86 ADOMAS BUTRIMAS THE IN WEST

The Stone Age in West Lithuania ■ Adomas Butrimas

The systematic field investigation of Stone Age sites feast traditions, and some features of the symbolic occurred in the Biržulis region in the West Lithuania's thinking.The complex investigation by many individual Žemaičiai Highlands during 1978-1993 but the labora­ and teams of scientists has given this region's unique tory investigations continue to this day. During the material a multitude of new, unexpected challenges, excavations in the Žemaičiai Highlands (mostly in the interpretations, and nuances. vicinity of Lake Biržulis), 50 camp sites, Neo­ No distinct late Palaeolithic sites have been discove­ lithic and settlements, cemeteries’, and red in the Žemaičiai Highland, but the oldest finds, find spots were discovered. A large percentage of them epi-Swiderian points, end scrapers, and pieces, (22 sites) were excavated and the rest only surveyed. which were discovered in Dreniai village, not far from A collection of over ten thousand , , bone, the south shore of Lake Stervas, and at the Kalniškiai I antler, , stone, and metal artefacts was assembled. camp site, date to the very end of the Palaeolithic and The excavated sites are clustered in the Varniai progla­ the early Mesolithic and should probably be ascribed cial lakebed (Lith. duburys) of the Žemaičiai Highlands, to the Swiderian cultural tradition2.These finds could in the vicinity of Lake Biržulis, and in the upper reaches have been left by the first inhabitants on the shores of of the River Virvytė. The proglacial lakebed is one of Lake Biržulis during the Bioling interglacial, i.e. circa the oldest remnants of the East Baltic region's lakes and 10 800-10 300 вс when the first conditions suitable for its north part includes Lake Biržulis and the Upper habitation arose.These first inhabitants were tribes of Virvytė. The lake, the third largest in the Žemaičiai reindeer hunters. Reindeer antlers were discovered in Highland, empties into the Virvytė basin (a Venta tribu­ Pabiržulis village in the vicinity of Lake Biržulis, stored tary), which encompasses 1140 km2. The present lake for a time in the Pavandenė church and ground up by occupies less than 5% of the area the ancient Lake the local inhabitants because it was believed that they Biržulis occupied in the Middle and Late Holocene or possessed special healing powers. Almost all of the according to the archaeological periodisation, the end intact antlers from Karkliškiai village near the Biržulis of the Late Palaeolithic, the Mesolithic, and the Early shore ended up in the Samogitian Museum 'Alka' (Tel­ and Mid-. šiai). The late Palaeolithic reindeer antlers with signs During the excavations, material from all three of cutting that were discovered in Upėtos village near Stone Age periods was found, making this region excep­ the Rešketa stream and ascribed to the reindeer hunter tional among all of the Lithuanian regions to be exca­ culture also ended up in the Samogitian Museum'Alka'. vated. The region is also interesting in that Mesolithic Analogous reindeer antlers are likewise known from and Neolithic cemeteries were discovered beside the Latvian territory and the dates available for them as Stone Age camps and settlements, revealing new as the dated reindeer antlers from Lithuanian ter­ aspects not only about the material heritage but also ritory show that these animals and their hunters lived the spiritual life: the ritual burial, sacrificial, and funeral in Lithuania during 14 000-10 000 вс3.The hunters, as asserted by the archaeologists who excavated the rein­ Butrimas A. Donkalnio ir Spigino mezolito - neolito kapinynai. Vil­ deer hunters'camps, lived in small communities, which nius, 2012. consisted of 25-30 individuals on average or 5-7 small 2. Butrimas A., Ostrauskas T. Pirmieji Varnių apylinkių gyventojai, Žemaičių praeitis. Vilnius, 1996, vol. IV. Varniai, p. 8. families of 5-7 individuals each4. R. Rimantienė, based 3. Zagorska I. Seniežiemelbriežu medniekiLatvija. Riga, 2012, p. 42-44. on the archaeological investigation data from South

4. Ostrauskas T. Vakarų Lietuvos mezolitas, LA, 1996, vol. 14, p. 192-212; Lithuania and the ethnological investigations of rein­ Zaliznyak L. The Swiderian reideer - hunters of Eastern , deer hunter nations, thinks that the small reindeer Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Mitteleuropas.W\\kau, Hasslau, 1995, Band 5.S.50. hunter communities consisted of 1 -3 families or 5-15 5000 BC 5000

individuals, of which 2-6 were hunters5. Only such small teristic of later Mesolithic sites and the presence of a families could have adapted, easily moving their homes blade detachment method characteristic of the Upper and following the reindeer herds that are able to travel Palaeolithic. This site dates to the very beginning of the up to 25 km per day. The only hunting tools, which Mesolithic-first half of the 8th millennium вс. were produced from reindeer antler and bone, are The bone-antler artefacts characteristic of this spearheads, which have been discovered in Lithuanian culture, such as the with small barbs found territory in Kalniškiai (now in the city of Klaipėda). by chance on the north shore of Biržulis, can be dated Significantly more finds are available from Meso­ to a similar or somewhat later period. lithic settlements and cemeteries and therefore sig­ A completely different type of site is found in the nificantly more details can be revealed about life at Late Mesolithic, i.e. 6000-4500 вс, during the Biržulis at that time and the interaction between the period. Dense forests of broad-leafed trees: oaks, linden, population and nature. The aforementioned chance elm, and hazelnut flourished in the warm, damp climate find bone and antler artefacts discovered north of the ofthat time while forests comprised only a small Nemunas and Neris, in West Lithuanian, East Prussian, part of the flora ofthat period7. The most distinct settle­ and North Polish territories, were ascribed to the Kunda ment of that time is Širmė Hill 3, which has a cultural culture6. During the last decades of the last century, at layer of iron-rich brown ortstein (hardpan) sand and least four distinct sandy sites have been where 700 m7 were excavated during 1978-1979. It is excavated near Lake Biržulis: Biržulis Channel, Dreniai, at the foot of the west slope of Širmė Hill, about 500 m Skirmantinė 1,and Širmė Hill 3 Settlements. After the to the south of the town centre of Janapolė. Almost flint finds from the settlements were supplemented by 2000 Mesolithic flint finds and several thousand pieces chance find bone and antler artefacts and so-called of the : flakes and blades were collected in the Pulli-type points, all of the main find types characte­ settlement's cultural layer and on the surface of the ristic of this culture were identified at Lake Biržulis and ground. The most characteristic artefact types in Meso­ in the Žemaičiai Highland. lithic camps are lancets, trapezes, various geometric The Pulli-type points, which were made from long, , inserts produced from microblades and regular, generally triangular cross-section blades and flakes, side and end scrapers, retouched blades, etc. have been discovered at this culture's earliest sites, The flint source located in Šūkainiai had special sig­ should be considered exceptional finds, characteristic nificance for the older Mesolithic and Neolithic inhabit­ of this culture, in the flint inventory. Based on the typo­ ants near Lake Biržulis. The source and the adjacent flint logical features of the artefacts and the of knapping area were on the boundary between Šūkainiai the flint , Biržulis Channel 1 Settlement, which and Pabiržulis villages. In a small 400 x 200 m area at has a complete assemblage of flint finds characteristic this location, large numbers of flint cores and debitage of the Kunda culture, should be ascribed archaeologi- were found along with some artefacts. The white flint, cally to this culture. The artefacts belonging to this which geological and mineralogical investigations have complex were distinguished on the basis of typological shown to be found at almost every Biržulis region Stone criteria and the patina characteristics of the flint arte­ Age settlement, is found at this location. In some places, facts. The regularly shaped, various width blades were it even comprises 2 5 -3 0 % of all of the flint finds8. knapped from single-platform cores using pressure flaking. Their closest find spots are near the River Venta 5. Rimantienė R. Akmens amžius Lietuvoje. Vilnius, 1984, p. 52; Попов A. (into which the Virvytė flows from Biržulis), in Ringuvėnai Охота и рыболовство у долган. Москва, Ленинград, 1937, с. 40. (Šiauliai District), and in Šilalė District. Aside from the 6. Rimantienė R. Akmens amžius Lietuvoje. Vilnius, 1984, p. 83, fig. 43. Pulli-type points, five fragments of which have been 7 Stančikaitė M., Baltrūnas V., Kisielienė D., Guobytė R., Ostrauskas T. Gamtinė aplinka ir gyventojų ūkinė veikla Biržulio ežero apylinkėse found in the Biržulis channel settlement, the other holoceno laikotarpiu, Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis. Vilnius, 2004, discovered points are of a similar size. The tip of the vol. 34. Kultūrinio landšafto raida Žemaičių aukštumoje, p. 59. Pulli-type points has flat retouch on the ventral side. e. Baltrūnas V., Karmaza B., Kublickas A., Pukelytė V. Mineralinės žaliavos, jų paplitimas Virvytės, Minijos ir Varduvos aukštupiuose, The exceptional , which attests to the earliness Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis. Vilnius, 2004, vol. 34. Kultūrinio of this settlement, is the absence of the blades charac­ landšafto raida Žemaičių aukštumoje, p. 38-39. 03 ; СЭ ’ Ü СЭo 5 ! !! 1/1о

Two especially significant archaeological complexes contour was thickly lined with red ochre.The skull with have been excavated near Lake Biržulis: Mesolithic and a necklace of wild animal teeth on top of it was discove­ Neolithic settlements on projections from the lake's red at a depth of 25 cm from the ground's surface.The peninsulas (Kalniškiai and Spigino ragas) and cemete­ individual had been adorned by a total of 57 wild ani­ ries, funeral feasts, and sacrificial pits on the islands of mal tooth pendants.The pendants on the crown were Spiginąs (Fig. 1) and Donkalnis (Fig. 2), which are beside unearthed first because they were the closest to the these settlements. Complex archaeological, physical ground's surface. In excavating the forward sloping anthropological, genetic, geomorphological, odonto- skull, another two animal teeth were found, one in each logical, palaeobotanical, palaeogeographic, palaeo- eye socket. Yet another two teeth had been symmetri­ pathological, palaeozoological, and radiocarbon inves­ cally pushed deeply into the nasal cavity, one into each tigations as well as dietary and stable isotope analyses nostril, with the root foremost. Two teeth had been have been conducted through the efforts of scientists placed symmetrically between the individual's teeth, from many states9. Based on the calibrated burial dates one on each side of his mouth, and two teeth lay almost obtained after radiocarbon dating was performed in symmetrically on the mandible. Another unique burial laboratories at Oxford, California, Moscow, Poznań, and dated to the mid-4th millennium вс. It contained a gravid Brussel the chronological order is as follows: Spigi­ female with a roughly seven month old unborn foetus. nąs 3 - 6660-6500 вс, Spiginąs 2 - 6400-6240 вс, Don­ Two burials ascribable to the Late Neolithic were also kalnis 2 - 6337-6221 вс and 6070-5910 вс, Donkal­ found: Donkalnis burial 7 and Spiginąs burial 2. In one nis 4 - 5980-5790 вс, Donkalnis 3 - 4706-4552 вс, of them the individual had been interred in a flexed Donkalnis 5-4134-4056 вс, Spiginąs 1 -4050-3500 вс, position, the most frequent pose, which is characteris­ Donkalnis 1 - 3517-3397 вс, Donkalnis 7 - 3014- tic of the Late Neolithic, while the other was in an 2876 вс, and Spiginąs 2 - 2870-2470 вс. This series of extended position with characteristic of eleven dates can be divided into two chronological the Late Neolithic: a bear mandible, a bear fang, and periods. Nine burial dates should be ascribed to the Я. FIG. 3. early period (between the Middle Mesolithic and the The red ochre lined Early Neolithic) and two to the Late Neolithic. double burial All of the burials ascribable to the Mesolithic were of a shaman and unearthed in a layer of gravel at a depth of 20-80 cm a female in a flexed position at Donkalnis. below the ground's surface. They had oval or rectan­ Reconstruction sketch gular contours. The contours of the Mesolithic burials by R. Krupauskas. were usually a brown ochre stain that stood out in the light coloured layer of gravel. The quantity of ochre in Mesolithic burials, funeral feast pits, and stone-filled symbolic allows one to state that it had an important significance in the burial and funeral feast rituals. The majority of the burials were single, but two Mesolithic burials in Donkalnis Cemetery were double (nos. 2-3 and 5). In the first double burial, a male and a female had been interred in the same pit and in the second, two children (Fig. 3).The individuals had been interred on their backs or in a semi-flexed position.The 20-25 year-old male interred in Donkalnis burial 2 was in a slightly flexed position with the head clearly bowed while the female beside him was in a semi-flexed posi­ tion. A special place among all of the burials was given Butrimas A. Donkalnio ir Spigino mezolito - neolito kapinynai. Vi I n i us, to precisely this burial. Its 220 x 160 cm east-west 2012, p. 10-11 90 ADOMAS BUTRIMAS THE STONE AGE IN WEST LITHUANIA

an elegantly retouched triangular cordate point. The cemeteries, the average female height was 158-160 cm, anthropological investigation showed that during the male 167-168 cm. Donkalnis burial 1,that ofafemale, Mesolithic, hypermorphic, mesobrachycranic, wide­ was ascribed to the Neolithic. During the Late Neolithic, faced people who belonged to the large, bullet-headed the average male height was already 177 cm". Europids, had been buried in Donkalnis and Spiginąs. The Stone Age cemeteries at Lake Biržulis were From the obtained morphograms, it is seen that the created on islands like at many well-known Stone Age osteological material series from the Lithuanian Meso­ cemeteries in , Karelia, and .The main lithic is closest to the Skateholm () and Ofnet grave good in Mesolithic burials is the incisors and (Germany) series, if it is evaluated only on the basis of fangs of the most frequently hunted game ofthat time: radiocarbon dated burials10. elk, , deer, and boar, less often , bear, The palaeopathological investigations allow one to and fox. The 27 tooth necklace on the head of the sha­ look at the health and diseases of the populations of man found in Donkalnis burial 2 stands out while the distant eras.The severely worn dental occlusal surfaces male interred in Donkalnis burial 4 had the largest grave and frequent periodontal disease show that they were good collection, 83 wild animal tooth pendants. An eating coarse food and had caries. The x-rays of almost examination of the pendants showed that some of all of the Mesolithic and Neolithic human long bones them had been produced for the recently deceased as show transverse growth arrest lines (Harris lines), de­ grave goods, while the clothing in which the individual monstrating at least several periods of famine in child­ had been interred and the shaman's cap could have hood. Traces of arthritis were discovered, while on the been prepared in advance. The flint inventory of the FIG. 4. crown of the male interred in Donkalnis burial 4, an 11 x burials is sparse. The two transverse oblique points The east-west section 9 cm area, with clear boundaries and signs of osteope­ discovered in Spiginąs burial 1 are found the most of the Mesolithic ochre- riostitis, was visible and could have been caused by an frequently at South Scandinavian sites, where they are filled funeral feast infection after a head trauma. Similar changes attest to assigned to the group of camps. near the edge of the gravel quarry. the existence of a scalping custom. During the Meso­ Based on their shape and retouching, in Lithuania they Photo by S. Butrimienė. lithic, as has been shown by the material from both could be ascribed to the people of the (5500-5000 вс). The investigation of the Donkalnis and Spiginąs Cemeteries has revealed many subtle and unexpected facts about the construction of the graves, symbolic and sacrificial hearths, and the use of funeral feast pits, which show that already in the Mesolithic it was an especially complex burial ritual (Fig. 4). It was deter­ mined that all of the burials were primary, that inter­ ment had probably occurred within days of death, and that the grave pits had been filled with gravel mixed with ochre. Interment was predominantly on the back, but several individuals diverged from this norm, such as Donkalnis burial 2, that of a shaman, where the individual was interred with a bowed head and a semi- flexed position and Donkalnis burial 4, where the head had purportedly been severed from the body and pu­ shed to one side. The female interred in Donkalnis

io. Česnys G., Butrimas A. Reinventing Mesolithic skulls in Lithuania: burials 2-3 was without grave goods and in a semi- Donkalnis and Spiginąs sites, Acta Medica Lithuanica, 2009, vol. flexed position while the male beside her was in an 16, no 1-2, p. 1-8. extended position.The shaman's head was bowed and i i Jankauskas R., Butrimas A. Changes in population biological status looking straight ahead while the female's head was during Indo-Europeanization in Lithuania. In: Thelndo-Europeani- zation of . Washington, 1996, p. 306-322. looking in the opposite direction; in other European •91 '

Mesolithic cemeteries the dead were usually interred facing one another. After the burial, the rites continued Site Plan of Donkalnis Excavation: graves, large heart and sacrificial pits on the islands or on hills beside streams or lagoons. (Mesolithic - Neolithic) The ritual pits discovered on the island hills allow one to think that sites devoted to the memory of the dead

existed on the grounds of the cemeteries or beside T 2 E , them. The ritual pits were filled with reddish ochre together with small animal bones, fish bone fragments, I a large pike's mandible, and an amulet made from an elk tooth (Donkalnis). The small ochre hearths found in the vicinity of the burials (Spiginąs) allow one to connect them with the burial ceremony on the island. ГНВР" штщ The hearth created from split stones in Donkalnis burial '2 -3 , a double burial, and the hearths sprinkled with Л й 1 - Large heart from Neolithic - red ochre without any charcoal could have symbolised 9 * Early Bronze sacrificial site

a fire. *. 2 - Poles Donkalnis burial 1, which should be ascribed to the ■ 3 - Sacrificial pit (funeral feast pits) Mesolithic Early Neolithic and two burials, which should be ascri­ 4 - Turf 5 - Cultural layer bed to the Late Neolithic, i.e. the first half of the 3rd Hi 6 - Variable grade gravel n millennium вс, were found in the same cemetery. Burials S 3 7 - Sand from this period are known in West Lithuania at only a - ai 8 - East - west cross section of ochre - filled sacrificial pit (funeral feast pit) - 15 locations.Their chronology is from 3014-2876 вс (at Mesolithic Donkalnis) to 2870-2470 вс (at Spiginąs) (calibrated 44J 9 ■ Gravel mining area dates). -B i:C -c i Cross sections across the “Great Neolithic heart"

The large hearth of the sacred site best reflects the m io ■ Mesolithic graves rituals ofthat period. It contained pottery and flint Neolithic graves artefacts.These correspond to those found in the Don­ kalnis Settlement's cultural layer and allow one to assert that this hearth was created during the Neolithic. The hearth was 9 x 6 m and was 1.1 m below the ground's surface at its deepest. The hearth itself sort of consisted of three parts with different depths, which allow one nis and Spiginąs Islands, where the dead were buried, FIG. 5. to assert that it existed for a long period. The volume did in fact stand out in the landscape and this could A site plan of the Donkalnis excavations: burials, of the east stain of the large hearth attests that this have been socially important for the local inhabitants. Mesolithic sacrificial pits, was the accumulation of hearths from various periods. As I. J. Thorpe has asserted, the slow monumentalisa- and the large hearth. This is also shown by the potsherds from various pe­ tion of such locations can occur and reach such a stage Drawing by A. Butrimas and riods. 1 -3 m to the south of the large hearth, traces of that they become the most visible and known places R. Spelskytė. stakes that belonged to its building were noted. for the nearby communities12. This theory is very suit­ The large hearth, the signs of the building's remains, able for the Donkalnis and Spiginąs cemetery comp­ funeral feast pits, and burials from various Stone Age lexes, the visual effect of which is especially striking. periods are parts of a single ritual complex connected The fact that burials were made after such a hiatus with the sacred sites of the Mesolithic-Neolithic po­ allows one to assert that Donkalnis and Spiginąs belong pulation and their burial and sacrificial rites (Fig. 5). on the list of those locations, to which people regularly This complex has raised a multitude of questions for return. Returning to a location was an important do­ science: why were burials made there over several minant idea in the memory of local communities and thousand years and why were burials resumed at the

same place after a hiatus of several centuries? Donkal- u. Thorpe I. J. The origins of agriculture in Europe. London, 1996, p. 82. 92 ADOMAS BUTRIMAS THE STONE AGE IN WEST LITHUANIA

such locations, for example unique headlands, capes, also located in Pabiržulis village. Now only the small and sacred hills like Alkos Kakta, were socially important village of Stabinė remains to identify the location of centres that gave the local communities a focal point this ancient religious site in the late stage of its deve­ and became dominant elements in the landscape.The lopment. All of these objects lie in a 2 km long segment repeated rituals at them (burials, funeral feasts, sacrifi­ of the former north-west shore of Lake Biržulis. ces, etc.) constantly renewed this memory and strength­ 14 Neolithic settlements were excavated in Žarnelė ened the social ties with the specific location over the village, in the vicinity of the River Varduva, and in the course of time. These locations remained important Lake Biržulis region. Pottery and finds characteristic of places for rituals and sacrifices right up until the baptism the Narva, Corded Ware, and Globular Amphora cultures of Samogitia and the region's final Christianisation.The predominated in their material. Three of these sites name Donkalnis has the ancient Indo-European root were peat bog settlements: Daktariškė 1 (partially) and dan-, don-, which means water.Thus, Donkalnis, which 5 and Žarnelė. The remaining cultural layers were dis­ is sometimes pronounced Donkalnis in the local dialect, covered mostly in sand layers, less commonly in sand- means a hill in the water. Somewhat to the west of it gravel layers. Daktariškė 5 Settlement was situation in lie meadows that are called sacred and beyond them an exceptional location. During 1987-1990, this settle­ lies the majestic, dominant hill, Alkakalnis [Lith. sacred ment was excavated by an archaeological expedition hill]. According to 17,h-century documents (the 1662 from the Vilnius Academy of Arts. An abundant flint inventory of Viržuvėnai Manor), three peasants received inventory, bone and antler , gouges, harpoon heads, land in Stabakulė [Lith. sacred stone] Field, which was amber pendants, discs, buttons, raw amber, net weights bound in birch bark, floats, etc. were collected. The largest percentage of finds consisted of pottery. Two cultural layers were distinguished at the settlement: early pottery with organic temper, 9 440 potsherds of it being collected, and later pottery with mineral tem­ per, 1 590 potsherds. 406 different vessels with organic temper (crushed shell and vegetable temper) managed to be identified (the minimum number of vessels), 303 FIG. 6. A Narva ware pot from or 74.63% of which were decorated. 26-30 cm diame­ Daktariškė 5 Neolithic ter vessels slightly predominated in the former pottery, Settlement. 20-26 cm diameter in the latter. The outer surfaces of Drawing by R. Spelskytė. the rims and lips were decorated, significantly less often the inner ones. A large variety of decorative elements were noted. 14.13% of the vessels were decorated with coiled decorations, 7 % with knot impressions, over 23% with pits, almost 1 3 % with square and rectangular impressions, and 22.6% with long impressions. Vessels with pointed bases predominated.The decorative com­ position principle consisted of using geometric and band designs13 (Figs. 6,7). At Daktariškė 1 Settlement, FIG. 7. pottery comprised 55% of all of the dis­ Decorated Narva ware rims covered potsherds. 20 cm diameter vessels predomi­ from Daktariškė 5 Neolithic nated. All of the discovered vessels had flat bases, 8 4 % Settlement. of them decorated. This pottery had only organic tem­ Photo by J. Butrimaitė. per, was significantly later chronologically and typo- logically than that discovered at Daktariškė 5 Sett­ Iršėnas M., Butrimas A. Daktariškės 5-osios gyvenvietės keramikos su organinės kilmės priemaišomis ornamentika, LA, 2000, vol. 19, lement, and was discovered in significantly smaller p. 125-135. quantities. 93 BC 5000

14 sites with cord-decorated pottery have been sible to distinguish a mixed type of pottery that has excavated in the Lake Biržulis region. 20 such vessels features characteristic of both cultures. Elements of the managed to be reconstructed at Šarnelė, 41 at Dak- shape and decoration of the vessels are close to corded tariškė 5,10 at Daktariškė 1,8 at Donkalnis 6,8 at Gai- ware, while only organic temper is found in the clay galinė 2, and fewer at the other settlement sites. 102 body which is characteristic of Narva pottery. Such cord-decorated vessels with mineral temper have been pottery comprises 15% of all of the discovered vessels. reconstructed from those discovered in the region14. The interaction of two cultures is even seen in the loca­ Based on the topography, radiocarbon dating, vessel tion of the decorations on the vessels16. shapes, and decorations, all of the sites, where such A more pronounced Globular Amphora cultural vessels had been found, were conditionally divided influence, at least in terms of ideas, can be seen in into two chronological groups. The early group be­ investigating the amber finds discovered at Daktariškė longed to the Corded Ware and Baltic Boat cultures 1 and 5, Kalniškiai 1, and Šarnelė Settlements in the (2400-2100 вс, uncalibrated dates), the late group vicinity of Lake Biržulis. Three amber working centres (2100-1700 вс, uncalibrated dates) with the influence are known in the present-day territory of Lithuania: the of the Rzucewo (Bay Coast) culture in the Biržulis region. Curonian Spit (which became known after the publica­ Kalniškiai 1, Šarnelė, and Širmė Hill 1,2, and 4 Settle­ tion of the Juodkrantė Amber Hoard and the excavation ments should be ascribed to the early stage, Donkalnis, of the Nida Neolithic Settlement), Palanga-Šventoji, Gaigalinė 1, Ožnugaris 1, and Skirmantinė 1 to the late and probably the settlements in the vicinity of Lake stage. The chronological range of Daktariškė 5 Settle­ Biržulis, which is shown by the raw amber found at ment is significantly wider and therefore it is currently Daktariškė 5 Settlement, the blanks in various stages impossible to ascribe it to one of these stages. In ana­ of completion, and the production waste. Few com­ lysing the pottery, Gaigalinė 2 Settlement, which has pleted amber artefacts were discovered, but the diver­ been assigned to the post-Corded Ware group and sity of the shapes in this collection is truly large. The dates to the first half of the Bronze Age, has been as­ question of whether amber brought from the Baltic signed to a separate subgroup.This settlement's pottery coast or local raw amber, which is washed out even and its decoration show the continuity in this vessel now on the north shores of the Lūkštas and Gintarnyčia type's development, but the vessels are significantly coves, was used for the amber production remains smaller than during the Late Neolithic. unanswered. In the Stone Age significantly more amber The influence of other cultural groups is also felt in could have been found there because the amber re­ the region's pottery. Although no Globular Amphora serves in the post-glacial lakes of the same origin on culture settlements have been discovered near Biržulis, the Jutland Peninsula were already spent in the time their influence on the shape, clay body, and decoration of the Roman Empire. 34 pendants and pendant frag­ of the vessels is felt at Daktariškė 5 and Skirmantinė 1 ments of various shapes, 18 amber buttons with V- Settlements. At Donkalnis and Spiginąs Island Settle­ shaped drilling, 5 discs, 5 beads, one loop and one ments some of the discovered pottery can be explained double button were found in Daktariškė 5. Some of by the influence of the Trzciniec culture, but no sites these artefacts were decorated with incisions. Of the with distinct cultural layers that should be ascribed to five discs, the one decorated with a cross that fills the this culture have been found. Something that has been entire artefact and with single and double zigzag lines already noted by Polish archaeologists must be stated; of dimples that follow the edges stands out (Fig. 8). It in excavating sites from the same period in the Masu­ rian Lake District, the influence of other cultures and i4 Butrimas A., Ostrauskienė D. Biržulio apyežerių neolito gyvenviečių virvelinė keramika, Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis. Vilnius, 2004, the interaction with older local cultures is felt in the vol. 34. Kultūrinio landšafto raida Žemaičių aukštumoje, p. 142. pottery everywhere.This can be explained as a certain is. Monasterski D., Januszek K. Lokalna społeczność z wczesnej epoki interaction of separate cultures, but clear Corded Ware brązu nad dolną Utratą na przykładzie \ odkrycia z grądów, gm. Leszno, Studia i materiały do badan nad neolitem i wczesną epoką culture traditions have survived15. A clear interaction brązu na Mazowszu i Podlasiu. Warszawa, 2013, p. 33-35. between the Narva and Corded Ware cultures is seen 16. Butrimas A. Akmens amžius Žemaičių aukštumoje. Daktariškės neolito in the pottery from Daktariškė 1 Settlement. It is pos­ gyvenvietė. Vilnius, 1982, p. 7. 94 ADOMAS BUTRIMAS THE STONE AGE IN WEST LITHUANIA

FIG. 8. compared. The different number of drilled dimples The amber disc with a gradually increases in a clockwise direction. The ele­ cross made of dimples ments adorning this side of the disc are arranged in from Daktariškė 5 zigzags on the principle of revolving symmetry17. The Neolithic Settlement (diameter 3.6 cm). incisions on the other side of the artefact form eight Photo by S. Butrimienė. triangles. Such discs are usually found in Globular Am­ phora culture burials18. Their range is fairly clear. Its northern boundary is West Lithuania (Būtingė, Dak­ tariškė 5, Juodkrantė, Palanga, and Šventoji Settle­ ments), its western the vicinity of Słupsk (), its southern the vicinity of Warsaw and Lublin, and its eastern at Ivane locality in the vicinity of Rivne (Ukraine). The disc discovered at Daktariškė 5 Settlement belongs to that range. It is important to note that it was found

FIG. 9. at the northern boundary of this range because this The amber loop with culture and the zone of its influence do not extend decorated edges from further to the north or east of Lake Biržulis to any Lat­ Daktariškė 5 Neolithic vian, Estonian, or East Lithuanian sites as no Globular Settlement Amphora culture burials or settlement cultural layers (diameter 3.9 cm). Photo by S. Butrimienė. have been found there. 37 such cruciform-decorated discs have been re­ gistered in the aforementioned region.They are further divided into four smallertypological groups. That these artefacts are generally placed in graves allows one to assert that they were ritual objects. That the discovered discs have been adorned with diverse and fairly complex geometric designs (divided into four groups) prompts the conclusion that these designs are connected with the religion of that time and perhaps with more com­ plex calendar or ideological phenomena. Such artefacts and their placement in exceptional graves allow one to think that they were important prestige objects. These artefacts and their decoration systems could not have served a solely aesthetic function, but could have been a sort of medium to visualise a solar or lunar symbol. The rotational symmetry of these discs and the number of dotted lines and dimples, which increases appears that some of the dimples still bear the remains in one direction, raise ideas about sunrise, sunset, and of a dark resin marking. In each of the disc's four quar­ the sun's cyclical journey. The mystery of the alternation ters, one, two, or four triangles were created. Owing to of light and dark was definitely important to the peo­ uneven number of dimples and triangles, the four ple ofthat time. While gigantic stone structures were quarters created by the cross are of uneven size, which erected for it in the Megalithic civilisation, in the East is especially seen when the smallest and largest are Baltic region this calendar function could have been performed by such discs. These discs were symbols of high status members of society and at the same time 17. Adomonis 1. Nuo taško iki sintezės. Vilnius, 1994, p. 92-111. set the time for calendar holidays, the midsummer and 18. Šturms E. Der Bernsteinschmuck der östlichen Amphorenkultur, Documenta archeologica. Bonn, 1956, S. 17. midwinter high festivals. 95

In the same cultural layer at Daktariškė 5 Settle­ FIG. 10. ment, an excellently preserved 3.9 cm diameter loop The unique bone harpoon from Daktariškė 5 Neolithic was found (Fig. 9). As has been shown by the earliest Settlement. radiocarbon dates from the peat bog settlements and Photo by J. Butrimaitė. cemeteries, the East Baltic tradition of working and trading amber began in Lithuania and Latvia back in 4500-4000 вс in the Early Neolithic (for example, Zvej- nieki 4401 ±47 вс and Šventoji 2B 4036-3779 вс). The oldest layers with amber artefacts, which date to 3096- 2885 вс, are at Daktariškė 5 Settlement and the latest layers, which date to 2400-2030 вс, are at Daktariškė 1 Settlement; thus this tradition survived in the vicinity of Lake Biržulis during the entire Late Neolithic. Unfor­ tunately, no Early Metal Age settlements or cemeteries, which could show the further development of this found during the excavation of Daktariškė 5 Settlement. tradition, have been found or excavated. In addition to the antler axes and spearheads that Almost 60 Stone Age bone and antler artefacts have belong to the Early Narva culture layer, bone gouges been found in the Virvytė and Varduva basins. A large and chisels that should be assigned to the Late Neolithic percentage of them were chance finds, without any have also been found. A unique find in the context of precisely identified find spot and so they are difficult the entire East Baltic region is a socketed antler head to map. The most important find spots are Alsėdžiai, from a harpoon () (Fig. 10). Kirkliukai, Patiltis near the confluence of the Rešketa The Biržulis microregion is a unique place, which and the Virvytė, Plateliai, and Šarnelė. Almost half (31) allows one to excavate very diverse Stone Age sites of the all of the known bone and antler artefacts were with a very broad chronological cross-section.