Laima Vaitkunskienė (born 13 September 1936)
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.
Biography
Born in
Rokiškis
Rokiškis () is a list of cities in Lithuania, city in northeastern Lithuania, close to the Latvia–Lithuania border, with a population of 11,606 (2023). The city is a capital of the Rokiškis District Municipality with a population of 28,715 (20 ...
, Vaitkunskienė graduated in 1956 with a degree in history and philology from
Vilnius University
Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...
. After graduation she worked for the , before beginning work at the Institute of History in 1957.
From 1958–59, she led excavations at the and settlement, in partnership with the
Rokiškis Regional Museum. She also led excavations at several burial sites, including: ,
Jurgaičiai, , , and cemeteries. She was awarded a PhD in 1967.
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. 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. Her excavations at Žviliai were published in 1999 and described barrow use and burial goods deposited there.
Vaitkunskienė also studied comb-shaped pendants from the region, made from
amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...
, and connected their production to the
Lithuanian mythology
Lithuanian mythology () is the mythology of Lithuanians, Lithuanian polytheism, the religion of pre-Christian Lithuanians. Like other Indo-European studies, Indo-Europeans, Lithuanians (tribe), ancient Lithuanians maintained a polytheistic myth ...
. 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.
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
*
Lithuanian long currency
The so-called Lithuanian long currency was a type of money used by the Baltic tribes and in the early Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 12th–15th centuries. It was commodity money in the form of silver ingots. Most often they were semicircular r ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaitkunskiene, Laima
1936 births
Living people
Vilnius University alumni
Women medievalists
Lithuanian women archaeologists
Lithuanian women writers
People from Rokiškis
Medieval archaeologists