Prehistoric art in the Baltic region
ENThis volume of Acta Academiae artium vilnensis is devoted to the prehistoric art of the Baltic Region. The first permanent settlers arrived in the Region during the Old Stone Age, a thousand years or so before the Birth of Christ. Newcomers from the south and south west brought with them artistic traditions which were already many thousands of years old. In the eastern Baltic they continued their ancient traditions and developed characteristic new styles, creating work that was influenced directly by local ecological and economic factors. Good preservation conditions in the bogs and wetlands of the Baltic Region mean that artefacts of amber, wood, clay, bone and horn, such as small figurines, carvings and decorated pottery have survived to modern times. These artefacts were discovered first some time ago and have attracted local and international interest, especially since R. Kleb's 1882 publication. Thousands of examples of metal decorative work widespread in the Region's barrows, level burial sites and early settlements were not only of spiritual and aesthetic value but also of everyday practical significance. Decorative works of applied art from the Bronze and Iron Ages represent the most artistic branch of prehistoric craftsmanship and played a major role in developing the aesthetic sensibilities of various peoples in the Region. Objects of high artistic and aesthetic value which were created throughout the prehistory and early ages of Baltic life function as a link to unite various cultures and peoples around the Baltic Sea.Researchers specialising in Baltic prehistoric art would find it difficult to imagine Stone- age art without the particularly high-quality amber products found at Šventoji, the pictorial forms inscribed on pottery from settlements in Nida, wooden idols or the most artistic of all prehistoric northern European artefacts, the Šventoji elk, whose image graces many Baltic archaeological posters, conference brochures, regional art albums, postcards and calendars. All these objets d'art inspired the organisation of this conference - many of them discovered by the renowned specialist of Baltic Prehistory, Dr R. Rimantienė. Rimutė Rimantienė will celebrate her eightieth birthday on October 25 2000, Her friends in many countries express their appreciation of her work through this collection of essays which cover one of her many areas of interest, prehistoric Baltic art. For many years Dr Rimantienė has devoted her considerable talents to a great number of varied subjects mostly within Stone-age archaeology. She is that rara avis, a scholar endowed with knowledge of many areas of research. Her prodigious bibliography of academic work has been placed at the end of this volume. We also wish to mention her non-archaeological publications, especially her translations of Scandinavian literature into Lithuanian which have served to build a bridge linking cultures across the Baltic Sea. Conference delegates gathered in Vilnius wish to congratulate Dr Rimantienė on the occasion of her eightieth birthday and express their honour and regard for her and her work through this modest festschrift. [Preface, p. 5].
