The Contribution of local residents to the development of archaeological investigations in the Memelland before World War II

LTArcheologinių tyrimų istorija Rytprūsiuose dažnai sulaukia įvairių šalių mokslininkų dėmesio. Istoriografijoje įtvirtinto bendriausio archeologinių tyrimų istorijos Rytprūsiuose modelio chronologinės ribos apima nuo XIX a. vidurio iki Antrojo pasaulinio karo pabaigos. Laikotarpis iki XIX a. yra vadinamas kolekcininkų laikotarpiu. XIX a. pradžioje – 1918 m. dominavo neprofesionalių archeologų bei mokslinių draugijų veikla, o nuo 1918 m. iki 1945 m. buvo apibendrinami proistorės tyrimai. Tokiai periodizacijai yra būdingas vienas trūkumas, kadangi nėra įvertintas vietos gyventojų indėlis XIX a. vidurio – XX a. pradžios laikotarpiu. Privačių asmenų surinkta medžiaga apie archeologinius objektus buvo pagrindinis informacijos šaltinis vėliau šiuos objektus tyrusiems mokslininkams. Archeologinių tyrimų Klaipėdos krašte periodizacija, pateikta šiame straipsnyje, yra sudaryta atsižvelgiant į vietos gyventojų indėlį. Iki XIX a. ketvirtojo dešimtmečio daugiausia dėmesio buvo kreipiama į romėniškas monetas ir piliakalnius, randamus regione. XIX a. ketvirtojo – aštuntojo dešimtmečių laikotarpis pasižymi senienų vietinių kolekcininkų atsiradimu. XIX a. devintajame dešimtmetyje – 1918 m. susiformavo vietos inteligentijos archeologinių senienų mokslinės vertės samprata, veikė vietiniai kraštotyrininkai bei Karaliaučiaus mokslinės draugijos laikotarpis apima du etapus. Iki 1934 m. buvo įkurta Krašto muziejaus draugija Klaipėdoje bei Krašto muziejus. Po 1934 m. pastarojo veikla lieka vietinės reikšmės, o Karaliaučiaus universitetas tapo Klaipėdos krašto proistorės studijų centru.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Klaipėdos kraštas [Klaipeda region]; Archeologijos mokslo istorija; Muziejai; Archeologiniai radiniai; Memel Land; History of arhaeology; Museums; Archaeological findings; Archeologai-kraštoryrininkai; Tyrinėjimai; Mokslininės draugijos; Memel Kreis; Amateurs archaeologist; Archaeological artefacts; Investigations; Scientific societies of Antiguity.

ENThe history of archaeological investigations in East Prussia has already received and will probably continue to receive a great deal of attention from scientists from various countries. The most general model of the history of archaeological investigations in East Prussia that has been thus far established in the historiography concerning this period is: • before the 19th century - the period of collectors; • from the early 19th century to 1918 - the period of the activities of scientific societies and the activity of their museums; • from 1918 to 1945 - the period of summarising the works of the investigations of prehistory. Such periodization has one shortcoming. Researchers who divide the archaeological investigations of the mid-19th century - early 20th century according to the activity of institutions fail to take account of one very important factor, i.e. the contribution of local residents. As legitimate norms did not exist until World War II as regarded Eastern Prussian archaeological work, investigations were carried out by a large number of private persons. Their excavations provided large amounts of material; and after this material had reached the museums, it became possible to create chronological schemes of antiquities. The information gathered by those people was the main source of information about both the archaeological objects themselves and where the latter explorations had been carried out. Hence, the evolution of archaeology depended not only on the activity of the scientific societies but also on local amateur archaeologists. The aim of this article is to present and summarise the evolution of archaeological investigations in the Memelland before World War II, giving particular attention to the contribution of the local intelligentsia.The evolution of archaeological investigations in the Memelland was influenced not only by scientific organisations and museums but also by the activity of the local intelligentsia. Taking into consideration these two factors, the archaeological research of Memelland can be divided into: • The period before the 1830s, when the largest attention was paid to hill-forts and such objects as the Roman coins that were found in the region. • The period between the 1830s and 1870s, when local collectors of antiquities began to appear in the Memelland; their collections were closed and almost inaccessible to the scientific society. The teacher from Tilsit, Eduard Gisevius is the most representative personality of this period. • 1880s-1918 was the period that marked the formation of a conception of the specific scientific value of archaeological antiquities within the local intelligentsia, local amateur archaeologists and scientific societies of Königsberg. • The years between 1923 and 1945 which can be divided into two periods: • the period of 1923-1934 during which the Society of the Regional Museum in Memel was created under the efforts of the intelligentsia of Memelland; this Society had the potential to become a scientific institution of the Eastern Prussian model. In 1931, under the efforts of this Society, the Regional Museum of Memel was opened; • the period of 1934-1939 during which the Regional Museum operating in Memel remained an institution of local importance, while Königsberg University became the centre of prehistoric studies in the Memelland.