Marija Alseikaitė-Gimbutienė - baltų archeologijos tyrėja

LTPublikacijoje atskleidžiami žymiausios lietuvių archeologės nuopelnai baltų archeologijai. Pirmieji penkiolika jos veiklos ir tyrimų metų skirti baltų archeologijos geležies amžiaus laidosenai aptarti. Vėliau per visą jos mokslinę karjerą vyraujant indoeuropiečių kilmės ar senosios Europos civilizacijos tyrimams, baltų archeologija visada buvo jos interesų lauke ir visada buvo jos tautinės, mokslinės ir kultūrinės tapatybės dalimi. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Marija Gimbutienė; Baltų archeologija; Geležies amžius; Indoeuropiečių kilmė; Baltų susidarymas; Marija Gimbutienė; Archaeology of the Balts; Iron Age; Origin of Indo-Europeans; Formation of the Balts.

ENThe period of her studies in the universities of Kaunas and Vilnius was very important to the investigations of the prehistory of the Balts. Famous professors such as archaeologist Dr. Jonas Puzinas, lingvists Pranas Skardžius, Antanas Salys, historians Antanas Jonynas and Leonas Karsavinas, and ethnologist Jonas Balys gave her principles of complex investigations of the Baltic prehistory. This part of article is based on the materials of the Vilnius University Library Manuscript Department (Fund No. 154). Her ability to use the most important historical sources and Lithuanian folklore, work 12 hours daily in very cold libraries and unheated rooms for museums collections (1941–1942 War period), collect all published materials, and after that to find clear principles of material classification – we can see all those things from her Master’s Work on 250 pages "Burial Practices in Lithuanian Iron Age" and her Ph. Doctor Degree in Tubingen in 1946, the Dissertation "Die bestattung in Litauen in der vorgeshichtlichen Zeit". The second step in her academic carrier was based on knowledge of East European languages that allowed Marija Gimbutienė to investigate wide territories of East-Central Europe and to change the chronological period of her interest. Her monograph prepared in Harvard University, "Prehistory of Eastern Europe", was so useful for students of USA universities that the second edition was done in a very short time. The materials of the Balts were presented not only from the Iron age, but also from the Bronze and Stone Ages.Very important time for investigations of the Baltic prehistory was 1963–1965 when her books "The Balts" and "Bronze Age Cultures of Central and Eastern Europe" were published. The first book is still the best information about the Balts from their appearance on the Baltic coast to the emergence of the Lithuanian state in the thirteenth century for the English reading society; later it was translated into German, Italian, Portuguese, and with some new materials in Lithuanian and Latvian languages. Since 1955, Marija Gimbutas has published more than 50 articles on Baltic archaeology and cultural history in "Encyclopedia Britannica", "Slavic Review", "Encyclopedia Lithuanica", "Metmenys", "Lituanus", "Myth in Baltic Studies" and other publications. [From the publication]