In this article, the primary results of the latest archaeological investigation in Pabartoniai site are represented. The site, in which the earliest finds could be dated to Final Palaeolithic and Mesolithic, was rediscovered in 2014 and has been excavated for two seasons. Prehistoric structures, flint find assemblage and some archaeobotanical remains provide an opportunity to discuss some questions considering the occupation of the site. However, at the same time, some problems regarding the reconstruction of the first settlement of the river Neris lower reaches are raised, as the archaeological finds are mixed with the material of the later settlement.Keywords: swiderian, River Neris, Final Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, first inhabitants.straipsnyje pristatomi naujausi Pabartonių akmens amžiaus gyvenvietės tyrimų rezultatai. Ši vėlyvojo paleolito-mezolito gyvenvietė buvo iš naujo atrasta 2014 m. ir dvejus metus tyrinėta. Kasinėjimų metu atrastos struktūros, titnaginis inventorius ir archeobotaninė medžiaga leido tyrinėti šio archeologinio objekto pirminį apgyvendinimą. Deja, gyvenvietėje apsistota ne vienąkart, skirtingų laikotarpių radiniai yra susimaišę smėlingame grunte, tad tiksliai rekonstruoti jos apgyvendinimo eigą ir pobūdį yra nelengva. Vis dėlto kasinėjimų metu pritaikyti įvairūs tyrimų metodai leidžia atsakyti į kai kuriuos klausimus.Reikšminiai žodžiai: svidrų kultūra, Neries upė, vėlyvasis paleolitas, mezolitas, pirminis apgyvendinimas.
Only a few artifacts discovered in Lithuania can be considered as examples of portable art from the Final Palaeolithic period. Three of them were found in the Neris river valley in central-eastern Lithuania: an engraved slate pebble from the Eiguliai 1А site, a notched blade from the Skaruliai 1 site, and a flint “figurine” from the Vilnius 1 site. Discovered by Rimutė Rimantienė and her father Konstantinas Jablonskis, these three finds were the first and for many years the only artifacts underpinning the discussion of art from the Lithuanian Final Palaeolithic. The debate on the tentative function of these items, initiated by Rimantienė, is reviewed in this study before presenting the results of the latest research on the subject between 2012 and 2017, carried out using a range of methods: visual examination, comparative analysis with other archaeological finds and reconstructed prehistoric tools, surface analysis under a microscope. The functional interpretation proposed as a result of these investigations in two cases disproves the identification of these artifacts as portable art.
The Final Palaeolithic site at Eiguliai in Central Lithuania, was monitored by Konstantinas Jablonskis and his daughter, Rimutė Jablonskytė (Rimantienė), when she was already in her teens. By the late 1940s, the site had been partly destroyed, but not before yielding many surface finds. She, therefore, decided to obtain as much archaeological data as possible. Rimantienė’s excavations at the Eiguliai 1 site became one of the very first investigations of her career. The collected lithic assemblage suddenly became a reference in researching Swiderian culture sites. The Eiguliai site was well known to scientists from the Eastern Baltic countries as well as to colleagues in Western Europe. As time passed and new excavation methods appeared, the site, which had been recorded only by several pictures and trench plans and where most of the material
had been collected from the sandy surface, came to be regarded as not informative enough and ceded its importance to other newly discovered Swiderian sites. However, during the past five years, with the help of consultations with Rimantienė, the archaeological data from Eiguliai was reviewed and the discussion resumed. The aim of this publication is to present the entire lithic collection of morphological tools ascribed
to the earliest stage of the site’s occupation, along with some new insights into the archaeological data from Eiguliai. The site is considered to have been a place that was visited multiple times for hunting purposes. While the Swiderian culture assemblage predominates, the possibility of discussing an even earlier visit pre-dating the Swiderian culture is considered. Various remains of archaeological features once recorded at the site are reviewed and their interpretation is clarified: there are probably only a few features that could be ascribed to the Stone Age, contrary to what had been previously proposed. An analysis of the lithic assemblage has shown that people had probably brought flint material to the site, but did not stay there for long, and made quick decisions when tools needed to be produced.
Keywords: Rimutė Rimantienė, Final Palaeolithic, Swiderian, Brommean.
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