Line ceramic culture
The East Baltic line pottery culture (English Brushed Pottery Culture , Russian Культу́ра штрихо́ванной кера́мики ) is an archaeological culture of the Iron Age from the 7th century BC. BC to the 5th century AD in the area of today's Lithuania , Latvia and Belarus .
Distribution area
The culture extended across what is now eastern Lithuania, southeastern Latvia, and northwestern and central Belarus.
The Baltic tribes of the Lithuanians , Zemgals , Selonians and Latgals have been attested in this area since the 11th century .
It was closely related to the neighboring Dnieper Dvina culture to the east .
Material culture
The line ceramic culture is divided into two phases:
In the first phase (7th century BC to 1st century AD) stone and bone are the most common materials, metals such as bronze are rare (jewelry). Cattle breeding, hunting and fishing are common, arable farming to a limited extent. The amber trade probably also plays an important role.
In the second phase (4th to 5th centuries) a rapid development of iron and metal processing sets in. Influences of Roman culture through trade contacts are discussed.
Agriculture ("hoeing and burning" / "branding") (wheat, rye, beans, peas) and animal husbandry (pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, small livestock) are the main sources of nutrition, supplemented by hunting and fishing. The art of weaving and metalworking are developed.
In addition, there is a spread to the southeast, where influences from the Sarubinzy culture can be demonstrated.
The ceramics are simple and only decorated with lines in the upper part, hence the term “line pottery culture” . This form was in the 1st millennium BC. Spread in variations from Courland to Berezina (Dnieper-Dwina culture).
Settlements
Initially, the settlements were unpaved and had an area of 0.1 to 0.5 hectares. In later times the settlements became larger and more complex in scope and were fenced in with wood and earth walls.
The houses were built from wooden post constructions and divided into three parts inside. In the second phase there were also houses sunk into the earth in the southeast, probably under the influence of the Sarubinzy culture .
Funeral culture
Corpse burns are buried in grave fields with or without urns. Burial places of the ceramic line culture are practically unknown.
Religion and cult
The forces of nature were revered, especially sun and fire. Apparently there was a widespread bear cult.
End of the line ceramic culture
In the 2nd quarter of the 5th century, numerous settlements were destroyed by fire. Special forms of spearheads point to Huns . From the time after that there is no longer any datable evidence of the ceramic line culture. This is followed by the East Lithuanian tumulus culture and in the southeast the Tuschemlja culture .
literature
- Kultur- und Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Duisburg (Ed.): Archaeological Treasures from Lithuania , accompanying volume for the exhibition, Duisburg 1992
- Marija Gimbutas : The Balts. History of a people in the Baltic Sea region . Herbig, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-7766-1266-5 .
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ Vadim Beljavec: The Roman imports of southern Belarus. in: Yearbook of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz vol. 56 (2009), pp. 159–186.