Tikėjimų kaita pagoniškuose baltuose. Kuršiai

The aim of the article is to analyze the changes of beliefs in Courland. The author takes his departure in a view that the that the changes of burial customs are related with the change in ideology and develops his analysis by overviewing the history of burial by burning in the region. The author argues that the spread of the custom of burial by burning is an expression of change of beliefs that is connected with the social transformations the society underwent. The author argues that the carrier-groups of change of customs are those of the higher strata. The change of beliefs is discussed by looking into the history of the formation and the growing influence of a fellowship in the higher strata in the V-XI centuries.Archeologai konstatuoja kelis kartus tūkstantmečių bėgyje vykusius laidojimo papročių pasikeitimus ir sieja juos su ideologijų transformacijomis. Teigiama, jog deginimo papročio įsigalėjimą inicijavo aukštesniojo socialinio sluoksnio žmonės, įtakingesni ir labiau nepriklausomi nuo bendruomenės tradicijų. Ikivalstybinio laikotarpio baltų visuomenėje randame tik vieną tokį visuomenės sluoksnį – draugiją. Pirmosios draugijos apraiškos baltų visuomenėje pastebimos V-VI a. Nuo X a. prasideda antras draugijos formavimosi etapas. Ši savitai organizuota visuomenės dalis turėjo suformuoti savas ideologines nuostatas ir pretenduoti užimti išskirtinę vietą tiek gyvųjų, tiek ir mirusiųjų visuomenėje. X-XI a. Kurše vykę pasaulėžiūros pakitimai, kurių išraiška buvo deginimo papročio įsigalėjimas, buvo diktuoti visuomeninio-socialinio pobūdžio transformacijų

SETTLEMENTS AND PIRACY ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF THE BALTIC SEA: THE MIDDLE AGES TO MODERN TIMES

In the 12th century, the Curonians dwelt in the east Baltic Region between the Rīga area in the north and Klaipėda in the south. They reached the peak of their economic, political and cultural achievements in the 11th century and the first half of the 12th century. The roots of piracy as a phenomenon have a social character. The most active period of the Curonian Vikings begins in around the mid-tenth century, and lasts until the arrival of the Germans in the 13th century. The well-organised piracy of the Curonians became dangerous to navigation on an important maritime trading route along the east Baltic coast. The Curonians attacked traders’ boats, robbed coastal churches, devastated Danish and Swedish coastal areas, and even stayed for a while. In the times of the Teutonic Order, in periods of diplomatic and military conflict or trading competition, even officials did not avoid robbery at sea. The Palanga coastal population used to plunder shipwrecked boats, and went marauding in coastal waters until the middle of the 18th century.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/ab.v16i0.34 Key words: Curonians, Vikings, piracy, Lithuania, Samland, Livonia, Klaipėda, Palanga

History of the Environment and Population of the Old Town of Klaipėda, Western Lithuania: Multidisciplinary Approach to the Last Millennium

Progressive stages in the development of the Old Town region of the city of Klaipėda (in German, Memel) were ascertained by analyzing archaeological and historical data combined with an analysis of pollen, diatom, plant macrofossil, and osteological findings as cross-referenced with radiocarbon measurements. The port city of Klaipëda, located on the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, was an important political, economic, and religious center during the last millennium. In addition to its environmental history, the character of human activity and urbanization of the area during the 16th–17th centuries AD were examined. The chronology of these records is based on archaeological, historical, and 14C data. The results obtained indicate the predominance of a wet boggy environment and the presence of a pond in the investigated territory of Klaipëda during the late 15th and early 16th centuries AD. The formation of a new Danė River channel created an island town, resulting in a defensible residual area for the town inhabitants. An ongoing deposition of a cultural layer began in the mid-16th century AD. Rich zooarchaeological data found in this layer provided new details on human diet and exposed a predominance of domestic animals, especially cattle. Due to intensive amelioration of this area, layers of sandy and clayey deposits were formed during the second half of the 16th century AD. A significant presence of cultivars, ruderals, and weeds were recorded, indicating substantial human activity and increasing urbanization of the landscape. According to the paleobotanical, archaeo-logical, and historical data, the culmination of this process took place at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries AD, when residential areas were established.The Radiocarbon archives are made available by Radiocarbon and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform February 202

Ginkluoti ir laukiami. Prekiautojai ir jų keliai vikingų laikais

The Baltic traders' stimulation for trading with foreign countries was caused by the shortage of iron, the necessity to obtain good arms, salt, metals for bronze manufacturing, and silver. Apart from traditional goods, like slaves, furs and honey, traders from Scandinavian and west Slavic centres were interested in rye, horses of local breeds, and Baltic ornaments. Aquatic routes up and down rivers were convenient and fast in winter. In Viking times, traders could reach the neighbourhood of Kaunas, trading there for several days, and get back to the Baltic Sea in about 20 days. Navigation away from Kaunas upstream included dugouts, primitive flat-bottomed boats and even rafts. Sailing up and down the river can be proved by information about sailing in Crusaders' times (13th and 14th centuries). Travelling in foreign territories was dangerous, so traders were usually armed. Arms were discovered in about 60% of the so-called "traders' graves" of Lithuanian coastal cemeteries

Gardai and Plateliai in the 13-16th c

The area around Lake Plateliai was densely populated in pre-historic times, but encountered demographic transformations with the arrival of the German crusades. The population decreased and new settlements were established in safer places, some of which such as Gardai (Žemaičių Kalvarija) and Plateliai became towns, church and administrative centers. In the 13th c. Gardai was among the most important settlements where at the beginning of the 15th c. a manor of the Samogitian Bishop was built, a parish was formed in 1636 and a Dominican monastery established the following year. The town of Plateliai was established at its current location in the 17th c. while other places such as Pilies sala (Castle Island) and the Šventorkalnis peninsula were more important in the 13th-16th c