DISCOVERIES AND INSPIRATION FROM MICHAŁBRENSZTEJN’S ‘ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVENTORY OF THE KOVNO GUBERNIA’ Discoveries and Inspiration Discoveries and Inspiration from MichaŁ Brensztejn’s ‘Archaeological Inventory of the Kovno Gubernia’ RASA BANYTĖ-ROWELL, LAURYNAS KURILA, ANDRA SIMNIŠKYTĖ RASA BANYTĖ- RASA ROWELL, LAURYNAS KURILA, ANDRA SIMNIŠKYTĖ Abstract Michał Eustachy Brensztejn compiled the ‘Archaeological Inventory of the Kovno Gubernia’ in 1907. The manuscript was not published, and only in 2010 was it discovered in the archives of the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. The Lithu- anian Institute of History and the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw initiated a project to publish the ‘Inventory’ as the third part of the Ostbalticum project. This paper gives some preliminary insights and a short description of the manuscript as a source for Lithuanian archaeology. It analyses the sources used by Brensztejn, describes the process of identification of place-names, discusses the reliability of the records and the novelty of these data, and shows some characteristic mistakes that the author of the ‘Inventory’ made. A puz- zle of artefact collection from Jagminai is presented as a brief case study. Thanks to the oral tradition recorded by Brensztejn, the identification of the site was possible. Key words: Michał Eustachy Brensztejn, archaeological inventory, Kovno (Kaunas) Gubernia. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/ ab.v1i0.1139 Introduction 1898b; 1901a; 1901b; 1903). Nevertheless, his great- est work on archaeology, ‘Inwentarz archeologiczny Michał Eustachy Brensztejn (1874–1938) (Fig. 1) gubernji kowieńskiej (Archaeological Inventory of was a famous autodidact historian of culture, who was the Kovno [Kaunas] Gubernia)’ (Fig. 2) (further the born in Žemaitija (Samogitia), but was most creative ‘Inventory’), which was finished, with the exception when he lived in Vilnius after 1910. His identity was of the introduction, in Telšiai in 1907, was never pub- connected with the complicated self-definition of the lished. The manuscript was bought from Brensztejn in gentry, which was rooted in the heritage of the for- 1926 by the Polish state heritage institution in Warsaw mer Grand Duchy of Lithuania: he knew the Lithu- called Państwowe Grono Konserwatorów Zabytków anian language, and signed his articles with the nom Przedhistorycznych, but plans to publish it were un- de plume Żmudzin (Žemaitijan); but he regarded him- successful for various reasons. In 2010, the manuscript self as belonging to the Polish nation, and he worked was rediscovered by Maria Krajewska in the archives faithfully in Vilnius, which was annexed by Poland in of the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw 1919–1920. A short outline of his life and his scien- (Państwowe Muzeum Archeologiczne w Warszawie).2 tific activity was presented shortly after his death by The publication of this manuscript as the third part Stanisław Kościałkowski (1938). of the Ostbalticum project was initiated by the Pol- The subjects of his work were the history of culture of ish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (http:// both Lithuania and Poland. Brensztejn was interested www.mkidn.gov.pl/pages/ostbalt-left/ostbalt-left-en/ in archaeology mostly during the early part of his life.1 stages-of-project-ostbalticum.php?lang=EN), which He collected antiquities, conducted small-scale excava- invited the Lithuanian Institute of History to join the tions in Žemaitija, and published the results of them in project. The main partner in the work on the Polish side Polish cultural publications, such as ‘Wiadomości Nu- is the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. The mizmatyczno-Archeologiczne’ and ‘Materyały Antro- head of the project is Dr habil. Anna Bitner-Wróblews- pologiczno-Archeologiczne i Etnograficzne’ (Brensz- ka, and the coordinator of the Lithuanian side is Dr tejn 1894; 1895a; 1895b; 1896a; 1896b; 1897; 1898a; 2 Maria Krajewska has conducted detailed research about 1 A study about Brensztejn’s archaeological activity has been the history of this manuscript, and its complicated journey prepared recently by Dr habil. Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, to the archives of the State Archaeological Museum in and it will be published in the third volume of ‘Aestiorum Warsaw. An article by Krajewska will be published in the 110 Hereditas’. third volume of ‘Aestiorum Hereditas’. BALTICA 21–22 BALTICA ARCHAEOLOGIA I ARCHIVAL Fig. 1. Michał Eustachy Brensztejn (after Kulnytė MATERIALS 1990, Fig. IX). IN THE CONTEXTS OF CONTEMPORARY Rasa Banytė-Rowell. Polish and Lithuanian scholars ARCHAEOLOGY worked together to prepare the text for publication, with commentaries, a scholarly introduction and ex- planatory articles on Brensztejn’s cultural activity and his work in archaeology. These will be published in Fig. 2. The title page of the ‘Archaeological Inventory of the Poland, in Polish, Lithuanian and German, as the third Kovno Gubernia’ (PMA PDN collection, inv. No. 10948). volume in the ‘Aestiorum Hereditas’ series. The main task of the Lithuanian team is to evaluate the Brensztejn presented data from 1,127 sites in 907 loca- archaeological sites described by Brensztejn as sources tions, which he compiled not only from the available in the light of modern archaeological science in Lithu- published and unpublished material by Fiodor Pok- ania. We have sought to show what new information rovskii, Ludwik Krzywicki, Konstantin Gukovskii, Brensztejn’s work provides to Lithuanian archaeology, Tadas Daugirdas (Tadeusz Dowgird), Eustachy Tysz- what other sources he repeated and how he interpreted kiewicz, Motiejus Valančius, Michał Baliński, Fr Juo- them, and what stimuli and inspiration the ‘Inventory’ zapas Žiogas, and others, but also from his personal can offer for further archaeological investigations. A archaeological research, and information on finds pro- detailed study will be presented in the forthcoming vided by other amateur antiquaries who owned private volume of ‘Aestiorum Hereditas’, and the aim of this collections. Various sources were used to different de- paper is to give some preliminary insights and a short grees for every district (Fig. 4). For example, the list description of the manuscript. of archaeological sites in the Panevėžys and Ukmergė districts was compiled by using the archaeological atlas by the Russian archaeologist Pokrovskii that was print- The ‘Inventory’: an overview ed in 1899 (Pokrovskii 1899). The descriptions of the Kaunas district were based mainly on works by Dau- The ‘Inventory’ is an important source for Lithuanian girdas and Pokrovskii. Looking through the areas lo- archaeology, providing a list of archaeological sites in cated deeper in western parts of Žemaitija, the sources the former Kovno (Kaunas) Gubernia in the Russian used for the descriptions of sites are more diverse, and Empire, which consisted of seven districts, called (in the number of sites visited by Brensztejn himself and Polish) powiat: Telšiai, Raseiniai, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, the number of finds mentioned from his own collection Kaunas, Ukmergė and Zarasai. Part of what is now increase significantly. For the Telšiai district, primary northwest Belarus and a small part of southern Latvia sources such as Brensztejn’s own knowledge (24% of belonged to the Zarasai district (Fig. 3). cases), and information from Fr Žiogas’ records and 111 RASA BANYTĖ- Discoveries and Inspiration 112 ROWELL, from MichaŁ Brensztejn’s LAURYNAS ‘Archaeological Inventory KURILA, ANDRA of the Kovno Gubernia’ SIMNIŠKYTĖ Fig. 3. The Kovno Gubernia (modern country borders on a 1888 Russian map) and its administrative partition: 1 Telšiai district; 2 Raseiniai district; 3 Šiauliai district; 4 Kaunas district; 5 Panevėžys district; 6 Ukmergė district; 7 Zarasai district (drawing by L. Kurila). M. Baliński 90 80 M. Brensztejn 70 T. Daugirdas 60 K. Gukovskii 50 40 L. Krzywicki BALTICA 21–22 BALTICA 30 F. Pokrovskii 20 E. Tyszkiewicz 10 0 M. Valančius Kaunas Panevėžys Raseiniai Šiauliai Telšiai Ukmergė Zarasai A. Zaborski ARCHAEOLOGIA J. Žiogas Fig. 4. References to literature and manuscripts made in the ‘Inventory’ for different districts (graph by R. Banytė-Rowell, L. Kurila and A. Simniškytė). collection (22.5%), were very important. Very inter- the authors cited, by not verifying inaccurate parts of esting data for the description of sites in the Raseiniai primary sources, or because of grammatical mistakes district came from the diary and the catalogue of finds (for example, Karawele, or Карашель in Pokrovskii I of the amateur archaeologist Daugirdas (30% of sites). 1899, p.57). Or again, the Guronys, Pravieniškės bar- ARCHIVAL MATERIALS In the part devoted to the Zarasai district, mostly data row cemetery is named after the neighbouring village IN THE from manuscript descriptions of excavations and sur- of Pašuliai, but using the incorrect form Пошуве from CONTEXTS OF CONTEMPORARY veys by Fr Žiogas and the catalogue of his archaeologi- Pokrovskii (1899, p.98), and changing it again incor- ARCHAEOLOGY cal collection give us new information. Some sources rectly to Poszuszwie or Pašušvys, which is the name of used by Brensztejn are yet to be investigated in more another well-known cemetery in a different location. detail, and some records have no references. Another interesting example is: after confusing lakes Ažvintis and Ažvintaitis and the village of Ažvintis in One of our main tasks was to identify the sites and the Zarasai district, Brensztejn mistakenly interprets place-names described by Brensztejn. This