Atypical burial rites or destruction of archaeological source? On the results of rescue excavations at Jakšiškis Barrow Cemetery (East Lithuania)

• Researchgate.net: straipsnio tekstas

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Rytų Lietuva; Pilkapiai; Plokštiniai kapinynai; East Lithuania; Barrows; Flat burials; Post-deposition.

ENIn Lithuania and, specifically, in its eastern part which falls into the habitat of the East Lithuanian Barrow Culture (c. 3/4th–11/12th century AD), rescue archaeology encouraged the search for new archaeological facts, namely, burials between barrows. The first results considerably shattered the established belief that burials had been made in barrows only and provided an argument in favour of the possibility of a dual burial tradition of both barrows and flat burials. This article focuses on these “atypical graves” detected during the rescue excavations at one of the most representative barrow cemeteries, namely, Jakšiškis barrow cemetery. A detailed analysis of the Jakšiškis barrow cemetery research materials implies, however, that adopting the hypothesis of the flat burials as proven might be premature, and the circumstances of their discovery enable more than one alternative interpretation. [From the publication]