UPLAND LITHUANIANS
Habitat
The tribe of Upland Lithuanians formed in the 5th century in the habitat of flat burial grounds of central Lithuania. This region distinguished itself by its burial customs already from the first centuries after Christ: here, the dead were buried in pits – flat burial grounds rather than barrows. The old territory of the Upland Lithuanian tribe was much smaller than what is now considered Upper Lithuania (Aukštaitija).
The origins of the tribe of Upland Lithuanians are associated with migration from the seaside to the eastern regions in the first centuries after Christ. The newcomers from the west gradually mixed with the sparse local population and as early as the 5th century formed a separate cultural group – Upland Lithuanians. They gradually retreated to the north along the Nevėžis River and its tributaries, turned to the east – to the upper reaches of the Šventoji. The habitat of Upland Lithuanians included the territory on both sides of the Nemunas between the Šešupė and the Neris mouth in the south. Further, their lands extended from the Dubysa River to the Šventoji mouth, covered the entire basin of the Nevėžis, and the Šušvė basin in the northwest. Their northern border was further north of Panevėžys, the western border meandered between Panevėžys and Šiauliai, and the eastern border did not reach Anykščiai, turned southwest right past Ukmergė, Jonava, Kaunas. In the west, Upland Lithuanians by a narrow strip bordered Skalvians; their northwestern neighbours were Samogitians; northeastern neighbours, Selonians and Lithuanians; and in the south, their lands neighboured Jatvingians.
The habitat of Upland Lithuanians is a land of plains and lowlands. Only the western and eastern edges somewhat rise along with the highlands of Samogitia and Upland Lithuania. The largest rivers of Upland Lithuania are the Nemunas bed from Kaunas to the mouth of the Šešupė and the Nevėžis, which crossed the region from north to south. Most of the hillforts of Upland Lithuania are equipped on both banks of the Nemunas, on the right bank of the Neris River, there are slightly less hillforts between the Dubysa and the Nevėžis, while in the northern area, they are very rare. Burial sites, however, testify that the region was inhabited approximately evenly. Thus, hillforts were built on high riverbanks for defence, while most of the region’s people lived in unfortified settlements, agricultural villages. Agriculture was the main business of Upland Lithuanians, but crafts and trade were very important for this region, especially for the regions near the Nemunas. This is evidenced by a large amount of imported luxury artefacts in this region as early as from the period of Roman influence (1st-4th century). The habitat of Upland Lithuanians was criss-crossed by the routes of migrations during the migration period and military campaigns. A woman’s grave was found in the vicinities of the present-day Kėdainiai, in which the deceased was buried with a Hun arrow stuck in the hip joint; a Hun brooch, drinking horns of Scandinavian origin, and a wheel-shaped pendant, occurring in the graves of Frankish women of the German tribe, were also found. Huns, who killed the said woman, had wandered to the land of Upland Lithuania themselves, and other artefacts could have been the trophies of military campaigns or imported items.
Peter of Dusburg, a chronicler of the Teutonic Order, mentions Upland Lithuanians for the first time at the end of the 13th century. Since then, the conception of Upland Lithuanians and Upland Lithuania has changed considerably. It is believed that Upland Lithuanians were the first among all Baltic tribes to unite with Lithuanians and form a strong tribal union that covered a wide territory. The tribes of Upland Lithuanians and Lithuanians formed the nucleus of the Lithuanian nation. One tribe gave the name to the whole state, and the other, to the state’s entire eastern part.
Burial rites
In the 5th-6th centuries, Upland Lithuanians followed old burial customs – they buried the dead in the pits of various sizes in the ground. In the area of the burial ground, graves are arranged irregularly, with considerable spaces between them. Part of the dead are buried in plank coffins, and 2-3 stones are placed next to them on both sides. There were cases when a stone paving was found near the coffin, and elsewhere, the edge of the pit was reinforced with clay lining. The dead were buried in the supine position, men with their heads to the west; women, to the east, but these directions were not strictly observed. Multiple burials also occur.
The custom of burning the dead spread among Upland Lithuanians around the 5th century. The earliest cremations appeared in the southwest of the habitat; therefore, it is believed that Upland Lithuanians took over this custom from Prussian tribes, most likely from Nadrovians. In the 5th-6th centuries, the cremated dead persons were buried among non-cremation graves. In the 6th and 7th centuries, the custom of cremation of the dead spread further north and east. Both customs existed simultaneously for several centuries, and in the 10th-12th centuries, cremation of the dead was already prevalent.
While Upland Lithuanians were buried not cremated, abundant grave goods used to be placed in their graves. Archaeologists are well aware of their types and the order in which they were placed in graves. There are fewer grave goods in cremations, they are mostly burnt; therefore, the way of life of Upland Lithuanians in later centuries is less well known. Graves of burnt individuals are very diverse. In some places, the same type of grave pits are dug for them as for the individuals who were not cremated, and the bonelets and fragments of the burnt grave goods, taken cleanly from the pyre, are poured into a small pile at the bottom of the pit together with the uncremated part of grave goods. The prevailing graves have small circular pits with bowl-shaped bottoms, up to half a meter in diameter. The ashes of the fire with bonelets or only bonelets were poured into such pits. Sometimes stones were also placed on top. Burnt grave goods are like things that must be taken to the afterlife, while grave goods put on the top would already be gifts. There is, however, one feature of the burial rites, which was not changed by cremation of the dead – it is the burial of riding horses in warriors’ graves. Sometimes the horseman was buried not with one but with several riding horses, up to 8. Furthermore, horse saddles and harnesses were very diverse and extremely luxurious, richly adorned with silver.
Upland Lithuanians followed a certain procedure for placing grave goods. The most common work tool found in men’s graves is a narrow-bladed axe, usually found placed at the feet, less often, at the waist or shoulder. In the earlier graves, the axe was socketed, and in the later ones, it was with a blunt end. A knife is also placed in the grave, it is attached to a belt or a waist-band on the right side. A distinguishing feature of Upland Lithuanians would be that knives are found almost exclusively in male graves. Sometimes a sickle or a firesteel is put at the man’s head. Very rarely, curved drawing knife for woodworking is placed in the grave, apparently for a carpenter. It is not uncommon to find a whetstone at the waist, a gouge at the feet. Upland Lithuanians almost never put spears in men’s graves, rarely one spear is placed at the side, and only in the earlier graves. This distinguishes them from all Baltic tribes; instead, the battle knife is placed by the side very often. Spurs are rarely found, they were fastened with leather straps to both boots, but more often they were placed at the dead horseman’s head. Semigallians and Samogitians used to have one spur each, while Upland Lithuanians always had two each. There are not many ornaments in men’s graves: these are neck-rings, brooches, sometimes, a pin or a bracelet, an amber bead. Sometimes particularly expensive ornaments such as an imported gilded silver brooch was placed under the body of the deceased, apparently in fear of grave robbers. Upland Lithuanians are famous for their luxurious silver-forged drinking horns, which were placed in the grave mostly at the feet, sometimes at the waist or head. The decoration of the bindings and its symbolism suggest that these could have been ritual horns.
Riding horse graves are a distinctive feature of burial grounds of Upland Lithuanians. Sometimes, they were buried in the same pit with horsemen and sometimes, in separate pits. There are cremations of warriors, next to which an uncremated horse is buried. Riding horses were buried with bridles, riding bits between their teeth. The remains of leather bags are occasionally found on the horses’ heads. According to archaeologists, the riding horse offering was one of the parts of the burial ritual. The riding horse was killed just before it was dug.
In female graves, there are very few work tools, only spindles, sickles, and awls. The tools in the grave are mostly placed at the head, but they do not have a permanent place. Spindles are usually made of sandstone, more rarely modelled from clay. A unique spindle was found in Plinkaigalis, near Panevėžys. It is a spinning wheel of the ritual bronze sun chariot with spokes, adapted as a spindle whorl. It was found with the remains of a wooden stick. The spinning wheel was undoubtedly imported from faraway parts of Europe. Upland Lithuanians’ sickles were mostly with spikes bent upwards. Awls were sometimes used to fasten the shrouds of the deceased who were buried without a coffin. Sometimes an iron hoe is found in the grave of an Upland Lithuanian woman and a clay cup near the left knee.
Costume
We know the costume of Upland Lithuanians only until the time when they started cremating the dead. In primary burials, the elements of finishing of garments and ornaments are in their places, which allows to judge about the components of the costume, the length of clothes and sleeves, fabric, and the weaving technique. The cremation grave contains only a set of ornaments. Until now, several reconstructions of the clothing of Upland Lithuanians have been made, which will be referred to here. The finds of one rather rich grave show that Upland Lithuanian men wore linen shirts with long sleeves, fastened with one or more various crossbow brooches and girdled with a leather belt. A drinking horn and a battle knife are attached to the belt. Men wore long linen or woollen trousers tucked into leather boots with long soft shafts, which were fastened below the knees with leather straps with brass buckles. Upland Lithuanian men were good horsemen, they used to put spurs on their boots. They wore neck-rings around their necks, bracelets, sometimes several of them on one arm, they also liked rings. The entire armament of the warrior consisted of a battle knife and an axe, very rarely, a spear. There is no reliable information about the headgear of Upland Lithuanian men.
It is likely that the costume of Upland Lithuanian women was similar to that of women of other Baltic tribes: a linen shirt, one or two skirts, a cloak or shawl. When reconstructing the woman’s costume based on a set of finds from one grave, it would be necessary to add leather shoes and a coil bead chaplet consisting of two rows of coil beads and ring beads. 14 glass necklaces lay diagonally across the pelvis of the deceased. It may that they were sewn to the bottom of the cloak. The woman was probably wearing a waist-band, to which an awl was attached on the right side. The set of ornaments of the deceased is very sumptuous. She had two neck-rings with a spoon-shaped clasp and a four-row glass bead necklace around her neck. Another necklace with tin pendants was badly disintegrated. A long foot crossbow brooch found on the right side of the chest was probably needed to fasten the cloak. 5 sash-like bracelets were put on the right arm and 3, on the left arm. Upland Lithuanian women also had composite ornaments to decorate their chests: a brooch and a pin connected by a chain. Like Samogitian and Semigallian women, Upland Lithuanian women also adorned their heads with coil bead chaplets with spacer plates, but, unlike the women of the aforementioned tribes, they fastened their shirts or cloaks with various brooches, including a penannular brooch, instead of pins.
SAMOGITIANS
Habitat
The Samogitian tribe singled out around the 5th century to the west of Upland Lithuanians, in the territory between the Dubysa and the Šušvė in the east, between the Jūra and the Varduva in the west, as far as the middle of the Venta River in the north, and already not far from the Nemunas, not reaching the present-day Tauragė and Jurbarkas in the south. True, archaeologists still argue about the boundaries of the tribe’s habitat, some assign lands that almost reach the present-day Panevėžys and Pakruojis to Samogitians. The eastern and southern neighbours of Samogitians were Upland Lithuanians; the northern, Semigallians; the western and southwestern, Curonians and Scalvians.
The Samogitian region occupies almost the entire Samogitian highland, wide plains are located only at the edges of the habitat. The Jūra with its abundant tributaries meanders along the western edge, the Venta flows into the Baltic Sea, the Dubysa runs into the Nemunas not far from the eastern edge, and the southern flow of the Mūša babbles to the east in the north. Samogitians, like Curonians, formed in the territory of the Barrow culture of Lithuania and Latvia, which existed here before. Ethnic consolidation was also accompanied by the transformation of the spiritual culture and change in burial customs. Samogitians are one of the few Baltic tribes that have remained almost in the same territory since the beginning, united into a powerful political union that maintained ethnic and political independence in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and developed a unique dialect with several subdialects. Even now, some Samogitians do not consider themselves Lithuanians. Lands in Samogitia were fertile, and the ancient forests were tenebrous and trackless, protecting the Samogitian tribe for many centuries.
The hilly land of Samogitia is dotted with hillforts. Most of them are equipped near the main rivers of the region: the Dubysa, the Venta, the Jūra and in the very middle of the habitat. This is where the greatest strength of the tribe was accumulated, economic and political centres were creating. From the 12th century, the lands of Samogitians expanded in the directions of Curonians and Semigallians. The culture of Samogitia was not homogeneous, and the differences were determined by close neighbourhood with other tribes at the edges of the habitat. Northern Samogitians felt the influence of Semigallians; southwestern, had close contacts with Curonians; and southeastern, were strongly influenced by Upland Lithuanians.
Samogitians entered the historical sources late, only from the 13th century, in the era of the formation of the Lithuanian state, when they fiercely resisted Mindaugas and were first mentioned in the annals of Halych-Volhynia. Later, when they tried to fight alone with the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the Teutonic Order, they were also mentioned in the annals and documents of these orders. Samogitians did not surrender to the orders of knights even when the rulers of Lithuania used to abandon them for political reasons or maybe they were sure that Samogitians would resist.
Burial rites
Burial customs changed several times throughout the whole history of the Samogitian tribe. At the beginning of the period, in the 5th-6th centuries, Samogitians abandoned old barrows and began to bury the dead in flat burial grounds, in pits. Quite late, in the 10th century, the custom of burying the dead reached Samogitians, and in the 11th century it began to prevail. A few centuries later, with the spread of Christianity, Samogitians returned to burying the dead in pits. Samogitians’ burial grounds are quite well investigated; therefore, archaeologists know their culture quite well.
When they stopped building barrows, for some time Samogitians buried the dead in the same places, in the edges of old barrows or even dug new graves in the earth piles, each kin near its own graves. Grave pits were dug singly and did not form neat rows, quite large spaces were left between the graves – maybe this is a relic of the barrow ritual? Grave pits were dug long (up to 2,2-2,6 m long), deep (up to 1,4 m deep) and the dead were laid supine at their bottom. Stones were sometimes placed in the pits, in some of them stones as if formed a circle. Samogitians were buried in hollowed-out log coffins, and sometimes the dead were just wrapped in a funeral shroud fastened with an iron pin. Samogitians tended to place men and women in graves in opposite directions, although this custom was not always followed. The dead were buried one at a time, but a woman in a hollowed-out log coffin with the burnt remains of an infant on her right elbow, wrapped in a shroud and bound with a band, was also found. In the 8th-9th centuries, grave pits were dug in more compact manner, in orderly rows. Probably due to the increase in population and larger communities, the locations of old graves were less often forgotten. From the 11th century, when the custom of cremation of the dead took root, the cremated remains used to be poured into a coffin suitable for the person’s height. Only after some time, they started digging a small oval pit, into which they would put cremated remains wrapped in a cloth and fastened with a brooch, to which a small amber bead was also tied.
Grave goods of Samogitians did not differ from those that were previously placed next to the body of the deceased. It should be noted that grave goods were placed in the graves differently. Many of the dead were buried only with an iron pin, a knife, an awl, and sometimes, with a small amber bead. These are the graves of the poorer relatives of the community, maybe the captives. However, many graves are richer in grave goods, and some particularly distinguish themselves by the abundance and luxury of grave goods.
Samogitian warriors, like warriors of other Baltic tribes, are buried with weapons. Socketed axes are placed at the head, shoulder or side, but this custom later disappeared. Several spears are placed on the left (perhaps for a left-handed individual) or right side. Battle knives and one-edged swords, spurs, and riding bits placed by the side are less common in graves. Only in the southwestern part of the habitat, riding horse offerings – head and legs – were placed in graves. In the 7th-9th centuries, there is a significant increase in weapons in graves: almost all men are buried at least with spears. The richer ones are seen off with 2-3 spears, a one-edged sword, a battle knife, with an iron spur on the left leg. Some have the head of a young riding horse (up to 5 years old) at the head.
Few work tools were found in female graves: the main women’s tool was a knife, without which women were rarely buried, hung on a belt or placed on the waist or head; an awl; a stone or clay spindle, very rarely, an amber one. Knives-sickles are sometimes found in female graves near the Semigallians’ edge. A distinctive feature of the burial rites of female Samogitians is a pair of pins, the needles of which are wound with chainlets, placed on the chest or waist of the deceased. This would be like a gift, because in other graves this ornament is used to pin the scarf of the deceased.
Costume
The Samogitian warrior’s costume and its parts were not much different from the ones of other Baltic tribes. We know little about the colours of textiles and almost nothing about cutting of clothes, but a lot can be said about clothes, judging by ornaments. Male Samogitians wore linen shirts and short caftan-style coats on top of them, which were girdled with a leather belt with a brass buckle. A sword, a battle axe, a drinking horn used to be attached to the belt. They wore linen or woollen trousers tucked into long-shaft leather boots, sometimes adorned with brass, with a spur attached, usually only to one leg. The thick cloak was fastened on the chest with crossbow, later, penannular brooches. A small amber bead – an amulet – was often tied to the brooch. Men wore neck-rings around their necks, and their heads were adorned with leather bands with brass studs. They each wore one bracelet, sometimes they wore rings. Richer men also had tweezers. Some archaeologists believe that they were intended for toiletries, while others tend to attribute a ritual function to them too.
The women’s costume probably consisted of a linen shirt, a skirt, and a scarf. Female Samogitians also wore aprons, the bottom of which was adorned with sewn brass coil beads. Women covered their heads with brass coil bead chaplets made of coil beads and plates, which went out of fashion around the 8th century. The cloth headware was surrounded by leather strips adorned with brass or cloth bands. Samogitian women differed from the women of other tribes in that they liked large brass coil beads, on which they twisted their hair into a bun or held it on the back of their head. A particularly rare and beautiful headware of Samogitian women was a cone-shaped cap twisted from strings fully covered with small brass rings. The edge of the cap was also adorned with maple leaf shaped pendants. None of the Baltic tribes had such caps. Another characteristic feature of the costume of Samogitian women is that they did not wear brooches at all; instead, their chests were adorned with a pair of brass pins connected by 2-5 chainlets, which were also fixed to crescent-shaped pendants. Pin heads and pendants were sometimes adorned with silver. A luxurious set of ornaments was found, which consisted of the aforementioned pins, a neck-ring, and bracelets, specially made for a 5-7-year-old girl. She might have been a daughter of a nobleman, because children’s ornaments were usually made by reducing the ones of adults: the end of the neck-ring or bracelet was broken off and bent to fit the child. Pins with chainlets were used to pin scarfs or cloaks. Samogitian women adorned their necks with one or two neck-rings, beaded necklaces and wore bracelets on both hands, sometimes even several on each. Flat coil bracelets and armband bracelets were particularly popular. Like men, women also wore amulets – amber beads tied to pins. Women also liked coil rings.
JATVINGIANS
Habitat
Jatvingians is a large union of Baltic tribes. At present, it is believed that the union was made up of Jatvingians, Sudovians, Dainavians, and Polexians. Jatvingians had their peculiar burial rites as early as the first centuries after Christ – cairns (laden with piles of stones). Later, their barrows are very abundant in stones too.
In the 4th century, the Jatvingian-Sudovian tribe distinguished itself in the southern part of Užnemunė and occupied large areas of the present-day Belarus and northern Poland. In Užnemunė, the northern border of Jatvingians was approximately near Vištytis, Žuvintas, Alytus; to the south, from the Šešupė; in the east, they occupied lands on the right bank of the Nemunas, between the Merkys and the Strėva, up to the vicinities of Aukštadvaris. According to Belarusian archaeologists, Jatvingian lands reach Narutis, Berezina; in the south, extend to the Sverech, the Usha, the Narev rivers; and in the west, to the Svislach River. In the 7th-9th centuries, Lithuanian barrows spread on the right bank of the Nemunas, and Dainavians who lived here were assimilated by Lithuanians. In the 13th century, the southern lands of Jatvingians (Jatvingians and Polexians) were ravaged and completely destroyed by the armies of the Teutonic Order, the warrior elite of the dukes of Russia and Mazuria. A part of Jatvingians retreated to the territory of the Lithuanian tribe, to the lands of Sudovians, and their lands went to the conquerors. The Sudovian tribe, which lived in southern Užnemunė, survived the longest. The northern neighbours of Jatvingians were Upland Lithuanians; the eastern, Lithuanians and the Slavic tribe Dregovits; in the south, they bordered the Slavic tribe Mazurians; and in the west, the Prussian tribes Galindians and Nadrovians.
The Jatvingian region is mountainous, seamed with rivers, covered with woods, but Jatvingians were good farmers. In Šveicarija barrow cemetery near Suwalki, a Jatvingian man was buried and a wooden ard with an iron coulter was placed in his grave – it is a unique find in the entire Baltic habitat. Like all Balts, Jatvingians built hillforts. They are concentrated on the left bank of the Šešupė, on the banks of the Nemunas, in the vicinities of the present-day Lazdijai and Druskininkai. Much less Jatvingian barrow cemeteries located near hillforts survived. The northern part of the Jatvingian habitat, Sudovia, was more densely populated.
Jatvingians entered the written sources early – K. Ptolemy already mentions them in the “Geography” in the 2nd century AD. From the 10th century, they have been mentioned in Russian chronicles. Jatvingians were famous for their militancy; their graves contain many weapons and quite a lot of artefacts that can be considered the spoils of distant military campaigns. It was not for nothing that they were defeated only by the combined forces of the three states. Sudovians, who maintained their independence the longest, eventually became part of the Lithuanian state.
Burial rites
Barrow cemeteries of Jatvingians are not large, they consist of a dozen or several dozen barrows. They are circular, about 5-12 m in diameter, up to 1,5 meters high, but elongated earth piles also occur. Earth piles of Jatvingian barrows were poured from earth, and stones were heaped in the central part. The earth pile was surrounded by large stones arranged in a circle. In the 4th-5th century, the uncremated dead individuals were buried mostly one in each barrow. A pit was dug for the grave under the earth pile. Several dead individuals were rarely buried in one pit. The sides and ends of pits used to be laden with stones; they surrounded the deceased in the grave from all sides. Sometimes, the deceased is also laden with stones from above, and a stone paving or a pile of stones is additionally made on the surface of the ground. Between the skeletons, charred wood particles are found – these testify to the funeral rite with fire. The dead are buried with their heads to the north or northwest. A spear is placed by their side with a spearhead at their head, and a shield is placed at their feet. An axe and a knife are rarely placed in the grave. Few of Jatvingians graves have been explored, quite many of them were robbed; therefore, few ornaments have been found, among which belt buckles and brooches are the most common.
In the 4th century, Jatvingians took over the custom of cremating the dead but continued to bury them in barrows too. To bury cremated remains, a rectangular pit was dug in the northwest-southeast direction under the earth pile of the barrow, stones were piled at the ends, the bottom of the pit was sprinkled with ashes and charred wood particles, and a small pile of larger bones was poured in the middle. Grave goods such as spoon-shaped neck-rings, armband bracelets, enamelled penannular brooches are placed next to the bones. Later, a small shallow pit of up to half a meter in diameter is dug at the base of the barrow for the cremated remains or they are poured into a pile directly onto the base. Sometimes, a small stone paving was made to pour the cremated remains. Grave goods in Jatvingian cremations are sparse, often there are no grave goods at all. Bracelets with thickened terminals, iron and brass crossbow brooches, buckles, knives, socketed spearheads, coil rings are found. Burial rites of northern and southern Jatvingians are somewhat different. In the vicinities of Suwalki, the custom of burying the cremated remains of the dead in clay urns prevailed, while urns are not found in the north. In addition, southern Jatvingians buried a dozen dead individuals in each barrow; while the northern ones, only one or two in each. Southern Jatvingians did not put weapons in the graves at all.
Costume
There is no reliable knowledge about the clothing of Jatvingian men and women. Their custom of placing little or no grave goods in graves further complicates the study of their costume, and the custom of cremation, taken over very early, in the 4th century, makes it impossible to know what Jatvingians looked like, what colour or length their clothes were. Archaeologists rarely dare to try to reconstruct the Jatvingian costume. However, the fact that Jatvingians put few weapons and few ornaments in their graves does not mean that they did not have them or did not like them. This might have been influenced by the tribe’s mentality or beliefs.
At the moment, we can only say that Jatvingian men and women wore neck-rings; shirts, cloaks or mantles were fastened with crossbow or penannular brooches; they wore bracelets, rings and girdled with leather belts with metal buckles. The exclusive ornament of Jatvingians is luxurious, massive bracelets with coarse surface.
CURONIANS
Habitat
In the first centuries A.D., the culture of Graves Inside Stone Circles, attributed to West Balts, was located on the narrow strip along the edge of the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. The name of the tribe that created this culture and left abundant burial grounds was not written down and did not reach our times. In the 7th century A.D., two smaller ethnic regions formed in those lands: Curonians in the north, and Lamatians, who were very cognate to them, in the south. The Curonian tribe formed on the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea, between the mouths of the Danė and Venta rivers and occupied almost the entire Curonian peninsula. In the north, their habitat reached the Venta and its tributary the Abava; in the west, the border of their habitat ran along the sea coast and still a little further south of the present-day Klaipėda; and in the south, the Curonian region reached the vicinities of the present-day Medingėnai and Endriejavas. In the east, the Curonian lands were bordered by the Minija basin and the Venta River; they reached the lands of Telšiai and Žarėnai. In the south, Curonians bordered Lamatians; in the east, Samogitians and Semigallians. During the entire period of existence, the territory of the Curonian tribe gradually expanded towards the north.
The Curonian habitat is the land of plains; there are hills and hillocks only in the southeast, where it reaches the northern edge of the Samogitian highland. It is a land of forests, seamed with rivers and streams. The biggest river in this region was the Venta, flowing from the south. All rivers of the region flow into the Baltic Sea. Archaeologists have found more than 70 hillforts in the Curonian lands; most of them were equipped in the 9th-12th centuries A.D. Until then, Curonians lived mainly in unfortified settlements, farmers’ communities, near which burial sites with very rich graves survived. The southern Curonian lands, which were located in the territory of the present-day Lithuania, in Kretinga and Skuodas districts, were much more densely populated. Several Curonian power centres stood out, consisting of a couple or several well-fortified hillforts, while in the 13th century, 9 Curonian lands were already mentioned: Vanema, Bandova, Pamarys, Duvzarė, Skumda, Mėgava, Pilsotas, Ceklis. The equipment of several hillforts – Matkulė, Stradzė – distinguishes itself from others and they are considered sacrificial offering places, places of worship. The most important trade routes of Curonians ran along the Baltic coast and the Venta River. Non-ferrous metals, high-quality weapons and other luxury goods reached the Curonian lands via the Baltic Sea. Curonians were good farmers, skilled craftsmen, sailors and traders, and excellent warriors. It is not for nothing that nowadays they are sometimes called Baltic vikings.
The processes of history determined that the Curonian tribe split into two parts, which were part of different Baltic peoples and fell into the territories of different states. Most of southern Curonians blended with the Lithuanian nation and state, while northern Curonians became part of the Latvian nation and were the western region of Livonia; later, Russia; and finally, the Latvian state. In the Curonian lands of Lithuania, the prodialect of northern Samogitians (Douninkai) was formed.
Burial rites
Not all Curonians buried their dead in the same way. Closer to the seashore, the custom of burying the dead in graves inside stone circles survived from older times, but such graves were rapidly disappearing. Burials in the middle regions of the Curonian land are very similar to today’s burials: the dead are buried in pits, and the surface of the earth is left flat. At the end of the 8th century, Curonians gradually adopted the custom of burning the dead, which came from the Prussian land and moved northward. From the second half of the 11th century, this custom already prevailed. The old customs survived longer only in the north and east, where the Curionian lands were bordered by Lybians and Semigallians, who never cremated the dead. However, the custom of cremation of the dead was very well established among Curonians: there is knowledge of cases of burning the dead even in the 15th century.
What did the most archaic Curonian graves inside stone circles look like? The dead were buried in shallow oblong pits 15-80 cm deep, and the grave was surrounded by an oval or quadrangular circle made of 2-3 tiers of round stones, which was slightly larger than the grave pit. Most often, the circle of a new grave was connected to the older ones, and an entire network of stone circles was formed. The dead were mostly laid supine, with their heads towards the north and hands folded on their chests or waists. Before burial, fire rituals were always performed, after which thin layers of charred wood particles remained on the bottom of the grave pits and in the surroundings. Sometimes, the dead were buried in hollowed-out log coffins, and sometimes on a wooden formwork. The dead were seen off to the other world not only dressed in ornate dressy clothes, richly adorned with bronze and silver ornaments, furnished with work tools and weapons, but often with abundant gifts: ornaments put in a bark box and placed at the head. This is a very characteristic feature of Curonian burial rites. Often, there were small clay cups in the grave.
When the custom of placing stone circles disappeared, other burial rites changed little. The dead were buried in elongated pits with rounded corners, forming neat rows. After the death of men of high descent and position, a riding horse used to be sacrificed in the southern part of the Curonian habitat, and this offering (horse heads, legs) would be placed in the grave, but this custom disappeared in the 5th century.
All – men, women and children – were buried very similarly, only sometimes the direction of female and male burial and the order of placing grave goods differed. In male graves, two spears and a massive one-edged sword were almost always placed on the left side; and from the 8th century, a battle knife in ornate scabbards with bronze binding too; at the head, riding bits, spurs, a scythe, more rarely, a socketed axe were placed. A knife, awl, and a spindle were put above the women’s heads. For both men and women, a clay cup is also placed at the head, and sometimes one or two drinking horns.
As the custom of cremation of the dead began to spread, cremation graves were inserted between the rows of uncremated graves. In other times, cremation graves are grouped at the edge of the cemetery. Archaeologists have noticed that at that time, people returned to cemeteries that had been abandoned for several centuries and buried the dead here following the new custom. In the 10th-12th centuries, during the period of the Curonian prosperity, when the population grew rapidly, mostly in the northern part of the habitat, new settlements were established with new cemeteries neighbouring them.
The dead were cremated in special pyres, where abundant charred wood particles, fragments of burnt out and melted artefacts survived. Very rarely, the deceased was cremated in a grave pit. When the funeral fire was already extinguished and cooled down, the bonelets and small pieces of manufactured items together with coals were taken from it to the grave pit and buried. Burnt bonelets are often poured into a regular-sized coffin, and the unburnt grave goods are placed in the usual order as it used to be done before. The dead were also buried in a small coffin – a small box, after wrapping the cremated remains with grave goods in a cloth and placing gifts – ornaments – next to them. Elsewhere, the remains are piled in the middle of the grave pit, and grave goods are placed next to them. Often, a part of grave goods are broken or chopped up. Part of the graves were found in small oval pits together with burnt and broken grave goods. There are also multiple burials, where the remains in the grave pit are poured into separate small piles. Very rarely Curonians buried the remains of the dead in urns, only a few such graves are known. As the custom of cremation of human remains became increasingly common, grave pits became smaller, fewer grave goods were put or not all manufactured items but their parts were placed. At that time, the custom of miniature grave goods spreads: not the actual tools and weapons used by the deceased are put in the grave but their miniatures made specially for the funeral.
Cremation graves contain the same grave goods as in primary burials, only the order of their placement is no longer followed. In men’s graves, weapons, intact or bent, are placed at the bottom of the grave pit and very rarely, they are stabbed into the ground. Riding bits, stirrups, bridles, spurs are placed in the graves of horsemen; in the graves of men, a knife, axe, razor, horn or bone comb, strike-iron are found; of traders, scales with weights. Drinking horns are found in almost every man’s grave. They were never burned and were placed in the grave further away from other grave goods; apparently, they were not empty. Female graves were dominated by ornaments, but archaeologists find other artefacts too. These are mostly miniatures of work tools: small axes, hoes, scythes, firesteels, thin iron strips, spurs, less often, riding bits. Very often a set of miniature cloth-band making tools was placed in female graves: 4 tablets, a small brush-comb, a spindle, a bobbin, and a needle. Interestingly, this set is sometimes found in male graves too. Maybe it was a gift from a beloved woman? Clay cups and pots are found in male and female graves; they are often broken. This is most likely related to funeral rites, to food and drink brought to the deceased.
Costume
Due to the characteristics of the soil in the cemeteries of the Curonian habitat, the remains of the dead are very poorly preserved, not to mention clothes and footwear. Various clothing adornments and metal ornaments have survived slightly better. Their functions, arrangement, position in the grave allow to approximately restore the most important features of the costume, the length of clothes. Sparse remains of textiles tell about fabrics, weaving patterns, and colours; however, clothing styles cannot be reproduced by current methods.
The costume of the Curonian man, warrior, reconstructed by archaeologists, might have looked something like this: he wore a long-sleeved linen shirt and narrow linen or woolen trousers. Could have worn a warmer woollen caftan-style coat girdled with a leather belt in bronze or silver binding, called jaka by Latvian archaeologists, could have had a wide cloak fastened with a massive brooch in the front. Curonian men wore leather shoes, apparently with hard soles, because iron stirrups had already appeared. There is least knowledge of caps – it can only be assumed that there were fur hats for winter and, possibly, headbands for summer. It should not be maintained that clothes were only in natural colours of linen or wool. The yarn was dyed with plant-based dyes in many shades of brown, yellow, green, black, blue. Curonian men loved ornaments. Their most important ornament is a cloak brooch, sometimes as many as 4 of them are found. Until the 10th century, crossbow zoomorphic brooches or brooches with poppyseed-shaped terminals, flat openwork brooches were popular, and from the 10th century, penannular brooches became very common. Very rarely men wore massive bracelets and neck-rings with thickened terminals. A peculiar attribute of Curonian men is an amber comb-shaped pendant, probably an amulet.
Compared with other Baltic tribes, it can be assumed that the main parts of the Curonian women’s costume were a long shirt, a skirt, a scarf, and an apron. It is likely that they wore a cloth headgear, maybe somewhat similar to a wimple, which was fastened on the side with a massive pin or a crossbow brooch. Like men, women had leather belts with bronze buckles and wore leather shoes. Curonian women liked massive ornaments and had a lot of them. The neck was decorated with various neck-rings and multi-row necklaces from multi-coloured glass beads, chainlets, and pendants. They fastened their clothes on the chest with cruciform, penannular brooches, and their arms were decorated with wide bracelets and rings. Women, like men, wore amber amulets, mostly in the form of elongated necklaces. Going to the other world, women, more often than men, took with them not only the ornaments that adorned their clothes during the funeral but also all other ornaments they had.
Curonians were a wealthy tribe that liked to emphasize their position in the society with all appearance: massive, abundant bronze and silver ornaments, glittering clothes, good, expensively decorated weaponry, and luxurious horse and horseman’s attributes.
LETTIGALLIANS
Habitat
Lettigallians are the northernmost Baltic tribe. The territory of their tribe covers the entire northeastern part of the present-day Latvia. In the late Iron Age, the western lands of Lettigallians bordered the territory of the Lybian tribe at the middle of the Gauja River and Aizkraukle near the Daugava River. In the south, their areas almost reached the Daugava, except for the areas inhabited by Selonians in the Aiviekste basin. From Asuote, the border of Selonians and Lettigallians went along the Daugava. The eastern border of Lettigallians coincided approximately with the current border of Latvia and Belarus. In the north, Lettigallians bordered the Estonian tribes, also approximately at the current border of the states. The northern neighbours of Lettigallians were Estonians; the western, Lybians; the southern, Selonians; and the eastern, the Slavic tribe Krivichi. Thus, the cognate Baltic tribes lived only in the south, while on the other sides, they were surrounded by Finno-Ugrians and Slavs. The culture of Lettigallians was greatly influenced by Finno-Ugric tribes, whose lands they had occupied and whom they increasingly pushed further north.
The lands of the Lettigallian tribe are hilly, wooded, and not as fertile as those of Semigallians. Southern Lettigallia was much more densely populated than northern Lettigallia, and in the western and southern edges, Lettigallians lived mixed with Lybian and Selonian neighbours. There is knowledge of about 90 hillforts in the Lettigallian region, which were used as fortresses. The most important centres were Jersika, Uolinkalnis, Asuote. Several sacrificial offering hillforts are known: Zilaiskalns, Sauleskalns. The culture of West and East Lettigallians was somewhat different, mostly in burial rites.
At the turn of the 12th century, Lettigallians are mentioned in Russian annals; and from the 13th century, in the sources of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, in H. Latvis’ Livonian Chronicle too. For some time, Lettigallians paid tribute to the dukes of Polotsk, and in the 13th century, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword conquered them and annexed all lands.
Burial rites
Burials rites of western and eastern parts of Lettigallia differed. Western Lettigallians buried the dead in pits and flat burial grounds, while eastern Lettigallians built barrows. It is believed that eastern Lettigallians were culturally influenced by their neighbours Krivichians.
There are very many flat burial grounds in Lettigallia, about 200 are known. They are all equipped in higher places, on the slopes of hillocks and rivers, near settlements. Burial grounds are large, containing several hundred graves. Graves are arranged spaciously, sometimes lined up in neat rows. The dead are buried in elongated quadrangular pits, almost all of them are not cremated. They are laid supine, legs extended, hands folded on the chest or waist. The dead are buried with festive clothes and ornaments, with work tools and weapons. Charcoal – the witness of fire rituals – is often found in the earth with which the pits were back-filled. Another burial rite is placing ferns under women’s heads. The dead were buried in coffins or wrapped in shrouds. Lettigallian burials are peculiar in that it is strictly observed that men and women are laid in graves in opposite directions. In the Lettigallian burial grounds, solitary cremation graves are found. Most of them are women’s; therefore, archaeologists believe that these are the graves where the wives of Lettigallians, brought from Lithuania or Slavic lands, are buried. Like in the burial places of all other Baltic tribes, there are graves in Lettigallia only with grave goods and without the remains of the deceased. It is believed that these are cenotaphs – graves equipped in memory of tribesmen who died or perished elsewhere.
The graves of men and women are most clearly distinguished by weapons. A short, broad, one-edged sword, several spears of various kinds, and an axe with a narrow blade and blunt end are placed in male graves. In later centuries, a battle axe with a wide blade and blunt end became a typical weapon of the Lettigallian warrior. Sometimes, two-edged swords and knives are found. Scales and weights are sometimes found in the graves of Lettigallian traders.
The main grave goods of female graves were ornaments, and they were placed in their graves in abundance and variety. The most characteristic part of grave goods of Lettigallian women is a cloak. It is an elongated square woollen dark blue cloak, richly adorned with brass. The graves of Lettigallian boys distinguish themselves by the fact that miniature warrior bracelets were specially made for them.
In the 11th century, burial mounds began to be piled in eastern Lettigallia. Now, most of the barrows are destroyed by treasure hunters; the ones that overgrew with woods have survived better. The largest burial mounds are concentrated in the east of Lettigallia. The barrows of this period are individual graves, which makes them different from the earlier ones built in Lithuania and Latvia in the first centuries A.D. Very rarely, two dead individuals are buried in one barrow. The barrows are 4-7 m in diameter, their earth piles are hemispheric, grave pits are dug in the bases. Earth for earth piles was taken from the surroundings, this way forming a ditch along the edge of the barrow. Earth in the earth pile also contains charcoal – the remains of a fire rite.
When burial mounds began to be piled, other elements of burial rites did not change: the dead were buried without burning, men and women were laid in opposite directions. Similar to Lithuanians, Lettigallians also sprinkled the bases of barrows with ashes and charred wood particles from the ceremonial fire. Sometimes, the dead are buried in gable lidded coffins. One unique case is known, when a contour of a grave pit was laid from field stones on the ground surface on the base of a barrow.
Costume
The graves of Letigallians, like of Selonians, contain a lot of brass ornaments and brass-adorned textiles; thus, their costumes were quite reliably reconstructed by Latvian archaeologists. Men wore linen shirts with long sleeves and half-length woollen caftan-style coats (in Latvian, jaka) over them. Their sleeves were shorter than the sleeves of shirts, and the neckline was sometimes bordered with several rows of small brass coil beads strung on cords. Pendants were also attached to them. Sometimes, they wore wristlets on one arm, which were richly adorned with small inwoven brass rings. Caftan-style coats were girdled with leather belts in a brass setting. A long tassel was attached to the belt, which consisted of 6 cords, on which 4 brass coil beads, which were getting increasingly longer from the waist, were stringed. The ends of the tassel cords were adorned with silver pendants. This is a very luxurious male ornament. Sometimes, battle knife scabbards, also luxuriously decorated with forged brass, were attached to such tassel. Letigallians wore narrow trousers, wrapped below the knees with colourful or one-colour tablet-woven bands. Shoes were with short shaft, made of leather. Sometimes men also had cloaks, probably for a colder weather. The cloak is fastened on the chest with a penannular brooch. Brooches were also used to fasten shirts and caftan-style coats in the front. Male Lettigallians wore bracelets, sometimes one on each arm.
The women’s costume is very similar to the Selonian one. Lettgallian women wore mid-calf length skirts. Their skirts are an elongated square piece of textile with the top edge wrinkled and sewn onto a narrow fabric strip. The skirt is wrapped around the waist, the ends are put one on top of the other, and a band is girdled around the waist to hold the skirt. The bottom edge of the skirt is sometimes bordered with a coloured tablet-woven band. Lettigallian women wore linen shirts with long sleeves, over which they covered themselves with a cloak. Colourful tablet-woven bands with geometric patterns were inwoven at its ends. Another, narrower, tablet-woven band was sewn on top all the way around the edge. The edges of the cloak or even the entire surface is adorned with geometric symbolic patterns made of fine brass rings, and the ends are decorated with tassels. Sometimes tassels are attached only to the corners. Corner tassels are often made of cords on which brass coil beads are stringed. The edges of both male and female caftan-style coats are often decorated with patterns of inwoven small brass rings. Another pride of Lettigallian women is wide, luxurious chaplets with ornate tassels on the crown. They used to be made of rows of necklaces sewn to the textile, brass coil beads strung together in several rows, and tassels made of brass chainlets and coil beads.
The abundance of Lettigallian women’s ornaments is truly impressive. This is how one Lettigallian aristocrat was adorned. On her head she wore a headband made of 6 rows of brass coil beads separated by narrow ornamented plates. In the occipital part, 4 brass chainlets with crotals at the ends are attached to the headband. Her shirt was fastened with a small penannular brooch. Peculiar are Lettigallian women’s neck ornaments. She wore 3 neck-rings, two of them were plaited and the third, with flaring overlapping terminals, adorned with trapezium-shaped pendants. In addition to them, he had 3 rows of chainlets linked together on the nape of the neck by a semicircular curved hook, and a two-row necklace made of fine glass beads and holey shells. Another necklace was made of glass beads, crotals and cruciform pendants. Her wrists were adorned with 7 bracelets, sash-like and with zoomorphic terminals, and 5 coil rings. She had a small iron knife and an amulet consisting of a bear’s tusk and a pendant hung on one chainlet and two crotals on the other. It is doubted that these expensive and luxurious clothes and an extraordinary abundance of ornaments only testify to her high descent and wealth – it may be that part of her artefacts were intended for rites.
LITHUANIANS
Habitat
Lithuanians were one of the largest Baltic tribes, which lived in a wide area. In the 4th century, after the decline of the Brushed Pottery culture, about whose burial customs nothing is known, several ethnic groups formed in a wide area, one of which was the Lithuanian tribe. Around the 4th-5th centuries, people from northern regions moved to this area and settled here. They brought the custom of burying the dead in barrows. Local residents also adopted this custom. Archaeologists have found that part of the inhabitants of southern Užnemunė from the Jatvingian region also moved to the future land of Lithuania. They also built barrows, and in addition, from the 4th century, they already burned the deceased. The lands of the Lithuanian tribe stretched from the present-day Zarasai in the north to Lakes Narutis and Svieriai in the southeast. Their western border ran along the Šventoji River, Lithuanians lived in the territory of the Neris and the Merkys basins. Part of the southeastern Lithuanian lands is now in the territory of Belarus. The northern neighbours of Lithuanians were Selonians; the western, Upland Lithuanians and Jatvingians; and in the east, their lands bordered the Slavic tribe Dregovichi.
The Lithuanian region is entire highlands. It includes the highlands of Dzūkai, Aukštaičiai, which is higher than others, Ašmena, and Švenčionys. The Šventoji ran along the northwestern edge of the Lithuanian habitat, the Nemunas flowed along the western side, the Neris and the Merkys ploughed this land from the east to the west, and numerous large and small lakes lay on the northern edge. Lithuanian lands are poor, sandy, but they are abundant in good pastures, many forests and water bodies. Most of their lands are located at a distance from the great trade routes; therefore, Lithuanian ornaments are light, there are fewer of them, and grave goods are less abundant and rich, compared with those of the western and northern Baltic tribes. The Lithuanian region was densely but unevenly populated. Lithuanian hillforts are concentrated in the north, in the region of lakes, near the Neris, between the Neris and the Merkys rivers, but there are much fewer of them in the southeastern edge of the habitat. Burial mounds are arranged in a similar way, but there are a lot of them in the southeast too – more people lived here in unfortified settlements.
The Lithuanian tribe, formed around the 5th century, lived until the 13th century. Lithuanians moved in the southeast direction, inhabited sparsely populated lands, consolidated into a strong tribal union, which successfully resisted the Slavic tribes and the dukes of Kievan Rus’. The Lithuanian tribal nobility was the political force that by expanding its influence and military power over other Baltic tribes, laid foundations for the Lithuanian state, and having united with Upland Lithuanians, for the Lithuanian nation too. The name of Lithuania was first mentioned in the annals of Quedlinburg in 1009, and it was recorded in the Russian annals under the name of Mindaugas’ Lithuania.
Burial rites
Lithuanian burial sites are known only from the 5th century, and from that time until the 12th century, Lithuanians built barrows for the dead, which were used for burying the unburnt dead individuals and later, the cremated ones too. The custom of burning the dead spread from the southwest to the north; therefore, in the north, the custom of burying unburnt remains in barrows survived longer. Lithuanian barrows changed over time. In the 5th-7th centuries, they are equipped inside stone circles, like in the entire northern edge of the Baltic lands, and later, the stone circles are no longer made. The barrow is surrounded by a ditch or several elongated pits are dug at its edges. Earth piles of early and late times are poured from earth, sand, and stones get into the earth piles with earth but they no longer form any structures. Several people are buried in each of the barrows. The place where the barrow will be placed was first sprinkled with ashes and charred wood particles and then, one or several pits up to 1,5 m deep for the dead were dug. After laying the dead in them, the earth pile is poured, and a circle of stones is placed around its edges. Pits were for burying adults, and the remains of children were buried on the base of the barrow or in the earth pile. Lithuanian barrows usually contained from 1 to 8 graves. Men were mostly buried with their heads to the west; and women, to the east. Most often, the dead are laid supine, their legs are extended, their hands are folded on their chest or waist, but the dead laid on their sides are also found. Traces of coffins are rarely found, far more often the dead are wrapped in or covered with a thick linen. Exceptionally equipped graves were found. The bottom of one grave pit was lined with birch bark and decorated with small square brass plates, there were about 300 of them. A truly extraordinary person must have been buried in it. Lithuanians put few expensive metal grave goods in graves, especially bronze ones; iron artefacts prevail, even ornaments. Apparently, precious metals were a great rarity and treasure in the Lithuanian region. The most common man’s grave good was an axe with a narrow blade and a blunt end, although socketed axes were also found. The knife used to be placed too. Neither the axe nor the knife had a fixed place in the grave – they were placed at the feet, shoulder, side. Very rarely a spear was put in male graves, but in rich graves there were two of them, always placed with the spearheads at the feet. Wealthy male Lithuanians are buried with several weapons: a battle axe, a battle knife, a shield placed on their feet, and only extremely rich chiefs are buried with two-edged swords and riding horses. The so-called grave of the duke of Taurapilis stands out from all graves, where the buried nobleman had a sword with gilded binding of silver scabbards, a battle knife, a battle axe, a shield, and a riding horse with modest riding gear was buried next to him. Quite many men are buried without weapons at all.
Female grave goods were also very modest. From the work tools, an iron awl is most common, occasionally, a small sickle, and very rarely, a clay or stone spindle. Ornaments found in male and female barrows are light, modest, part of brooches and pins are iron. Silver ornaments are found very rarely. Lithuanians learned to smelt iron as early as before Christ, their lands were rich in iron ore; thus, it was cheaper to forge iron ornaments instead of buying expensive bronze or even more expensive silver.
At the turn of the 5th century, when the custom of cremation of the dead began to spread, the cremated remains were buried in the same barrows. As the custom takes root and becomes increasingly prevalent, the same burial mounds are made for cremated remains. The barrows are large, from 4 to 14 m in diameter and 1,5 m high, but there are also very large barrows in the barrow cemeteries: up to 22 m in diameter and 2 m high. Barrow cemeteries occupied an area of several or a dozen hectares. Bonelets picked from the pyre were buried in the graves. Cremation graves are found on the base of the barrow and in various parts of the earth pile. Cremated remains were placed in small, shallow pits. Only in the north of the habitat, a pit for the cremation grave dug on the base of the barrow was of the same size as the one for the uncremated deceased. Grave goods were placed next to or on top of the burnt bonelets, more neatly in the graves of the 5th-6th centuries, and later, they were mixed with the bonelets. Very rarely, perhaps for the sake of magic, weapons were stuck near the small pile of bonelets. Burnt, molten and unburnt grave goods are also found in cremation graves, but most often they are broken. Very rarely fragments of linen are found, into which the grave goods were probably wrapped or maybe all the bonelets of the deceased, taken from the funeral pyre.
Grave goods of cremation graves are the same as those of primary burials: these are axes with a narrow blade and a blunt end, socketed spearheads (but not spears with shafts), knives, belt buckles, and sometimes, an iron shield boss. Burnt horses are also found, buried together with the horsemen in one barrow. More often, riding horses were buried unburnt and in separate graves from people. In female graves, the same grave goods are found as before: awls, spindles, sickles, sometimes, needles. From ornaments, broken sash-like bracelets and bracelets with thickened terminals, neck-rings, bucklets are mostly placed.
Costume
Very little is known about the Lithuanian costume. Having adopted the custom of cremation of the dead early, they have left us almost no knowledge of it. The Lithuanian costume is reconstructed using analogies from other Baltic tribes. It is assumed that the parts of the man’s costume should have been similar to those of Upland Lithuanians and Samogitians. These are shirts, trousers, caftan-style coats, cloaks, shoes, caps, but we do not know any details. It is only clear that compared with others, Lithuanian men wore little ornaments. Usually it was a crossbow brooch; later, a penannular brooch, a narrow, thin sash-like bracelet, a belt with an iron buckle, less often, with a brass buckle, and a coil ring. Even very rich warriors buried with a sword and a riding horse did not have a neck-ring. Such artefacts as a wetstone, tweezers, a bone comb, metal mounts of a drinking horn are also found in men’s graves very rarely.
Women’s costume and its parts can also only be guessed by analogies, but women wore more ornaments than men. It is known that in the 5th-6th centuries, Lithuanian women wore caps (or headbands) adorned with several ring temple ornaments attached in the temple area on each side of the cap. They are common in the grave of the Lithuanian woman. The neck was occasionally adorned with glass or amber necklaces, neck-rings. The chest was usually decorated with only one crossbow brooch or a pin. On their arms, Lithuanian women wore sash-like bracelets or thin barrel-shaped bracelets with a concave cross-section, coil rings. Wealthy women adorned their clothes, most likely their edges, with 3-5 cm wide bands, closely covered with small hollow brass cylinders sewn perpendicularly throughout all edge. This fashion lasted for several centuries, small cylinders are also found in female cremation graves until the end of the 8th century.
OLD PRUSSIAS
Habitat
In the 13th century, the Old Prussian lands stretched to the lower reaches of the Minija in the north, reached the lower reaches of the Vistula in the southwest, covered the upper reaches of right tributaries of the Narew and the Vistula rivers in the south, and a small part of Šakiai district in the east, almost the whole Vilkaviškis district and a considerable area of land east of the Masurian lake district. It is maintained that the oldest ancestors of Old Prussians are the people of the Baltic Coastal culture of the end of the Stone Age. The direct ancestors of the Old Prussian tribes are representatives of the West Baltic Barrow culture. The habitat inhabited by Old Prussians and the beginnings of the territorial groups of Old Prussians, which are sometimes considered separate tribes (Sambians, Natangians, Bartans, Varmians, Pogesanians, Pomesanians), finally emerged in t