Vakarų baltų gintaro įkapės geležies amžiuje

LTNeolito laikotarpiu, kai nebuvo nei stiklo, nei metalo, baltų visuomenės ypač vertino gintarą. Jo skaidrumas, blizgesys, spalva bei lengvas apdirbimas padarė jį unikalų. Gintaro savybė išlaikyti elektrostatinį krūvį ir atsitiktines mažų vabzdžių inkliuzijas dar labiau padidino šio akmens paslaptingumą. Tad nenuostabu, kad gintaras buvo plačiai vartojamas asmeniniam pasipuošimui ir kulto tikslams. Tačiau vėlesnio laikotarpio visuomenėse socialinė ir estetinė gintaro funkcija galėjo būti daug siauresnė. Rašydamas apie 90 m. po Kr., romėnų istorikas Tacitas (Germanija, 45 skyrius) komentuoja, kad aisčiai, kuriuos daugelis istorikų tapatina su sambių gentimis arba apskritai su vakarų baltais, "patys gintaro nenaudoja, o renka gabalus ir parduoda neapdirbtus, ir ima atlyginimą, stebėdamiesi". Pagal Vaitkunskienę, geležies amžiuje baltų visuomenėje kasdieninis gintaro naudojimas buvo apribotas ritualo. Pavyzdžiui, moterys nenešiojo ilgų gintaro karolių vėrinių. Varnas padarė panašią išvadą, jog vėlyvajame geležies amžiuje baltai gintarą galėjo laikyti reta ir brangia medžiaga. Ši studija turi du tikslus: 1) identifikuoti vakarų Lietuvos gintaro įkapių pagrindinius naudojimo pavyzdžius, įskaitant ir variacijų paaiškinimą pagal laiką ir erdvę, naudojant neparametriškus statistinius metodus; 2) pavaizduoti baltų genčių priėjimo prie gintaro variaciją pagal išmesto jūrinio gintaro modelį. Studijoje bus remiamasi geležies amžiaus paskutiniaisiais trimis periodais (1-1200m. po Kr.) [p. 59].

ENThe primary goal of the study was to identify patterns in the use of funerary amber in west Lithuania, including the explanation of temporal and spatial variation through nonparametric statistical methods. A second objective was to describe the variation in access to amber by Baltic tribes, through a model of coastal drift amber. The scope of the study encompasses the last three periods of the Iron Age (AD1-1200). METHODOLOGY. Data were gathered from excavation reports, most of them unpublished, archived at the Department of Archaeology, Lithuanian Institute of History. Regional museums in Kaunas, Kretinga, Klaipėda and Telšiai were also accessed. The geographical sample includes 32 West Baltic cemetaries (3,312 burials) from the regions of Sambia, Skalvia, Curonia and Samogitia. Chronological data are presented in Appendix II. The sample from the Old Iron Age (OIA = AD1-400) represents about a third of the West Baltic cemetaries in Lithuania that are known to contain amber. The sample from the Middle Iron Age (MIA = 400-800) probably represents a similar percentage, while that of the Late Iron Age (LIA = 800-1200) reflects a lower percentage. For the purposes of the study, artifacts were classified only by general categories: beads, pendants, spindle whorls, raw or unworked pieces, and a category for miscellaneous types. Chi-squared tests and Mann-Whitney tests were used to examine the association between funerary amber and a series of specific variables: continuity of participation, ritual regulation, artifact type, proximity to amber source, gender, and ethnic affiliation. Significance tests were all at the 0.05 level ofsignificance. Summarized below are findings of the study relating to amber sources used by Baltic tribes, the function of funerary amber, and evolutionary developments in the funerary amber tradition.SUPPLY. Natural sources of amber exploited during the Iron Age by West Baltic tribes included seasonal deposits along the coast ("drift amber"), as well as near-surface layers located inland ("pit amber"). Each year, the Sambians probably had access to a minimal 20,000 kg of drift amber, if estimates of drift amber from recent times can be projected into the past. Germanic and Slavic groups that controlled the Vistula delta and its short, amber-rich coastline were able to obtain less amber - perhaps some 3,000-5,000 kg/year. Similar quantities were available to the Curonians (and perhaps Skalvians?), but they were spread over a much longer coastline. Some of the substantial pit amber deposits in northeast Poland may have been under the control of the Baltic tribes of Sudovians and Galindians. The Samogitians, on the other hand, were less favorably situated to amber sources. Did accessibility to source significantly affect regional patterns of funerary amber? The total quantity of amber recovered from all Iron Age burials in west Lithuania is so small, probably less than five kilograms, that one would expect even a short segment of coastline to have yielded enough drift amber to more than satisfy the requirements for the entire region. Yet, despite the small quantity involved, there is evidence of spatial patterning: funerary amber was more frequent in cemetaries located within 75-100 km from the coast, than in those located further away (100-200 km). It is tempting to interpret this finding as an indication of problems of transport, or supply, to inland areas. That is, drift amber was collected in quantity along the coast, but much of it may have been monopolized by coastal residents for purposes of export. FUNCTION. This study is the first to use a numerical/statistical approach to describe amber use by the ancient Balts.The average number of amber artifacts, for example, in West Baltic burials during the Iron Age, considering only burials with amber, was found to be quite low: 2.38 artifacts/burial for the OIA, 3.49 during the MIA, and 1.56 for the LIA. Or, to put it differently, 74 % of all burials contain less than three amber artifacts. The "scarcity of amber beads in the land of amber", to paraphrase M. Gimbutas, had been observed by earlier investigators, but they did not support their assertions with quantitative data. Why did the West Balts choose to display funerary amber in such small quantities? Gimbutas suggested that the coastal Balts ascribed an ordinary status to amber in reaction to its natural local abundance. She believes this led to a preference for the use of exotic imports of bronze and glass as funerary goods. Her theory does not fully explain, however, why amber would then be used for funerary display by a substantial portion of the population over the course of a millennium. A more comprehensive hypothesis was offered by Valatka and Vaitkunskienė. In their view, amber was principally worn as a small amulet-bead, with social restrictions or taboos placed on the ornamental use of amber in the form of large pendants or long necklaces. Indeed, the in situ context of much funerary amber - sometimes placed in miniature containers or attached to the clothing, jewelry and even weapons of the deceased - does support the idea of an amuletic and apotropaic function. In the present study, a large database allowed statistical testing of the "amulet burial" hypothesis: that funerary amber was generally restricted to one or two amulet-beads. On a broader level, it permitted the examination of temporal and spatial variation in funerary amber in west Lithuania. As a result, two distinctive traditions were identified: one associated with the OIA-MIA and another with the LIA. [...].