Laima Vaitkunskienė

Laima Vaitkunskienė (born 13 September 1936)[1] is a Lithuanian medieval archaeologist, who specialises in the study of burial practices. She has led extensive and numerous excavations, and led on the study of amber in the region.

Laima Vaitkunskienė
Born (1936-09-13) September 13, 1936
Rokiškis, Lithuania
NationalityLithuanian
OccupationArchaeologist
Academic background
Alma materVilnius University
Thesis (1967)
Academic work
DisciplineMedieval archaeology
InstitutionsLithuanian Institute for Historical Research

Biography

Born in Rokiškis, Vaitkunskienė graduated in 1956 with a degree in history and philology from Vilnius University. After graduation she worked for the Šiauliai Aušra Museum, before beginning work at the Institute of History in 1957.[1]

From 1958–59, she led excavations at the Juodoniai Hillfort and settlement, in partnership with the Rokiškis Regional Museum.[2] She also led excavations at several burial sites, including: Bandužiai, Jurgaičiai, Kaštaunaliai, Pagrybis, Žąsinas and Žviliai cemeteries.[3] She was awarded a PhD in 1967.[1] Her work at Pagrybis investigated a cemetery dating to the 5th to 6th centuries CE, where she interpreted the site as showing an increased militarisation during the period they were in use.[4] The excavations at Žąsinas were undertaken between 1976 and 1979, and resulted in the exploration of Samogitian burial practice from the 10th to 12th centuries.[5] Her excavations at Žviliai were published in 1999 and described barrow use and burial goods deposited there.[6]

Vaitkunskienė also studied comb-shaped pendants from the region, made from amber, and connected their production to the Lithuanian mythology.[7] Her study of amber also led her to the conclusion that its use was restricted not just by its rarity, but by social and spiritual prohibitions.[8]

Selected works
  • Vaitkunskienė, Laima. Sidabras senovės Lietuvoje. Mokslas, 1981.
  • Vaitkunskienė, Laima. "Senovės Šilališkių šventiniai drabužiai." Šilalės kraštas/sudarytojas Edvardas Vidmantas. Lietuvos kraštotyros draugija, 1994. 26-38.
  • Vaitkunskienė, Laima. "Archeologiniai šaltiniai apie mirusiųjų minėjimo apeigas (XIV–XVI a.)." (2016).

See also

References
  1. "habil. dr. Laima Vaitkunskienė – Lietuvos archeologijos draugija". lad.lt. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  2. "Fotonegatyvas. Juodonių piliakalnio žvalgomieji tyrimai". www.europeana.eu (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  3. "Laima Vaitkunskienė". www.vle.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  4. Mägi, Marika (2018-05-15). In Austrvegr: The Role of the Eastern Baltic in Viking Age Communication across the Baltic Sea. BRILL. p. 73. ISBN 978-90-04-36381-6.
  5. Kazakevičius, Vytautas. "Riders from Žąsinas cemetery (the classification of spurs from the Viking period and early Middle Ages on the basis of material from Žąsinas cemetery)." Archaeologia Baltica 6 (2006): 166-173.
  6. Banytė-Rowell, Rasa, Anna Bitner-Wróblewska, and Christine Reich. "Did they exist? The question of elites in Western Lithuania in the Roman and early migration periods, and their interriogional contacts." Archaeologia Baltica 18 (2012): 192-220.
  7. Bliujienė, Audronė (2011-11-11). Northern Gold: Amber in Lithuania (c. 100 to c. 1200). BRILL. p. 28. ISBN 978-90-04-21735-5.
  8. Beck, Curt W.; Loze, Ilze; Todd, Joan Markley; institūts, Latvijas universitāte Latvijas vēstures (2003). Amber in Archaeology: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Amber in Archaeology, Talsi, 2001. Institute of the History of Latvia Publishers. p. 48. ISBN 978-9984-601-77-9.
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