In this paper, we present the 87Sr/86Sr data of 13 samples from horses from six Lithuanian burial sites dating from the 3rd to the 7th C AD. Alongside these data, we also publish the bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr data of 15 Lithuanian archaeological sites, based on 41 animals which enabled the construction of a reliable baseline for the Southeast Baltic area. The 87Sr/86Sr values partially confirmed the hypothesis that the unusually large horses found in Late Roman Period to Post-Migration Period burials are of non-local origin. Of the three non-local horses identified, two were among the largest specimens. However, the overlap of bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr data across different European regions does not permit us to establish whether the non-local horses originated from other areas in Lithuania or from more distant regions. With regards to the 87Sr/86Sr data, the place of origin of the non-local horses could be Southern Sweden. This encourages discussions on the possible directions of migration and compels us to rethink the current models that posit South and Central Europe as the main sources of migration. The results of the 87Sr/86Sr, δ13C, and δ15N analyses demonstrate that horses buried in the same cemetery had different mobility and feeding patterns. Differences could be due to the different function and sex of the horses as well as the lifestyle of their owners. The most sedentary horses were pregnant mares, while the extremely high δ15N of three horses may reflect additional fodder and probably a better diet.

The tradition of burying horses in Lithuania lasted from the Early Roman period until the late 14th C AD. It was the longest-lasting custom in Europe, which has left about 2000 known horse burials. This paper publishes the osteometric data and age of horses found in Lithuanian cemeteries and castles of the 3rd–14th C AD, over 200 individuals in total. These are the remains of all the horses still stored in Lithuanian institutions. The paper discusses the dynamics of horse body size in order to test previously suggested hypotheses regarding the relationship between large horse body size and its military use, possibly non-local breed, and high social status of the owner. Moreover, we are publishing the AMS 14C dates of 13 horses previously assigned to the Migration period. The research results corrected the existing chronology. The abundant data also allowed an assessment of the development of the size and age of the horses in Lithuania between the 3rd and 14th C AD. Osteometric analyses have shown that Late Roman–post-Migration-period horses were unusually large compared to the Viking and medieval horses in Lithuania. Meanwhile, we suggest that the semi-slender-legged 118–125-cm-tall horse, which predominated in the Viking period, is the most consistent with the local horse type. In general, the horses in Lithuania in the 3rd–11th C AD were small compared to those in Central and Western Europe or Scandinavia. More significant changes can be observed in the Middle Ages. In the 12–14th C AD, there was a much greater variety of horses and the expansion of taller (140–150 cm) individuals. However, the continued abundance of small horses in the medieval times, found buried with saddles and other equipment, allows one to renew the debate on the formation of the cavalry, the tactics of combat, and the social composition of horsemen in Lithuania.

The article discusses the model of the spread of cremation in the East Lithuanian barrow culture based on the data of radiocarbon dating. It proposes a review of the model established in literature that a wave of cremation spread from the south of the region to the north between the late 4th century AD and of the early 6th century AD. The stage of the earliest cremations can be dated to 248–335 cal AD, and the stage of the latest inhumations to 420–556 cal AD. This suggests that both inhumation and cremation were practised in Eastern Lithuania for about two centuries from the Late Roman period to the Late Migration period. The hypothesis that the practice of cremation spread from south to north is being corrected rather than refuted. While this process was quite sudden, it was due to the spread of a new tradition alongside the old rather than a wave of change regarding burial rites. Cremation spread early (c. 250–400 cal AD) in the northern part of the region and was an established practice alongside inhumation. The practice of cremation probably became prevalent earlier in Southeastern Lithuania. These processes are synchronous with the emergence of the horizon of the burials of chieftains and warriors in Eastern Lithuania, but the determination of an earlier date for this horizon provides grounds for new discussions about its historical, cultural, and social background. Keywords: radiocarbon dating, East Lithuanian barrows, burial customs, inhumation, cremation.

Two east Lithuanian barrow cemeteries, Baliuliai and Peršaukštis Kasčiukai II, which date to the mid-5th century, are distinguished by a specific pattern of burial orientation. The head appears to generally lie to the west and northwest, which is entirely typical of east Lithuanian barrows. But a closer inspection shows an exceptional feature, i.e. the alignment of the deceased towards a single focal point near the cemetery. The present paper seeks to discuss if this spatial organization was intentional, and if so, what significance the focal point possessed and what views of the afterlife and social objectives might lie behind this mortuary treatment. The grave orientation in both cemeteries is examined, with a certain amount of criticism, in the light of the chronological and territorial contexts. The paper proposes a hypothesis that burial direction is a form of symbolic communication between the living and the dead as well as among the dead within a certain internment area. It suggests that an ancestral tradition was established and maintained through this grave orientation. And it also examines the astronomical framework of the burial directions.

Burials dug into Roman period – Viking age barrows can be distinguished in the context of the cemeteries from Lithuania’s Late Medieval – Early Modern period (late 14th–18th centuries). So far, at least 400 late burials have been found in 26 Lithuanian barrow cemeteries while only fragmentary information is available about another 25 such barrow cemeteries. The earliest historical period burials in old barrows should be dated to the late 14th–15th centuries, but this burial practice began to occur on a mass scale in the 16th–17th centuries. The main incidence range of this custom is Samogitia and North Lithuania. In respect to their construction, orientation, and grave good assemblages, these burials do not differ in any way from the context of the historical period cemeteries. The return of burials to old barrow cemeteries should be connected with the Christianisation of Lithuania. On the one hand, up until the 16th century the evangelisation of Lithuania’s rural population was not intensive and therefore burial in a churchyard and Christian rites were not well established. On the other hand, the compressed church network during the Reformation and especially the ounterReformation, the increased pressure from the Church to observe Christian burial rites and pay the exorbitant fees for them, and the lack of Christianity’s authority could have provoked the population’s hostility, forcing people to look for more remote locations for cemeteries, locations some communities found in old pagan barrow cemeteries. Keywords: barrows, cemetery reuse, Middle ages, Early modern times, christianization.