Bronze Drinking Horn Terminals from Kašučiai Cemetery in the Western Lithuania as a Part of Lively Connections between Southern Curonia and Central Scandinavia

Abstrakt

Kasuciai (Kretinga dist.) cemetery in the western part of Lithuania is one of the more important Curonian sites, which has its' roots in the West Lithuanian Stone Circles Grave Culture. Kasuciai cemetery is located on the right bank of the river Akmena'/Dane (Fig. 1). In the surroundings between Kasuciai and Dubasiai villages is an unfortified settlement of the lst-3rd centuries and the biggest system of fossil fields in Lithuania. Fossil fields are located on the both banks of the river Akmena/Dane (JABLONSKIS 1981; fig. 2-3, 5; 1988: 1-6, fig. 1-3; KANARSKAS 2001: 3-28, fig. 1; MERKEVlClUS, NEMICKIENE 2003: 190-193, fig. 5-9). Two stone walkways running through the river Akmena/Dane facilitated better communication through this watercourse (JABLONSKIS 1988: 5, fig. 1). According to the data we have today the Curonian site Kasuciai appeared only circa the 7th c. AD. Kasuciai cemetery was found incidentally and a part of it destroyed, when in 1966-1967, workers were routinely removing gravel. At the time twenty nine different artefacts belonging to the 3rd c.2 and to the 7th9 th c. were found (Appendix 1 and n. 2). Among them were two significant bronze openwork drinking horn terminals (Fig. 2: 3-4). These discoveries from yet unknown Curonian site provided the impetus to start archaeological excavations. In 1969 Efrosinija Radzvilovaite excavated 22 graves from the 7th-9th c. as well as three additional graves were attributed to the West Lithuanian Stone Circles Grave Culture of the end of the 2nd c. and 3rd c. (RADZVILOVAITE 1969). Small scale excavations at Kasuciai cemetery was pursued by Ignas Jablonskis in 1975, where four graves of the 2nd and 3rd c. were found inside the stone circles (JABLONSKIS 1975)3 .1. Jablonskis once again investigated Kasuciai in 1978 in order to make the location of the Roman Iron Age graves and burials of the later periods perspicuous (JABLONSKIS 1978). Only two inhumation graves of the 10th c. were found during the 1978 excavation (JABLONSKIS 1978: 2-10). Viking Age graves were dug into the stone circles, which as typically surround graves of the Roman Period (JABLONSKIS 1978: 2-19). Most of the unique and rare artefacts from archaeological sites come to museums as loose finds. This unfortunate and sad fact is the rule rather than an exception. It is no different in this case. The bronze drinking horn terminals from Kasuciai cemetery were found accidentally, after damage and disruption of the graves (Fig. 2: 3-4). These, as of yet, unpublished drinking horn terminals from Kasuciai enable us once again look at the chronology of the Curonian heritage and understand that relationships between central Scandinavia, Gotland and Eastern Baltic Sea coast has wide spectrum of diverse aspects. The bronze openwork drinking horn terminals from Kasuciai is the second pair of artefacts known from the southern Curonian lands or so-called Meguva land (cf. Fig. 1). A pair of stylistically similar bronze drinking horn terminals are documented at Eglilkiai-Anduliai/ former — Anduln (further Anduliai; Kretinga dist.) cemetery grave CCCXXVIII (Fig. 3: c-d) (BITNERWRÓBLEWSKA, WRÓBLEWSKI 2001: 20-26, rye. 3). One more openwork drinking horn terminal is registered at Anduliai cemetery in the grave 487 (Fig. 4: 1) (BITNER-WRÓBLEWSKA, WRÓBLEWSKI 2001: 20-26, rye. 4). Kasuciai and Anduliai are located quite near each other on the banks of the river Dane/Akmena (Fig. 1)Drinking horns terminals from Anduliai (grave CCCXXVIII) and Kasućiai (loose finds) have close stylistic parallels with Valsgarde boat grave 7, where two bronze openwork drinking horn terminals were found in this very richly equipped male grave (Fig. 4: 2-3). Drinking horn terminals found at Valsgarde in the boat grave 7 are unique to Scandinavia and unknown in the Continent, consequendy it was hypothesized that these terminals are of the south-eastern Baltic origin and have close parallels with the drinking horn terminal from Anduliai grave 487 (ARWIDSSON 1977: 70-71; BITNER-WRÓBLEWSKA, WRÓBLEWSKI 2001:21-22). Intensive research of the archaeological material from the Anduliai cemetery4 the relationships between Uppland and the southern Curonian lands, as well as the origins of the drinking horn terminals found in this burial site, were discussed thoroughly and indepthly (BITNERWRÓBLEWSKA, WRÓBLEWSKI 2001: 20-26; BITNER-WRÓBLEWSKA, BLIUJIENE, WRÓBLEWSKI 2003: 195-199, Abb. 10-12).