LIE TV V OS • • UDK 902/904(474.5) Li-227 Redaktorill kolegija: Doc. dr. Valdemaras Simenas (ats. redaktorius) (Lietuvos istorijos institutas, ViLnius) Dr. Anna Bitner-Wr6blewska (Valstybinis archeoLogijos muziejus VarSuvoje, Lenkija) Doc. dr. Rimantas lankauskas (Vilniaus ulliversitetas, Lietuva) Prof. dr. Eugenijus lovaisa (ViLniaus pedagoginis universitetas, Lietuva) Prof. dr. Vladimir Kulakov (Rusijos archeologijos institutas, Maskva) Prof. dr. Valter Lang (Tartu universitetas, Estija) Doc. dr. Algimantas Merkevicius (Vilniaus universitetas, Lietuva) Dr. Tomas Ostrauskas (sudarytojas) (Lietuvos istorijos institutas, ViLnius) Dr. Gintautas Rackevicius (Pili/{ tyrimo centras "Lietuvos pilys", ViLnius) Dr. Arms RadiQs (Latvijos nacionalinis istorijos muziejus, Ryga) Dr. Eugenijus Svetikas (Lietuvos istorijos institutas, ViLnius) Dr. Gediminas VaitkeviCius (Lietuvos istorijos instilulas, ViLnius) Dr. Vykintas Vaitkevicius (Klaipedos lIniversitelas, Lietuva) Doc. dr. Ilona VaskeviciUte (Lietuvos istorijos institutas, Vilnius) Dr. Gintautas Zabiela (Klaipedos universitetas, Lietuva) Dovile UrbanaviciUte (atsakinga sekreton':) (Lietuvos istorijos institutas, Vilnius) ISSN 0207-8694 © Lietuvos istorijos institutas, 2007 ISBN 978-9986-23-138-7 © Straipsni4 autoriai, 2007 L. LAKIZA LlETUYOS ARCHEOLOGlJA. 2007. T. 31. p. 39-70. ISS 0207-8694 >odgornajo 4 THES T LNES SELGAS DO LEBVRIALA THE CO ED WA IRZVCEWO C :AMODEL kos ornamcn­ TV ipa ). OFT C TV A THEDE LOPMENT formos: A - OFBVRIALP CTICES lajos tipa . 1 - )archutl! 1, 3, S GRAS IS oro I, 6, 13- 9,11,12- III late Neolithic the evolution of East Baltic local traditions have experienced essentiaL changes - tipologija. all-European traditions that were prevaLent in Europe took root here. Basing 011 the materiaLs of SeLga (Latvia) doubLe buriaL. the article anaLyzes burying customs ofthe Pamariai cuLture following the author:S­ as Ostrauskas cultural model. by examining part of the probLems according to migration or autochthonic theories. Keywords: Graves, the Corded Ware Culture, the Rzucewo Culture, the centre and the periphery, ocial status, economic models. Velyvajame neolite Rytl{ Pabaltijyje ivyko esminiz{pokyCil{ vietos tradicijl{ raidoje - isigalejo Europoje \)'ramsios bendraeuropines tradicijos. Remiantis Selgos (Latvija) dvigubo kapo mediiaga. straipsnyje anali::.uojami Pamariz{ kultl7ros laidojimo paproCiai pagal autoriaus sudarytq kultiiros modeli dali probleml{ gvildenant pagal migracijl{ ar autochtonines teorijas. Reiksminiai zodziai: kapai, Virvelines keramikos kulrura, Pamariq kulrura, centras ir periferija, ocialinis statusas, ekonomikos model is. I. TRODUCTION: PROBLEMS AND AIMS data from physical anthropology is cited as evidence in support of the hypothesis of autochthonous devel­ The Late Neolithic in the East Baltic marked a opment of the Corded Ware Culture (DeQisova, 1987; turning point in the development of the local Lang, 1998), but these are based mostly on theoreti­ leolithic traditions: in parallel with cultures that had cal ideas, rather than on detailed analy i of the ar­ been in exi tence here for millennia, a phenomenon chaeological material. appeared that we know as the Corded WarelRzucewo What is the Corded Ware Culture: an ethnic or Culture.' Thi new cultural phenomenon, which link social phenomenon? To what degree is it a sociated together a large part of Europe, mark widelyoccur­ with some definite form of economic activity? What ring ill/emational traditions. One of the main areas determined the qualitative and quantitative differ­ of tudy in relation to thi phenomenon relate to the ence in its expres ion in different area? What are mterpretation of the cau e of the spread of the e the relationships with the "indigenous" culture ? traditions in a diver e range of cultural and economic There i no agreement on these matters. ttings. Two different po ition have emerged, one The international tyle in the Corded Ware Cul­ favouring a theory of migration, the other advocat­ ture has several different expres ion : the pottery ing a theory of autochthonous development (MaImer, forms and decoration, the widely encountered arte­ 1962. p. 810-815; Kri tian en, 1989; Damm, 1991). fact form known a the battle axe, and the burial prac­ In the East Baltic, right up to the 1980 , all of tices. It is the last of the e a pect that will be con- these proce ses were interpreted in terms of migra­ idered in the pre ent paper: the focus here i on the tion theory. Then there appeared studies in which analysis of the burials of this culture. The tenn "Corded WarelRZLlcewo CuitLire" is used because there is no agreement among researchers regarding the cultural group, that existed in the south-eastern and eastern Baltic. The author's views on this issue are set out in the pre ent paper. 40 ORMUNDS GRASIS ll1F Compared with the preceding pha e of the cultural model developed by the author, considerin: Neolithic, burials from the Late Neolithic, e pecially them in the light of the migration and autochthon Corded Ware Culture burials, are quite numerou . development theorie . However, because the burials of thi culture occur in­ gly or in small groups, they often tend to be destroyed I. THE SELGAS BURIAL: in the very process of discovery. Accordingly, it is in DISCOVERIES AND EXPECTATIONS many cases only the artefacts themselves, separated from their burial context, that are available for study, The burial analy ed in the pre ent paper lies something that reduces the analytical and interpretive the outh-eastern margin of the Zemgale Plain, po sibilitie ,and the credibility of the re ult obtained. 100 m from the right bank of the River Memele. One such ite is the double burial di covered in the upper part of the river valley, which is not u the course of building work in 1994 at Selgas in ject to flooding. Thus, there is a clear connecti Skaistkalne Parish, Latvia. In terms of the rich in­ with the river (Fig. I :7). The burial was discoveJ"e( ventory of artefact and pottery, thi is undoubtedly by Dz. KalniQs when digging the foundation pit fl· one of the mo t striking burials of thi culture, but at a new building. He cleaned the skeleton and th the same time there are many aspects that are not artefacts, drew and removed them. Thus, the rna clear. In order to obtain a fuller picture of the burial source of infOl mati on concerning the body positi it elf and it etting, excavation was undertaken in and the location of the artefacts is the drawing the immediate surrounding area, the aim of which by the finder. The layout of the excavation areas 2 wa not only to obtain additional information, but 1994 and 2004 (48 m ) was determined by the aim al 0 to investigate variou theoretical possibilities. of the excavation, and by the limits of the area where The e 'bilities relate to three basic question : excavation wa actually possible. 1) I the double burial the only burial at this site? The relief in the excavated area ha been alteTeil 2) Were there any specially built grave res? in the course of recent activities, and does nOI en­ 3) Wa thi a barrow burial? tirely corre pond to the ituation in the Late Neolitlu The re ults of the excavation, which were The in the area urrounding the bum tially negative, uggested a rethinking of the di tri­ was unifOlIl1, affected in places by recent disturbanc bution in the East Baltic of burial practices who e 1) there was a urface layer of dark garden oil pre ence has been suggested, but not confirmed, and varying thickness, 2) thi wa followed by geolo~ of the connection between the Selga burial and the cal layer , consisting of gravel and red-brown loam Rzucewo Culture, ince, as is known, various re- 3) below thi was a geological layer of red clay. earchers view this culture as restricted to the Baltic The grave for a woman aged about 40-45 yeim coast, whereas the find discus ed here lie inland. and a child of about 1-1 Y2 year 2 had been dug in The evidence from the Selga burial has also directly the clay layer to a depth of 0.80-0.90 m (Fig. ~I FI' I. motivated further con ideration of a whole eries of The upper part of the female skeleton wa ill turbcl I burials in of barrows; V other problem relating to Late Neolithic ociety and and fragmentary, and the kull had been shifted Find locat economy, and to the encounter between the old "in­ it original position. The woman had been laid in B 18 ; 10 digenous" and the new "international" tradition. upine position, with the leg flexed on the right I 1 All of these issues are treated within the frame of a whi Ie the po ition of the at II1S is indeterminable. Th Hohcnhruch; u ca e; 35 42 I nau; 2 Determined by anthropologist Dr. G. Gerhards (Institute of Latvian History at the Univer ity of Latvia). In earlier (Grasis, 1996, p. 63; Gerhards, 2003, 2. tab.) the biological age of the female was given as 35-40, but reassessment of the anthJ'lll! logical material suggests that this individual wa actually older than originally thought. J The depth is calculated by considering the level of the bottom of the grave in relation to the present-day ground urface. Tr level of the surface may have been different in antiquity. DS GRA IS TIlE KAISTKALNES SELGAS DOUBLE BURIAL A D THE CORDED WARElRZUCEWO CULTURE: A MODEL." 41 lor, considering autochthonou N \L: w- -E • rATIONS H paper lies at tIe Plain, about 'er Memele, in ich is not sub­ 'ar connection 'as discovered ldation pit for leton and the Baltic Sea hus, the main body position • irawing made ation area of d by the aims "• e area where i been altered doe not en­ ate Neolithic. ng the burial 'di turbance: ifden oil of by geologi­ 0 loam, "\.