Religion of the Balts

The chapter provides an interpretation of certain, selected aspects of pre-Christian Baltic religion from the Middle Ages, prior to their official conversion to Christianity.  The Balts were the last people on European continent that became Christians, albeit many rites, customs and beliefs entered into Baltic folklore and many survived till today.  In a post-Soviet era we observed revival of scholarly interest in their ancient beliefs and many new interpretations.  Moreover, we have observed a revival of Neo-pagan movements in all independent Baltic states.  The paper attempts to interpret and reconcile some known Old Prussian deities with those of  the Lithuanians and Latvians.  It also explores the nature of Baltic beliefs addressing the question of its polydoxy, polytheism or henotheism.

The apex of the hypothetical? On the reconstruction of Sudovian shields

In an attempt to reconstruct the shape of shields, the paper analyses the Sudovian Culture inhumation graves with weapons (Figs. 1, 2) that contained shield elements. A repetitiveness in the placement of shield bosses has been observed; they have been found in the vicinity of legs, e.g., at the knees, usually with a minimal shi towards one of them, at the mid-length of femurs, or at the le hip (Fig. 2). The fittings were oriented with the dome upwards, which means that the shield was placed in front of the warrior. Judging by the imprint of a fabric on the shield grip from barrow 25 at Osowa, Suwałki District, it seems that the shields were placed directly on the deceased (on his clothes). None of the cases indicate that the hands of the deceased rested on the upper edge of the shield. The shields were elongated (considering Balt specimens, probably roughly rectangular, sometimes with slightly arched sides – Fig. 3:1–4), and their lengths ranged from 0.6 to 1.1 m; their widths are more difficult to estimate (probably 0.3–0.6 m). Individual preferences may account for the differences in dimensions. Shields made entirely of organic materials, including specimens with wooden shield bosses with short, blunt spikes (Fig. 4) as well as – purely hypothetically – specimens without shield bosses, with a pair of bands for the forearm and palm, played an important role. A reconstruction of the appearance of a Sudovian warrior is shown in Fig. 5.

The article deals with the sacred groves of the Balts in Lithuania and
presents the linguistic background, the historical documents from the 12th–
18th century, the key folklore motifs of the topic, as well as selected examples of
groves. The article also discusses possible relationships between pre-Christian
religious traditions connected with the sacred groves and the ones which have
survived into the 21st century.
Despite the fact that the sacred groves of past ages have mostly disappeared
on the landscape, this tradition has not significantly changed. Various religious
activities which were carried out in sacred groves, at smaller groups of trees,
and beneath separate trees enable us to learn, even if insignificantly, about the
phenomenon. Interdisciplinary approach to sacred groves should be preferred in
modern research.

Anotacija. Atsižvelgiant į Lietuvos kaimo ir mažų miestelių gyventojų kultūrinėje sąmo-nėje vykstančius pokyčius, siekiama atlikti sistemišką mitologinių būtybių sampratos tyrimą. Straipsnyje analizuojama lauko tyrimo metu surinkta informacija, charakterizuojanti XXI a. Viduklės miestelio ir aplinkinių kaimų situaciją. Suformuoto sisteminio klausimyno pagrindu, atsižvelgiant į tokius aspektus kaip funkcijos, išvaizda, gyvenamoji erdvė, santykis su žmogumi, apibūdinamos dešimt populiariausių baltiškųjų mitologinių ir sakmių būtybių. Tyrimo metu surinkta informacija lyginama su XVI–XVIII ir XIX a. rašytinių šaltinių informacija, lietuvių liaudies sakmėmis ir mitologų darbais, siekiant nustatyti esminius skirtumus tarp ankstesnių laikotarpių ir XXI a. mitologinių būtybių sampratos. Esminiai žodžiai: mitologinės būtybės, Žemaitija, XXI a. visuomenė, mitologinės būtybės samprata, Viduklė. Abstract. Considering the changes in the cultural consciousness of Lithuanian rural and small town residents, intended to carry out a systematic study of the concept of mythological creatures. The article analyzes the field study collected information characterizing the twenty-first century town of Vidukle and surrounding villages in the situation. Formed a systematic questionnaire, taking into account aspects such as functionality, appearance, living space, the relationship with the man, described the ten most popular of the Baltic mythological and legendary creatures. The study collected information is compared with the sixteenth-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries written sources of information, Lithuanian folk legends and mythologists works to identify the essential differences between concept of mythological creatures in the earlier period and the twenty-first century.

All the Western Balts tribes have been connected by the burial rite of cremation since the Viking Age and till the intensification
of Baltic Crusades. Altogether with language features and therefore similarities of culture, cremation has connected Prussians,
Curonians, Scalvians, Galindians and Jotvingians in the 10-13th centuries.Despite this each Western Balts area had its own form
of cremation graves, often not typical to their neighbors. For example, so named “double layer” cremation graves of Prussians,
when cremated deceased was buried in the upper part of the pit above the unburned horse, were practiced in the region of Sambia
and Natangia almost unchanged from the 5/6th to the first half of the 13th centuries, and are rare for Scalvians and unknown in
Curonia. From the other point Southern Curonians began to burn their dead on a mass scale only in the 9-10th centuries. So, the
development of Scalvian and Curonian burial rite looks more dynamic in a comparison to Prussians. Investigating a phenomena
of Western Balts collective cremation graves it was concluded, that most of Curonian cremation graves of several individuals
were erected in huge pits probably at one moment and belonged to the members of warrior elite or some influential clans
and their relatives. In contrast to Curonian collective cremation, Sambian cemeteries Alejka-3, Kholmy and Kl. Kaup represent
„Aschenplätze“ as certain areas of individual double layer cremations erected very close to each other, and not at once. Their
stratigraphy is very different from Curonian, Scalvian or Galindian “collective” cremation graves...