Paūdronių kapinynas: Medininkų apylinkių gyventojų laidosena XIV-XV a
ENIn Paūdronys (Šalčininkai region, Turgeliai eldership) lies a medieval burial site dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. In the periods between 2012 and 2013, and between 2016 and 2017, a total of 361.2 sq. m. of the burial site was excavated. All of the dead were buried lying on their backs, with their legs stretched out. The overwhelming majority of the dead (45 out of 47) were buried with their heads pointing west or north-west, at a compass bearing of between 230° and 320°. Only two bodies were found pointing in different directions from other graves: a female in grave No. 30, with her head facing 180° south; and a child buried in grave No. 47, whose head pointed 70° east. Due to the characteristics of the soil, the remains of the dead in many graves were badly disintegrated. Traces of carved coffins were detected in only three graves (Nos. 1,38 and 45). Out of the 47 graves, 32 (68 per cent of the total) contained funerary artefacts. The number of these grave goods found with a single body varied between one and eight. One of the most common finds was a knife (a single knife was found in 18 of the graves, with one further grave containing two knives). Knives were found in both men’s and women’s graves. Some of the dead had belts around their waists, of which only the iron or brass buckles and strings remained. The vast majority of these belt details were found in men’s graves, testifying to the fact that the belt was part of a man’s costume, while women probably wore woven sashes. In the graves and within the area of the burial site, a total of nine silver coins from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were discovered, dating from the end of the 14th to the 15thcentury. Jewelry was almost exclusive to women’s graves.One object, discovered in the grave of a woman no more than 20 years old (grave No. 18), falls completely outside the context of the other finds at the Paūdronys burial site. The brass penannular brooch, decorated with red enamel, was the only artefact to be discovered beneath the occupant’s skull (not surviving), and dates from around 150-200 years AD. How did the brooch dated the second century AD appear in the graveyard dated between 14th and 15th centuries? It appears likely that the brooch could have been lost by its original owner, who lived in the Iron Age (during the Roman period), and was discovered by the inhabitants of the Middle Ages, who began to use it again. Another unique artefact - a fishing hook - was found in grave No. 27, occupied by a man aged between 30 and 40. Anthropological studies of the human remains have allowed us to identify some pathologies that shed light on the health of medieval people, and the diseases and injuries they suffered. The burial site is a valuable burial monument of short duration (14th and 15th centuries), dating from the medieval era. It allows us to understand more about the spiritual and material culture of Lithuanian people at that time. Due to their proximity to Medininkai Castle and church, just 12 km away, the medieval community at Paūdronys, which left this burial site, experienced christianisation quite early on. The people buried here were almost certainly Christians - although the level of their religiosity remains unclear. Numerous finds discovered in some of the graves are considered a relic of religious syncretism; a combination of Christian tradition with older burial rites, a phenomenon that was by that time rapidly disappearing.
