Merkinės istorijos bruožai

• Černiauskas, Algimantas, sudarymas [com]
• Gudavičius, Henrikas, sudarymas [com]
• Vaitkevičius, Vykintas, sudarymas [com]

LT2000-2001 m. paramą kompleksiniams mokslo tyrimams Merkinėje suteikė Valstybinis mokslo ir studijų fondas. Gamtinį ir kultūrinį Merkinės paveldą tyrė Geologijos, Lietuvos istorijos bei Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutų mokslininkai. Tyrimų rezultatai aprašyti ir saugomi minėtose institucijose. Didelę sukauptų duomenų dalį planuojama paskelbti mokslo leidiniuose. Tačiau jausdami atsakomybę tyrimus parėmusiam Valstybiniam mokslo bei studijų fondui ir ypač merkiniškiams, kurie gyvai domėjosi ir stebėjo šių tyrimų eigą, Lietuvos istorijos instituto archeologai Linas Kvizikevičius, dr. Tomas Ostrauskas, dr. Vykintas Vaitkevičius, talkinami kalbininko Vido Garliausko ir Dzūkijos nacionalinio parko darbuotojų Algimanto Černiausko, Henriko Gudavičiaus bei dr. Mindaugo Lapelės, parašė Merkinės krašto ir gyventojų istoriją. Darbe stengėmės aiškiai ir glaustai pristatyti skaitytojams Merkinės kultūros paveldą, parodyti daugiaplanius jo kontekstus bei atitinkamą istorinį foną. Pabandėme atskleisti svarbiausius Merkinės miesto, žemės (valsčiaus, seniūnijos) ir čia gyvenusių žmonių praeities bruožus, akcentuoti pagrindines istorines realijas. Epiloge gyvai piešiamas XXI a. pradžios Merkinės paveikslas. Pabaigoje, priede, publicistų ir fotografų padedami dar kartą keliaujame po nuostabųjį Merkinės miestelį ir apylinkes, susitinkame su merkiniškiais, regime kasdieninius jų darbus, kūrybą ir šventes. [Iš Pratarmės]

ENIn 2000 and 2001 complex research field work in Merkinė (Varėna district, Alytus county) was sponsored by the Lithuanian State Foundation of Science and Studies. The natural and cultural heritage was investigated by the Institute of Geology, the Lithuanian Institute of History and the Institute of the Lithuanian Literature and Folklore. These institutions store and describe the collected data, a large part of which is to be published in specialist journals. However, the archaeologists of the Institute of History Linas Kvizikevičius, Dr. Tomas Ostrauskas and Dr. Vykintas Vaitkevičius, in collaboration with the linguist Vidas Garliauskas and the workers of the National Park of Dzūkija Algimantas Černiauskas, Henrikas Gudavičius and Dr. Mindaugas Lapelė, on their part, in this book present a sketch of the history of the Merkinė region from the oldest time until 1795 - the collapse of the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth - as a token of their gratitude to the Lithuanian State Foundation of Science and Studies and to the people of the region, who showed a great interest in the research. In this study an attempt is made to provide a concise overview of the cultural heritage of Merkinė by showing its many-layered contexts against the corresponding historical background - the main features of the town and region (township and eldership) of Merkinė and of its inhabitants and by focusing attention on the principal historical events. A vivid picture of Merkinė in the early twenty-first century is presented in the epilogue. In the appendix the publicists and photographers offer a trip through a lovely town of Merkinė and its environs and acquaint the reader with the life of the people, their everyday work, creation and leisure.Reminiscing about his early works in his old days, the well-known Lithuanian writer Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius, who was born at Merkinė, said: 'It was my wish that Lithuanians, having learnt about the heroic past of their forefathers, would keep greater self-esteem'. The authors of this book hope that their work will contribute to the cause of preserving the cultural heritage and the research of its deepest layers. The archaeological and historical research has shown the variety and peculiarity of the cultural heritage of Merkinė. Its elements and forms are in close harmony with the nature and are conditioned by their changes in the aftermath of the Ice Age. The cultural variety and development since the earliest times in a comparatively small concentrated area is the greatest advantage of this so far poorly researched region. The results of the research, presented in the book, could be summarized as follows: 1. The earliest settlements in the environs of Merkinė date back to the Upper Palaeolithic (the latter half of the 10th to the middle of the 9th millennium BC). In this period two cultural groups - those of Vilnius and Świdry - can be distinguished on the basis of the type of artefacts (primarily arrowheads) and their manufacture. In the micro-region of Merkinė 22 items were uncovered. The settlements were located in several topographic zones, mostly on the upper terraces of the rivers Nemunas and Merkys. Most probably they are to be associated with the hunters' observation points and the winter camps of large communities. These camps are characterized by their copious finds. Other settlements were situated on the lower terraces of the rivers and at small lakes further away from big rivers. There the inventory of finds is quite limited - possibly due to the fact that the abandoned camps were mostly seasonal and were used by small families only in late winter and early spring or summer.2. The Mesolithic period (between the 8th and the 5th millennium BC) is represented by 21 monuments. Ten of them are related to the people of the Kunda and Kudlaevka culture and eleven to the Janislawice culture. The means of subsistence for the Mesolithic communities was the goods of nature, and human occupation was hunting, fishing and gathering. The small family and the tribal community made up the basis of the economic and social structure. Numerous little camps were deserted by the small families. The people rarely gathered into bigger groups, in summer for ritual reasons and in winter in the more constant camps. 3. In Neolithic times (the mid-5th to the mid-2nd millennium BC) the Merkinė microregion became the northern boundary of the Nemunas culture area. The investigated Netiesos settlement (No. 1) dates from the first half of the Neolithic Age. The cultural heritage of Janislawice is seen in its hunting inventory - microlithic points. At the end of the period the people of the Corded Ware and Globular Amphora cultures came to the environs of Merkinė. They brought animal husbandry and agriculture, which was a novelty at that time. In southern Lithuania this type of economy set in finally in the Bronze Age. The establishment of settled agriculture was probably encouraged by the Trzciniec culture. Nine artefacts of the Late Neolithic and Bronze Ages were found in the Merkinė micro-region. [...]. [From the publication]

• Archeologija / Archaeology
• Istorija / History