Eastern Lithuanian Settlements from the First to the Twelfth Century

The main goal of this dissertation is the evaluation of the current material from the Iron Age eastern Lithuanian settlements in the context of the settlement archaeology. Historically developed circumstances determined that Lithuanian archaeology nearly from its origins has been oriented mainly towards ethnocultural research. Consequently the material from the burial monuments has been under the greatest consideration, settlement excavations were considered less informative. As the goals of archaeological research are broadening in Lithuania recently, social, economic and ideological aspects of culture are becoming more relevant. Settlement material is essential for the analysis of these subjects. However, as the majority of the settlement excavations were implemented under the different goals with different methods, the employment of their data is complicated. The data is not fully reliable, it requires reconsideration. Methodological aspects of settlement excavation and interpretation of its data are widely analysed in this dissertation. The model of settlement archaeology fitted to the properties of Lithuanian Iron Age sites is introduced here. Data from the Eastern Lithuanian settlements are treated in the context of this model. Problems of the chronology of settlements are under consideration here as well. Pottery from the Eastern Lithuanian settlements was revised for this purpose. The chronological scale with the intervals of 1-3 centuries has been constructed