Population history and palaeoenvironment in the Skomantai archaeological site, West Lithuania: two thousand years

Collection:
Mokslo publikacijos / Scientific publications
Document Type:
Straipsnis / Article
Language:
Anglų kalba / English
Title:
Population history and palaeoenvironment in the Skomantai archaeological site, West Lithuania: two thousand years
Authors:
In the Journal:
Quaternary international. 2013, 308/309, p. 190-204
Subject Category:
LT
Gyvenvietės (archeologija) / Settlements (Archaeology); Piliakalniai / Hilforts.
Summary / Abstract:

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Daugiadisciplininiai tyrimai; Gyvenvietės; Lamata; Mikroregionas; Nedestrukciniai tyrimų metodai; Paleoaplinkos sąlygos; Piliakalniai; Skomantai; Skomantų archeologinis kompleksas; Vakarų Lietuva; Žmonių veikla; Hill-forts; Human activity; Lamata; Micro-region; Multidisciplinary investigations; Non-destructive researchmethods; Palaeoenvironmental conditions; Settlements; Skomantai; Skomantai archaeological site; West Lithuania; Western Lithuania.

ENThis paper presents the results of multidisciplinary investigations, i.e., archaeological, lithological, sedimentological, palynological, chronological (14C and thermoluminescence (TL)), geochemical and geophysical, to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental conditions and peculiarities of the population history at the Skomantai archaeological site (e.g., hill fort, western and southeastern foot settlements), W Lithuania. Detailed lithological and sedimentological investigations, are applied to describe the cultural formations that comprise two cultural layers, both in the Skomantai hill fort territory, and two foot settlements. These formations developed in response to human occupation intervals according to archaeological data, 14C and TL surveys date to the Early Iron Age e Migration Period and the mid-13th c.emid-14th c. AD, when the site burned down after the attacks by the Teutonic Order. Collected ceramics suggest that representatives of the West Balts’ Barrow culture settled in the area during the Early Iron Age. Distinct erosive events are most probably related to reconstructing the hill fort, coupled with the above-mentioned intervals of people activity. Increased amounts of particular elements, i.e., S, Br, Ca, Mn and P, recorded in the cultural layers suggest the predominance of timber constructions in the territory and intensive wood use. Preliminary results from geomagnetic prospection have provided the opportunity to identify linearly arranged archaeological features that may indicate the location of a former building or fence structure. The paleobotanical evidence establishes that human interference in the environment was noticeable during the Early Middle Ages, including mixed pastoral/arable land use with Secale cerealia and Fagopyrum cultivation. [From the publication]

DOI:
10.1016/j.quaint.2012.08.2108
ISSN:
1040-6182
Subject:
Archeologija / Archaeology
Related Publications:
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https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/79497
Updated:
2022-05-26 18:29:42
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