I−XVI a. laidosena Žemaitijoje: įkapės ir jų dėjimo paprotys

The object of the research is the custom of placing grave goods observed in burial grounds from the 1st to 16th centuries. The aim of the work is to explore the custom of placing grave goods in Samogitia from the 1st to 16th centuries, determine its characteristics and development. The research is based on ethnoarchaeology – an approach of archaeological research and the analogy of cultural continuum applied in this subdiscipline. The research embraces material from burial grounds in Samogitia dated from the 1st to 16th centuries, sources of Baltic religion and mythology dated from the 9th to 18th centuries, ethnographic descriptions, folklore data of the 19th–20th centuries and data of the Lithuanian language. The present research adopts both wide and narrow senses defining the term ‘grave goods’: the first concerns all items placed in the grave, the second – all items found near the body of the deceased. The analysis of the sources of Baltic religion and mythology reveals that historically the term ‘grave goods’ was applied only to the clothes of the deceased thus distinguishing them from other items placed in the grave – these were different burial rites. The number of grave goods in graves dated from the 1st to 16th centuries slightly changed. The sex of the deceased and religious-political reforms were the factors that affected the custom of placing grave goods most significantly. 80 different remaining grave goods were registered in graves dated from the 1st to 16th centuries; the grave goods were placed around the head, waist of legs according to different periods. The analysis of the symbolical significances of the grave goods revealed them as multi-significant symbols. Multi-significance shows not only a wide spectrum of usage of items according to utilitarian and symbolical purposes but also emphasizes the constant change of the custom of placing grave goods. The custom of placing grave goods constantly changed in the period from the 1st to 16th centuries. This is obvious from various perspectives of analysis: concerning a particular period of time, the sex of the deceased, a particular grave good and its position