Archaeological material concerning the former Memelland District in H. Jankuhn's Archival Legacy

LTHerberto Jankuhno (1905-1990) archyvinis palikimas, šiuo metu saugomas Archeologiniame krašto muziejuje Šlezvige, Vokietijoje (Archäologisches Landesmuseum in Schleswig), sudarytas daugiausia iš kartotekoje užfiksuotų ankstyvojo romėniškojo laikotarpio buvusios Rytų Prūsijos archeologinių radinių. Straipsnyje trumpai pristatomas įvairiapusis H. Jankuhno kartotekos, apimančios buvusių lietuviškų Rytprūsių apskričių radinius, vertingumas. Iš šių 280 H. Jankuhno nupieštų ir aprašytų radinių 115 artefaktų yra kilę iš Barzdūnų kapinyno (Šilutės apylinkės). H. Jankuhnas nuosekliai kaupė duomenis ir apie pavienius atsitiktinius radinius, kaip apie tam tikrų formų paplitimo liudijimą. H. Jankuhno archyvas praplečia ankstyvojo romėniškojo laikotarpio duomenų bazę Lietuvoje. Turėdami jo duomenis, galime į B2 periodo paminklų sąrašą įtraukti Mažius, Gudus, Obstainį, Rambyną, Vilkyškius, paankstinti Vilkyčių ir Pleškučių kapinynų datavimą . Aptariama kartoteka yra papildomas šaltinis rekonstruojant tokių kapinynų kaip Aukštkiemiai ar Anduliai medžiagą, kuri daugiau ar mažiau išliko po Antrojo pasaulinio karo muziejuose ar kituose archyviniuose šaltiniuose. H. Jankuhnas, piešdamas ir aprašydamas radinius, trumpai pažymėdavo radimo aplinkybes, radėjo ar buvusio rinkinio savininko vardą. Šios trumpos nuorodos yra paskata giliau studijuoti archeologinių tyrinėjimų istoriją. Neįkainojama H. Jankuhno kartotekos vertė yra ta, kad tai vienas patikimiausių šaltinių, siekiant rekonstruoti Antrojo pasaulinio karo išblaškytus buvusios Rytų Prūsijos archeologijos rinkinius ir duomenis.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Senasis geležies amžius; Kapinynai; Muziejai; Roman Iron Age; Cemeteries; Museums; Klaipėdos kraštas [Klaipeda region]; Archeologiniai paminklai; Herbertas Jankuhnas; Archyvas; Memelland district; Archaeological sites; Herbert Jankuhn; Archive.

ENHerbert Jankuhn's archive, now preserved in the Archäologisches Landesmuseum in Schleswig (Germany), con-tains a considerable amount of material connected with archaeological sites from former East Prussia dating to the early Roman Period. [...] The value of the Jankuhn legacy detailing archaeological data from former Memelland district is huge. Scholarship has dealt with only aproximately 30 percent of 241 types of finds from Memelland and Tilsit, Ragnit districts depicted in Jankuhn's database. An even smaller amount of finds was known in pictures. For example, there were several brooches quoted by Almgren (1897) and Moora (1938) as belonging to particular types but the appearance of these brooches was unkown. Thanks to the drawings of H. Jankuhn we can see how such finds that are these mentioned in literature looked. Here we have given examples of finds from Vilkyčiai/Wilkieten and Vilkyškiai/Wilkischken cemeteries, which illustrate how Jankuhn's data enlighten the content of finds from known but previously "anonymous" grave-sites, the finds of which had not been published. Jankuhn's Memelland database contains 115 items, which belong to the finds of Barzdūnai/Barsduhnen cemetery (Šilutė/Heydekrug surroundings). A. Bezzenberger published his results of excavations there (Bezzenberger, 1900) but mostly in a descriptive way, which left it almost impossible to reconstruct the grave-sets in a precise way. Jankuhn's drawings and descriptions provide us with full grave-sets from Barzdūnai, which can be analysed in relation to the recent results of archeological investigations in Klaipėda and Šilutė district. For example the phase of Barzdūnai graves is very similar to that of Bandužiai cemetery Grave 91 (Bliujienė, Bračiulienė, 2007).Jankuhn's database contains also grave-sets from other cemeteries (Palumpiai/Polompen, Gudai/Gudden) which are very important sets of finds from the Early Roman Iron Age. Jankuhn valued also loose finds as he drew types from cemeteries of former districts of Memelland. On the ground of distribution map of Almgren 72 type brooches it is possible to reflect what importance the additional points taken from Jankuhn's files have, reflecting the importance of the Lower Nemunas region in the process of the dispersion of "classical" types of the Early Roman Iron Age in Balt areas. Bracelets with profiled ends from H. Jankuhn's drawings testify the diversity of subtypes. Gudai/Gudden spiral bracelets represent a rare type from the Early Roman Period. A picture of a stray find from Aukštkiemiai/Oberhof - a Roman brooch most probably with remains of enamel - is yet another item of Roman production which reached the Lithuanian coastland most probably in the 2nd cent. AD. Jankuhns's archive allows us to broaden our database of phases of the Early Roman period in Western Lithuanian areas especially for the phase B2. Jankuhn's legacy serves as an additional source when reconstructing grave-sets, which survived in part in museums in Berlin or Kalin¬ingrad. The original finds, as in the case of reconstruction of Aukštkiemiai/Oberhof grave 178 made by Ch. Reich (Reich, 2006), show that Jankuhn's drawings were as precise as possible, taking into account his speed of sketching thousands of drawings. His brief notes penned beside the drawings related to the finders or former owners of items and can be an inspiration to investigate more closely the history of amateur ar-chaeological investigations and collections more than 100 years ago.The archaeological aspect of activity held by Lithuanian Literary Society in Tilsit could be an interesting direction for the further investigations. The private activity of members of this society such as E. Gisevius, B. T. Settegast, E. Ancker also could be subjects of further research. The priceless nature of Jankuhn's card file, copies from which form the archival legacy of R. Grenz (Schleswig), lies in the fact that it is one of the most trustworthy sources for reconstructing collections and data from former East Prussian archaological holdings that were disrupted by the effects of World War Two. [From the publication]