THE LAST SWIDERIANS IN LITHUANIA

This paper focuses on an issue that was, and still remains, unsolved in Baltic Stone Age archaeology: the dating of the very end of the period of Swiderian culture. This time, the questions raised are what cultural unit (or units) should be considered as the last Swiderians, and who were the last tanged point users in general? In addition, the latest AMS 14C dates from the Mesolithic Pabartoniai 1 site in central Lithuania are taken into consideration within the archaeological context recorded during excavations in 2014–2016. Several archaeological objects – flint artefacts, knapped sandstone pebbles, burnt material and a few archaeological features – that were eliminated from the Late Mesolithic horizon and hypothetically interpreted as pre-existant, are discussed as maybe belonging to the Late Swiderian archaeological horizon. This data suggests some alternative insights into what was previously declared about the chronology of the last Swiderians: it brings up the very slight possibility that this culture could have lasted as long as up to the early Boreal period, or around 400 years later than the formerly agreed dating. However, this study should be seen as the very first step in the discussion, which still needs argumentation and other case studies to be carried out until the hypothesis is proven.Key words: Swiderian culture, Mesolithic, Preboreal, Boreal, AMS radiocarbon dating, Lithuania.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/ab.v26i0.202

Study and reduction of the matrix effects in analytical ICP mass spectrometric measurements

Measurements of the signals proportional to the radiation intensities or the number densities of the charged particles in argon ICP plasma are between the most popular methods of analysis of low concentrations of elements. But the relationships between the signals and the quantity of element in the sample are very complicated, depend on many physical phenomena and chemical reactions and must be calibrated by application of the reference materials. The accuracy of analysis depends on the level of agreement between the compositions of the RM matrices and the sample. As the exact matching is not possible the signal formation in the argon plasma and the effects of matrices on the analytical results should be studied. A method of calibration of the dependence of the sensitivity of the mass spectrometer on the ion masses and methods to determine the electron density and temperature from the mass spectrometric measurement data were proposed. Those aid estimation of the ion signals for analysis and assessment of the measurement uncertainty. The largest matrix effects usually are due to easy to ionize elements. The results show that those elements in argon plasma, depending on the ionization potentials and the structure of the atomic energy levels, differ in possibilities to increase the temperature, the temperature and density gradients, deviation from the local thermodynamic equilibrium, take part in charge transfer reaction between doubly ionized ions and argon atoms. The phenomena are important in the ionization balance in argon plasma.The accuracy of the method of additions with the appropriate internal standard is shown to be comparable to the accuracy of the method of the isotope dilution, and a criterion to test the level of freedom of the method of additions from the matrix effects was proposed

Evaluation of accuracy of atomic ICP mass spectrometric studies

Šio darbo tikslas yra ištirti mažų koncentracijų matavimų vandeniniuose tirpaluose tikslumą, ypač monoizotopiniams elementams, taikant Element2 indukciniu būdu kuriamos plazmos masių spektrometrijos metodą, nustatyti pagrindines matavimų tikslumą ribojančias priežastis ir pabandyti sumažinti jų įtaką, įvertinti tokių matavimų taikymo galimybes medžiagų kilmės atpažinimui.High resolution sector field ICP MS measurements of concentrations are widely used in modern analytical chemistry and applications. Two problems are concerned in the present work: improvement of accuracy of measurements of concentration of monoisotopic elements (As) and analysis of applicability of the multielement analytical data for classification of samples according to their origin. 66Zn, 77Se and 94Mo were used as internal standards to measure the concentration of As in water by the method of additions. Application of 77Se as internal standard resulted in the best accuracy of analysis. Drift of the measured signal ratios was identified as the main source of uncertainty limiting the accuracy of the mass fraction measurements at relative expanded uncertainty of 2% (k=2). The information as well as the level of inherent noise characterizes the quality of application of the multivariate analysis of multielement data for classification of samples. The role of noise increases if large number of parameters is needed. Stepwise approach is tested dividing the wine origin classification test into some steps to simplify the problem. Outcomes of the approach in comparison to the straightforward test are studied on the basis of the chemical analytical data obtained for 25 elements in 65 wines from 8 countries. Bivariate Gaussian distribution is used to evaluate the reproducibility of the discrimination between countries of origin and reliability of classification of the samples. In addition, fast increase of correlations between the concentrations of elements is observed when diversity of the sample sources decreases. Correlation pattern is batch and sample specific. It represents the similar sources of elements, similar element quantity governing processes. If the number of the correlating pairs of elements is large the mean within this list correlation coefficient can be calculated for individual samples relative to the values of concentrations characteristic to different batches and can be used for identification of samples. Data on good potential of applicability of the correlative characteristics for testing the provenance of individual samples are presented as examples.Švietimo akademijaVytauto Didžiojo universiteta

Bandinio sudėties įtakos elementų koncentracijų nustatymui indukcinės plazmos masių spektrometrijoje tyrimas

Measurements of the signals proportional to the radiation intensities or the number densities of the charged particles in argon ICP plasma are between the most popular methods of analysis of low concentrations of elements. But the relationships between the signals and the quantity of element in the sample are very complicated, depend on many physical phenomena and chemical reactions and must be calibrated by application of the reference materials. The accuracy of analysis depends on the level of agreement between the compositions of the RM matrices and the sample. As the exact matching is not possible the signal formation in the argon plasma and the effects of matrices on the analytical results should be studied. A method of calibration of the dependence of the sensitivity of the mass spectrometer on the ion masses and methods to determine the electron density and temperature from the mass spectrometric measurement data were proposed. Those aid estimation of the ion signals for analysis and assessment of the measurement uncertainty. The largest matrix effects usually are due to easy to ionize elements. The results show that those elements in argon plasma, depending on the ionization potentials and the structure of the atomic energy levels, differ in possibilities to increase the temperature, the temperature and density gradients, deviation from the local thermodynamic equilibrium, take part in charge transfer reaction between doubly ionized ions and argon atoms. The phenomena are important in the ionization balance in argon plasma.The accuracy of the method of additions with the appropriate internal standard is shown to be comparable to the accuracy of the method of the isotope dilution, and a criterion to test the level of freedom of the method of additions from the matrix effects was proposed

Paskutiniai svidrai Lietuvoje.

Straipsnyje aptariama Rytų Baltijos regione aktuali akmens amžiaus archeologijos problema – Svidrų kultūros, egzistavusios finaliniame paleolite ir ankstyvajame mezolite, pabaigos datavimas. Keliamas klausimas, koks kultūrinis vienetas (ar keli) turėtų būti vadinami paskutiniais Svidrų kultūros atstovais Lietuvos teritorijoje ir kokios kultūros žmonės galėjo būti paskutiniai, naudoję įkotinius strėlių antgalius – įrankio formą, paveldėtą iš paleolito laikų. Hipotetiškai svarstomas bene pats plačiausias galimas pirmosios mezolito pusės vaizdas kultūrų įvardijimo prasme: siūloma diskutuoti apie galimai vienu metu egzistavusias dvi Svidrų kultūrą tęsusias kryptis – vėlyvuosius svidrus ir svidrus, perėmusius kai kuriuos įrankių gamybos ypatumus iš toje pačioje socialinėje bei geografinėje erdvėje kurį laiką koegzistavusios Pulli kultūros atstovų (1–4 pav.). Pastarosios šaknų galimai reikėtų ieškoti į rytus ar šiaurę, ko gero, nesiejant jos kilmės su Svidrų kultūra. Į diskusiją įtraukiami ir pastaraisiais metais gauti naujausi duomenys iš Pabartonių akmens amžiaus gyvenvietės Neries dešiniajame krante, Vidurio Lietuvoje (5 pav.). Atlikus anglies mėginių iš įvairių skirtingų objektų AMS 14C datavimą, radinių pasiskirstymo, stratigrafijos analizę bei suskirsčius titnaginę medžiagą pagal tipologinius ir technologinius kriterijus, buvo išskirti keli šios vietos apgyvendinimo etapai: bent du mezolite ir vienas etapas neolite (6–8 pav.). Diferencijavus šių etapų medžiagą ir datavimo duomenis paaiškėjo, kad radiniai, būdingi ir galimai priskirtini vėlyvajai Svidrų kultūrai, yra išblaškyti, ir atskiro būtent šiam apgyvendinimo etapui priskirto radinių horizonto nustatyti beveik neįmanoma. Tarp gautų gyvenvietėje atidengtų objektų datavimo rezultatų išsiskyrė kelios borealio pradžios datos, kurios skyrėsi nuo Pabartonyse rasto vidurinio mezolito radinių horizonto ir datų. Atlikus išsamesnę analizę paaiškėjo, kad šioje gyvenvietėje yra vėlyvųjų svidrų įrankių kompleksas, dvi galimai su vėlyvojo mezolito kontekstu nesietinos dėmės su skaldytais smiltainio luitais ir kelios santykinai ankstyvos datos – elementai, kurie galimai galėtų būti interpretuojami susieti tarpusavyje kaip paties ankstyviausio Pabartonių gyvenvietės apgyvendinimo etapo archeologinė medžiaga (9–11 pav.). Straipsnyje iškeliama kol kas labai mažai pagrįsta hipotezė, kad galbūt vėlyvieji svidrai, nepatyrę Pulli kultūros technologinės įtakos, galėjo egzistuoti ilgiau, nei manyta iki šiol – iki borealio pradžios. Straipsnyje taip pat bandoma analizuoti vadinamosios Kundos kultūros egzistavimo klausimą ir iki šiol „tarpiniu“ inventoriumi tarp Svidrų ir Kundos (ar Pulli) kultūrų vadintus dirbinių kompleksus, kai gyvenvietėje randami tik karklo lapo formos strėlių antgaliai, gaminti iš taisyklingų skelčių, atskeltų nuo vienagalių skaldytinių, su plokščiai retušuota įkotine dalimi bei viršūne reverso pusėje, bet neaptinkama tipiškų Pulli vienašonių ar su ryškiai įsmaugta įkote antgalių. Siūloma plėsti vėlyvosios Svidrų kultūros sąvoką, į ją įtraukiant ir dirbinius, kurie buvo panašūs į gamintuosius Pulli technologija, tačiau skyrėsi nuo klasikinių Pulli dirbinių. Tuo tarpu laipsnišką visų ankstyvojo mezolito kultūrų perėjimą prie vienagalių skaldytinių siūloma suvokti nebūtinai kaip tai, kad viena kultūra perėmė kitos kultūros technologiją vienu ypu, o veikiau kaip į ilgai trukusį netolygaus tam tikros skaldymo technikos įsisavinimo procesą. Straipsnyje pasiūlyta Svidrų kultūros egzistavimo pabaigos vėlinimo hipoteze norėta išprovokuoti diskusiją, ką šiuo metu galima pasakyti apie šios kultūros datavimą, beveik neturint tikslių datų. Taip pat skatinama neignoruoti iš vadinamųjų svidrų paminklų gautų mezolito datų kaip visuomet neįtikinamų ar klaidingų. Siūloma ateityje atlikti kuo daugiau datavimo tyrimų gyvenvietėse, siejamose su vėlyvųjų Svidrų ir Pulli inventoriumi Lietuvos teritorijoje ir taip tikslinti svidrų epochos chronologines ribas.This paper focuses on an issue that was, and still remains, unsolved in Baltic Stone Age archaeology: the dating of the very end of the period of Swiderian culture. This time, the questions raised are what cultural unit (or units) should be considered as the last Swiderians, and who were the last tanged point users in general? In addition, the latest AMS 14C dates from the Mesolithic Pabartoniai 1 site in central Lithuania are taken into consideration within the archaeological context recorded during excavations in 2014–2016. Several archaeological objects – flint artefacts, knapped sandstone pebbles, burnt material and a few archaeological features – that were eliminated from the Late Mesolithic horizon and hypothetically interpreted as preexistant, are discussed as maybe belonging to the Late Swiderian archaeological horizon. This data suggests some alternative insights into what was previously declared about the chronology of the last Swiderians: it brings up the very slight possibility that this culture could have lasted as long as up to the early Boreal period, or around 400 years later than the formerly agreed dating. However, this study should be seen as the very first step in the discussion, which still needs argumentation and other case studies to be carried out until the hypothesis is proven

Seasonal Variation in Stable Isotope Ratios of Cow Milk in Vilnius Region, Lithuania

Various studies have shown that stable isotope analysis has the potential to verify the geographic origin of foods and drinks. However, stable isotope composition is not always constant in the environment and can even change in the same area. Dairy products are of particular interest as a group of foods that play an important role in feeding the population. The composition of milk is fundamentally dependent on the feeding of the cows, and thereby on a particular environment. To better understand the amount of variation in δ18O, δ13C, and δ15N values in the milk from the same area, we measured stable isotope ratios in cow milk water, artesian water, and precipitation (δ18O) as well as in bulk milk samples (δ13C and δ15N) collected in 2014⁻2016. Different water and food sources were available during the winter (artesian water only and dry grass) and summer (artesian water and fresh grass), and spring and autumn seasons reflected transitional periods. Oxygen stable isotope ratios in milk water were relatively lower in winter and transitional seasons and higher in summer, showing the dependence on the main water source. δ13C values reflected particular food sources. This study shows the applicability of the stable isotope ratio method in linking cow milk to specific environments and reveals the amount of variation in stable isotope ratios in the same area. These results could be valuable for other studies on geographical origin determination of dairy products

Augalai, rasti dirbiniuose, naudotuose ne pagal pirminę paskirtį. Įsidėmėtinas atvejis iš Lazdininkų-Kalnalaukio kapinyno Vakarų Lietuvoje

Straipsnyje archeologinės medžiagos, tarpkultūrinių kontaktų, AMS 14C datavimo, cheminių-fizikinių ir biologinių tyrimų požiūriu nagrinėjami bronziniai alavu dengti papuošalai: rato formos kabutis su 11 stipinėlių ir karolis, rasti dviejuose Lazdininkų-Kalnalaukio kapinyno kapuose. Originaliai abu dirbiniai buvo prabangių vėrinių dalys. Remiantis įkapėmis, tarp jų Marco Aureliaus (161–180) ir Komodo (177–192) sestercijais ir AMS 14C datomis, abu kapai datuojami II a. pabaiga – III a. pirmuoju ketvirčiu. Į abu kapus šie papuošalai pateko kaip verpimo įrankiai – verpstukai su augalinėmis šeivomis. Abu verpimo įrankiai yra pirmieji, atsiradę II a. pabaigos – III a. pirmojo ketvirčio Lietuvos archeologinėje medžiagoje. Labiausiai tikėtina, kad ratuko formos verpstuke (kapas 8 (1992)) šeivai naudota Phragmites australis (paprastoji nendrė) arba Schoenoplectus lacustris (ežero pakrantės viksva). Rato formos kabutyje šeivai panaudotas iki šiol Lietuvoje nerastas ir oficialiai neužfiksuotas vandens augalas. Nors ratuko svoris 12,4 gramų ir jis galėjo atlikti verpimo funkciją, tačiau mažai tikėtina, kad šią darbinę funkciją galėtų atlikti vandens augalas. Kape 68 (2001) rastas karolis TM 521 (pagal Tempelmann-Mączyńska 1985) sveria tik 7,48 gramų, o tai per mažas svoris verpstukui, kad jis galėtų būti naudojamas realiame gyvenime verpiant. Tačiau karolio viduje rasta, tikėtina, iš liepos medžio (Tilia cordata) išdrožta šeiva rodo, kad dirbinys buvo naudotas kaip verpstukas, bet simboline prasme – anapilyje, kur svoris nėra labai svarbus. Kaip atskleidžia rašytiniai šaltiniai ir archeologinė medžiaga iš Europos, verpimo tradicijos buvo svarbios kasdieniame gyvenime ir laidojimo papročiuose. Verpimas buvo reikšmingas kasdienėje praktikoje, taigi jo idėja galėjo būti perkelta į pomirtinį gyvenimą. Todėl įmanoma prielaida, kad verpimo įrankiai gali turėti tam tikrą svarbią mitologinę reikšmę. Verpimas ir audimas glaudžiai susiję su likimu, o liepos medis – su deive Laima, kur abu atsiskleidžia per tris mitinius kodus: likimą, laimę ir gimimą. Artimiausios analogijos rato formos kabučiui (Lazdininkų-Kalnalaukio atveju – verpstukui) žinomos iš Vielbarko kultūros ir turėtų būti importas iš šio kultūrinio arealo. Karoliui-verpstukui, rastam kape 68 (2001), analogų žinoma iš Nemuno žemupio, Vidurio Lietuvos ir Sembos-Notangos bei Vielbarko kultūrų. Tuo tarpu Tautų kraustymosi laikotarpio Plinkaigalio kapinyne (Kėdainių rajone), kape 115, ir Vecaucės Losbergų (Vecauces Losbergi, Duobelės r., Latvija) kapinyne atsitiktinai rasti vario lydinio verpstukai su 8 stipinėliais ir stebulėmis yra verpimo įrankiai. Minima, kad Plinkaigalio verpstuke buvo rastas nedidelis nenustatytos rūšies medžio fragmentas (neišliko). Tikėtina, kad abu Tautų kraustymosi laikotarpio verpstukai gaminti vietoje, galbūt net toje pačioje dirbtuvėje. Suprantama, išskirtinės formos dirbiniai, skirti verpti, išlaiko simbolinę gyvenimo trukmės reikšmę.This article investigates tinned bronze ornaments found in two graves of the Lazdininkai-Kalnalaukis cemetery dated to the end of the 2nd century to the first quarter of the 3rd century AD from the perspective of archaeological materials, intercultural contacts, 14C AMS dating, and chemical-physical and biological research. These ornaments - a wheel-shaped pendant and a bead - were originally parts of fashionable necklaces. However, these ornaments went into the graves as spinning tools. The wheel-shaped pendant from grave 8(1992) contains the first ever found, or at least officially recorded, use in Lithuania of an aquatic plant for a spinning tool bobbin. The piece of possible linden tree wood was used to compose the spinning tool bobbin found in grave 68(2001). These spinning tools are the first to have appeared in Lithuanian archaeological material from as early as the end of the 2nd century to the first quarter of the 3rd century. In addition, both spinning tools are unique in the Lithuanian archaeological record so far in that the copper alloy spindle whorls were used to compose both working tools. The closest analogues for the wheel-shaped pendant are known from the Wielbark culture and this example should be considered as an import from that cultural area. Copper alloy beads and various local derivatives, however, are numerous in the range of the Baltic cultures area. The copper alloy wheel-shaped spindle whorls from the Migration period cemeteries are the spinning tools created for the specific purpose of spinning which were produced locally, even possibly in the same workshops. Keywords: pendant, bead, repurposed artefacts, spinning tools, aquatic plant, wood, Lazdininkai-Kalnalaukis cemetery

New human bone radiocarbon dates from the Roman period–migration period Lithuanian cemeteries /

A set (n = 37) of new human bone radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (14C AMS) dates from 11 Lithuanian Late Roman Period-Migration Period cemeteries is presented and discussed in the light of the established schemes of archaeological chronology. The focus of the paper is on the burials of the military and social elite, which indicate the emergence of new cultural traditions in E-S and W-Central Lithuania or the immigration that took place during this time. The 14C dates allow us to suggest corrections to the dominant chronological pattern of cultural development in the region

Horses in Lithuania in the Late Roman–Medieval period (3rd–14th C AD) burial sites: updates on sze, age and dating

The tradition of burying horses in Lithuania lasted from the Early Roman period until the late 14th C AD. It was the longest-lasting custom in Europe, which has left about 2000 known horse burials. This paper publishes the osteometric data and age of horses found in Lithuanian cemeteries and castles of the 3rd–14th C AD, over 200 individuals in total. These are the remains of all the horses still stored in Lithuanian institutions. The paper discusses the dynamics of horse body size in order to test previously suggested hypotheses regarding the relationship between large horse body size and its military use, possibly non-local breed, and high social status of the owner. Moreover, we are publishing the AMS 14C dates of 13 horses previously assigned to the Migration period. The research results corrected the existing chronology. The abundant data also allowed an assessment of the development of the size and age of the horses in Lithuania between the 3rd and 14th C AD. Osteometric analyses have shown that Late Roman–post-Migration-period horses were unusually large compared to the Viking and medieval horses in Lithuania. Meanwhile, we suggest that the semi-slender-legged 118–125-cm-tall horse, which predominated in the Viking period, is the most consistent with the local horse type. In general, the horses in Lithuania in the 3rd–11th C AD were small compared to those in Central and Western Europe or Scandinavia. More significant changes can be observed in the Middle Ages. In the 12–14th C AD, there was a much greater variety of horses and the expansion of taller (140–150 cm) individuals. However, the continued abundance of small horses in the medieval times, found buried with saddles and other equipment, allows one to renew the debate on the formation of the cavalry, the tactics of combat, and the social composition of horsemen in Lithuania