Towards a better understanding of the economy and culture of the Late Bronze Age in the southeastern Baltic: Tarbiškės settlements

Vengalis, Rokas; Minkevičius, Karolis; Skridlaitė, Gražina; Piličiauskienė, Giedrė

doi:10.15181/ab.v29i0.2476

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Based on archaeological animal tooth enamel 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios, local strontium ratio baselines were constructed for seven regions. For this, 68 archaeological faunal teeth enamel samples were analysed and the results were combined with an additional 40 archaeological faunal measurements reported by Piličiauskienė et al (2022). In addition, we measured 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios in four modern rodents and leaves from 12 modern trees; the results cautioned us about the use of modern samples and allowed us to evaluate the extent and coverage of the sea spray effect on the Baltic coast.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strontium isotope analysis reveals prehistoric mobility patterns in the southeastern Baltic area

Piličiauskas

Simčenka

Lidén

et al. 2022

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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We measured 87 Sr/ 86 Sr for all available human remains (n = 40) dating from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age (ca. 6400-800 cal BC) in Lithuania. In addition, local baselines of archaeological fauna from the same area were constructed. We identified significant and systematic offsets between 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values of modern soils and animals and archaeological animals due to currently unknown reasons. By comparing 87 Sr/ 86 Sr human intra-tooth variation with the local baselines, we identified 13 non-local individuals, accounting for 25-50% of the analysed population. We found no differences in the frequency of local vs. nonlocals between male and female hunter-gatherers. Six Mesolithic-Subneolithic individuals with 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values > 0.7200 may have come from southern Finland and/or Karelia. Two Mesolithic-Subneolithic individuals from the Donkalnis cemetery with 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values < 0.7120 likely came from the Lithuanian Baltic coast. These data demonstrate coastal-inland mobility of up to 85 km, which is also supported by archaeological evidence. The standard deviation in the intra-tooth 87 Sr/ 86 Sr indicates that mobility did not decrease with the adoption of pottery technology at ca. 5000 cal BC but rather slowly decreased during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. We interpret this as a result of the introduction and subsequent intensification of farming. The least mobile way of life was practised by Subneolithic coastal communities during the 4th millennium cal BC, although 87 Sr/ 86 Sr do not exclude that they migrated along the coastline.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strontium isotope analysis reveals prehistoric mobility patterns in the southeastern Baltic area

Piličiauskas

Simčenka

Lidén

et al. 2022

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…The earliest millet in Lithuania was found in the central Lithuanian sites of Karvelišk ės and Tarbišk ės. A broomcorn millet caryopsis from the Karvelišk ės settlement was directly dated to 1011-904 cal BCE [46], while another from the Tarbišk ės site was dated to 1124-931 cal BCE [49] (see Table 2, Figure 2). The millet grains at archaeological sites of southern Lithuania at Vingr ėnai were also directly dated to the final Bronze Age period.…”

Section: Archaeobotanical Evidence Of Millet Cultivation In Lithuaniamentioning

confidence: 99%

A Brief History of Broomcorn Millet Cultivation in Lithuania

Motuzaitė Matuzevičiūtė,

Laužikas

2023

Agronomy

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The eastern Baltic region represents the world’s most northerly limit of successful broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) (hereafter, millet) cultivation in the past, yet this crop has been almost forgotten today. The earliest millet in the eastern Baltic region has been identified from macrobotanical remains which were directly dated to ca 1000 BCE. Between 800 and 500 BCE, millet was one of the major staple foods in the territory of modern-day Lithuania. Millet continued to play an important role in past agriculture up until the 15th century, with its use significantly declining during the following centuries. This paper analyses both the archaeobotanical records and written sources on broomcorn millet cultivation in Lithuania from its first arrival all the way through to the 19th century. The manuscript reviews the evidence of millet cultivation in the past as documented by archaeobotanical remains and historical accounts. In light of fluctuating records of millet cultivation through time, we present the hypothetical reasons for the decline in millet use as human food. The paper hypothesizes that the significant decrease in broomcorn millet cultivation in Lithuania from the 15th century onwards was likely influenced by several factors, which include climate change (the Little Ice Age) and the agricultural reforms of the 16th century. However, more detailed research is required to link past fluctuations in millet cultivation with climatic and historical sources, thus better understanding the roots of collapsing crop biodiversity in the past.

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“…In the settlements discussed, as many as seven out of ten charcoal samples appeared not to be associated with an archaeological context, but rather with later events, most likely forest fires (see also Piličiauskas et al 2022).…”

Section: Archaeologia Baltica 29mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hidden landscapes of the Earliest Iron Age: Excavations at Kakliniškės 7 reveal an overlooked settlement phase in southern Lithuania

Minkevičius¹,

Valančius²,

Vengalis³

2022

Archaeologia Baltica

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The article presents the data from Kakliniškės 7 settlement site, discovered and excavated in 2020 during the construction of the gas pipeline. The rich and representative collection of pottery and archaeobotanical material gathered in the site have provided valuable data on the hitherto unknown 4th century BC in Lithuania. Pottery such as that found at Kakliniškės 7 has not previously been identified, and is therefore referred to here as Kakliniškės Ware. These are pots with slightly curved walls, rounded shoulders and vertical rims, featuring a striated surface topped with an additional coarse layer. The defined attributes of this new type of pottery have allowed the identification of the same ware in other settlement and burial sites in southeastern Lithuania and the Trans-Nemunas region. All of these settlement sites share some common features; most likely they are the sites of short-lived farmsteads belonging to highly dispersed settlements. Such data allow us to hypothesise a hitherto unidentified cultural group that briefly spread in southern Lithuania in the 4th century BC. This challenges the prevailing model of a static cultural development and a homogeneous material culture in the 1st millennium BC in all of eastern Lithuania. Our data show that the cultural situation here was much more dynamic than previously thought.

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Towards a better understanding of the economy and culture of the Late Bronze Age in the southeastern Baltic: Tarbiškės settlements

Cited by 6 publications

References 16 publications

Strontium isotope analysis reveals prehistoric mobility patterns in the southeastern Baltic area

Strontium isotope analysis reveals prehistoric mobility patterns in the southeastern Baltic area

A Brief History of Broomcorn Millet Cultivation in Lithuania

Hidden landscapes of the Earliest Iron Age: Excavations at Kakliniškės 7 reveal an overlooked settlement phase in southern Lithuania

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