Mythological, holy or cult places?

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Baltijos jūros regionas; Gamtinės šventos vietos; Gamtinės šventvietės; Mitologija; Neris; Upė Neris; Baltic Sea region; Mythology; Natural holy places; Neris; River Neris.

ENProf. Juris Urtāns raised a substantial question regarding the naturalness of natural holy places during the conference devoted to the archaeology and folklore of natural holy places in Kernavė in 2008. This point attracted the attention of researchers and was repeated as a key subject for discussion at the conference in Turaida in 2009. The conference theme, natural holy places or holy places in nature, directly connected with this issue, soon became part of the international discussion on natural holy places in the Baltic Sea region and elsewhere. Here I will contribute to the above-mentioned discussion while adding some Lithuanian data: I begin with a brief summary of my studies on natural holy places, followed by a brief account of the results of the River Neris expedition in the second part of the article. This survey, carried out in western Belarus and eastern Lithuania in the summer of 2007, revealed a number of sites similar to those usually called natural holy places. This point I found relevant enough to the discussion on natural holy places in the Baltic Sea region. [Extract, p. 132]

• Etnologija / Ethnology
• Archeologija / Archaeology
• Istorija / History