Lithuanian amber artifacts in the middle of the first millennium and their provenance within the limits of eastern baltic region

Apie gintaro paplitimą Lietuvoje įvairiais laikotarpiais, apie gintaro gaminių ornamentiką, pokyčius gintaro juvelyriškoje, apskritai apie lietuvių išvaizdą paprastai svarstoma remiantis gintaro artefaktais, rastais piliakalniuose, pilkapiuose ar kitose laidojimo vietose. Tam tikru mastu netikėta, nors verta dėmesio galimybė, kad Pabaltijo regione rastieji gintaro artefaktai priklauso skirtingoms kultūroms, kitais žodžiais, ne visakas buvo padaryta vietoje, daug kas atvežta iš svetur. Analizuojant Lietuvoje rastus gintaro dirbinius nustatyta, kad jų žaliava buvo eksportuotas iš Baltijos pietų pakrantės. Tekinimo staklėmis apdoroti ar pusiau apdoroti gintaro rutuliukai, rasti vidurio Lietuvos kapuose ir datuojami Tautų kraustymosi laikotarpiu (paskutinis Romos imperijos laikotarpis), kilę iš gerokai piečiau esančių Vyslos, Mozūrų, Kujavijos, Sembos ir kitų regionų. Kita vertus, reikia pastebėti, kad daug žinomų ir mažiau žinomų formų gintaro rutuliukų buvo pagaminta dabartinės Lietuvos pajūryje.The spread of amber in Lithuania and its popularity over different periods, application of amber in ornament production, changing trends in amber jewellery wear as well as the links of these customs with gender, sex, and, more generally, with the Lithuanian world outlook, are the issues usually discussed based on ungrounded assumptions that the amber artifacts found in Lithuanian burial sites and the cultural strata of hill-forts and settlements had originated from the Lithuanian coast. It is unexpected, but credible possibility, that Baltic Sea amber artifacts, belonging to different archaeological sites across Lithuania, are not only local products, but also imports via different trade routes. As far as analysis of Lithuanian amber artifacts has established, raw amber was exported from the coast southwards. Lathed and semi-lathed amber beads found at the cemeteries in central Lithuania, the lower Nemunas region and even in coastal Lithuania and dated to the late Roman Iron Age-early Migration period, are imports of several workshops in the lower Vistula, Kuiavia areas, Mazurian Lakeland, Sambian peninsula and other regions. On the other hand, it should be noted, that amber beads of common shapes known since the Roman Iron Age onwards, figure-eight shaped beads-pendants and these of other less common shapes, as well as beads and other amber artifacts typical of the Vendel and the Viking Age were produced by local amber craftsmen in coastal Lithuania. The spread of amber in Lithuania in different time periods, the ornaments of amber articles, the changes in the amber jewellery and the appearance of Lithuanians is most usually discussed referring to the amber artifacts, found in barrows, mounds or other burial sites. The possibility that the amber artifacts, found in the Baltic region belong to different cultures, in other words, not everything was made locally and a lot of articles were brought from other lands is, to a certain extent, surprising, but still worth attention. When analyzing the amber articles, found in Lithuania, it was established that their raw materials were exported from the Southern coast of the Baltic Sea. The turning lathe processed amber balls, found in the tombs of Central Lithuania and dated the time period of the movement of nations (the last period of the Roman empire) originate from the regions of the Vistula, the Masurian lakes, Sambia, Kuyavia and other regions, which are located farther to the South. On the other hand, one must note that a lot of amber balls, of well or less known shapes were made on the seacoast of the present-day Lithuania