, 65 fig. 13 Crimean Peninsula, 25, 114, 222 fig. 72, 247, 254, 256, 256n83, 331, 346 Crook-like pins, 157, 230, 343 Cult of the ancestors, 86, 184, 303 Curonians, 9, 31, 165, 205 fig. 65, 206, 215, 221, 230, 233, 236, 245, 258, 266, 267, 269 fig. 99, 269, 271, 272, 277 fig. 106, 278, 279, 281, 284, 288 fig. 114, 289, 290, 290 fig. 116, 293, 294, 297, 299 fig. 122, 299 fig. 123, 301, 303, 304, 304n148, 311, 313, 315–317, 323, 332, 333, 345, 347, 349, 350, see West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture Curonian Lagoon, 12, 161 Curonian Spit, 164, 177n356, 192, 198 Dacia, 55 see Roman provinces Dagestan, 114 Dalmatia, 150 see Roman provinces Dandales Vecsvirlauks, hoard, Jelgavas district in Latvia, 183 Danube River, 44, 55, 86, 91, 115, 153, 172, 178, 203, 208, 219, 233, 245, 255, 256, 259, 345, 347

411

Daugmale, workshop, 297, 298 fig. 121, 304, 315, 316, 319, 325 fig. 136, 332, 333, 333n222, 349 see Amber workshops Denmark, 8, 321 fig. 135 Descriptio Svebiae, 56 Diana Veteranorum in Algeria, 56n63 Diocletian, Gaius Valerius Diocletianus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, 148, 182 Diplomatic gift, 24, 210, 211 Distaffs, 82, 89, 137n211, 169, 281, 283 fig. 110, 284 Dnieper, Dneper, Borysthenes River, 42n9, 176, 201, 247, 253, 324 Dnieper-Western Dvina waterway, 19n15 Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture, 8, 36, 37 5 fig. 5, 38, 44, 46, 50, 51, 67 fig. 14, 69, 78, 78n91, 80, 81, 93, 94, 98, 134, 138, 139, 141, 144, 146, 155, 159, 170, 176, 177, 186, 188, 188n389, 189, 190, 192, 193, 196–199, 222 fig. 77, 336, 338, 339, 340, 341, 343 see Sambian–Natangian culture Dollkeim-Kovrovo people, Prusians in Middle Ages, 205 fig. 65 Drift amber, 5, 8, 11, 13, 26, 160, 192, 230, 290, 294, 336 Drusus, Claudius Drusus Caesar Germanicus, Commander of Roman Army, Roman Emperor, 45, 46 Druźno, Lake, Warmian-Masurian voivodship, Poland, 61 fig. 11, 63, 64 fig. 12 Drwęca, Drewenz River, 174 Duchy of Prussia, 12 Dubysa River, 199 Dumblynė, Island, Sartai Lake, Rokiškis district, Lithuania, 165, 166 fig. 60, 312, 315 see Sartai, Lake Dzierzgoń, Sorge River, 61 fig. 11, 63 Earle, Timothy K., 30 East Lithuanian Barrows Culture, 37 fig. 5, 209 East Lithuanian Barrows (Lithuanians) in Middle Ages, 205 fig. 65, 209, 222 fig. 72, 345 Eastern Empire, 254 see Byzantine Empire, Byzantium Eastern Prussia, Ostpreußen, 5, 191 Eastern Route, 23 fig. 4, 91, 138, 176, 183, 201, 253 see Route of the Goths, see Black Sea Route

412

index

Eglė, Queen of the Grass Snakes, 33, 33n82, 338 Elbe, Albis River, 45, 49, 52, 55, 56, 62, 114, 115, 122, 132, 140, 153, 182, 186, 189, 341 Elbląg group, 205 fig. 65, 206, 222 fig. 72, 258, 269, 327 Elbląg, Elbing Heights, 61 fig. 11, 62, 116–118 fig. 46.1–3, 206, 351 Emporia, 313, 313n168, 314 fig. 132, 315, 317, 319, 322–324, 332, 349 see markets, marketplaces Ems, Amisis/Amasias River, 45, 55 Eneti, 22, 45 see Veneti, see Venedi (Venethi) England, 5 Eocene Epoch, 5, 22, 335 see Oligocene Epoch Eridanus, Eridanos River, 21, 22, 22n28 see Po River, Rhône River Ermanric, Hermanaricus, king of the Goths, 204 Estonia, 55, 147, 176, 177 Ethnicity of, 44, 50 Europe, 1, 2, 15, 18–20, 24–27, 30, 34, 55, 157, 163, 203, 208, 212, 218, 222 fig. 72, 223, 233, 239n60, 246n66, 253, 254, 259, 324, 327, 331, 346, 350, 351 Central Europe, 21, 22, 48, 140, 194, 200, 202, 219, 259 Eastern Europe, 42n9, 62, 145n229, 195 Northern Europe, 11, 91, 164, 183 Southern Europe, 21, 22, 194, 337 Europe’s geographic centre, 34n89 Exchange, 11, 19, 20, 20n16, 21, 24–26, 28, 29, 39, 67 fig. 14, 79, 141, 152, 155, 155n264, 171, 175, 180, 182, 189, 191, 192, 196, 197, 199, 200, 252, 337, 343, 345 Barter exchange, 26, 179 Exchange equivalents, 19, 194, 202, 337, 343, 344 Exchange network, 19, 22, 200, 344, 345 Exchange systems, 28, 197, 202, 337, 345 Uneven exchange, 20, 155n264, 179, 193, 337 Transactions, 19, 22, 28, 29, 51, 175, 197, 337 Export, 17, 20, 195 Farming economy of, 154, 195, 293, 316 Grain cultivation, 41, 50, 154, 155, 195 Fectio, Vechten, 57 fig. 9 see Utrecht

Fenni, 42n9 see Finno-Ugrians Fennoscandia, 22 Find-spots, 66 fig. 14, 68, 70 fig. 16, 81, 97, 140, 163n294, 171, 172, 175, 176, 183, 184 fig. 63, 188, 214 fig. 67, 218, 230, 245, 246n66, 252, 260 fig. 92, 289 fig. 115, 310, 315, 321 fig. 135, 346, 349 Finno-Ugrians, 35, 50, 55, 136, 303, 338 see Tarand-Graves culture France, 22n28, 46 Frederikskavn, Nordjylland region in Denmark, 321 fig. 135 Freya, Norse mythology goddess of love and fertility, 294, 317, 321 Frisian islands, 5, 45, 86, 192 Frisian Wadden Sea islands, 45 Frische Nehrung, Vistula Lagoon, 10 fig. 3, 63 see Aistmarės Spit Folk culture, folk tales, 28, 32, 33, 33n82, 338 see Eglė, Queen of the Grass Snakes Forgeries, 34 Amber bead necklace from “Kakovata in Greece”, 34 “Assyrian” amber statuette, 34 Cuneiform of Ninevia in Iraq, 34 Fossil resin, 5, 9, 335, 336 Frombork, Frauenburg, hoard, Warmian-Masurian voivodship in Poland, 212 Funen, Island, 114, 162, 189, 256 see Baltic Sea islands Funeral feast, 47, 301 Funeral rites, 16, 25, 36, 39, 44, 206, 207, 236, 303, 336, 337 Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman, 154 see Commentarii de Bello Gallico Galba, Servius Sulpicius Galba, Roman Emperor, 67 fig. 14 Gallienus, Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus, Roman Emperor, 185n382 Galindians (Γαλίυδαί, Galindite, Galindiae), 8, 54, 209, 209n10, 336 see Bogaczewo culture, see Olsztyn Group Gaul, Gallia Narbonensis, Cisalpine Gallia, 46 see Roman provinces Gdańsk Bay, 9, 10 fig. 3, 164, 192, 336 Gdańsk, Danzig in Poland, 320 fig. 134, 322n196, 322–324, 325 fig. 136, 336

index Geographikè Hyphégesis by Ptolemy, 52 Gepids, Gepidian people 38, 235 fig. 80 see Goths Germania by Tacitus, 17, 35n2, 40, 40n5, 42, 43, 154 Germanic Iron Age, 257, 313n168 Germanic territories: Germania, 17, 18, 19, 55, 56, 58, 59–60, 60n69, 62, 171, 339 Germania Magna, 45 Germanic people, 28, 42, 42n9, 44, 45, 48, 84, 122–124, 149, 150, 152, 154, 160, 182, 245, 255, 256 Germanic tribes, 40, 44, 154, 155, 179, 180, 182, 185, 202, 255 Germany, 87 fig. 26, 89 fig. 27, 89, 90 fig. 28, 162, 195, 318 fig. 133, 320 fig. 134, 323, 360n6 Gilton, Kent in United Kingdom, 125 Gimbutas, Marija, 3, 26 Gintaro įlanka, “Amber Bay”, 161 Gintaro kalnas, “Amber Hillock”, 161 Gintaro pelkė, “Amber Bog”, 161 Glass beads, 73, 76 fig. 21, 78, 80, 91, 94, 95, 122, 145, 146, 151, 152, 157, 162, 163, 165, 172, 172n336, 183, 185, 189, 194, 213, 215, 243, 244, 252, 257, 268, 293, 294, 297, 301, 304, 307n152, 311, 312, 319, 322, 328, 330, 331, 340, 342, 344, 350 Glesum Epoch, 17, 19, 20, 31, 35, 38, 46, 62, 80n91, 86, 96, 122, 136, 171, 172n337, 174–176, 182, 207, 340–344 see Roman period Gołdap area, 39, 51, 135, 190, 114 fig. 45 Gotland, Island, 162, 189, 233, 246, 269, 271, 271n106, 278, 281, 294, 295 fig. 119, 296 fig. 120, 297, 313, 347 see Baltic Sea islands God Teutates, 49 Górki, West Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 322 Goryn River, 201 Goths, 9, 38, 44, 80, 81, 91, 204, 204, 212, 336 see Gepids Grass Snake King, 33, 33n82, 338 see Queen of the Grass Snakes Grave fields: Aizkraukle, Aizkraukle district in Latvia, 303 Akmeniai, Kelmė district, Lithuania, 333, 334 fig. 140 Aleyka–3, Jaugehnen, Kaliningrad region in Russia, 80, 80n93, 96, 122, 153

413 Baitai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 99 fig. 30, 109 fig. 40, 119 fig. 47, 120, 121n162, 134, 143, 144, 153, 170, 188, 215, 226n45, 227 fig. 74 Bandužiai, Klaipėda city in Lithuania, 73, 74–75 fig. 20, 119 fig. 47, 126 fig. 50, 134, 143, 152, 170, 293n129, 300 fig. 124 Barzdūnai, Šilutė district in Lithuania, 144 Barzūnai, Pagėgiai district in Lithuania, 67 fig. 14, 207, 224, 224n44, 236, 237 Barvai, Šilutė district in Lithuania, 144 Bāļas–Śķērstaiņi, Dobeles district in Latvia, 307, 310 Berčiūnai, Panevėžys city in Lithuania, 224 Biharkeresztes-Kisfarkasdomb in Hungary, 235 fig. 80 Bikavėnai, Šilutė district in Lthuania, 304n148, 307n153, 307n155, 308 fig. 128 Boćwinka, Alt-Bodschwingken, Podlaskie voivodship in Poland, 114 fig. 45, 136 Bol’shoe Isakovo, Kaliningrad region, Russia, 122, 188n391 Cieple, Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 267 Chrustal’noje, Wiekau, Kaliningrad region in Russia, 134 Dauglaukis, Tauragė district in Lithuania, 53 fig. 8.2, 73 fig. 19, 97, 134, 138, 139, 140 fig. 56, 141, 143 fig. 58, 144, 145 Daukšaičiai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 265 fig. 97 Diržiai, Pakruojis district in Lithuania, 221 Doles Rauši, Rīgas district in Latvia, 303 Doles Vampenieši I and II, Rīgas district in Latvia, 303 Dollkeim-Kovrovo, Kaliningrad region in Russia, 78, 78n91, 80, 340 Dvyliai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 261, 264 fig. 95 Eiguliai, Kaunas city in Lithuania, 95 Ėgliškiai–Anduliai, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 143, 289 Genčai I, Kretinga district in Lithuania 269 fig. 99, 270 fig. 100, 276 fig. 105, 277 fig. 106, 282 fig. 109, 286 fig. 112, 289, 292 fig. 118, 293, 302 fig. 125 Gintališkė, Plungė district in Lithuania, 169, 293

414

index

Gintarai, Kretinga district, Lithuania, 131 fig. 55, 143, 144, 159n273, 161 Girkaliai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 293 Grebieten, Kreis Frischausen, now Kaliningrad region in Russia, 95, 122, 134, 159, 188n389, 188n391 Greižėnai, Tauragė district in Lithuania, 207 Griežė, Mažeikiai district in Lithuania, 169, 277 fig. 106, 283 fig. 110 Grötlingbo, Halla, Hellvi, Hemse, Västerhejde cemeteries on Gotland, 295 fig. 119, 296 fig. 120 Grunajki, Gruneyken, WarmianMazurian voivodship in Poland, 95 Haßleben, Thüringen in Germany, 88, 89 fig. 27, 90 fig. 28 Hódmezővásárhely–Kishomok in Hungary, 255 Yläne inWestern Finland, 320 fig. 134 Jakštaičiai, Šiauliai district in Lithuania, 311 fig. 131 Jauneikiai, Joniškis district in Lithuania, 223, 224, 307 Järrestad, Simris, Löderup cemeteries in southeastern Sweden, 154 Jogučiai, Jogučiai–Spirkiai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 143, 184 fig. 63, 188 Jurgaičiai, Šilutė district in Lithuania, 261, 263 fig. 94 Kairėnėliai, Radviliškis district in Lithuania, 243 fig. 86 Kalniškiai, Raseiniai district in Lithuania, 217, 221, 223, 224, 237, 239, 243 fig. 86, 245 Kašučiai, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 143, 277 fig. 106, 287 fig. 113, 293 Kiauleikiai, Kretinga ditrict in Lithuania, 293 Kiduliai, Šakiai district in Lithuania, 221, 224 Kretinga, Kretinga city in Lithuania, 291 fig. 117, 317 Kosewo, Kossewen, Warmian-Mazurian voivodship in Poland, 125 Krośno, Krossen, Kreis Preußisch Holland, Ostpreußen, now in Poland, 135 Kurmaičiai, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 115, 143, 189, 226n45 Kurmaičiai-Pajuodupis, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 226n45, 268 Kuršiai, Kelmė district in Lithuania, 67 fig. 14, 69 fig. 15, 172

Laiviai, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 268 fig. 98, 269 fig. 99, 289, 293, 297 Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis), Kretinga district in Lithuania, 96, 97, 102 fig. 33, 109 fig. 40, 111 fig. 42, 122, 125, 126, 129 fig. 53, 131, 131n184, 132, 137, 137n212, 143, 144, 151, 181, 191, 198, 215, 217, 226, 226n45, 227 fig. 74, 228 fig. 75, 230, 232 fig. 78, 267, 268 fig. 98, 271, 273 fig. 102, 274 fig. 103, 275 fig. 104, 278, 279 fig. 107, 280 fig. 108, 281, 285 fig. 111, 287 fig. 113, 289, 293, 317 Lieporiai, Šiauliai city in Lithuania, 226, 245, 304, 305 Marvelė, Kaunas city in Lithuania, 95, 96, 98, 100 fig. 31, 102, 104 fig. 35, 146, 151, 220 fig. 71, 221, 223, 224, 237, 245, 312n163, 328, 329 fig. 139 Maudžiorai, Kelmė district in Lithuania, 124, 133, 226 Mautern, Mautern am Donau in Lower Austria, 236 Medzes Kapsēde, Liepāja district in Latvia, 96, 133, 134, 143, 144, 150, 218n29 Mikužiai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 186, 187 fig. 64 Mockaičiai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 161, 259, 265 fig. 97 Modla, Mazowian voivodship in Poland, 125 Naujasis Obelynas, Šilalė district in Lithuania, 101 fig. 32 Netta, Podlaskie voivodship in Poland, 113 fig. 44 Niederzier-Hambach, NordrheinWestfalen in Germany, 87 fig. 26 Noruišiai, Kelmė district in Lithuania, 184 fig. 63, 186 Nørre Sandegård Vest, Bornholm, in Denmark, 246 Nukši, Ludzas district in Latvia, 312 Obeliai, Ukmergė district in Lithuania, 221, 240 fig. 83, 330 Pagrybis, Šilalė district in Lithuania, 226, 227 fig. 74, 242 fig. 85 Padvariai, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 66 fig. 14, 68, 130 fig. 54, 138, 143 Pakalniškiai, Šakiai district in Lithuania, 67 fig. 14, 137n212, 226n45, 227 fig. 74, 266, 327, 328 fig. 138, 328 Palanga, Palanga city in Lithuania, 127 fig. 51, 134, 143, 158 fig. 59, 159, 169,

index 269 fig. 99, 271 fig. 101, 271, 273 fig. 102, 277 fig. 106, 279, 280 fig. 108, 281, 286 fig. 112, 289, 290, 291 fig. 117, 293, 316 Paluknys, Jasnagurka, Raseiniai district in Lithuania, 261 Panevėžiukas, Kaunas district in Lithuania, 221 Papilė, Akmenė district in Lithuania, 311 Paprūdžiai, Kelmė district in Lithuania, 96, 218, 242 fig. 85 Paupinis, Medsėdžiai, Šilalė district in Lithuania, 286 fig. 112 Pavirvytė-Gudai, Mažeikiai district in Lithuania, 304n148, 307n152 Pernarava, Kėdainiai district in Lithuania, 312n163 Pleškučiai–Pangėsai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 143, 189 Plinkaigalis, Kėdainiai district in Lithuania, 96, 100, 122, 132, 217, 218, 224n44, 237, 238 fig. 81, 239 fig. 82, 239, 241 fig. 84, 244 Pokrovskoje, Sorgenau, Kaliningrad region in Russia, 169 Pryšmančiai I, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 293 Pryšmančiai II, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 143 Rimaisai, Panevėžys district in Lithuania, 312n163, 328 Ringuvėnai, Šiaulių district in Lithuania, 223 Rubokai, Šilutė district in Lithuania, 207, 237 Rucavas Mazkatuži, Liepāja district in Latvia, 76 fig. 21, 95, 106 fig. 37, 107 fig. 38, 106 fig. 40, 109 fig. 40, 110 fig. 41, 120 fig. 48, 121 fig. 49, 121, 122, 126, 133, 134, 136, 143, 144, 150, 177, 226n48 Ruseiniai, Kėdainiai district in Lithuania, 312n163, 328 Ruzhichanskii, Khmelnytskyi region in Ukraine, 122 Rūdaičiai I, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 143, 177n356, 221, 230 Salaspils Laukskola, Rīga district in Latvia, 303, 305 fig. 126, 306 fig. 127 Salaspils Lipši, Rīga district in Latvia, 303 Sargėnai, Kaunas city in Lithuania, 237, 67 fig. 14, 69 fig. 15, 76 fig. 21

415 Sauginiai, Šiauliai district in Lithuania, 217, 218, 221–224, 240 fig. 83, 243 fig. 86 Seredžius, Jurbarkas district in Lithuania, 224 Slengiai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 226n45 Smalininkai, Jurbarkas district in Lithuania, 96, 100 Sobĕsuky, Zlin region in Czech Republic, 154 Stragnai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 90 fig. 28, 98, 124, 126 fig. 50, 134, 143, 177n356, 180 fig. 62, 221 Straubing–Bajuwarenstraße I, Bavaria in Germany, 256 Stave, in Norway, 246 Stráže, Krakovany-Stráže in Slovakia, 49 Suuk Su in Crimea Peninsula, 256n83 Šarkai, Šilalė district in Lithuania, 96, 144, 221 Šašiai, Radviliškis district in Lithuania, 224 Šaukėnai, Tauragės district in Lithuania, 207 Šernai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 95, 96, 98, 132, 134, 143, 144, 151, 177n356, 179 Šilininkai, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 143 Šukioniai, Pakruojis district in Lithuania, 311 Tūbausiai, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 226 Ulkowy, Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 79 fig. 23, 124, 133n190 Užpelkiai, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 95 fig. 29, 95–98, 100, 105 fig. 36, 109 fig. 40, 124, 130 fig. 54, 143, 217, 221, 226, 229 fig. 76, 230, 231 fig. 77, 232 fig. 78, 237 Veršvai, Kaunas city, Lithuania, 189, 237, 328 Vidgiriai, Šilutė district in Lithuania, 96, 152, 207, 215, 217 fig. 69, 218, 221, 223, 226n45, 233, 234 fig. 79, 235 fig. 80, 236, 347 Vėluikiai, Tauragė district in Lithuania, 207 Vėžaičiai, Weszeiten, Šilutė district in Lithuania, 261, 263 fig. 94, 265 fig. 96 Viminacium-1 (Burdelj), Viminacium-2 (Više Grobalja), Braničevo district in Serbia, 219 fig. 70

416

index

Viminacium (site Pećine), Braničevo district in Serbia, 135 see Viminacium Weklice, Warmian-Mazurian voivodship in Poland, 61 fig. 11, 116–118 fig. 46 Vilkų kampas, Šilutė district in Lithuania, 261 Zapsė, Lazdijai district in Lithuania, 218, 224n44 Zastaučiai, Mažeikiai district in Lithuania, 223 Žadavainiai, Utena district in Lithuania, 183 Žąsinas, Šilalė districtin Lithuania, 304n148, 307, 307n155, 309 fig. 129 Žviliai, Šilalė district in Lithuania, 93, 122, 132, 144, 224n44, 225 fig. 73, 240 fig. 83, 261 Graves, 26, 27, 38, 39, 72, 75, 78n91, 80n93, 81, 84, 88, 91, 92, 98, 123, 124, 137n211, 138, 139, 141, 144, 145, 145n229, 146, 147, 149–151, 153, 157, 159, 160, 168–170n324, 175–179, 182, 207, 213, 218, 224, 226, 230, 233, 236, 237, 239, 244, 246, 252, 254, 255, 261, 267, 269, 279, 289, 294, 297n139, 303, 327, 333, 343, 346, 348, 350, 351 Great Mazurian Lakes, 8, 38, 39, 98, 174, 190, 209, 221, 223, 256, 258, 336, 338 Greek, 17, 18, 22, 22n28, 45, 50, 52, 54, 56, 176 Grobiņa, Seeburg, Seleburg, Sőburg emporium, Liepaja district in Latvia, 313 Grodno, Belarus, 6 fig. 1, 320 fig. 134, 324 Gross Strömkendorf, MecklenburgVorpommern in Germany, 322 Gudme, Funen in Denmark, 162, 256 Gulf of Riga, 5, 11, 146, 175, 335 Habitation sites, 20, 26, 58, 62, 65, 68, 80, 143, 145, 163, 168, 170, 175, 183, 185, 193n416, 198, 199, 203, 254, 289, 290, 296, 312, 313, 315–317, 319, 332, 337 Bandužiai-Žardė settlement, Klaipėda city in Lithuania, 143, 170, 316 Birutė Hillock, hill-fort, Palanga city in Lithuania, 170, 289, 316 Eketė, hill-fort, Klaipėda district in Lithuania, 316, 317 Juodonys hill-fort, Rokiškis district in Lithuania, 312 Kābeļu Ikšķile municipality in Latvia 316 Romai–Zeigai, settlement 170, 316

Pajauta, Kernavė, Širvintai district in Lithuania, 183 Sosnowiec, settlement, Poznan voivodship in Poland, 170 Stančiai, Jogučiai, settlement, Klaipėda district, Lithuania, 143, 170 Turdvaris fill-fort, Rokiškis district, in Lithuania, 312 Hadrian, Publius Aelius Trajanus Hadrianus Augustus, Roman Emperor, 161n286, 179 Halle, 8 Hallstatt period, 47 Haßleben–Luena–Zakrzów (Sackrau) culture Group, 88, 132 Helgoland, Island of North Sea, 24 Hedeager, Lotte, 145n229 Hedeby, Haithabu, Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, 168, 315, 318 fig. 133, 320 fig. 134, 321 fig. 135, 323 Heiligen Aa River, 12 see Šventoji River Helgö, Island, Mälaren Lake in Sweden, 323 Heliogabalus, Publius Aelius Trajanus Hadrianus Augustus Heliogabalus, Roman Emperor, 148n241 Heracles staff-type pendant-amulets, 124 Hermanaricus, 204 see Ermanric Herodotus, historian, 17 History by Herodotus, 17 Hydraulic extraction, 8, 192 Hypatian Chronicle, Ипатьевская летопись, 47, 47n29 see Sovius mythic narrative Homer, 17 Odyssey by Homer, 17 Horse graves, 39, 208, 266, 317, 324, 326 fig. 137, 327, 328 fig. 138, 329 fig. 139, 330, 331, 350 Horse grave fields Barinė, Panevėžys district in Lithuania, 329 fig. 139, 330 Graužiai, Kėdainiai district in Lithuania, 328, 329 fig. 139 Marvelė, Kaunas city in Lithuania, 328, 329 fig. 139 Pakalniškiai, Šakiai district in Lithuania, 266, 327, 328 fig. 138, 328 Horse’s ritual parts, 36, 38, 152, 159, 237, 343 Horse sacrifices, 38, 327, 351 Horse inhumation graves, 39, 208, 326 fig. 137, 327, 351

index Hungary, 25, 89, 153, 222 fig. 72, 235 fig. 80 Hunnic Empire, 245, 253, 254 Huns, 208, 245, 253 Iberian Peninsula, 114 Iconography, 48, 49, 186 Indo-European roots, 46 Inhumation graves, 36, 38–40, 78, 78n91, 80, 189, 207–209, 246, 247, 281, 327, 349 see cremation graves Inowrocław, amber workshop in Poland, 57 fig. 9 see Amber workshops Jacewo, amber workshop in Poland, 57 fig. 9, 215 see Amber workshops Jakuszowice amber workshop, Świętokrzyskie voivodship in Poland, 246n66 see Amber workshops Jankauskas, Rimantas, 73n86 Jantarny amber mine, 5, 5n2 Jarszewo, West Pomerania voivodship in Poland, 322 Jaungulbene hoard, Valmiera district in Latvia, 19n15 Jokūbonis, Gediminas, 34n89 Jordanes, Roman historian, 204, 205 Jucevičius, Liudvikas Adomas, 32, 32n78, 338 Julianus, organizer of gladiators’ games, 59, 59n67, 60 Juodkrantė (Neringa city, Lithuania), 12, 67 fig. 14, 161, 164, 177n356 see Schwarzort Jutland Peninsula, 8, 11, 86, 114, 132, 153, 164, 172, 182, 189, 192, 197, 201, 322, 335 Jūra River, 38, 199 Jūratė and Kastytis narrative, 32, 32n78, 33, 337 Kaliningrad region, Калининградская область in Russia, 5, 5n2, 6 fig. 1, 38, 67 fig. 14, 78n90, 80, 95, 122, 134, 67, 315, 335 Kattegat Bay, 8 Kaunas, city of, Lithuania, 67 fig. 14, 76 fig. 21, 104 fig. 35, 185n382, 189, 237, 329 fig. 139 Kaupang, Skiringssal, market place in Vestfold county in Norway, 321 fig. 135, 168

417

see Marketplaces Kaup-Wiskiauten, Mohovoe emporium, Kaliningrad region in Russia, 315, 315n174 see Marketplaces Poland, 322n196 Kiev, Kyiv in Ukraine, 323 Kiev culture, 253 Klaipėda, city in Lithuania, 12, 74–75 fig. 20, 119 fig. 49, 162, 260 fig. 92, 300 fig. 124 Kołobrzeg, West Pomerania voivodship in Poland, 323, 324 Kolochino culture, 253 Konary, amber workshop, in Poland, 57 fig. 9, 214, 218 see Amber workshops Kraków, Minor Poland, 246n66 Kreis Fischhausen, Zelenogradsk district, Kaliningrad region in Russia, 80, 134 Kretinga, Lithuania, 267, 291 fig. 117, 317, 348 Krusza Zamkowa, amber workshop in Poland see Amber workshops Kuiavia, region (Kuyavia, Kujavia, Kujawy, Kuyavian-Pomeranian) in Poland, 347 Kurpie, ethnic region, Masovian and Podlaskie voivodships in Poland, 93, 192, 316 Kurzeme, region, Latvia, 35 Ladoga, Lake 324 Lamata, Land (Terra Lamata), Klaipėda and Šilutė districts in Lithuania, 9, 11, 31, 161, 206, 258–260 fig. 92, 261, 266, 315, 332, 336, 349 Lamatians, 205 fig. 65, 206, 237, 259, 261, 262 fig. 93, 263 fig. 94, 265 fig. 97, 266, 267, 284 La Tène period, 18, 46, 47, 165, 170 Land of amber, 15, 26, 30, 68, 337 Late Antique, 29, 35, 36, 38, 49, 68n81, 70 fig. 16, 71 fig. 17, 78, 92, 94, 96–98, 100, 102, 108 fig. 39, 113, 123, 130 fig. 54, 131n184, 134, 136–141, 142 fig. 57.1–2, 147, 150, 151, 153, 154, 156, 157, 159, 164, 167, 169, 170, 170n324, 171, 177–179, 182, 184 fig. 63, 185, 188, 190–194, 196, 200–202, 204, 213, 215, 217, 221, 226, 236, 252, 257, 267, 294, 327, 331, 338, 340–343, 345–347, 350 Late Antique imports distribution, 184 fig. 63

418

index

Late Antiquity, 1–3, 8, 9, 11, 13, 16–19, 22, 24, 30, 52, 57 fig. 9, 61 fig. 11, 82, 96, 124, 133, 141, 144, 146, 149, 150, 153–155, 160, 162, 167, 168, 191, 195, 200, 208, 211, 213, 213n21, 217, 223, 335, 336, 340, 343, 346 Late Stroke Decorated Pottery culture, 35, 40, 338 Latvia, 19n15, 21, 36, 38, 53 fig. 8.1., 58, 76 fig. 21, 132, 133, 143, 144, 160, 165, 175–177, 182, 206, 214 fig. 67, 218n29, 289 fig. 115, 305 fig. 126, 306 fig. 127, 307, 312, 313, 315, 325 fig. 136 Latvian coasts, 8, 12, 98, 102, 206 Lithuanian coasts, 12, 13, 17–20, 29, 36, 51n46, 65, 68, 139, 141, 145, 146, 160, 175, 190, 192, 193, 197–199, 201, 222 fig. 72, 224, 230, 237, 294, 336, 337, 339, 341, 343, 346, 347, 348 Legio vigesima Valeria Victrix, XX Victorious Valerian Roman Legion, 49 Leukaristos, Laugaricio, Leugaricio, 56, 56n63, 57 fig. 9 see Trenčín Lemeškin, Ilja, 47n29 Lentia, Linz, Upper Austria, 57 fig. 9 Lielupe, Lielupe-Mūša River, 146, 175, 183, 310 Lilla Bjärge, Gotland Island in Sweden, 246 Linkuhnen, Rzshevskoje, Kaliningrad region in Russia, 315 see Marketplaces Livs, 165, 303, 304, 305 fig. 126 see Finno-Ugrians Longva, village, Sunnmøre district in Norway, 321 fig. 135 Lower Neman Grave Fields, 37 fig. 5, 38, 44, 51, 113, 145, 174, 206, 237, 338, 341 Lower Neman region, 11, 31, 98, 102, 122, 137, 138, 141, 144–146, 150, 152, 156, 160, 177, 181, 190, 196, 198, 199, 206, 207, 215, 217 fig. 69, 218, 221, 222 fig. 72, 223, 226, 230, 233, 233n51, 234 fig. 79, 236, 237, 242, 252, 258, 259, 315, 331, 332, 336, 339, 340, 342, 343, 346–348 Lower Saxony, 172n336 Lublin, Poland, 218 Lugiorum nomen, 38 see Przeworsk culture, see Vandals Lundeborg city (Funen, Denmark), 256 Luxury goods, 1, 28, 41, 52, 58, 82, 86, 155, 181, 202, 344 see commodities

Łojewo, amber workshop, in Poland, 57 fig. 9 see Amber workshops Łyna, Alle River, 35, 338 Magnus, Olaus, map, 10 fig. 3 Main River, 153 Malalas, John (Ioannes), Byzantine chronicler, 47n28 Mälar, Lake, 52, 195 Marcomanni Wars, 56n63, 84, 91, 196 Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, Roman Emperor, 52, 176 Maritime communication, 82, 86, 146, 175, 197, 198, 201, 315 Markets, Marketplaces, 17, 19, 62, 63, 196, 197, 199, 200–202, 213, 313, 315, 332, 343, 344, 349 see Emporia Mazurian Lakes, 8 Masurgermanische Kultur, 209 see Olsztyn group Maximianus, M. Valesius general of, 56n63 see Diana Veteranorum in Algeria Memel, Memele River, 11 see Nemunas, Neman Merchants, 52, 52n48, 58, 189 Pedlars, 155, 156, 178, 179 Roman merchants (negotiatores), 178, 199 Metal pendants, 255, 297, 304 Bronze crescent-shaped, 135, 136 Iron disc-shaped, 151 Mėguva Land, Kretinga district in Lithuania, 270, 289, 293, 294, 348 Middle Ages, 8, 9, 11–13, 15, 16, 26, 28–31, 35n2, 36, 38, 68n81, 92, 125, 130 fig. 54, 150, 162, 165, 167, 168, 170, 192, 205 fig. 65, 206, 207, 215, 236, 244, 288 fig. 114, 294, 297, 301, 304, 310–313n168, 316, 317, 319, 321–323, 325 fig. 136, 326–328, 331, 332, 336, 343, 345, 349, 350, 351 Migration period, 26, 30, 31, 39, 40, 47, 94, 96, 98, 112 fig. 43, 122, 136, 137n212, 146, 152, 153, 199, 204, 206, 208, 215, 224, 226, 236, 255, 256, 345 Migration process, 25, 147, 178, 203, 208, 212, 214n23, 223, 246 Minija River, 143, 144, 193 Młoteczno, Hammersdorf, WarmińskoMazurskie voivodship in Poland, 185, 212

index Moesia, Upper Moesia, 135, 150 see Roman provinces, see Viminacium Mogontiacum, Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany, 57 fig. 9 Monetary system, 179, 194, 344 Montelius, Oscar, 22 Morava River, 60 Moravian Gate, 60 Mother of the Gods, 40, 156 Multi-ethnic community, 152, 233 Murnikaitė, Liucija, 31 Mūša River, 175 Narach, Lake, 208 Narew River, 8, 174 NAT index, 145, 145n229, 156n268, 157n270, 160n279 Natangia Land, Kaliningrad region in Russia, 98 Natisone, Natiso River delta, 82 Naturalis Historia, Natural History by Pliny the Elder, 17, 18, 24, 45, 50, 58, 339 Navarro, Josè Maria de, 22, 23 fig. 4 Necklaces of beads, 27, 72, 73, 75, 76 fig. 21, 78, 80, 88, 95 fig. 29, 115, 119 fig. 47, 120 fig. 48, 122, 126 fig. 50, 132, 133, 135, 140, 141, 142 fig. 57.1., 145, 146, 149n244–153, 156, 157, 159, 168, 213, 218, 223, 224, 230, 231 fig. 77, 232 fig. 78, 233, 234 fig. 79, 235 fig. 80, 236, 237, 239, 243 fig. 86, 244, 246, 252, 255–258, 263 fig. 94, 266, 267, 269 fig. 99, 294, 295 fig. 119, 297, 304, 312, 307n152, 311 fig. 131, 331, 340–343, 346, 347, 348, 349 Neman River, 11, 36, 38, 51, 28, 75, 198, 199, 201, 203, 237, 246, 303, 328, 338, 345, 349 Nemunas River, 11 see Memel, Memele River, see Chronos River, see Rudon River Nemunėlis, Mēmele River, 175 Neolithic period, 20n16, 26, 131n184, 161, 163, 164, 192 Neris, Vilija River, 35, 28, 199, 237, 328, 338 Nero, Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus (Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus), Roman Emperor, 59 fig. 10, 67 fig. 14, 18, 58, 60, 185, 339 Nesselmann, Georg Heinrich Ferdinand, 35n1 Neva River, 324 Nevėžis River, 199 Nydam, bog (Southern Denmark), 245

419

Noricum, Roman province, 57 fig. 9, 174, 182, 190 North Lithuanian and South Latvian Barrows culture, 37 fig. 5, 38 see Collective Barrow culture North Sea, 5, 22, 24 Northern Ocean, 21 Noteć River, 56 Novgorod, Veliky Novgorod, Novgorod region in Russia, 323 Oder, Viadus River, 8, 47, 55, 56, 60, 114, 186, 201 Odin, major god in Norse mythology, 294, 321 Offerings: Booty, 167, 245 Grave goods, 207, 244, 303, 326 Votive, 321 Votive offerings in the water, 28, 133, 160, 162n289, 162–165, 166 fig. 60, 167, 168, 185, 208, 254, 312, 315, 343 Oligocene Epoch, 5, 335 Olsztyn group, 8, 205 fig. 65, 206, 209, 222 fig. 72, 252, 253, 256, 258, 269, 336 see Bogaczewo culture, see Galindians Opole (Opole voivodship, Poland), 57 fig. 9 Orlovichi hoard (Grodnenskii district, Belarus), 185 Ossioi, 54, 54n55 see Ptolemy Ostrogoths, 204, 212 see Gepids, see Goths Ots, Mirja, 147n236 Öland, Island, 162, 221, 233, 245, 347 see Baltic Sea islands Palmnicken, amber mine, 5 see Jantarny amber mine Pannonia, Roman province, 45, 57 fig. 9, 58, 59–60n69, 65, 150, 172, 174, 182, 190, 200 Pannonian Plain, 233, 257, 347 Pasłęka, Passarge River, 35, 51, 55, 75, 80, 132, 135, 162, 181, 205, 212, 338, 343 Paviken, Lake in Gotland, Sweden, 323 Pen’kovka culture, 253 Perkūnas, Thunder God, 32n78, 33, 123–125, 132, 168, 340 see hammers, staffs, axes, see Thor, Donar Phaethon, hero of Greek legend, 18, 22n28 Philemon, Greek geographer, 50 Pine, Pinus succinifera, 5 Pit-Comb Ware culture, 20n16

420

index

Pliny the Elder, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 22n28, 24, 40, 45, 5–52, 52n50, 55, 58, 59n67, 59–60n69, 60n71, 62, 65, 68, 70, 73, 78, 82, 82n102, 149, 149n244, 154, 155, 170, 171, 193, 200, 211, 339, 344 see Naturalis Historia, Natural History Po River, 22n28 Poland, 5, 6 fig. 1, 8, 38, 39, 48 fig. 7, 56, 67–68 fig. 14, 79 fig. 23, 80, 93, 95, 113 fig. 44, 114 fig. 45, 116–118, figs. 46.1–3, 125, 128 fig. 52, 135, 136, 162, 165, 168, 170, 185, 185–186n382, 188n389, 192, 212, 218, 220 fig. 71, 254, 267, 315, 316, 318 fig. 133, 320 fig. 134, 323, 325 fig. 136, 333, 335, 338 Polock in Belarus, 320 fig. 134, 324, 325 fig. 136 Pomerania, 132, 162, 172, 182, 221, 223, 254, 322n196 Poppaea Sabina, wife of Roman Emperor Nero, 60n71 Porskær in Denmark, 245 Prague type brooches, 253 Pregolia, Pregel, Prieglius River, 35, 51, 75, 167, 198, 201 see Chronos Præsto fjord, Zealand Island in Denmark, 321 fig. 135 Priekulė township in Klaipėda district, 11, 12, 258, 259, 260 fig. 92, 264 fig. 95 see Prökuls Primorskaia, amber mine, 5 Prökuls township, 12 Prosna River, 56, 60, 163 Prussians, 8, 21, 44, 50, 336 see Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture Pruszcz Gdański, Praust in Poland, 62, 153 Przeworsk culture, 38, 57 fig. 9, 61 fig. 72, 88, 93, 94, 109, 113, 125, 141, 147, 151, 152, 170, 194, 197, 200–202, 213–215, 218, 254, 340, 347 see Lugiorum nomen, see Vandals Ptolemy, Claudius (Klaudios Ptolemaios) geographer, 52, 54–56, 56n58, 209, 209n10 see Geographikè Hyphégesis Puck Bay, 254 Purnuškės, village in Lithuania, 34n89 Pytheas explorer, 17, 24 Raetia, Roman province, 174, 182 Rarwino, West Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 322 Ravenna, 25, 211, 212 Ravlunda, Skåne county in Sweden, 323

Raw amber, 1, 12, 19, 20, 29, 47, 48 fig. 7, 55, 63, 68, 68n81, 68n82, 78, 80, 84, 86, 92, 119, 130 fig. 54, 138, 139, 141, 143n225, 148n241, 149n244, 153, 162, 163, 163n296, 164, 169, 170, 170n326, 179, 191–193, 200, 202, 213, 226, 230, 237, 244, 254, 256, 290, 293, 294, 301, 303, 304, 304n148, 305, 307, 311, 312, 315–318, 322, 324, 327, 328, 332, 333, 336, 337, 339, 341, 343, 344, 346, 350, 354n2 Renfrew, Colin, 29 Rhineland, 86, 174 Rhine, Rhenus River, 44, 45, 52, 55, 56, 62, 86, 115, 140, 153, 182, 202, 245, 341 Rhône River, 22n28, 55 Ribe, in Denmark, 168, 323 Romans, 17, 42, 44, 52, 52n50, 55, 58, 63, 64–65, 82, 84, 140, 155, 167, 179, 180, 195, 196, 202, 257, 341, 344 Roman coins (Ases, Denarii, Dupondii, Sestertii), 19n15, 36, 49, 59 fig. 10, 67–68 fig. 14, 82n102, 91, 125, 132, 161, 161n282, 162, 162n289, 163, 175, 175n349, 176, 176n351, 177n356, n358, 178, 179, 181–183, 182n372, 185, 190, 194, 212, 313, 344 Roman equestrian, eques Romanus, 59, 59n67, 59–60n69, 60, 62, 193 Roman Empire, Imperium Romanum, 25, 61, 62, 82, 82n102, 84, 86, 88, 91, 93, 148, 148n241, 168, 171, 174, 176, 182, 195, 197, 199, 372 Roman imports, 19n15, 20, 58, 66–67 fig. 14, 68, 69 fig. 15, 78n90, 89, 147, 171–175, 173 fig. 61, 182, 183, 184 fig. 63, 186, 188, 192, 195, 196, 201, 339 see Roman coins Roman limes, 64, 178, 196, 201 Roman medallions and imitations, 67 fig. 14, 185, 186 Roman period, 17, 19, 20, 31, 38, 46, 62, 80n91, 86, 96, 122, 136, 171, 172n337, 174–176, 182, 207, 340–344 Roman provinces, 64, 86, 150, 171, 172, 182, 189, 190, 199 see Dacia, Dalmatia, Gaul, Upper Moesia, Moesia, Noricum, Pannonia, Raetia Roman Republic, 176, 185 Romania, 222 fig. 72 Rome, 17, 44, 55, 58–60, 62, 63, 82, 82n102, 171, 181, 182, 339 Roads: Platforms, 61 fig. 11, 63, 200

index Wooden plank roads, 61 fig. 11, 63, 63n76, 64 fig. 12, 200 Rone Autsarve, Gotland Island, 271 Route of the Goths, 91 see Eastern Route, see Black Sea Route Rubonis, Rudon River, 58 see Neman River, Nemunas River Rzewnovo, western Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 322 Saaremaa Island, 47 see Baltic Sea islands Sacred places, 28, 164, 169 Saloi, Sali, 54 see Ptolemy Sambia, 5, 6 fig. 1, 11 12, 13 see Sambian Peninsula, see Samland Sambian Peninsula, 5, 8, 10 fig. 3, 21, 21n24, 22, 34, 36, 43 fig. 6, 44–46, 62, 63, 63n75, 80, 81, 86, 93, 96, 98, 122, 122n164, 132, 134, 139, 141, 141n222, 162n289, 165, 169, 175, 181, 191, 192, 198, 213, 221, 223, 224, 252, 258, 315, 322, 327, 335, 336, 338, 343, 347, 350–351 Samland, 5 Sambian–Natangian culture, 36n3, 50, 338 see Natangia Samogitian Hillock, 290 Samogitian Upland, 29 Samogitians, 205 fig. 65, 207, 217, 226, 240 fig. 83, 242, 252, 261, 299 fig. 123, 303, 304, 304n148, 305, 307, 310 fig. 130, 311, 317, 327, 345, 348, 350 Sarmatia, 56 Sarmatian traditions, peoples, elites, graves and territories, 97, 150, 152, 153, 245 Sartai, Lake, 165, 166 fig. 60 see Dumblynė Island Scalvians, 205 fig. 65, 207, 233, 258, 259, 345 Scandinavia, 114, 122, 153, 162, 175, 197, 201, 202, 204, 223, 246, 258, 269, 279, 281, 296, 303 Scotland, 5, 49 Schwarzort township, 12, 67–68 fig. 14, 161 see Juodrantė Schleswig-Holstein, 8, 172n336 Scythia, 50, 50n40, 335 Selonians, 205 fig. 65, 207, 303, 307, 310 fig. 130 Semigallians, 205 fig. 65, 207, 246, 299 fig. 123, 303, 304, 304n148, 307n152, 310, 310 fig. 130, 311, 345, 350 Septimius Severus, Lucius Septimius Severus Augustus, Roman Emperor, 185 Serbia, 89, 135, 219 fig. 70

421

Settlement network, 61 fig. 11, 68 Sidrys, Raymond V., 29, 30, 131n184 Sinigallia, near Arcona in Italy, 211 fig. 66 see Theodosius II Sitones, 42 Skedemosse, Öland Island in Sweden, 245 Skvorzov, Konstantin, 80n93, 162n289 Slovakia, 89 Slovenia, 89 Sluch River, 201 Solidus, 211 fig. 66, 212 see Theodosius II Sophocles, Antigone by Sophocles, 18 Southern Bug River, 122 see Western Bug River Southeastern Lithuanian Burial Sites, 37 fig. 5, 39, 122, 147, 183, 190, 338 see Aestii cultures, cultural groups Southeastern Lithuanian, Jatvingians, Burial Sites, 205 fig. 65, 208, 327 Southwest Latvian Burial Sites, 8, 36, 37 fig. 21, 39, 76 fig. 21, 102, 122, 132, 143, 177, 206, 214 fig. 67, 218n29, 289 fig. 115, 338 see Aestii cultures, cultural groups, see Curonians Sovius mythic narrative, 47, 47n29 Stantien & Becker Company, 12, 259 Staraya Ladoga ancient town, Leningrad region in Russia, 323 Stone Age, 15, 164 Succinic acid, 9, 11, 335 Sudovian culture, 37 fig. 5, 39, 51, 54, 95, 113 fig. 44, 136, 138, 147, 152, 157 fig. 44, 175, 201 Sudovians (Σουδίυοί, Soudinoi), 54, 192, 208, 209 see Ptolemy Sudovians in the Middle Ages, 21n24, 165, 205 fig. 65, 209, 206n10 Suebi, 40–44 Suebia, 42, 43, 44 Suebian Sea, 40, 42, 44 Suiones, 42, 50, 195 Suwałki region, 39, 51, 135, 190 Sweden, 154, 167, 189, 256, 313, 318 fig. 133, 320 fig. 134, 323 Świlcza amber workshops, Rzeszów voivodship, in Poland 214, 218, 220 fig. 71 Šilutė township, 12, 193 see Adl. Heydekrug Šventoji River in Western Lithuania, 12, 32n78, 144, 198, 316 see Heiligen Aa River

422

index

Šventoji River in Eastern Lithuania, 208 Šventoji township, 171 Švėkšna township in Šilutė district, 258, 259 Tacitus, Publius Cornelius, 17–19, 35n2, 40, 42n9, 42–47, 49–52, 68, 70, 72, 78, 81, 82, 145, 154–156, 160, 178–180, 192, 195, 204, 210–212, 339 Annales (Ab excessu Divi Augusti) by Tacitus, 52n48 De origine et situ Germanorum/Germania, Concerning the Origin and Situation of the Germans, by Tacitus, 36n2, 40, 40n5, 42, 43, 59n69, 154 see Descriptio Svebiae Tarand-Graves culture, 35, 36, 55, 338, 350 Tarand-Grave grave fields: Lehmja-Loo, Kurna, Lagedi, Lepna, Proosa Tõnija, 147 Tebra River, 36 Tempelmann-Mączyńska, Magdalena (Mączyńska, Magdalena), 31, 94n129, 96, 125 Teutonic Knights Order, 12, 12n16, 322n196 see the Thirteen Years’ War The Holy Ghost, 28 Theodoric the Great, king of the Goths, 24, 25, 210, 211 fig. 66, 212 Theodosius II, Flavius Theodosius Junior Augustus, Emperor of Eastern Roman Empire, 212 Theoretical archaeology, 16, 28, 336 The Thirteen Years’ War, the War of the Towns, 322n196 Thor, Donar, Thunder God, 123, 124, 125, 321, 340 Thor’s hammers, 124, 181 Thorsberg bog in Germany, 245 Tischler, Otto, 31 Tisza River, 254, 255, 331 Trade and main trade directions, 57–58, fig. 9, 66–67 fig. 14, 68, 70 fig. 16, 222 fig. 72, 314 fig. 132, 339 Inter-regional trade, 39, 63, 148, 171, 194, 196, 199, 201, 202, 343, 344 Local trade, 141, 344 Networks of exchange and trade, 19, 22, 28, 194, 199, 200, 337, 343–345 Regional trade, 19, 141, 147, 159, 171, 194, 198, 199, 201, 202 Trajan, Marcus Ulpius Nerva Trajanus Augustus, Roman Emperor, 67–68 fig. 14, 176, 181, 185

Trebonian Gallus, Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus, Roman Emperor, 176 Trenčín, 56, 57 fig. 9 Truso, Janów Pomorski emporium, Warmian-Masurian voivodship in Poland, 315, 323 Turuntas, Turunti River, 58 see Western Dvina River Tushemlia culture, 253 Tyszkiewicz, Feliks Wincenty, Count of Palanga, 11 Ukraine, 5, 6 fig. 1, 8, 253, 335 Upland Lithuanians, aukštaičiai, 205 fig. 65, 208, 222 fig. 72, 226, 237, 303, 307, 312, 317, 312n163, 240 fig. 83, 330, 345, 348 Uppland region in Sweden, 50, 195 Usačiova, Olga, 15 Utrecht, 57 fig. 9 Vaitkunskienė, Laima (Nakaitė, Laima), 28, 28n60 Valkyries, Norse mythology, 321 Vandals, 38 Variae Epistolae by Cassiodorus, 24, 24n38, 210, 345 Varnas, Algirdas, 31 Veltae, 54 see Ptolemy Vendel period, 246 Venedi, Venethi, 54 see Eneti, see Ptolemy Veneti, 22, 45, 195, 200 Venta, Windava River, 58 see Chesinos Vidivarii, 204, 205 Viking Age, 124, 126, 168, 281, 293, 315, 313n168, 314 fig. 132, 246, 321, 327, 332, 349, 350 Vilnius, 34n89 Viminacium, 135, 219 fig. 70 see Upper Moesia, see Serbia Vimose bog, Funen Island in Denmark, 245 Vindobona, Vienna, 57 fig. 9, 201 Visby, Gotland Island in Sweden, 271n106, 323 Vistula, Vistla, Wisla River, 8, 44, 52, 54–56, 58, 60, 61 fig. 11, 62, 63, 80, 81, 86, 94, 132, 140, 153, 163, 172, 186, 201, 202, 204, 205, 212, 223, 336, 341 Nogat stream of, 63 Vistula delta, 9, 22, 34, 63, 86, 91, 174, 176n351, 194, 198, 200, 206, 213

index Vistula Lagoon, 10 fig. 10 see Frische Nehrung, Aistmarės Spit Vistula Spit, 63, 192 Volchov River, 324 Volga River, 42n9 Volkovysk, Vawkavysk in Belarus, 320 fig. 134, 324, 325 fig. 136 Von der Bornsteins-Ordnung in Preussen, Law regulating of amber collection, 12 Warta River, 56, 163 Weapons: Clubs, 40n5, 41, 51, 52 Ferri, 40n5, 51 Swords, 40n5, 41, 51, 52, 97, 128 fig. 52, 159, 195, 224, 226, 244, 245, 246, 246n66, 267, 272, 293, 305, 348 Wenskus, Reinhard, 24 Werner, Joachim, 259 Weser, Visurgis River, 45, 55 West Lithuanian Stone Circle Graves culture, 8, 36, 37 fig. 5, 44, 51, 69, 81, 113, 120, 121, 126, 137–139, 141, 143, 145, 146, 152, 155, 156, 159, 160, 181, 193, 194, 196–199, 202, 206, 336, 338–345, see Aestii cultures, cultural groups, see Curonians

423

Western Bug River, 183, 201 Western Dvina, 19n15, 25, 35, 36, 38, 58, 133, 146, 147, 191, 201, 203, 246, 253, 303, 304, 310, 315, 316, 324, 333, 333n222, 338, 345, 349, 350 see Daugava, Düna, see Turuntas, Chesinos River Wielbark culture, 9, 38, 44, 61 fig. 11, 62–64, 67, 68, 70, 72 fig. 18, 79 fig. 23, 81, 86, 88, 91–94, 96–98, 105, 109, 113, 120, 122, 124, 132, 133, 135, 138, 141, 148, 153, 162, 176, 177–181, 185, 186, 189, 192, 196, 197, 199, 201, 205, 219, 221, 236, 267, 336, 340 Wielbark culture’s “baroque style”, 75 Wielowiejski, Przemysław, 31 Wkra River, 174 Wolin emporium western Pomeranian voivodship in Poland, 168, 169, 318 fig. 133, 320 fig. 134, 321 fig. 135, 322, 323 Wrocław-Partynice settlement, storehouse, 47, 48 fig. 7, 163 Zealand, Island, 88, 114, 189, 197 see Baltic Sea islands Źuławy Gdańskie, 192