Dainavos žemės šventvietės: Varėnos rajonas ir Druskininkų savivaldybė

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LTKnygoje pirmą kartą sutelktos žinios apie baltų religijos šventvietes istorinės Dainavos žemės dalyje, kuri apima Varėnos rajoną ir Druskininkų savivaldybę. Leidinio įvade apžvelgiami su šventvietėmis, jų tyrinėjimų istorija ir apsauga susiję klausimai. Toliau aprašomos 199 Varėnos r. ir 46 Druskininkų sav. šventvietės, skelbiamos jų geografinės padėties koordinatės, matmenys, daugelis archeologinių, istorinių, kalbinių, tautosakinių ir etnologinių duomenų, XVIII-XX a. žemėlapių iškarpos, schemos, piešiniai ir nuotraukos. Leidinyje autorius tęsia atliktus Žemaitijos (1998), Rytų Aukštaitijos (2006), Joniškio (2016) ir Pakruojo (2018) šventviečių tyrinėjimus. [Anotacija knygoje]

ENThe sacred places of Varėna District and Druskininkai Municipality - the historical lands of Dainava - came to : researcher attention long ago. As early as in the nineteenth century, information about them was collected published (in chronological order) by: Aleksander Polujanski, Eduardas Volteris, Fiodor Pokrovski, Wandalin Szukiewicz, and Zygmunt Gloger. In the early twentieth century, Juozapas Radziukynas, Jonas Totoraitis, and Vincas Krėvė- Mickevičius also collected data about the old sacred sites. The multifaceted scientific and creative activity of Krėvė-Mickevičius was of great importance for : dissemination of information about the sacred places Dainava and encouraged public interest in legends, customs, and cultural heritage. In 1935, when the registration of cultural heritage began, six sacred places attracted the attention of the State thaeological Commission: the stone of Akmuo Village, called Užkeiktoji nuotaka ‘The Enchanted Bride’, a sacred site called the Aukų kalnas ‘The Hill of Offerings’ on the border of Andriūnai and Doškoniai Villages, Aukštakalnis Footprint Stone, Jakėnai Stone carved with some signs, Strauja Hill in Masališkės, and Ašarinis kalnas ‘The Hill of Tears’ in Perloja. After the Second World War, the sacred places were successfully explored by: Henrikas Lizdenis, Alfonsas Navarackas, Juozas Markelevičius, Vytautas Daugudis, and Jonas Balčiūnas. After the restoration of Lithuania’s Independence, Tadas Šidiškis became interested in the sacred sites of Varėna District and Druskininkai Municipality, and after the establishment of Dzūkija National Park, the explorations were continued by its staff: Henrikas Gudavičius, Algimantas Černiauskas, Romas Norkūnas, dr. Mindaugas Lapelė, and Dalia Blažulionytė.In the years 1998 through 1999, the author of the present book took part in the complex research expeditions of Raigardas Valley, in 2000 through 2001, in the work of Merkinė archaeological expedition, and in 2011 through 2012, he was a member of the team for the development of Dzūkija National Park management, responsible for the cultural heritage. The 2020 expedition of Klaipėda Univer-sity and the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore in Musteika led to writing a study on the sacred places of Dainava Land. The study covers over 250 sacred sites of the Baltic religion as well as places featuring certain characteristics of sacred sites. The book is dedicated to prof. Marija Gimbutienė: on the eve of the Second World War, during a folklore expedition in this region, she saw a woman, harvesting oats and singing, and, on that early morning, she experienced, in her own words, a union with the Earth. This feeling accompanied the famous scholar throughout her life and predetermined her views. The explorations of the sacred places in Musteika as well as on the bank of the Grūda River in Kašėtos, in Liškiava, Marcinkonys, Mardasavas, Margionys, Noruliai, Perloja, Purpliai, Puvočiai, Švendubrė, and some other sites revealed that, before the twentieth century, within the boundaries of the villages or in their approaches, places related to the Baltic religion survived; sacred places several kilometers away could be reached when tending grazing cattle or making hay. Village communities were the main users of the sacred places, their old mythological worldview was materialised there, and the boundary be-tween the residential areas of people and the domain of the gods and the dead was clearly felt and experienced.Regardless of the development of urban structures and the social history of the inhabitants of the region, the most characteristic sacred place of a specific village was a spring. Most often, this would be an eastward-flowing spring, a stretch of a rivulet, or its mouth. On the outskirts of villages, not only springs, but also woods, hills, and stones considered as sacred could be found. Juozas Averka’s stories about the special groves of Marcinkonys’ residents, called Šilaliai ‘Small Copses’ in the neighbour¬hood of homesteads are worth remembering; the hill called Gugutis was located a little north of the Rudnelė Village, in the picturesque bend of the Skroblus Rivulet, while the boulder called Raganos akmuo ‘A Witch Stone’ was at the very edge of Liškiava area, at the Laumės griova ‘The Laumė Gully’. A typical sacred place was also a lake, a small swamp, or a larger marsh located further away from the village, on the border of the world inhabited by people. We should mention Pavelnis Lake southeast of Zervynos, Laumiaraistis between Liepiškiai and Ricieliai, and an upland moor called Laumės bala ‘Laumė’s Swamp’ in the forest between Puvočiai, Dubininkai, and Rudnelė which represented typical examples of such places. Sacred sites often belonged not to one community, but to several neighbouring ones. The most characteristic example was the swamp in Gudo Šalis ‘Gudas’ Land’, where haymakers of several neighbouring villages used to come; Fr. Vladas Jezukevičius testified that, in the first half of the twentieth century, the old people of Lynežeris still called Gudo Šalis by its old name of Dausų Šalis (in the Baltic religion, dausos meant the land of the dead). It is here that cranes, flying to warmer climates - dausos - used to land to rest and to refresh themselves with berries. [...]. [From the publication]

• Etnologija / Ethnology
• Archeologija / Archaeology