Archaeologia BALTICA 11

ARCHAEOLOGIA
BALTICA
The Horse
Horse and
and
The
Man in
in European
European
Man
Antiquity
Antiquity
(Worldview,
(Worldview,
Burial Rites,
Rites,
Burial
and Military
Military
and
and Everyday
Everyday
and
Life)
Life)
Edited by Audron Bliujien
Klaipda University Press
11
History and Archaeology
Lithuanian Institute of History
The Horse
Horse and
and Man
Man
The
in European
European Antiquity
Antiquity
in
(Worldview,
(Worldview,
Burial Rites,
Rites,
Burial
and Military
Military
and
and Everyday
Everyday Life)
Life)
and
Edited by Audron Bliujien
Klaipda, 2009
BALTICA 11
Institute of Baltic Sea Region
ARCHAEOLOGIA
KLAIPDA UNIVERSITY
UDK 902/904
Ar 46
Volume 11 Editorial Board

Editor in Chief
Prof Habil. Dr Vladas ulkus (Klaipda University, Lithuania)
Deputy Editor in Chief
Habil. Dr Algirdas Girininkas (Klaipda University, Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and
Archaeology, Lithuania)
Members
Prof Dr Claus von Carnap-Bornheim (Archlogisches Landesmuseum Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische

Landesmuseen Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig, Germany)
Dr Rasa Banyt-Rowell (Lithuanian Institute of History, Lithuania)
Dr Anna Bitner-Wrblewska (State Archaeological Museum in Warszawa, Poland)
Dr Audron Bliujien (Klaipda University, Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology, Lithuania)
Dr Diugas Brazaitis (Klaipda University, Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology, Lithuania)
Dr Agn ivilyt (Lithuanian Institute of History, Lithuania)
Prof Dr Wladyslaw Duczko (Putusk Academy of Humanities, Institute of Anthropology and Archaeology, Poland)
Dr John Hines (Cardiff University, United Kingdom)
Prof Dr (HP) Rimantas Jankauskas (Vilnius University, Lithuania)
Dr Romas Jarockis (Klaipda University, Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology, Lithuania)
Dr Vygandas Juodagalvis (Lithuanian Institute of History, Lithuania)
Habil. Dr Michel Kazanski (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France)
Dr Bartosz Kontny (Institute of Archaeology, Warsaw University, Poland)
Prof Dr Marika Mgi (Tallinn University, Estonia)
Habil. Dr Alvydas Nikentaitis (Lithuanian Institute of History, Lithuania)
Konstantin Skvortsov (Kaliningrad Museum of History and Art, Russia)
Prof Dr Jrn Staecker (Gotland University, Sweden)
Dr Vykintas Vaitkeviius (Klaipda University, Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology, Lithuania)
Prof Habil. Dr Andrejs Vasks (Riga, University of Latvia, Latvia)
Editorial Assistant
Jurgita ukauskait (Klaipda University, Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology, Lithuania)
Archaeologia Baltica is on EBSCOs Current Abstracts and Toc Premier Database Coverage List since 2007
Articles appearing in this journal are peer-reviewed by either internal or external reviewers.
Archaeologia Baltica volume 11 was prepared by Klaipda University Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and
Archaeology
Lithuanian language editor: Roma Nikentaitien
Design: Algis Klieviius
Layout by: Lolita Zemlien
Published with a grant from the Directorate for the Commemoration of the Millenium of Lithuania
Cover illustration: A brooch from Laiviai (Kretinga district)
Klaipda University Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology, 2009
Lithuanian Institute of History, 2009
Article authors, 2009
Klaipda University Press, 2009
ISSN 1392-5520
Editorial board
Preface
I . F ro m H orse D o m estication to I m ages

of the H orse and H orse m en
13
Alicja Lasota-Moskalewska, Karol Szymczak and

Mukhiddnin Khudzhanazarov.
A Problem of the Earliest Horse Domestication. Data from the Neolithic
Camp Ayakagytma The Site, Uzbekistan, Central Asia
14
Algirdas Girininkas, Linas Daugnora and and Indr Antanaitis-Jacobs.
When did Domesticated Horses Appear in Lithuania?
22
Jurgita ukauskait. Images of the Horse and Horseman

in Corded Ware Culture Studies
32
BALTICA 11
Title-page
ARCHAEOLOGIA
CONTENTS
Liina Maldre and Heidi Luik. The Horse in Estonia in the Late Bronze Age:
Archaeozoological and Archaeological Data
37
I I . R iding to H eav en : H orses fro m B urials
49
Andrei V. Zinoviev. Horses from Two Burials in Samland and Natangen

(Second Century AD Kaliningradskaia Province, Russia)
50
Magorzata Karczewska, Maciej Karczewski, and Anna Grzak.

The Role of Horse Burials in the Bogaczewo Culture. The Key Studies
of Paprotki Kolonia site 1 Cemetery, Northeast Poland
56
I I I . H orses , H orse m en , and E q uestrian

E q uip m ent: P repared for War , B urials ,
and O fferings
91
Bartosz Kontny. Horse and its Use in the Przeworsk Culture

in the Light of the Archaeological Evidence
92
Wojciech Nowakowski. Horse Burials in Roman Period Cemeteries

of the Bogaczewo Culture
115
Konstantin Skvortsov. Burials of Riders and Horses Dated

to the Roman Iron Age and Great Migration Period in Aleika-3
(Former Jaugehnen), Cemetery on the Sambian Peninsula
130
Audron Bliujien and Donatas Butkus. Burials with Horses

and Equestrian Equipment on the Lithuanian and Latvian Littorals
and Hinterlands (from the Fifth to the Eighth Centuries)
149
Contents
Bartosz Kontny, Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn and Mirosaw Pietrzak.

Horse Graves in the Elblg Group. The Case of the Cemetery
at the Nowinka, Tolkmicko Commune
164
Audron Bliujien and Valdas Steponaitis. Wealthy Horsemen

in the Remote and Tenebrous Forests of East Lithuania
during the Migration Period
185
Christine Reich. The Cemetery of Oberhof (Auktkiemiai)

Horse Graves and Equestrian Equipment
206
I V. T he H orse in Warfare
219
Susanne Wilbers-Rost and Achim Rost. Bones and Equipment of Horses

and Mules on the Ancient Battlefield of Kalkriese,
Northern Germany
220
Michel Kazanski. La cavalerie slave lpoque de Justinien
229
V. T he W orld of H orse S y m bolis m
241
Laurynas Kurila. Symbolic Horse Burials

in the Iron Age of East Lithuania
242
Antonija Vilcne. Findings of Harness Items and the Cult

of the Horse in Latgallian and Selonian Territories
254
Guntis Zemtis. The Divine Trial in 12th Century Turaida

in Historical Context
270
V I . H orse and E q uestrian E q uip m ent

O fferings
277
Nina Lau. The Harnesses from the Thorsberg Bog: New Evidence
Regarding Cavalry Equipment of the Roman Iron Age
278
Rdolfs Brzis and Roberts Spiris. The Ogresgala abas Cemetery

and Horse Sacrifice
283
Mariusz Wyczkowski and Daniel Makowiecki.

Horse Sacrifices in Prussia in the Early Middle Ages.
Ritual Area in Poganowo Site IV, Olsztyn Province (Poland)
295
Mindaugas Bertaius. Horse Graves, Sacrifice, and the Performers

of Public Rituals
305
Christer Westerdahl. The Horse as a Liminal Agent
314
V I I . I m ages of the H orse in A ncient A rt
329
Dieter Quast. The Merovingian Period Equestrians in Figural Art
330
Konstantin Skvortsov and Aleksander Khokhlov.

Findings of Saddles from Archaeological Excavations
in Prussian Cemetery Aleika-3 in Samland.
(Preliminary Publication)
343
Sonja Hukantaival. Horse Skulls and Alder-Horse:

the Horse as a Depositional Sacrifice in Buildings
350
Giedr ukyt. The Behaviour of Horses in Lithuanian Narrative Folklore 357

Rimantas Sliuinskas. The Image of the Horse in Poetic Texts
of Lithuanian Folk Songs
364
Guidelines for Authors
374
Plates (IVIII)
BALTICA 11
349
ARCHAEOLOGIA
VIII. Horses in Ethnoarchaeology and Folklore
Audron
Bliujien
Preface
P r e fa c e
I miss the horse

I simply miss the horse,
its intelligent and good eyes.
I want something heavy to drag,
or just to graze together.
Justinas Marcinkeviius
(from: Eilraiai, Maosios poemos. Vilnius, 1975)
Baltic languages, dialects, narrative folklore, and folk

songs have maintained over 100 names, synonyms, and
loan words for irgas, the riding horse, and arklys, the
working horse terms that not only name the horse,
but also show its gender (Sabaliauskas 1968, pp.147168; Lietuvi kalbos atlasas 1977, p.146ff). Thus, if we
wanted to brag about our trotter riding horse, we would
call it irgas. But if we have a draught horse, we call
it arklys, or an old useless horse or jade (or nag, rip,
screw, hack, knacker, weed, plug) kuinas. The irgas
is ergiamas, which means it is straddled; it is ridden
upon by the lad who visits his lass, it is ridden to war,
or to the fair, or to some other special occasion. One

uses the arklys, however, to plough. If we wish to emphasize the horses characteristics in distinguishing the
riding horse from the working horse, its colours have
great meaning; the discernment of the riding horses
colours gives it some 20 different, specific names.
So, based on age-old traditions, it is better not to buy
a piebald horse at the Lithuanian horse fair (jomarkas)
even on a Thursday, a day that otherwise is a favourable one for market (Greimas 1990, p.163), but if one
can manage to inexpensively purchase a piebald horse,
it is better not to ride it, because it is said that he who
Participants of the conference The Horse and Man in European Antiquity

(Worldview, Burial Rites, and Military and Everyday Life) in session (photograph by Vaitkeviius).
These first few paragraphs of the preface are not allotted for an analysis of the horse in Lithuanian ethnological material. Rather, they are meant to intrigue
the reader, to demonstrate the significance of the horse
in Balt lands and Lithuania since ancient times. On
the other hand, Lithuanias history of horse breeding
first is associated with small, staunch, stable, strong,
and fast horses called the emaitukas, a Samogitian
or Lowland horse breed that is unique and native to
Lithuania. But other breeds of horses began to push out
the emaitukas from the Lithuanian farm in the second
half of the 19th century, bringing the emaitukas to the
brink of extinction. Realizing that the emaitukas was
an inseparable part of Lithuanian historical and cultural
life because of its ancient roots and unique properties,
the Oginskis dukes founded a social organization dedicated to breeding the emaitukas. This institution organized local agricultural exhibitions, drove the horses
to international exhibitions, founded a stud-farm, and
in every possible way encouraged the peasants to raise
these small, hardy horses (Pruinskas 2006, p.4ff). Today, the Horse Museum in Nironys (Anykiai district, East Lithuania), established in 1978 and one of
the few museums of its kind in Europe, continues to
Thus, the location of the international conference The

Horse and Man in European Antiquity (Worldview,
Burial Rites, and Military and Everyday Life) on 8-12
October, 2008 in Klaipda was in no way fortuitous.
The intention of both the organizers of the conference Klaipda University and the Institute of Baltic
Sea Region History and Archaeology and the conferences organizing committee (Audron Bliujien, Algirdas Girininkas, Michel Kazanski, Bartosz Kontny,
Konstantin Skvortsov, Vykintas Vaitkeviius, and Vladas ulkus) was to demonstrate the significance of the
horse in European antiquity, from the very beginning
of its domestication. Another goal of the conference
organizers was to take a look at the significance of the
horse in the everyday life, military, burial customs, offerings, worldview, and artistic expressions in various
regions of Europe. To Klaipda Universitys scientists,
it also was important to try to reveal the multi-layered
and multi-aspected context of the uniqueness of the
culture area of the Balts through the horse because
here, the horse still was buried and sacrificed even in
the 13th-14th centuries.
BALTICA 11
actualize the various meanings of the horse in the cultural life of present-day Lithuanians.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
rides a piebald horse is untrustworthy or one who

doubts himself. It is difficult to say what kind of horse
the goddess Laum had, since even laumirgiai or fairy
horses are known (http://www.lkz.lt). In fact, however,
the fairy horse (dragonfly in English) is a large insect
that, like fairies, lives near the water and is part of the
Aeshnidae family of insects.
How these goals were met can be judged by the articles

of Archaeologia Balticas 11th volume. By their themes,
the articles can be organized into eight chapters. The
first chapter, From Horse Domestication to Images of
the Horse and Horsemen, discusses the problems of
the earliest horse domestication in Central Asia and the
East Baltic region (Alicja Lasota-Moskalewska, Karol
Dieter Quast during the presentation of his paper Merovingian period equestrians in figural art
(photograph by Vaitkeviius).
Preface
Audron
Bliujien
Jurgita ukauskait presenting her paper Images of the horse and horseman in Corded Ware Culture studies
(photograph by Vaitkeviius).
.
Szymczak and Mukhiddnin Khudzhanazarov; Algirdas Girininkas, Linas Daugnora, and Indr AntanaitisJacobs; Jurgita ukauskait; Liina Maldre and Heidi
Luik). In the chapter Riding to Heaven: Horses from
Burials, the authors discuss the peculiarities of horse
burial rites, including their forms, types, ages (Andrei
V. Zinoviev; Magorzata Karczewska, Maciej Karczewski, and Anna Grzak). The largest number of article
contributions belongs to the chapter entitled Horses,
Horsemen, and Equestrian Equipment: Prepared for
War, Burials, and Offerings. In European funerary
customs there is no animal that led the person into the
Afterlife as meaningful as the horse. Other animals or
their parts, or birds placed into peoples graves could not
equal that of the horse in meaning because usually they
ended up in the grave as ritual food, or as an allocation
of the pleasures one had in life (such as hunting), or they
were an effort of the relatives and friends to supply the
one(s) departing for the Afterlife with other, additional
attendants (Bartosz Kontny; Wojciech Nowakowski;
Konstantin Skvortsov; Audron Bliujien and Donatas
Butkus; Bartosz Kontny, Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn, and
Mirosaw Pietrzak; Audron Bliujien and Valdas Steponaitis; Christine Reich). The Horse in Warfare is
the fourth chapter. Unfortunately, the military and the
horse were inseparable in the history of humanity; this
is illustrated by the example of the Kalkriese battlefield
that continues to be investigated, as well as the operations of the Slavic cavalry during the Gothic war in
Italy (Susanne Wilbers-Rost and Achim Rost; Michel
Kazanski). The chapter The World of Horse Symbolism is represented by three Baltic region authors who
discuss various horse symbols, often explained with
10
difficulty (e.g., the sickle), and the role of the horse in

the Divine trial (Laurynas Kurila; Antonija Vilcne;
and Guntis Zemtis). In the chapter Horse Offerings,
the authors examine the diverse intentions by which the
horse (or its gear) became the most popularly sacrificed
animal (Nina Lau; Rdolfs Brzis and Roberts Spiris;
Mariusz Wyczkowski and Daniel Makowiecki;
Mindaugas Bertaius). Moreover, apart from being a
status marker with strong ritual connotations, it might
be suggested that the horse in prehistory was a liminal
agent between sea and land (Christer Westerdahl). The
chapter Images of the Horse in Ancient Art discusses
the horses and horsemans images and their significance in the Meriovingian Period in Europe and what
is extraordinary unusual figural art recently found
on a wooden saddles from Medieval Time Prussians
(Samland peninsula) from horse graves (Dieter Quast;
Konstantin Skvortsov and Aleksander Khokhlov). The
Horses in Ethnoarchaeology and Folklore chapter
examines horse skulls as depositions in buildings and
horse behaviour in Lithuanian narrative folklore (Sonja
Hukantaival; Giedr ukyt), and ends with the image
of the horse in poetic texts of Lithuanian folk songs
(Rimantas Sliuinskas). Thus, one of Lithuanias folklore songbooks many songs Oh horse, horse, dear
horse of mine (Oi irge irge irgeli mano) , with
its many times polished concise poetical text, bears
testimony of the horses significance.
Audron Bliujien
Translated by Indr Antanaitis-Jacobs
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
The conferences participants (photograph by M. Brazauskas).
Literature
GREIMAS, A.J., 1990. Tautos atminties beiekant. Lietuvi
mitologijos studijos. VilniusChicago: Mokslas.
DIDYSIS Lietuvi kalbos odynas [on line]. Available from:
http://www.lkz.lt [Accessed 22 May 2009].
LIETUVI kalbos atlasas, 1977. Lietuvi kalbos atlasas.
Leksika, I, Vilnius: Mokslas, 146-148.
PRUINSKAS, K., 2006. emaitukai. emaii em, 3/52,
4-7.
SABALIAUSKAS, A., 1968. Balt kalb namini gyvuli
pavadinimai (j kilm ir santykis su atitinkamais slav pavadinimais. Lietuvi kalbotyros klausimai, X, 101-187.
11
A Problem of the Earliest

Horse Domestication.
Data from the Neolithic
C a m p Ay a k a g y t m a
The Site, Uzbekistan,
Central Asia
ALICJA LASOTAMOSKALEWSKA,
KAROL SZYMCZAK
AND MUKHIDDNIN
KHUDZHANAZAROV
A PROBLEM OF THE EARLIEST HORSE

D O M E S T I C AT I O N . D ATA F R O M
T H E N E O L I T H I C C A M P AYA K A G Y T M A
T H E S I T E , U Z B E K I S TA N , C E N T R A L A S I A 1
ALICJA LASOTA-MOSKALEWSKA, KAROL SZYMCZAK AND
MUKHIDDNIN KHUDZHANAZAROV
Abstract
The authors discuss the archaeozoological indicators for horse domestication, and come to a conclusion that a considerable
increase of horse remains, accompanied by a presence of other certainly domesticated species could be one of them. With such
a situation we have to do in Ayakagytma The Site, Uzbekistan, where in the Early Neolithic layers dated to 80007400 cal.
BP, a share of horse remains reach 3040%. It would suggest the earliest horse domestication known today.
Key words: Central Asia, Neolithic, Kyzyl-kums, Ayakagytma The Site, horse domestication.
Ay a k a g y t m a T h e S i t e a n d
the Equidae remains
Today Ayakagytma The Site became one of the most
important Neolithic sites of Central Asia. Discovered in 1995 during a systematic survey carried on by
Polish-Uzbek Archaeological Expedition, it is situated
some 130 km North of Bukhara city, in the south-eastern part of a steppe-desert area, called the Kyzyl-kums
(Fig. 1.1). Its geographic coordinates are: 40o3905N;
64o3706E (Szymczak, Khudzhanazarov 2006,
p.11).
Ayakagytma The Site is located in a distance of about
300 m from an edge of a vast (ca 20 sq. km) Ayakagytma Depression, partly filled up by an artificial, brackish
lake. A neolithic camp covers a fragment of a relatively
plain promontory, closed from the East by a limestone
island hill, and from the remaining three sides by the
steep gorges (Szymczak, Khudzhanazarov 2006, pp.916).
A regular excavation in Ayakagytma The Site started
in 1996, and was continued, with some breaks, till 2004
altogether 7 seasons of stationary field research. By
that time more than 125 m2 were carefully explored,
yielding an extremely rich and valuable collection
of artifacts: more than 60000 flint, stone and pottery
The stratigraphical observations allowed us to establish that the Neolithic settlement in Ayakagytma The
Site had two clearly separated phases: an Early Neolithic, 14C dated to ca 80007400 cal. BP, and a middle
neolith one, 14C dated to ca 60005000 cal. BP. Almost one and a half millennium lasting settlement gap
between those two phases, according to our data, was
caused by the deluging of the area of the camp by raising waters of an adjacent great water reservoir, called
by us the Io Sea (Szymczak, Khudzhanazarov 2006).
Additionally, we found it possible to divide an early
neolithic phase into three sub-phases, marked (starting
from the youngest as: a ca 75007400 cal. BP, b
ca 77007500 cal. BP, and c ca 80007700 cal. BP)
(Szymczak et al. 2004).
One of the most interesting groups of finds discovered
during an excavation was a rich collection of animal
remains, connected directly with the Neolithic settle-
Field and laboratory research of Polish-Uzbek Archaeological Expedition, and Polish-Uzbek Archaeological Project was
financed by Polish Committee for Scientific Research /Komitet Bada Naukowych/, grants Nos. 1 H01G 011, 2 H01H 036
and N 109 019 31/0991, Institute of Archaeology Warsaw University, Institute of Archaeology Uzbek Academy of Sciences in Samarkand, Foundation for Polish Science /Fundacja na Rzecz Nauki Polskiej/, Association Wsplnota Polska,
Mianowski Fund Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Letters /Kasa im J. Mianowskiego Fundacja Popierania
Nauki/, and Scientific Union of Students of an Institute of Archaeology Warsaw University /Koo Naukowe Studentw
Instytutu Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.
14
mobile items were documented, together with other

features, such as an oven, hearths and pits (Szymczak,
Khudzhanazarov 2006, pp.37-60 and 196-201). Since
2004 an excavation in Ayakagytma The Site is continued by French-Polish-Uzbek Archaeological Mission,
directed by Dr Frederique Brunet from Maison Rene
Ginouves de lArcheologie et de lEthnologie, CNRS,
Nanterre, France.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 1. Location of Ayakagytma The Site in Central Asia where the earliest known today probably domesticated horse
remains come from (Drawing by M. Rycka. To the right: a copy of an old Persian miniature showing a white horse in
Central Asian steppe (painted by Toshev Davlat from Bukhara, 2004).
ment. Among the bone and tooth fragments, the horse

remains played a very important role. Already in the
earliest horizons a share of the pieces identified as belonging to the Equidae family reached 30.040.0%
(Table 1). In comparison with other Eurasian Neolithic
sites such numbers are rather unique. Could it evidence,
or suggest at least, an earliest domestication of horse?
Let us try to have a closer look on this problem.
Some remarks on horse domestication

and its indicators
A general process of horse domestication is not recognized in detail yet. If we set the basic questions: what
progenitor, where, and when was domesticated, it would
appear that we are only able to give some suggestions,

but not the valid answers. It seems that relatively the
least complicated is to point out the progenitor, which
was probably a wild horse, Equus ferus, occurring in the
Early Holocene over the vast territories of Europe and
Asia from Portugal, all the way through France, Middle and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, down to western
China (Benecke 1998). On such a large area it could
develop various local forms, among which described
are two main subspecies: tarpan, and Przewalski horse.
In theory both those subspecies could be considered
as the progenitors of the contemporary domesticated
horses, which domestication most probably had a polytopic character. Polytopy concerns all the animals of a
wide range of occurrence, because their domestication
could be realized by different human groups independ-
I
F rom H orse
D omestica tion to
I mages of the
H orse and
H orsemen
Ta b l e I . S h a r e s o f t h e r e m a i n s o f p a r t i c u l a r a n i m a l s p e c i e s i n
a n a r c h a e o z o o l o g i c a l a s s e m b l a g e f r o m Ay a k a g y t m a T h e S i t e
(percents counted in relation to a total number of identified bone
and tooth remains in particular stratigraphical units)
lower settlement layer
80007700 BP
77007500 BP
n
%
n
%
cattle
170
31.5
30
camel
118
21.9
18
Equidae
190
35.3
61
sheep/goat
15
2.8
6
pig
3
0.6
3
dog
2
0.4
1
buffalo
5
0.9
7
aurochs/bison
25
4.6
gazelle
5
0.9
7
roe deer/fallow deer
1
0.2
1
5
0.9
5
Cervidae
wild sheep
1
TOTAL:
539
140
specie
21.4
12.9
43.6
4.3
2.1
0.7
5.0
5.0
0.7
3.6
0.7
75007400 BP
n
%
25
42
9
4
2
2
84
29.8
50.0
10.7
4.7
2.4
2.4
-
upper settlement layer

60005000 BP
n
%
17
5.6
257
84.5
18
5.9
1
0.3
5
1.7
1
0.3
4
1.4
1
0.3
304
15

Central Asia
KAROL SZYMCZAK
AND MUKHIDDNIN
KHUDZHANAZAROV
ently in many places and in various times. Nevertheless, it seem unlikely that Przewalski horse was a direct
progenitor of domesticated horse for one fundamental
reason it has a different number of chromosomes. In
such a situation we are left with tarpan; although we
do not know yet its exact genotype, but polish horse,
which is a direct continuation of tarpan, has the same
number of chromosomes as all the contemporary domesticated horses (2n = 64).
A process of domestication could start nearly everywhere, where only tarpan occurred in Europe, as well
as in western Asia. The most difficult quest would be
to indicate where and when exactly that process took
place for the earliest. Usually a chronology of domestication of a certain species is being set up on the bases
of the dates obtained for the animal remains on which
the morphological changes characteristic of domestication could be observed. Unfortunately, in case of
horse such changes could not be easily demonstrated,
most probably because for a very long time the ways of
life of wild and domesticated horse were quite similar
(Fig. 1.2). In a situation when we do not have at our
disposal the unequivocal morphological determinants,
we should seek for other features, which could at least
suggest domestication. Today we accept several such
features.
One of them is an appearance in archaeological material of the artifacts directly indicating the use of horse,
e. g. the parts of horse harness. We should mention that
one of the oldest in Europe horse bits was found in
Biskupin (Great Poland), in the Early Iron Age, Lutisian culture deposits (Drzewicz 2004). It was produced
of a deers antler.
Many researchers consider that in prehistoric times
horse could be used as a sacrificial beast, buried, together with other household beasts, in separate or human/animal graves. In Poland many of such burials are
found in the late Neolithic sites attributed to Globular
Amphorae and Corded Ware cultures (Kaczorowska
1999). However, we should not forget that in Polish
Neolithic we have numerous intentional burials of wild
animals as well.
16
For the third, analyzed are also the changes and an

increase of differentiation of the average sizes of animal bones, because it is widely accepted that process
of domestication causes a considerable variability in
animals constitution and dimensions. Benecke (1998)
observed the significant increase of variability of longitude of the third phalang of the Bronze and Iron Age
horses in relation to the Early Holocene individuals.
Such a phenomenon is confirmed in numerous bone
collections from Spain, France, Germany, Poland,
Ukraine, and western Asia.
At last, an often used indicator for horse domestication

is an increase of share of its bone remains in osteological material. This feature seems to be quite reliable,
because it shows the growth of interest in a certain
species among the prehistoric peoples. Even if it does
not prove that such a species was fully domesticated,
it is more than probable that at least it could be already
tamed. One should only remember that in case of
horse, its share should be necessarily confronted with a
share of the remains of the beasts of chase, in order to
exclude an intensive wild horse hunting.
The similar premises are being used to confirm not
only horse domestication, but also domestication of the
other species which domesticated forms do not show
the univocal morphological features, e.g. llamas and
alpacas in South America (Lavalle 1990), or geese
in Egypt (Boessneck 1988). A group of features mentioned above was used by Benecke (1998), who came
to a conclusion that the earliest horse domestication
could take place in an environment of the Neolithic
Tripole culture on Dniepr River, Ukraine. In an osteological material from that region, dated for the first half
of the sixth millennium BC, a large number of horse
remains of highly differentiated sizes was described,
together with a presence of horse, and other domesticated animal bones, in human burials. O. Zhuravlev
(2004), who is of an opinion that horse domestication
started in another Ukrainian Neolithic unit the BugDniestr culture, mentions a similar possible date: the
fourth millennium BC. Additionally, the same author
records that by that time the differentiation of the sizes of horses visibly increased, which is demonstrated
on an example of their phalangs. In relation to southwestern Europe, Benecke (1994), citing H.P. Uerpman,
suggests that local horse domestication could occur in
the first half of the third millennium BC, among the
tribes representing the late Neolithic Globular Amphorae culture. Also in other European animal bone
collections dated for the third millennium BC, Benecke (1994) himself noted a conspicuous increase of
the horse remains. Even though on certain areas their
shares were not identical, a general tendency could be
clearly observed in many series from Slovakia, Germany, Central Poland, and Hungary. In the latter country,
a share of horse remains was the highest and reached
18.0%.
Horse domestication in
Polish Neolithic
Quite interesting is a position of horse in Polish Neolithic, where its general representation among the remains
of domesticated animals is rather low (Laprus-Madej
1998). In the Banded Pottery culture the horse remains
Recapitulating the remarks made above, we may accept that a process of horse domestication in the Polish
Neolithic is marked by a start of decreasing of the dimensions of the discussed animals, and of using them
as sacrificial beasts. On the other hand, the low shares
of horse remains, in relation to the shares of the remains of other positively domesticated species would
suggest that so early start of larger scale horse domestication is doubtful, although we could point out the
single sites with quite high shares of horse remains. It
all could indicate a possibility of rather local, tentative
domestication.
A problem of horse domestication in

Ay a k a g y t m a T h e S i t e
A presented review of the clues for horse domestication in various areas shows that rendering a moment of
the beginnings of that process is quite a difficult task.
After all, the horse remains found in burials could represent wild animals, and increasing / decreasing of the
dimensions could be a result of a natural, secular trend,
but not of domestication. Thus, it seems that among
the non morphological features the best indicator is a
general considerable increase of horse remains in the
osteological assemblages, especially when at the same
time the shares of bone remains of wild animals stay
at the same, relatively low level. In such a case, even
if we cannot prove beyond doubt horse breeding, we
should seriously take into account at least a possibility of large scale taming which always, sooner or later,
ends up as domestication. From a mans point of view,
A model sketched above refers mainly to the settled

farming societies. In case of the nomads, the horses
were most probably chiefly used as a mean of locomotion and transport, so their life could be not that strictly
controlled. A period of adaptation of such animals
could last for a very long time (some generations),
but even in that case more probable was a husbandry
rather than a natural selection. Such a selection generally leads to the formation of the morphological types
useful for riding, and easily standing the particular ecological conditions.
The horse bone and tooth finds from Ayakagytma The
Site take, from an archaeozoological point of view,
a special position (Lasota-Moskalewska et al. 2006,
p.206ff). In osteological material belonging to the earliest sub-phase c (80007700 cal. BP) a share of the
identified as horse family remains reaches 35.2%. In
subsequent layer b (77007500 cal. BP) it increases
even to 43.6% (Table 1). The remaining finds in majority belong to domesticated cattle and camel. Wild animals are represented only by a few species occurring in
a scarce number of bone fragments. E.g. a share of aurochs remains totaled 5.2%, which is understandable in
a context of an intensive cattle breeding, and a need of
herd extension. A conspicuous disproportion between
the shares of the remains of the beasts of chase and the
remains of horse family allows us to suggest that in
Ayakagytma The Site horse could be bred and used
by the Neolithic people. With their economy based on
cattle breeding, they could ride horses and camels, and
use them as a mean of transport. Such a picture is well
supplemented by a presence of domesticated dog (Table 1).
BALTICA 11
taming was a period of adapting of a certain species

for human needs. The more extensive those needs
grew, the more limited was an independence of such
a species. Consequently, a situation like that created
the unavoidable conditions for natural, as well as for
husbandry selection.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
appear only in 8 out of 18 studied assemblages, with

the shares closing in a range between 0.055.43%; in
the Lengyel culture they appear in 9 out of 20 studied
assemblages with shares between 0.322.05%; in the
Funnel Beaker Culture in 21 out of 37 studied assemblages, with shares between 0.305.37%, although
a single site yielded as much as 33.3% of such remains.
Only rarely, but in various forms, the horses occur in
burials: as the complete, individual sepulchers, as well
as added to human graves (Kaczorowska 1999). As the
detail analysis showed, the dimensions of the Neolithic
horse long bones are slightly smaller in average than
the Paleolithic and Mesolithic ones. The maximum of
the process of decreasing of horse dimensions is noted
in Polish Bronze Age (Kobry 1984). It is believed
that in course of domestication, increasing, as well as
decreasing of the dimensions of horse skeleton is possible, but once such a process starts, it is always unidirectional and continuous. Its direction depends on a
way a species was exploited, and on a way it was bred.
The size increasing is usually connected with breeding
selection (Lasota-Moskalewska 2008).
I
F rom H orse
D omestica tion to
I mages of the
H orse and
H orsemen
In a following sub-phase a (75007400 cal. BP),

horse started to be supplanted by camel, which could
mark a possible change in a way of locomotion. In the
youngest layer (60005000 cal. BP), after a long settlement gap, camel took a leading role (84.5% of all the
identified animal remains), with a position of cattle and
horse family considerably decreased. It may seem that
by that time the whole type of the Neolithic economy
had changed, possibly in a direction of an exclusive
camel breeding.
Cattle bred in Ayakagytma The Site shows the features of a long time domestication because its bones
are of not too large sizes. According to the European
classification, it was cattle of a short horn type Bos
17

Central Asia
KAROL SZYMCZAK
AND MUKHIDDNIN
KHUDZHANAZAROV
18
taurus brachyceros. A height in withers of those animals, calculated on a base of the measurements of their
long bones, reached 125130 cm, which is characteristic of medium tall cattle. It shows that in Ayakagytma
The Site horse was bred by a society well acquainted
with other large mammals husbandry, who probably
constantly needed horse in everyday life, and who at
the same time was not forced to hunt too intensively.
In such circumstances one should not have serious
doubts that in Ayakagytma The Site we have to do
with a large scale horse domestication. The possible
morphological consequences of that process are additionally indicated by the metrical features of the bones.
Unfortunately, the studied material was in such a poor
state of preservation that we have managed to measure only one radius bone. Its length would indicate
that an individual reached 145 cm in withers, which
is considerably more than the same measurement for
wild horses. An average height of Przewalski horse is
135 cm, and of tarpan 136 cm, with a maximum of
a whole range never exceeding 140 cm. Thus, an individual from Ayakagytma The Site would belong to
a medium tall group of domesticated horses (Kobry
1984).
Of course, basing on one individual represented by a
single long bone we are not able to describe a whole
population, but at least we can state that this particular
horse was most probably domesticated and bred since
long ago. It could represent an already graded up race
which differed from the wild forms not only in height,
but also in shape. The graded up races usually have
longer and more slender limbs, longer necks, relatively
smaller heads, and bent up bellies. The similar features could be observed e.g. among the Arabian horses
a race developed long ago and spread all over Europe already since the Roman period. Among others,
the horses of such silhouettes are also represented on
the prehistoric petroglyphs from Uzbekistan (LasotaMoskalewska, Hudjanazarov 2000). It could strongly
suggest an existence of an early graded up race or races
developed locally on a territory of Central Asia. The
most ancient, and existing till today, race coming from
that area is the Akhaltekin race (Plate I.1). Its herds
live in Turkmenistan in a steppe/desert environment,
usually in a vicinity of oases. The heights in withers of
the contemporary Akhaltekins close in a range of 150
157 cm. The Polish edition of the Great Encyclopedia
of Horses (Edwards 2002) mentions that the origins
of a discussed race are connected with racing horse
breeding in Ashkhabad, the capital of the Republic of
Turkmenistan, some 1000 years BC. It is said that the
animals of that race were rode by the members of the
Bactrian Guard of the Persian king Darius. The Akhaltekins were related to the Yomudian and Turkmenian
horses whose remains, among others, were found in

the Pazirisk grave mounds. The horses of all the mentioned races can stand the heat, lack of water, and are
able to run without rest for long distances.
Obviously, we do not have any direct proves that the
origins of the Akhaltekin horses should be dated as
early as the Neolithic times. What we only wanted to
show here, are the possible results of horse breeding
gained on an arid territories of Central Asian lowlands.
However, according to what we presented above, it
seems that there are some proves, or reasons at least,
to claim that already at the very beginning of the local
Neolithic (a turn of the ninth and the eight cal. millennium BP) on a territory of the Central Asian lowlands
horse could be domesticated and bred. At the same
time the data regarding horse domestication on other
areas of Eurasia which we gained so far allow us to
point out that the dates from Ayakagytma The Site
are positively the earliest. It is also quite probable that
since those times we should count not only a domestication itself, but also the constant grading up of the
certain races, adopted better than wild horses for hard,
arid conditions, and more useful for human nomadic
mode of life.
Horse hoof prints as a determinant of

domestication?
At the end we would like to present one more premise
which, as we are convinced, also has some value in
proving the horse domestication in Ayakagytma The
Site. In the youngest layer (60005000 cal. BP), in the
soft, muddy at first, and then hardened ground of a costal zone of a great reservoir of the Io Sea, a regular row
of seven round hoof prints was recovered, identified
as horse traces (Fig. 2.1-2). An unchanging distance
between the individual prints was 55 cm (Szymczak, Khudzhanazarov 2006a with fig.3). We tried to
explain, if those traces were left rather by a wild or
a domesticated animal. It seemed that a certain clue
could be given by a size of a sole surface, calculated
on a basis of a maximum width of a hoof print. In our
case the measurements closed in a range 15.017.0 cm.
The same measurements for the feral horses living in
the western part of North America reach from 9.5 to
15.9 cm for the fore legs, and from 8.9 to 14.6 cm for
the hind legs, with a standard variation s = +/- 2 cm
(Jackson 2003). Additionally, Henryk Kobry kindly
measured the dimensions of the hoofs of 10 contemporary mixed race domesticated horses from the villages
near Warsaw, Poland, and obtained the following average results: 12.5 cm for pectoral /chest/ limbs, and 10.0
cm for the pelvis ones. The measured horses were ca
155160 cm high in withers. To complete the series,
BALTICA 11
Conclusions
F rom H orse
D omestica tion to
I mages of the
H orse and
H orsemen
Although we do not have the direct proves for the

Neolithic horse domestication in the Central Asian
lowlands, we have tried to show the premises which
let us build up such a hypothesis. The first is an extremely high share of the Equidae remains, sometimes
exceeding 40%. We are well aware that not all of those
remains represent horse itself, but also other species
belonging to the same family, nevertheless, the indices
like that show a great interest in horse among the Neolithic inhabitants of Ayakagytma The Site.
Fig. 2. Above: the fossil hoof marks of a horse from before

5000 years in Ayakagytma The Site (photograph
by A.Dzbyski). Below: the contemporary horse hoof
prints in a coastal zone of a modern lake (photograph
by M. Przedziecki).
Zygmunt Giejewski kindly measured the maximum

diameters of the hoof marks of half wild polish horses
in the Research Station of Polish Academy of Sciences
in Popielno, northern Poland. Two and three years old
individuals left the traces 9.0 cm (8.010.5 cm) wide,
while the fully grown up animals, 425 years old, left
the traces 11.0 cm (10.011.5 cm) wide. Two living
polish horses had their hoofs 12.0 and 12.5 cm wide.
The above data show that a horse from Ayakagytma
The Site had the relatively large sole surfaces of
hoofs, even if we took into account that a mark left in
the sticky mud could be somewhat wider than a hoof itself. So, the sizes of the Ayakagytma horse hoofs seem
to be comparable with the maximum sizes of the feral
animals living in the western part of North America,
ARCHAEOLOGIA
deriving from various races of European domesticated

horses. A correlation of the metrical features, and an
optimum indicator of body weight falling on one square
centimeter of a sole surface, would lead us to a quite
probable conclusion that a horse which left its hoof
marks in Ayakagytma The Site was relatively large,
much larger than polish horses. A height in withers of
the latter reaches only 136 cm, and could be compared
with the heights of the wild races: tarpan and Przewalski horse. Even though an individual from Ayakagytma The Site is dated as early as the sixth millennium
cal. BP, it was already quite tall and graded up, which
would again indicate a long lasting horse breeding on a
territory of the present day Republic of Uzbekistan. In
such circumstances our hypothesis that the horses from
Ayakagytma The Site were domesticated as early as
a turn of the ninth and eight millennium cal. BP, i. e.
the very beginnings of the local Neolithic, seems to be
based on reliable data.
The second is the height in withers. We managed to reconstruct the dimensions of only one individual, which
was much taller than the wild horses. It could mean
that at least this particular animal was domesticated for
a long time, with grading up not excluded.
The third premise is the width of the sole surfaces
measured on the bases of the hoof prints preserved
in Ayakagytma The Site. They also indicate that an
animal who left them was much larger than an average wild individual, but fit well to the sizes of horses
domesticated for a long time.
The fourth, indirect premise is a presence in an osteological material from Ayakagytma The Site of
the remains of the other fully domesticated species of
mammals: cattle, sheep/goat, pig and dog, not excluding a possibility of domestication of camel. It would
mean that the Neolithic societies from the Kyzyl-kums
were acquainted with animal breeding, and in their case
horse would not be an exception. All that leads us to
a more than probable conclusion that the horses were
domesticated since the very beginnings of the Central
19

Central Asia
KAROL SZYMCZAK
AND MUKHIDDNIN
KHUDZHANAZAROV
Asian lowlands Neolithic, which is dated to a turn of

the ninth and eight millennium cal. BP. At the same
time, it would be the earliest date for horse domestication that we have today.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their special gratitude to Prof Dr Henryk Kobry, and Dr Zygmunt
Giejewski for their labour and inventiveness in collecting an untypical comparative material for analyzing and interpreting the horse hoof marks. We would
also like to thank Ulana Zieliska, M. A. for giving us
a permission to publish a photograph of the Akhaltekin
horse from her family farm.
Translated by authors
References
Manuscripts
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neolitu, epoce brzu i wczesnej epoce elaza w dorzeczu
Odry i Wisy. M.Sc. thesis written under a direction of
Prof. Dr. Alicja Lasota-Moskalewska in an Institute of Archaeology Warsaw University, bound manuscript.
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Mittel- und Osteuropa, Einige neue archozoologische
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BENECKE, N., 1998. The domestication of the horse. In: J.
SCHFFER, ed. Domestication of Animals. Interactions
between Veterinary and Medical Sciences. Frankfurt: Deutschen Veterinamedizinischen Gesellschaft e. V., 9-21.
BOESSNECK, J., 1988. Die Tierwelt des Alten gypten.
Untersucht anhand kulturgeschichtl. u. zoolog. Queller v.
Joachim Boessneck. Mnchen: C. H. Beck.
DRZEWICZ, A., 2004. Wyroby z koci i poroa z osiedla
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EDWARDS, E.H., 2002. Wielka Encyklopedia, Konie. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Muza.
JACKSON, J., 2003. Prawdziwy wiat koni. d: Galaktyka.
KOBRY, H., 1984. Zmiany niektrych cech morfologicznych konia w wietle bada kostnych materiaw wykopaliskowych z obszaru Polski. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo
SGGW-AR.
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LAPRUS-MADEJ, B., 2000. Podstawy konsumpcji misa

w neolicie na terenie ziem polskich w wietle rde archeozoologicznych. Studia i Materiay Archeologiczne,
32, 89-120.
LASOTA-MOSKALEWSKA, A., 2007. Cechy metryczne w ewolucji ssakw udomowionych. In: M. MAKOHONIENKO, D. MAKOWIECKI, Z. KURNATOWSKA,
eds. rodowiskoCzowiekCywilizacja, Studia interdyscyplinarne nad rodowiskiem i kultur w Polsce, t. 1.
Pozna: Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 115-120.
LASOTA-MOSKALEWSKA, A., HUDJANAZAROV, M.,
2000. Petroglyphs of mammals in the Sarmissaj Gorge,
Uzbek Republik; Archaeozoological analysis. wiatowit,
Supplement Series P: Prehistory and Middle Ages (T.
MIKOCKI, ed., vol. III. Warsaw: Institute of Archaeology,
Warsaw University.
LASOTA-MOSKALEWSKA, A., PITKOWSKA-MAECKA, J., GRZAK, A., SZYMCZAK, K., 2006.
Animal bone remains from Ayakagytma The Site.
In: K. Szymczak, M. Khudzhanazarov with
the contribution of M. Fontugne, A. Grzak, A. LasotaMoskalewska, R. Michniak, J. Pitkowska-Maecka, M.
Przedziecki. Exploring the Neolithic of the Kyzyl-kums;
Ayakagytma The Site and other collections. wiatowit
Supplement Series P: Prehistory and Middle Ages, vol. XI
K. LEWARTOWSKI, ed. Central Asia Prehistoric Studies, vol. II T. SHIRINOV, K. SZYMCZAK, eds. Warsaw,
206-217.
LAVALLE D., 1990. La domestication animale en Amerique du Sud, Bull. Inst. f. tudes andins, 19/ 1, 25-44.
SZYMCZAK, K., KHUDZHANAZAROV, M., FONTUGNE, M., MICHNIAK, R., 2004. 14C dating of Ayakagytma The Site, Neolithic settlement in south-eastern
Kyzyl-kums, Uzbekistan. In: T.Sh. SHIRINOV, ed. The
History of Material Culture of Uzbekistan. Samarkand, 34
edition, 26-31.
SZYMCZAK, K., KHUDZHANAZAROV, M. (with the
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ZHURAVLEV, O., 2004. O poyavlenii domashnikh loshadiej
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Wydawnictwo Poznaskie, 251-253.
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Wydawnictwo Poznaskie, 251-253.
Received: 27 February 2009; Revised: 26 March 2009;
Accepted: 12 June 2009
Mukhiddnin Khudzhanazarov
Institute of Archaeology
Uzbek Academy of Sciences
Ul. Akad. Abdullaeva 3
703051 Samarkand, Uzbekistan
E-mail: sarmish@mail.ru
ANKSTYVIAUSIO ARKLI
PRIJAUKINIMO PROBLEMA.
AYA K A G Y T M A N E O L I T O
GYVENVIETS (CENTRIN
AZIJA) DUOMENYS
Alicja Lasota-Moskalewska,
Karol Szymczak, Mukhiddnin
Khudzhanazarov
Santrauka
Ayakagytma yra viena svarbiausi neolito gyvenviei
Centrinje Azijoje. Ji kurta pietrytinje Kyzylkumo
steps / dykumos dalyje (1 pav.). Keleto kasinjimo
sezon metu aptikta gausi archeologin mediaga:
titnagini ir akmenini dirbini bei keramikos. Neolito Ayakagytma gyvenviet egzistavo dviem aikiai
isiskirianiais laikotarpiais: pirmoji, ankstyvoji, jos
faz datuojama 80007400 cal. BP, antroji, vlyvoji,
60005000 cal. BP. Negyvenamas laikotarpis tarp i
fazi susijs su teritorijos utvindymu, pakilus gretim
telkini vandens lygiui (pavadinome j Io jra). Ankstyvoji faz padalinta tris subfazes: a 75007400 cal.
BP, b 75007700 cal. BP ir c 80007700 cal. BP.
Kasinjim metu surinkta ir didel osteologin kolekcija (1 lentel), kurioje svarbi viet um arkli
kaulai. Jau ankstyviausiuose horizontuose arkli kaul
ir dant kiekis virijo 40 proc. tai unikalus skaiius
palyginti su bet kuria kita Eurazijos neolito kolekcija.
Lenkijoje neolito laikotarpiu namini arkli kaul aptinkama santykinai retai, j skaiius nevirija 6%. Individai vidutinikai yra maesni nei laukiniai arkliai tai
aikinama veisimo atranka (I: 1 iliustr.).
Ayakagytma neolito gyvenvietje nuo jos egzistavimo
pradios Equidae radini skaiius yra ypa didelis:
35,3% c subfazje, 43,6% b subfazje ir 10,7% a subfazje (1 lent.). Neabejotinai namins rys: galvijai,
avys / okos, kiauls, unys ir galimai kupranugariai.
Vieno arklio, kur pavyko imatuoti, gis ties ketera
siek 145 cm. Tai gali reikti prijaukinim ir net veisls gerinim.
Ayakagytma gyvenvietje aptikti ir imatuoti neolito
laikotarpio arklio kanop spaudai (2: 12 pav.). J
plotis (15,017,0 cm) yra daug didesnis nei laukiniams
arkliams bdingas kanop plotis. Tai leidia manyti,
kad is gyvnas buvo prijaukintas ir galimai veisiamas.
BALTICA 11
Karol Szymczak
Warsaw University
Ul. Krakowskie Przedmiecie 26/28
00-927 Warsaw, Poland
E-mail: karolszymczak@op.pl
Europoje, tiek Vakar Azijoje (12 pav.). Nra ir tiesiogini morfologini arkli prijaukinim rodani
veiksni. Kitos arkli prijaukinimo prielaid patvirtinanios detals yra randamos pakinkt dalys, paaukot
arkli liekanos, vairs j dydiai (auktis), arkli kaul gausjimas archeozoologinje mediagoje.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Alicja Lasota-Moskalewska
Warsaw University
Ul. Krakowskie Przedmiecie 26/28
00-927 Warsaw, Poland
E-mail: alasota@uw.edu.pl
I
F rom H orse
D omestica tion to
I mages of the
H orse and
H orsemen
Negalime teigti, kad turime tiesiogini arklio prijaukinimo Centrinje Azijoje rodym, taiau didelis Equidae radini paplitimas ir vieno individo didelis gis
ties ketera ir pado paviriaus ploio matmenys bei kit
neabejotinai namini ri egzistavimas leidia daryti
ivad, kad Centrins Azijos emumose arklys galjo
bti prijaukintas jau IXVIII tkstantmeio (cal. BP)
sandroje, ir tai yra ankstyviausia iuo metu turima
data.
Vert Jurgita ukauskait
Apie arkli prijaukinim vis dar turime maai informacijos. Proceso pradia galjo bti bet kurioje laukini arkli (Equus ferus) apgyventoje teritorijoje tiek
21
ALGIRDAS
GIRININKAS,
LINAS
DAUGNORA and
INDR ANTANAI- W h e n d i d D o m e s t i c a t e d
TIS-JACOBS
Horses Appear in Lithuania?
W H E N D I D D O M E S T I C AT E D H O R S E S A P P E A R
IN LITHUANIA?
ALGIRDAS GIRININKAS, LINAS DAUGNORA AND
INDR ANTANAITIS-JACOBS
Abstract
The horse bones found in Lithuanian habitation sites that date to the Late Neolithic and to the Early Bronze Age still do not
indicate that these horses were ridden upon or used to plough the soil. However, horse bones have been found in Lithuanian
territory only in those sites where bones of other animals that were domesticated have been found. This suggests that domesticated horses in Lithuania might have spread together with other domesticated animals by way of cultural diffusion during
the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age.
Key words: Lithuania, horses, domestic fauna, Late Neolithic, Early Bronze Age, Eneolithic.
Introduction
Thirteen habitation sites are known in the Late Neolithic Early Bronze Age in Lithuanian territory in
which horse bones have been found (Fig. 1). Whether
these bones were of wild or domesticated horses will
be known only in the future after detailed scientific
analyses. At this time, the compiled zooarchaeological
data enable a determination of their find sites affiliation from a cultural and chronological point of view.
K.L. Paaver describes the third to second millennia BC
horses living in the East Baltic as wild (Paaver 1965,
p.180ff). It was thought that wild horses could have
lived here in the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic periods. Their bones have been found in the East Baltic in
the habitation sites of Kunda, Zvidze, Osa, Zvejnieki II ,
Kpa, Knnu, as well as in the Zvejnieki burial ground
(Lugas 1996, pp.273-291; 2006, p.75ff). According to
L. Lugas, there are no reliable data regarding the species of that times horses that were propagating in the
forests. Nor has it yet been determined if the horses
skeletal parts encountered in these sites are actually
from later periods (Lugas 1997, p.281ff).
Pendants made from horse (Equus ferus) teeth found
in five (possibly six) Zvejnieki burial ground graves
(Nos. 12, 42, 86, 100, 122, and possibly 201) in Latvia
tell us of the possible mode of life of Mesolithicearlier Neolithic wild horses (Eriksson 2006, p.190). These
pendants generally were found with pendants of teeth
from other large mammals (elk, aurochs, boar, deer),
and, interestingly, in graves with children (see Zagorskis 1987). No horse bones have been found from
investigated Mesolithic or earlier Neolithic sites in
Lithuanian territory.
22
At this time it is difficult to speak about how horses

lived in the forests of the East Baltic during the Middle Holocene. Upon reviewing the zooarchaeological
material of the site of ventoji 23, considered one of the
earliest (Narva Culture) archaeological sites in Lithuania with a domesticated horse find, a horse bone with
a spavin pathology was established. This type of pathology is found in collections of later periods as well
as in other researched cemeteries with horse burials in
Lithuania (Daugnora, Thomas 2005). When chronically inflamed, the separate tarsal bones fuse together
and the mobility of the hock (tarsus) joint diminishes.
In the case of this ventoji 23 horse, a bilateral ossification of the ligaments between the metapodials also was
found, which influenced the medial and lateral splint
bones (MT II IV) fusion with the third metapodial
(MT III). This bone pathology is described as Chronica
deformans tarsi et desmoiditis ossificans ligamentum
interosseum and is characteristic only of horses who
lived from the Roman Period to more recent centuries.
This ventoji 23 horse bone was AMS radiocarbon
dated to 18540 BP (Ua-22782). Not only was this
horse not bred nor hunted at ventoji in the Neolithic,
but the calibration of its radiocarbon date shows the
specimens chronology as cal. AD 16501950 (95.4%)
(Reimer et al. 2004)1.
However, in Latvias Abora 1 habitation site, in which
Late Narva Culture artefacts dominate (Loze 1979,
p.26), and which is dated to 3770+60 BP (TA-394)
(24601990 cal BC (95.4%)) (Reimer et al. 2004), part
1
All radiocarbon data in this article were calibrated using

the Radiocarbon Calibration Program CALIB REV5.0.2
(copyright 1986-2005 to M. Stuiver and P.J. Reimer), in
conjunction with Stuiver and Reimer 1993. The reference
for all (IntCal04) calibration datasets is Reimer et al. 2004.
All calibrated dates are expressed as extremes of the 2 sigma range, i.e., with 95.4% probability.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
I
F rom H orse
D omestica tion to
I mages of the
H orse and
H orsemen
Fig. 1. Late Neolithic (1) and Early Bronze Age (2) sites (in some sites these periods overlap) in which horse bones have
been found: Late Neolithic: 1 Nida; 2 arnel; 3 Donkalnis; 4 Daktarik 1; 5 Daktarik 5; 6 emaitik 1; 7 emaitik 2;
8 Kretuonas 1B; 9 Kretuonas 1D; 10 Katra Itakos 1. Early Bronze Age: 11 Kretuonas 1C; 12 Papiks 4; 13 Dusia 8.
of a bridles corneous fitting or cheekpiece was found

(Loze 1997, p.25), which would suggest that horses
were controlled or ridden upon. Remains of seventeen
(MNI - minimum number of individuals) horses have
been found in the Late Neolithic sites surrounding Lake
Lubana in Latvia (Loze 1997, p.25). Analogous horse
bridle parts made from red deer antler and which date
to the Early Iron Age were found in Biskupin (Drzewicz 2004, plate XVII). These latter artefacts belong
to the Lusatian Culture. Small analogous horn fittings
or cheekpieces found in East Lithuania near Lake Kretuonas at the emaitik 2 site and dated to the end
of the Late Neolithic also might have been designed
for bridles (Girininkas 1990, p.87). The cross-sections
of these small fittings are D-shaped with small, drilled
V-shaped holes. It would have been possible to join
leather bridle parts with corneous tacks through these
holes in the places where they fastened on to the bridles spacer plates (Fig. 2). Moreover, the horn fittings
could have been glued onto the leather with pitch or
resin. Cheekpieces were made in this fashion and riveted with corneous tacks in bone workshops in this very
same way in Middle Age sites in Lithuania (Jarockis
1992, p.171).
By the most recent data, 20 individuals (MNI) of horses have been found in sites dated to the Late Neolithic
and Early Bronze Age in Lithuanian territory (Table1).
The proportionately large amount of horse remains
found in Late Neolithic Lithuania and Latvia, together
with the cheekpieces, suggest that the horse might
have been used for riding and controlled by leather
reins (but see Levine on cheekpieces 2005, p.9ff; and
Clutton-Brock on bridles 1999, p.10ff).
So far there are no data regarding the use of the horse
for other work in East Baltic territory during this early
prehistoric period. Nor are there many in Western and
Northern Europe. The only known scene of ploughing
hewn into stone, in which a horse is depicted pulling
a plough, is from the Tegneby area in Western Sweden and is dated to the Late Bronze Age (Glob 1951)
(Fig.3).
Our aim in this article is to compile and systematize
the earliest known archaeological and zooarchaeological data regarding horses in Lithuania in order to theorize when and in what environment horses, possibly
domesticated, first appeared in Lithuanian territory.
23
ALGIRDAS
GIRININKAS,
LINAS
DAUGNORA and
TIS-JACOBS
Ta b l e 1 . D i s t r i b u t i o n o f n u m b e r o f h o r s e b o n e s a n d m i n i m u m n u m b e r
of individual horses alongside number of domestic animal bone total
and MNI where available in excavated Late Neolithic
to Early Bronze Age sites in Lithuania
Site
(Archaeological
culture)
Nida
(Rzucewo)
arnel
(Narva, Corded Ware)
Daktarik 1
Daktarik 5
Donkalnis
emaitik 1
(Narva)
emaitik 2
(Narva)
Kretuonas 1D
(Narva)
Kretuonas 1B
(top cultural layer)
(Narva, Globular Amphora)
Katra Itakos 1
(Nemunas, Globular Amphora)
Kretuonas 1C
(Narva)
Papiks 4
(Narva, Nemunas)
Dusia 8
(Brushed Pottery)
Number horse
bones / MNI
Unit
(horse bones)
Number of total domestic

animal bones (incl. horses)
/ MNI (where available)
About 50
2/ 1
Ossa tarsi, Tibia,

Phalanx, Dentes
Ossa tarsi, Phalanx,
TibiaTibia Tibia
Dentes
3/ 1
Phalanx, Metatarsus
39 / 15
2/ 1
Tibia, Phalanx
23
2/ 1
Ossa tarsi, Phalanx
3/ 1
Mandibula,
Ossa tarsi
Humerus, Femur
29/ 3
Metacarpus, Phalanx
Os tarsi centrale
306 / 31
1/ 1
Dentes
12/ 2
271 / 25
17/ 2
Femur, Ossa tarsi,

Tibia, Digiti
Dentes
3/ 1
Dentes
10
7/ 2
5/ 2
3/ 2
27
4
19 / 5
17
Materials and methods
24
Fig. 2. Cheekpieces of perforated antler plate from

emaitik 2 habitation site. Drawing by A. Girininkas.
Domesticated animal bones of cattle, sheep or goat

(and possibly pig?) first make their appearance in
Lithuanian territory in Narva and Bay Coast Culture
(also known as Rzucewo, Rutzau, Baltic Coastal, Baltic Haff, or Haffksten Culture) sites starting in the
Middle Neolithic; their amounts generally increase
in Narva and Bay Coast Culture sites over the course
of the Middle Neolithic (Daugnora, Girininkas 2004,
p.104ff). No horse bones, however, have been found
among them. Horse bones in Lithuanian territory are
known only starting in sites dated to the Late Neolithic
(4400/43003500 BP or 3100/29001800 cal BC) (Antanaitis-Jacobs, Girininkas 2002, p.11), and they occur
among bones of animals known to be domesticated. An
even larger amount of domesticated animal bone has
been established from the zooarchaeological material
in sites of the Early Bronze Age (Fig. 1). The most current periodization of the Early Bronze Age in Lithuania is 20001650 cal BC (Girininkas 2007, pp.3-14),
which would modify the previously published end date
Daktarik 1
The sites
Nida
By 1973-1977 research data from the habitation site

of Nida (on the Curonian Spit), among the domesticated animal teeth of dog and cattle, as well as bone of
sheep and goat, the middle phalanx (phalanx media),
tibia, and calcaneus of a horse were found (Table 1)
(Rimantien 1989, p.67). E. Hollack also mentions
having found cattle teeth and a phalanx media of horse
at Nida (Hollack 1895, p.241ff). The site belongs to
the late phase of the Bay Coast Culture and the end
of the Middle Neolithic Narva Culture. The Osteological Laboratorys depository at the Lithuanian Veterinary Academy stores four small wrist (carpal) bones,
a caudal vertebra, phalanx media (GL 5.73; Bp 6.35;
SD 5.26; Bd 5.42 cm (measurements according to Von
den Driesch 1976), and calcaneus fragment from the
Nida site. The radiocarbon date obtained from Nidas
hearth no. 24 is 4620110 BP (Vs-631) which gave
a calibrated radiocarbon date of 36403030 cal. BC.
The radiocarbon date from hearth no. 56 is 407050
BP (Bln-2592), with a calibrated radiocarbon date of
28602470 cal BC.
arnel
The arnel habitation site was excavated in 1973 and
19811982 (Girininkas 1977, p.57ff; Butrimas 1996,
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
pp.174-191). Domesticated
animal bones were found
among the wild animal bones,
three of which were horse
bones (A horses left legs radius (measuring GL 30.5; BFp
7.10; Bp 7.82; SD 3.56; Bd
7.06; BFd 5.92 cm) and fragment of left pelvis was found
during the 1973 excavation,
and right shoulder blade or
scapula (SLC 5.42; LG 4.88;
BG 4.30 cm) as well as phalanx proximalis (Bp 4.90; SD
Fig. 3. The Tegneby ard petroglyph (Western Sweden). After P.V. Glob
1951, p.56 fig.63.
3.39 cm) were found during
the 1982 excavation.). Two
of the Late Neolithic period. By current archaeological more horse bones were found during the excavation of
and zooarchaeological material, 13 Late Neolithic 1996 (Table 1). By the number of specimens, the horse
Early Bronze Age sites have been found in Lithuanian bones comprise only 2% of domesticated animal bones
territory in which horse bones have been discovered. discovered at this site. The site contains an artefact inThe minimum number of individual horses found with- ventory characteristic of the Narva and Corded Ware
in each site is small: from one to three (Table 1). This Cultures and has a Late Neolithic radiocarbon date of
would at least suggest that the communities of the time 426090 BP (Vs-318) or 32602580 cal BC.
did not rear (or consume?) many horses.
I
F rom H orse
D omestica tion to
I mages of the
H orse and
H orsemen
Daktarik 1 was excavated in 19791980 (Butrimas

1982a). Two horse bones were found in the sites Late
Neolithic cultural layer (Table 1), which also contained
domesticated animal bones. The site contains Middle
and Late Neolithic Narva Culture as well as Corded
Ware Culture artefacts (Butrimas 1982, pp.4-36). The
site has a radiocarbon date of 3770110 BP (Vs-363)
(24801890 cal BC).
Daktarik 5
Daktarik 5 was investigated in 19871990 (Butrimas 1988, p.5ff; 1990, p.7ff; Irnas, Butrimas 2000,
pp.125ff; Butrimas, Ostrauskien 2004, p.128ff) and
two cultural layers were established within the site: a
Narva Culture layer of both the Middle and Late Neolithic, as well as a Late Neolithic Corded Ware Culture layer. Three horse bones were found at the site:
two vertebrae and a phalanx proximalis (from the top,
Corded Ware Culture layer) (Daugnora, Girininkas
1996, p.78) (Tables 1; 2). Later excavations yielded
the following bones and measurements (after Von den
Driesch 1976): fragments of a tooth and hoof, a talus
(GB 5.48; GH 5.96; LmT 5.86 cm), and a phalanx
proximalis (GL 7.40; SD 3,17; BFd 4.03; Bd 4.17 cm).
The site itself has three radiocarbon dates: 5530110
BP (Vs-808) (46104050 cal BC); 436090 BP (Vs809) (33502760 cal BC); and 4020100 BP (Vs-813)
(28802290 cal BC).
25
ALGIRDAS
GIRININKAS,
LINAS
DAUGNORA and
TIS-JACOBS
Ta b l e 2 . P r o p o r t i o n s o f d o m e s t i c
animals and horse at Daktarik 5
by zooarchaeological data
SPECIES
Wild game (TOTAL)
Domestic animals:
Cattle (Bos Bovis)
Sheep/goat (Ovis Aries/ et
Capra Hircus)
Pig (Sus Suis)
Dog (Canis Canis)
Number MNI
bones
240
34
30
3
11
1
1
2
1
1
Horse (Equus Caballus)

(possibly domestic)
Domestic animal total
39
1 (6.6% of domestic
animals)
(2% of total faunal
remains)
15
(30.6% of all faunal
remains belong
to domesticated
animals)
Donkalnis
The Donkalnis habitation, burial ground, and cult
site was investigated in 1981-1983 (Butrimas 1985,
p.30ff). Here, Late Neolithic and Bronze Age cultural
layers were found, with affiliated Narva and Corded
Ware Culture finds, including Brushed Pottery Culture
artefacts in the so-called sacrificial area or cult part of
the site. Two horse bones were found in the habitation
area (Butrimas 1985, p.31) (Table 1). The burial locus
has been dated to the Mesolithic (grave no. 2: 740545
BP (CAMS-85221) (esnys and Butrimas, fortcoming) or 64006110 cal BC and grave no. 4: 699565
BP (OxA-5924) (Ramsey et al. 2000) or 59905740
cal BC) and Early Neolithic (grave no. 3: 5785+40 BP
(CAMS-85220) (esnys and Butrimas forthcoming) or
47304530 cal BC) periods. The habitation area has
no radiocarbon dates; it is dated by cultural typology
alone to the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age.
emaitik 1
The emaitik 1 habitation site was researched in
19781979 (Girininkas 1980, p.6ff), revealing end of
the Middle Neolithic and Late Neolithic Narva Culture
layers. Two horse bones were found in the site; one
calcaneus bone and one phalanx proximalis (Table 1)
(Daugnora, Girininkas 2004, p.114). The site has one
radiocarbon date of 442060 BP (Bln-2593) (3340
2910 cal BC).
26
emaitik 2
emaitik 2 was excavated in 19791981 (Girininkas 1994, pp.161-177); a Late Neolithic Narva Culture
layer was found there. The site material generally is of
the very end of the Late Neolithic. Three horse bones
were found: a lower jawbone and two hock bones. The
astragalus (talus) measurements are GB 6.28; GH 6.16;
BFd 5.63cm) (Table 1). The site has a radiocarbon date
of 3570120 BP (Vs-311) (22801610 cal BC), a date
indicative of the Early Bronze Age.
Kretuonas 1D
Kretuonas 1D was excavated in 19921993 (Girininkas
1994a, p.10ff) and revealed a Late Neolithic Narva Culture layer, of the very end of the Late Neolithic. Three
horse bones belonging to two individuals were found:
two humerus bones and one femur bone (Daugnora,
Girininkas 1996, p.70) (Table 1). These horse bones
were dated to 356080 BP (Ki-9466) (21401690 cal
BC) and 333080 BP (Ki-10638) (18701440 cal BC).
The date of the horse bones is indicative of the Early
Bronze Age.
Kretuonas 1B (top layer)
The Kretuonas 1B habitation site was excavated from
1978 to 2001 (Girininkas 2002, p.7ff). A Late Neolithic
Narva Culture layer containing domesticated animal
bones was found, and among them, 29 bones belonging to three horses (Daugnora, Girininkas 1996, p.27)
(Tables 1; 3). The measurements of one of the horses
phalanx proximalis were GL 7.50, Bp 4.92, SD 3.32,
and Bd 4.21 cm. The horse bones were radiocarbon
dated to 365080 BP (Ki-10636) (22801770 cal BC).
This radiocarbon date is indicative of the Early Bronze
Age.
Katra I takos 1
The Katra I takos 1 habitation site was investigated
in 19971998 (Ostrauskas, Rimantien 2000, p.61ff).
The chronology of this site spans the Late Palaeolithic,
Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Early Bronze Age. Much
osteological material was found in the site, including
possible horse teeth fragments (Table 1). The three
fragments were found in different areas of the site and
were ascribed to the Late Neolithic Early Bronze
Age. Two obtained radiocarbon dates for the teeth,
indicative of the Late Neolithic, are 406070 BP (Ki7619) (28702470 cal BC) and 413565 BP (Ki-7620)
(28902500 cal BC).
NF
3740
MNI
161
168
4
15
2
77
28
29
Domestic animal total
306
7
4
3 (9.7 % of
domestic animals)
(1.6% of total
faunal remains)
31
(16% of all faunal
remains belong
to domesticated
animals)
Papiks 4
The Papiks 4 habitation site was excavated in
19891991 (Brazaitis 2004, pp.187-220). Aside from
the Mesolithic and EarlyMiddleLate Neolithic cultural layers, an Early Bronze Age cultural layer also
was found at the site, which was radiocarbon dated
to 368575 BP (T-10602) (23001880 cal BC). Seventeen horse teeth and their fragments, belonging to
two individuals, were encountered at the site (Table 1)
(Daugnora, Girininkas 2004, p.155).
Dusia 8
animals and horse at Kretuonas 1C
by zooarchaeological data
SPECIES
Wild game (TOTAL)
Domestic animals:
Cattle (Bos Bovis)
Sheep/goat (Ovis
Aries/ et
Capra Hircus)
Pig (Sus Suis)
Dog (Canis Canis)
Horse (Equus
Caballus)
(possibly domestic)
NF
2641
MNI
116
187
2
11
1
57
25
12
7
4
2 ( 8% of domestic animals)
(1.4% of total faunal
remains)
Domestic animal
total
271
25
(17.7% of all faunal remains
belong to domesticated
animals)
Kretuonas 1C
Kretuonas 1C was excavated during 19871992
(Daugnora, Girininkas 2004a, pp.233-250). A Late
Narva Culture layer of the Early Bronze Age containing domestic animal bones and an abundance of artefacts was found therein. Among the domestic animal
bones were 12 pieces of horse bones that belonged to
two individuals (Tables 1; 4). According to the deciduous teeth and fusion of the epiphyses and diaphyses
of the femur and tibia, it was determined that one of
the horses died at 12 years of age, while the other
died at 33.5 years of age. The measurements of the
first horses talus (after Von den Driesch 1976) were
The Dusia 8 site was researched in 19901995 (Juodagalvis 1999, pp.239-279). This site is dated by cultural
typology to the Early Middle Bronze Age. Three
horse teeth, belonging to one individual, were found at
the site (Table 1) (Daugnora, Girininkas 2004, p.155).
BALTICA 11
SPECIES
Wild game (TOTAL)
Domestic animals:
Cattle (Bos Bovis)
Sheep/goat (Ovis Aries/ et
Capra Hircus)
Pig (Sus Suis)
Dog (Canis Canis)
Horse (Equus Caballus)
(possibly domestic)
BFd 4.58 cm, GB 5.42 cm, and GH 5.10 cm.

The measurements of the older horses left talus were
BFd 4.90 cm, GB 5.13 cm, GH 5.52 cm, LmT
5.43 cm (Daugnora, Girininkas 2004a, p. 236). The
horse bones were radiocarbon dated to 346070 BP
(Ki-10102) (19601560 cal BC).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
animals and horse at Kretuonas 1B
(top layer) by zooarchaeological data
I
F rom H orse
D omestica tion to
I mages of the
H orse and
H orsemen
Discussion
Almost all the horse bones found in Lithuanian territory in early prehistorical sites were encountered in
Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age cultural layers.
It must be pointed out, however, that the most reliable
horse chronology is that of the actual horse remains
that have been radiocarbon dated (those of ventoji
23, Kretuonas 1D, Kretuonas 1B, Katra I takos 1, and
Kretuonas 1C). The ventoji 23 horse is modern. The
other, radiocarbon dated horses, all do date either to the
Late Neolithic, or the Early Bronze Age, or the junction of these two periods a period often termed Eneolithic2 and also often associated with the earliest horse
domestication (see Levine 2005).
Among the domestic animal bones, the amount of
horse bones is rather small (see Table 1). The data examined in detail within this article, i.e., available MNI
counts, illustrate that horses comprise 6.6 to 9.7% if
counted among the domestic animal remains (Tables
2; 3; 4). If horses had lived in the forests at the end of
the Atlantic and in the Subboreal climatic periods and
Also called the Copper Age or Chalcolithic, implying the
joint use of copper and stone. In general, copper at its first
appearance was scarce and certainly not ubiquitous; the
term is more a matter of convenience, indicating a transitional period between the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age.
27
ALGIRDAS
GIRININKAS,
LINAS
DAUGNORA and
TIS-JACOBS
they had been hunted, their percentages among the other zooarchaeological material would likely be larger.
This suggests that horses were not a target in the hunt
and that the hunting of horses in the Late Neolithic was
not practiced.
The archaeological data suggest that wild horses might
have lived in the East Baltic in the Preboreal and Boreal. Their numbers, however, were small, because they
comprised such a small portion of the zooarchaeological remains usually from one to seven individuals
at the documented sites (Paaver 1965, p.182). Nor
were any wild horse remains found on the Deer Island
(Oleni ostrov) burial ground (Gurina 1956, p.160ff).
The zooarchaeological material of the Neolithic Kpa
habitation site stands out among East Baltic sites since
21 individuals of horse were found there (Paaver 1965,
p.182). But these horse bones found in Latvian and
Estonian territories have not been radiocarbon dated,
thus their chronological affiliation still is not altogether
clear.
Assuming that horses did appear in Lithuanian territory in the Late Neolithic, how and precisely when did
this happen? Usually archaeologists indicate that horses appeared in conjunction with Corded Ware Culture
inhabitants (Loze 1979, p. 25ff). However, after having
analysed all of that time periods burial data known in
the East Baltic, there is no evidence that horses were
interred with any people in the Late Neolithic (Girininkas 2002a, pp.73-92; ukauskait 2007, pp.7190). The use of the riding horse for the needs of war or
transportation in the forest zone would have been difficult because of the times environmental constraints.
Corded Ware Culture inhabitants of the time might
have and likely travelled along water routes (Girininkas 2002a, p.76); it is in such places that the remains
of Corded Ware Culture bearers are encountered. They
transported goats and/or sheep along with them; the
bones of these animals or items manufactured from
their bones have been found in Corded Ware Culture
graves. Horse bones are more often found in Narva
Culture sites, less often in Narva Corded Ware Culture sites. It is possible that horses were used more
extensively for food there, for example, for milk and
meat, as per general suggestion (disregarding cultural
affiliation) of Gimbutas (1997, p.30), Levine (1998),
and Drews (2004, p.169). A recent studys stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of Late Neolithic Battle Axe and Corded Ware Culture bearers in Lithuanian
territory also support the possibility of meat or milk
animal protein consumption (Antanaitis-Jacobs et al.,
forthcoming 2009).
Domestication is an evolutionary process by which
humans actually modify the genetic makeup of a pop-
28
ulation of plants or animals (Haviland 2000, p.283).

Marsha A. Levine makes this point regarding horse
domestication (2005, p.16ff). There is a difference
between horses being domesticated and merely being
tamed, as a species cannot be truly domesticated until
it will reliably breed in captivity. Taming would likely
have been the first step toward domestication (CluttonBrock 1999). Perhaps this view is worthy of consideration for these early prehistoric Lithuanian horses.
According to the osteological material (by which horses constitute a low percentage of faunal remains) and
the archaeological material (the appearance of cheekpieces), one possibility is that these animals gradual
domestication and possible utilization for transportation began in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze
Age.
The measurement data of individual horses provide little information about the stature of that periods horses.
The forecannon measurements of the horse bone excavated from the top layer of the Kretuonas 1B site
resemble those of the forecannon bone length of the
riding horses excavated from the Marvel cemetery
(10th-12th centuries. See: Bertaius Daugnora 1997).
The Kretuonas 1B horses wither height was 120 cm,
i.e., it belonged to a smaller type of horse. The remaining metatarsal bone measurements indicate that these
bones must have belonged to slightly more stocky individuals. When compared to the width of the proximal
part of the horse metacarpal bones found in the Ver vai
cemetery, the horse forecannon bone excavated from
Kretuonas 1B belonged to a more stocky horse. The individual phalanx bone measurements are presented in
Daugnoras and Girininkass 1996 book (p.53). By the
horse bone measurement data we have from sites dated
to the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, we can say
that the horses of that time were short, with the wither
height reaching up to 120 cm or slightly more. More
than 70% of the Late Eneolithic horses at Dereivka in
Ukraine and Botai in Kazakhstan stood 136-144 cm at
the withers. The horses ridden into battle by Roman
cavalrymen typically were 120-155 cm at the withers,
and those of American Plains Indians stood about 130140 cm (Anthony and Brown 2009)
In what is called the latter Neolithic in the East Baltic, Lithuanian territory was on the border of a Forest
Neolithic and an Agricultural Neolithic (the Globular Amphora and Corded Ware Cultures). Lithuanian
territory came closer to a pastoral-agricultural culture
in the beginning of the Subboreal, when the steppe and
forest steppe zone receded north, i.e., the steppe moved
into the forest zone (Klimenko et al. 2001, p.190ff).
That is when neighbouring southern and southeastern Baltic region Forest Neolithic communities found
When investigating East Baltic Late Neolithic forest

zone sites, it is noticeable that the Corded Ware Culture
communities had ties with the Forest Neolithic communities of the Late Narva, Nemunas, and Bay Coast
Cultures who lived alongside them. Whether these relations were peaceful or strained it currently is difficult
to say, but during archaeological investigations almost
always the Corded Ware Culture material is found together with other, Forest Neolithic material. This suggests that the Corded Ware Culture bearers would stay
in places already adapted for residence; they even appear to have buried their dead in the burial grounds of
the Forest Neolithic communities (Loze 2006, p.313ff;
Zagorska 2006, p.103ff), that is if they passed away
when not in transit. Perhaps they were mediators who
spread the concept of using the horse for transportation? The view suggested by the sites that have been
excavated is that Corded Ware Culture bearers did not
live in one place for a long time and were not settled
farmers. If the opposite were true, the sites cultural
layers and zooarchaeological material found within
them would be more pronounced. The plausible view
suggested by the material remains of Corded Ware
Culture sites is that in the forest zone, these people
lived a half-nomadic life, subsisted from trading, and
organized themselves in places where rich resources
of raw materials could be extracted. This view also
would explain why their burial sites so often are found
near rivers, lake channels, or the seashore (Girininkas
2002a, p.76), i.e., alongside transit routes.
Currently, the most recent research regarding the
worlds earliest horse domestication (at 3500 BC of
the Chalcolithic Botai Culture in Kazakhstan) examined bitwear, the relative gracility of domestic horse
shin bones or metacarpals, and the presence of horse
milk fat lipids on the insides of ceramic pots to support
arguments regarding horse domestication (Outram et
al. 2009). We are hopeful that future research of the
earliest horse domestication in Lithuania and the East
Baltic can include additional similar approaches, from
various lines of evidence, including DNA studies.
1. Based on zooarchaeological research data, bones of

horses, possibly domestic, spread with other domesticated animal bones in Lithuanian territory in the Late
Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Horse bones are only
encountered in those sites where domesticated animal
bones are found.
2. Lithuanias Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age
horses were short. Their wither height might have
reached 120 cm. The age of the horses found at investigated habitation sites was 13.5 years.
3. The utilization of the horse for transport might have
been expedited as a result of environmental changes,
when the forest-steppe zone spread northward during
the Subboreal and the forested territory of Lithuania
grew closer to the forest-steppe zone in which horses
were used for transportation.
4. The archaeological and zooarchaeological material
does not prove that the possibly domesticated horses
spread only as a consequence of Corded Ware Culture bearer activities. The domestication of horses in
Lithuanian territory could have occurred over a long
period of time, for example, by way of cultural diffusion. Perhaps the Bay Coast, Narva, and Nemunas
Culture bearers gradually adopted the idea of using the
horse for transport from the Globular Amphorae Culture inhabitants in the forest steppes if not from the
same Corded Ware Culture inhabitants.
BALTICA 11
The animal husbandry that was practiced among the

Forest Neolithic communities in the Late Neolithic and
Early Bronze Age developed along the lines of a settled or non-nomadic animal husbandry, presumably
because the nomadic pastoral economic model practiced by the Corded Ware Culture bearer communities
was likely not suitable in forest conditions. That would
explain why horse bones are found in the habitation
sites of the Narva and Nemunas Culture communities,
and not in exclusively Corded Ware Culture sites.
Conclusions
ARCHAEOLOGIA
themselves in the horizon of the Late Neolithic Globular Amphora and Corded Ware Culture communities.
I
F rom H orse
D omestica tion to
I mages of the
H orse and
H orsemen

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Received: 6 May 2009; Revised 11 June 2009;

Algirdas Girininkas
Klaipda University,
Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology
Herkaus Manto street 84
LT-92294 Klaipda
Lithuania
E-mail: algisg@post.skynet.lt
Linas Daugnora
Klaipda University,
Herkaus Manto street 84
LT-92294 Klaipda
Lithuania
E-mail: daugnora@gmail.com
Algirdas Girininkas, Linas Daugnora,

Indr Antanaitis-Jacobs
Santrauka
Lietuvos teritorijoje vlyvojo neolito ankstyvojo
bronzos amiaus laikotarpiu inoma 13 gyvenviei
(1pav.), kuriose buvo aptikta arkli kaul. Ar tai buvo
laukini ar namini arkli kaulai, tiksliai galima bus
atsakyti tik ateityje, atlikus detalius mokslinius tyrimus. iuo metu sukaupti osteoarcheologiniai duomenys galina nustatyti j radimo viet priklausomum
kultriniu ir chronologiniu poiriu.
Remiantis osteologins mediagos tyrim duomenimis, namini arkli kaulai Lietuvos teritorijoje iplito
kartu su kit namini gyvuli kaulais vlyvuoju neolito ir ankstyvuoju bronzos amiais (14 lent.). Arkli
kaul aptinkama tik tose gyvenvietse, kur randama ir
namini gyvuli kaul (2 pav.). Lietuvos vlyvuoju neolito ir ankstyvuoju bronzos amiais arkliai buvo emi.
Gogo srityje j gis galjo siekti 120 cm ar iek tiek
daugiau. Gyvenvietse aptinkam arkli amius siek
13,5 m.
BALTICA 11
K A D A L I E T U V O J E PA S I R O D
PRIJAUKINTI ARKLIAI?
ARCHAEOLOGIA
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I
F rom H orse
D omestica tion to
I mages of the
H orse and
H orsemen
Arkli naudojimas transportui galjo paspartti dl

gamtini pokyi, kai subborelio laikotarpiu mikastepi zona prasiplt iaurs kryptimi ir mikinga Lietuvos teritorija tapo netolima mikastepi zonai, kurioje
arkliai buvo naudojami transportui.
Archeologin ir zooarcheologin mediaga neleidia
tvirtinti, kad prijaukinti arkliai iplito tik dl virvelins keramikos kultros gyventoj veiklos. Arkliai ir
j jaukinimas Lietuvos teritorijoje galjo vykti ilgai
kultrins difuzijos bdu Pamari, Narvos, Nemuno
kultroms perimant arkli naudojimo transportui idj
i mikastepi teritorijose gyvenusi rutulini amfor
ir t pai virvelins keramikos kultros gyventoj bei
panaudojant mikuose gyvenusius ar atvarytus i mikastepi arklius.
Indr Antanaitis-Jacobs
Corresponding author
Klaipda University,
E-mail: indreaj@hotmail.com
31
Images of the Horse and

H o r s e m a n i n C o r d e d Wa r e
Culture Studies
JURGITA
UKAUSKAIT
I m a g e s o f t h e H o r s e A N d HO R SE m An
in C o r d e d Wa r e C u lt u r e S t u d i e s
JURGITA UKAUSKAIT
Abstract
This article presents an overview of the representations of the horse and horseman in Corded Ware Culture studies. A survey
of the literature is proposed, discussing assumptions of the role of the horse in the communities of this culture.
Key words: Corded Ware Culture, mobility, horse, horseman, East Baltic.
Introduction
The visibility threshold always is a challenge in archaeological research, especially when one talks about
groups of people who are used to being described
as mobile or nomadic. Since pastoral nomads are so
ephemeral and enigmatic, they always fascinate archaeologists, but their representation often tends to be
oversimplified. While the Late Neolithic Corded Ware
Culture generally has been identified with mobile
groups of people within its rich history of research, it
still remains quite a mysterious phenomenon. Despite
various opinions about Corded Ware Culture communities, the majority of researchers have long agreed
upon a particular model of subsistence for the Corded
Ware Culture people: the basis of their economy was
pastoral stock-breeding. The determination of Corded
Ware Culture bearers as warlike groups who moved
over long distances has provoked speculations regarding their mode of transport. Naturally, questions concerning the role of the domesticated horse have arisen.
The aim of this paper is to analyse the spectrum of
viewpoints that deal with the horse and horseman in
this culture.
Mobility and warfare

Migration based explanations of Corded Ware Culture bearers with an emphasized role of the horse as
a riding animal primarily originated in the works of
Gustaff Kossinna (Kossinna 1902) and Gordon Childe
(Childe 1926). The widely accepted Kurgan theory
put forth by Marija Gimbutas (Gimbutas 1980, pp.273317) defined communities of the Corded Ware Culture
as extremely mobile groups of horse riders and cattle breeders. According to this well-known construct,
which was more or less adopted by other researchers
(Kruk 1980; Mallory 1991; Anthony 2007 and others;
32
for an alternative approach based on the theory of autochthonous development see Malmer 1962 and Kristiansen 1989), the fast and extensive spread of Corded
Ware Culture bearers could be explained by the nomadic and warlike nature of the community, where the
mounted warrior played the essential role. This concept dominated for many decades and served to form
an image of the Corded Ware Culture man as a warlike
rider on horseback (Fig. 1). Other assumptions made
were that boat-shaped battle axes the characteristic
artefact of the Corded Ware Culture were weapons
used only by the riders, as these axes were not suitable
for unmounted struggles (Rimantien 1989, p.54), and
that broken battle axes found in settlements pointed to
the not always peaceful character of the infiltration of
the newcomers (Loze 1996, p.67).
In the East Baltic region, similar ideas concerning the
mode of economy of the people were elaborated. East
Baltic Corded Ware Culture people were regarded not
only as at least mobile (Kriiska 2000, p.74), or as
pastoralists (Loze 1996, p.70; Rimantien 1996, p.221;
Brazaitis 2005, p.237), but also as some kind of warlike prospectors or individual traders, who provided the
so-called local communities with cattle, grain, or some
kind of raw material (Girininkas 2002, p.87; 2005,
p.174). It must be noted, however, that the concept of
the East Baltic Corded Ware Culture bearers as mobile
communities was based more on the absence of data
rather than the evidence. The essential implication concerns the lack of one thing or other: of settlements with
a thick cultural layer, of buildings, or of big cemeteries
i.e., of any feature which could allude to permanent
settlement. The invisibility of these features provokes
the perplexing question regarding the mission and activity of the Corded Ware Culture people, whosoever
they might have been.
Along with the relatively recent growing criticism regarding the concept of global migrations (e.g. Hrke
The challenges of the landscape

One question that has arisen concerning the view of
Corded Ware Culture bearers as keepers of riding
horses and herders of cattle is precisely how the determination is made that they were steppe nomads or
forest nomads. What chances would a pastoral subsistence have of surviving in the forest zone, where dense
woods thrived?
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
As stated above, the traditional

explanation of the invisibility of
Corded Ware Culture settlements
was based on the assumption of
their nomadic, pastoral subsistence
strategy. The absence of settlement
features in the Corded Ware Culture period in Central and Eastern
Europe has been puzzling since the
19th century, but only recently has
the view of Corded Ware Culture
bearers as fully nomadic, pastoral
communities been rejected. This
rejection is based on environmental
data (Sldek et al. 2006, p.470ff).
Czech research emphasises the peculiarity of the relief, namely, that
a predominance of hilly terrain in
Central Europe is not suitable for
a highly mobile way of life, as
known, for example, on the Central
Asian steppes (Rulf, 1981, p.123ff;
Turek, 1995, p.91ff, cited in Sldek
et al. 2006, pp.470-482). Actually,
Fig. 1. Common image of the Corded Ware Culture warrior
(after Probst 1999, p.401).
supporters of migrations who spoke
of Corded Ware Culture expansion
to the East did not explain the mechanism of mobility
1998, pp.19-45), the practise of new analytical methin the forest zone (e.g. Anthony 2007, p. 375ff).
ods adopted from the natural sciences have become
more and more important, which has led to a recon- Yet another aspect may be connected with the peculisideration of old views. In the case of the Corded Ware arities of the forest zone during the Late Neolithic. PalCultures mobility aspect, one strike against the view aeoecological research reveals a gradual conversion of
that communities traditionally characterized as pasto- deciduous to coniferous forests during the period when
ral are always on the move is an instance of recent the Corded Ware Culture began to spread. This envibiomechanical analysis of Corded Ware Culture osteo- ronmental change strongly worsened foraging condilogical material (a cross-sectional analysis of femoral tions of herbivorous fauna, wild or domestic (Seibutis
midshafts was made in order to test mobility directly 2002, p.37ff). Even if one supposes that the routes of
from the human skeletal record) which did not support the Corded Ware Culture traders extended along the
the hypothesis about different mobility patterns in the rivers, where forest density was comparatively minor,
Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age (Sldek et al. and that the traders were appearing episodically in the
2006, p.470ff). Thus, further research may reveal more East Baltic (Girininkas 2002, p.85ff), such a scarce
intriguing facts about Corded Ware Culture organiza- type of forest would have been quite problematic in
terms of finding feed for the horses, to say nothing of
tion.
riding.
I
F r om H o r se
D omestica tion to
I mages of the
Horse and
Horsemen
The horse as a food resource

There are no doubts that Corded Ware Culture bearers were familiar with farming. Evidence comes both
from data of numerous finds of domesticated animal
bones in settlements and burials as well as from stable
isotopes analyses of human individuals, which actually
suggest Neolithic dietary practises (Eriksson et al.
33

Culture Studies
JURGITA
UKAUSKAIT
2003, p.17). The initial spread of domestic horses in

temperate Europe often is considered to coincide with
an increasing opening-up of the east / west corridor
of the North European Plain. In the following Corded
Ware and Beaker Culture periods, the opening served
to transmit important innovations to other areas of Europe. By 2000 BC, horses occurred regularly in Central
European Bronze Age sites that have definite evidence
of domestication and horses probably were available
to a larger part of the population there (Sherratt 1983,
p.92ff). While it is known that Funnel Beaker Culture
sites have yielded considerable amounts of horse bone,
and that in Denmark, many Battle-Axe (Single Grave)
Culture burials and settlement sites have been found to
contain bones of domestic horses (Barker, 1985), still
there is no clear evidence regarding the role of the horse
and the purpose of keeping them in these communities
as such. The only bits of evidence which suggest horse
riding in Europe before 2000 BC are the bridle bit
cheek-pieces made of decorated bone found in Hungary and Slovakia, although researchers still agree, that
there are little or no data that indicate horses actually
were ridden at this stage (Harding 2000, p.170; Renfrew 1990, pp.137ff).
Osteological research of the Late Neolithic East Baltic
material is not very helpful for envisioning the horseman. Bones of such animals as sheep, goat, and pig are
found in Corded Ware Culture monuments, especially
in Estonia (Ianits 1952, p.53ff), but horse bones are absent. Some horse bones found in the Nida settlement
are believed to be domesticated (Rimantien 1989,
p.54ff), but they are the only evidence and their domesticated nature is dubious. The earliest remains of the
domestic horse in Latvia comes from the ivutkalns
graves, dated to the middle of the second millennium
BC (Vasks et al. 1999, p.291ff). Recent interdisciplinary research in Estonia confirmed that there have been
no horse bones found in Estonian Corded Ware Culture
sites. The older material (Mesolithic, Early Neolithic)
contains bones of the wild horse, and only in the Late
Bronze Age material does the domestic horse constitute a significant part of the zooarchaeological material. Researchers had to acknowledge that this study
did not shed any new light on the early history of the
domestic horse in the East Baltic region. (Lugas et al.
2007, p.28).
34
Moreover, recent research made a heavy impact on the

traditional perception of the history of horse riding in
general, shifting the beginning of horseback riding to
much later times than earlier thought. Elena Kuzmina
emphasized that the mastery that was required to control the horse while riding developed among nomads
because of their need to control as well as to protect
their herds; she came to the conclusion that warrior-
horsemen appeared in the steppes not in the fourth millennium BC, but at the end of the second millennium
BC (Kuzmina 2000, p.122). Colin Renfrew supported
this date (Renfrew 1990, p.137ff). In his newest book,
Robert Drews rejected the model he endorsed earlier
that riding horses apparently were a common phenomenon on the open steppe by the end of the third millennium. In his more recent work, he states that there
is no evidence of regular horse riding on the steppe
in the third nor the second millennium BC, and that
the great majority of horses were raised there as food
animals: the female horses for breeding and for milking, and the male horses for slaughtering and eating
as soon as they reached adulthood (Drews 2004, p.55).
Drews reminds his readers that in Marija Gimbutass
early works, she also considered the horse of the early
Kurgan people not a riding animal, but one that was
used for milk and meat and as a sacrificial animal like
sheep and cattle (Gimbutas 1963, p.834, cited in
Drews 2004, p.169). His implication is that riding in
Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe must be taken on
faith since the earliest direct evidence is much later.
Furthermore, even if, for the sake of the argument,
one concedes that the riding of horses on the steppe
might have been more accomplished than it was in the
civilized world, neither on the steppe nor anywhere
else could men in the fourth, third, or even second milleniun BC have attained the level of riding expertise
needed for mounted combat. The significant change in
the material record between the second and the first
millenia BC makes it quite clear that in the steppe, as
elsewhere, serious riding began after the Bronze Age
ended (p. 44-56). While David Anthony maintained
his point of view concerning the beginning of riding
in the first half of the fourth millennium BC, he also
acknowledged the main purpose of the domestication
of the steppe horse as a cheap source of winter meat
(Anthony 1990, pp.200 and 906).
Concluding remark
The image of the Corded Ware Culture horseman in
general is a theoretical construct and primarily is a result of the migrational viewpoint in which the horse
was associated with transport and military purposes.
Research concerning the origins of horseback riding as
well as aspects of migrations suggests that treating the
horse as a mode of transport along with its assumed degree of mobility could be overestimated when talking
about Corded Ware Culture bearers. Nor does recent
research support the traditional perception of the nomadic pastoral community and its image of horsemen.
While some instances of domesticated horse bones
have been discovered in Central Europe during the
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ANTHONY, D.W., 2007. The horse, the wheel, and language: how Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian steppes
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BRAZAITIS, D., 2005. Agrarinis neolitas. In: A. GIRININKAS, ed., Lietuvos istorija, 1. Akmens ir ankstyvasis metal laikotarpis. Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 197-250.
CHILDE, V.G., 1926. The Aryans: a study of Indo-European
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Mounted Warfare in Asia and Europe. LondonNew York:
Routledge.
ERIKSSON, G., Lugas, L. AND Zagorska, I., 2003.
Stone Age hunterfishergatherers at Zvejnieki, northern
Latvia: radiocarbon, stable isotope and archaeozoology
data. In: Before Farming, 1(2), 1-25.
Gimbutas, M., 1963. The Indo-Europeans: Archaeological Problems. American Anthropologis, 65, 815-836.
Gimbutas, M., 1980. The Kurgan Wave 2 3400-3200 B.C.
into Europe and the Following transformation of Culture.
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GIRININKAS, A., 2002. Migraciniai procesai Ryt Pabaltijyje vlyvajame neolite. Virvelins keramikos kultra.
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metal laikotarpis. Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 117-196.
HARDING, A., F., 2000. European Societies in the Bronze
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IANITS, L. Iu., 1952. Pozdneneoliticheskie mogilniki v Estonskoi SSR. In: Kratkie soobshcheniia instituta istorii
materialnoi kultury, 42, 53-65.
KOSSINNA, G., 1902. Die Indogermanische Frage archologisch beantwortet. Zeitschrift fr Ethnologi, 34, 161-222.
KRIISKA, A., 2000. Corded Ware Culture Sites in Northeastern Estonia. De temporibus antiquissimis ad honorem
Lembit Jaanits. Muinasaja teadus, 8, 5979.
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Indo-European Studies, Monograph, 17, 59-77.
LUGAS, L., KRIISKA, A. and MALDRE, L., 2007. New
dates for the Late Neolithic Corded Ware Culture burials
and early husbandry in the East Baltic region. Archaeofauna, 16, 21-31.
MALLORY, J.P, 1991. In Search of the Indo-Europeans:
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Hudson.
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Mnchen: Orbis.
RENFREW, C., 1990. Archaeology and Language. The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Rimantien, R., 1989. Nida: senj balt gyvenviet.
Vilnius: Mokslas.
Rimantien, R., 1996. Akmens amius Lietuvoje. Vilnius:
iburys.
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neolitu a eneolitu. In: Archeologick Rozhledy, 33, 123132.
SEIBUTIS, A., 2002. Etnins paleogeografijos pradmenys.
Vilnius: Vilniaus pedagoginis universitetas.
Sherratt, A., 1983. The secondary exploitation of animals
in the Old World. World Archaeology, 15/1, Transhumance
and Pastoralism, 90-104.
Sldek, V., Berner, M. AND Sailer, R., 1996. Mobility in Central European Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze
Age: tibial cross-sectional geometry. Journal of Archaeological Science, 33/ 4, 470-482.
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zvru eneolitu.: Archeologick Rozhledy, 47, 91-101.
VASKS, A., KALNINA, L. AND RITUMS, R. 1999. The Introduction and Pre-Chriatian History of Farming in Latvia.
In: U. Miller, T. Hackens, V. Lang, A. Raukas
AND S. Hicks, eds. Environmental and Cultural History
of the Eastern Baltic Region. PACT, 57, 291-304.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
same period, they appear to be absent in the East Baltic Corded Ware Culture. Solitary instances of horse
bones in East Baltic Corded Ware Culture sites may
point to the use of the horse as a food resource.
I
F r om H o r se
D omestica tion to
I mages of the
Horse and
Horsemen
Received: 28 February 2009; Revised 24 April 2009;

Jurgita ukauskait
Klaipda University
Herkaus Manto street 84,
LT-92294 Klaipda
E-mail: jurgita.briai@gmail.com
35

Culture Studies
JURGITA
UKAUSKAIT
36
I R G O I R R A I TE L I O VA I Z D I A I
V I RV E L I N S K E R AM I K OS
K U LT R OS T Y R I N J I MUOSE
Jurgita ukauskait
Santrauka
Ilgamei virvelins keramikos kultros tyrinjim
metu jos bendruomens daniausiai buvo apibriamos
kaip mobilios ir karingos gyvuli augintoj grups.
Gustavo Kosinos bei Gordono aildo ikeltos kari /
raiteli ekspansijos idjos ir Marijos Gimbutiens sukonstruota Kurgan teorija leido sigalti virvelins
keramikos kultros karingo raitelio vaizdiui (1 pav.).
Auganti migracij teorij kritika, duomen apie jojamj irg III tkstantmetyje pr. Kr. trkumas, europinio kratovaizdio netinkamumas keliauti raitomis
skatina iekoti alternatyvi arklio vaidmens reikmi
virvelins keramikos kultroje. Nuodugns raitininkysts itak tyrinjimai rodo, kad jojimo pradia reikt laikyti ne ankstesn kaip II tkstantmeio pr. Kr.
laikotarp, o pirmin arklio prijaukinimo funkcija buvo
aprpinti bendruomen msos atsargomis iem, todl
tiek arklio, kaip transporto priemons, naudojimas, tiek
virvelins keramikos kultros grupi mobilumo mastas
greiiausiai yra pervertinti. Pavieniai prijaukinto arklio
kaul radiniai virvelins keramikos kultros paplitimo
areale galt byloti apie i bendruomeni arklio naudojim maistui. Virvelininko, kaip raitelio, vaizdinys
i esms yra teorin konstrukcija, kuriai takos turjo
didelio masto migracijomis grstos hipotezs, arkl /
irg pirmiausia siejanios su transportu ir karyba.
Abstract
In the article a survey is given of the information about horse and its exploitation in the Late Bronze Age in Estonia. Concerning the archaeozoological material the finds of horse bones in the Late Bronze Age are discussed. The analysis of finds
discusses the bone artefacts connected with the exploitation of horse and artefacts made from horse bones.
BALTICA 11
LIINA MALDRE AND HEIDI LUIK
ARCHAEOLOGIA
T H E H O R S E I N E S T O N I A I N T H E L AT E B R O N Z E
AGE: ARCHAEOZOOLOGICAL AND
A R C H A E O L O G I C A L D ATA
Key words: Late Bronze Age, Estonia, horse exploitation, faunal remains, bone artefacts.
Introduction
Horse occupied an important place in the Bronze Age
society in many places in Europe, its ritual importance
as well as its significance as a status-connected possession have been emphasised (e.g. Ulln 1996; Choyke et
al. 2004; Bradley 2005, p.172). The aim of this article
is to give a survey of the information about horse and
its exploitation containing in the archaeological material of the Late Bronze Age in Estonia. Concerning the
archaeozoological material a brief survey of the finds
of horse bones in Estonia is presented and the finds
from the fortified settlements of the Late Bronze Age,
particularly from the settlements of Asva and Ridala on
Saaremaa, are discussed more thoroughly. The analysis of archaeological finds discusses the horse-related
bone artefacts of the Bronze Age from two aspects:
artefacts connected with the exploitation of horse and
artefacts made from horse bones.
Fig. 1. Late Bronze Age fortified settlements in Estonia

(drawing by K. Siitan).
The discussed period, the Late Bronze Age, is dated to

1100500 BC in Estonia. It is the time when fortified
settlements first appear in the settlement pattern. The
number of such fortified settlements in Estonia is small
and they are all located near the coast or on the island
of Saaremaa (Fig. 1; Lang 2007, pp.15 and 55 ff.).
I
F ro m H or s e
D o m e s tica tio n to
I m age s of the
H or s e a n d
H or s e m e n
Archaeozoological data: finds of

horse bones in Estonia
Wild horse belonged in our fauna already in the Boreal
period. The earliest known finds come from the Lammasmgi of Kunda (eightfifht millennium BC), where
they constituted 0.5 % of all bones. The earliest maximum of wild horse most likely appeared in the Atlantic
period. A total of 282 bones of wild horses was recovered from the settlement site of Kpa; in the lower
horizons of the cultural layer they constituted 4.0%, in
the upper ones 1.5% of all bones. A few bones of this
species were recovered from the Neolithic settlement
sites of Akali, Villa and Tamula (the Subboreal period)
(Paaver 1965b, p.180ff). No bones of domestic animals
(with the exception of dog) have been found from the
settlements of Kpa and Villa, so it is unlikely that the
horse bones belonged to domesticated animals. As for
the settlements of Akali and Tamula, their cultural layer
contained a few bones of domestic animals, which permits to presume also the occurrence of domestic horse.
Since corded pottery occurs in the cultural layers of
these settlements one may also assume that bones of
domestic animals are connected with the people of the
Boat Axe Culture (Jaanits et al. 1982, p.105; Lugas
et al. 2007, p.25ff). Bones of goat, sheep, pig and cattle, as well as artefacts made from goat or sheep bones
have been found in the graves of the Boat Axe Culture,
while horse bones are missing there. Thus it is most
37
The Horse in Estonia in the

Late Bronze Age:
Archaeozoological and
Archaeological Data
LIINA MALDRE
AND
HEIDI LUIK
Fig. 2. Finds of horse bones in Estonian Bonze Age, Iron Age and Medieval sites (prepared by Maldre, compiled after: Haak
2007; Lugas 1994; Maldre 1997; 2003a, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008a, 2008b, unpubl.; Paaver 1965a, 1965b, 1966, 1970; Saks
and Valk 2002).
likely that horse bones found from Akali and Tamula

still belong to wild horse.
It is not known when exactly domesticated horse
reached Estonia. Bone materialis not known from the
Early Bronze Age but since the Late Bronze Age horse
occurs, in varying extent, in all investigated sites. It
seems that horse bones were more numerous in the settlements and hillforts of the Late Bronze Age and the
Viking Age (material of the earlier stage of the Iron
Age is unfortunately missing in Estonia). The number
of horse bones is higher among the material from South
and Southeast Estonia and possibly also from eastern
Estonia. Among bones from medieval towns horse is
represented very modestly (Fig. 2).
The archaeozoological material of the Bronze Age
graves of Estonia has not been thoroughly investigated
yet. A brief survey of bones from the stone cist graves
of Rebala revealed a few horse bones but their direct
connection with burials is questionable. The stone cists
did not contain any horse bones, or any animal bones at
38
all; some horse teeth and a fragment of a temporal bone

occurred among the bones but they were not found together with human bones. A few horse bones have been
found also in the tarand-graves of the Pre-Roman and
Roman Iron Ages, but in these cases their connection
with burials is also questionable. Horse bones and teeth
occur among other animal bones in the stone graves
of Northeast Estonia, they have been found from the
stone grave of Muuksi (Schmiedehelm 1955, p.46), as
well as from the stone grave of Nehatu in Iru (Lang
1996, p.120). In Estonian context the barrow cemeteries with cremation burials in Southeast Estonia, dated
to the fifhttenth centuries, are exceptional with their
abundance of horse bones and nearly complete absence
of bones of other animals (Allme and Maldre 2005;
Allme et al. 2007a; 2007b). In the barrow cemeteries
of Southeast Estonia there are not single finds of horse
bones, there one can speak about cremation burials of
whole horses. In the Late Iron Age graves, at least in
West Estonia and Saaremaa, horse bones have not been
hitherto discovered (Maldre 2003b).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 3. Both in Asva and Ridala the state of preservation of horse bones and cattle bones is similar (prepared by Maldre).
I
F ro m H or s e
I m age s of the
H or s e a n d
H or s e m e n
Fig. 4. Ages of horses from Asva and Ridala Late Bronze Age fortified settlements (1) and from Pada Viking Age settlement
site (2) (prepared by Maldre).
Archaeozoological data: horse bones

in Estonian Bronze Age settlements
The quantity of horse bones among osteological material from the Late Bronze Age settlements in Estonia
varies greatly. In Saaremaa, both in Ridala and Asva
fortified settlements, horse is only modestly represented. The percentage of horse bones is considerably
higher in the fortified settlement of Iru, North Estonia
(Paaver 1966). Unfortunately only species composition of animal bones from Iru is known at the moment,
data about slaughtering ages of animals and anatomical
structure of bones are missing and therefore it remains
unclear what was the cause of such high percentage of
horse bones (Fig. 2).
Both in Asva and Ridala the state of preservation of
horse bones and cattle bones is similar (Fig. 3). The anatomical distribution of the bones of these two species
is also very similar in Asva (Fig. 3.1). In Ridala differences are somewhat bigger, especially concerning
bones of head and distal parts of limbs (Fig. 3.2). These
differences were caused by the large number of separately found horse teeth in the osteological material
from Ridala teeth constituted 58% of all found horse
bones (Maldre 2008a, p.270); in the material from the
excavations of 1939 and 19651966 of Asva the percent is only 29 (Lugas 1994, table 2; Maldre unpubl.).
The small amount of bones from fleshy parts of carcass
is due to the fragmentariness of material the number
of fragments of these bones is large but the majority of
them cannot be determined to species.
Horse bones found from Ridala belong to at least 8
horses; in the osteological material from the excavations of 1939 in Asva remains of at least 15 specimens
could be determined. Most of the bones belong to
young animals (Fig. 4.1). 15%25% of animals (the
39

Late Bronze Age:
Archaeological Data
LIINA MALDRE
AND
HEIDI LUIK
Fig. 5. Measurements of horse astragali and phalanges from Asva and Ridala Late Bronze Age fortified settlements and
from Pada Viking Age settlement site (prepared by Maldre).
40
average of 18%) have been killed (or died) during the

first 6 months. On the basis of bones from Ridala it
seems that a half of the animals were slaughtered before 3 years of age (the precise slaughter age cannot be
determined, evidently it was 13 years); in Asva more
than of animals were slaughtered before three years
of age. Slaughter age of older animals is more complicated to determine: in Ridala 2 horses have been older
than 3 years, 1 over 3.5 and 1 over 4.5 years. In Asva,
in addition to the specimens reflected in the figure, one
horse has been older than 2 years, 1 older than 3, one
about 3.5 years, one adult animal and one specimens

age could not be determined even approximately.
Such age structure indicates that in the Bronze Age
horses were bred also for flesh. Differences between
slaughter ages of horses and cattle are not big. Since
the percentage of horse bones in Asva as well as in
Ridala is relatively low, one may assume that horseflesh did not play an important role in the diet of the
people there. On the other hand it must be kept in mind
that horse was larger than cattle and consequently pro-
The data for analysing the measurements of horses

of Asva and Ridala are unfortunately insufficient owing to the fragmentariness of the material as well as
the high percentage of young specimens. From Asva
a metacarpal bone of a horse has been found with a
length of 19.6 cm. The withers height of this horse
might have been 120-128 cm. Bones of such small
horses have been found in Estonia also from Iron Age,
medieval and even later sites (Maldre 1998, p.216ff).
Some astragali and phalanges could also be measured
and the maximum, minimum and average values of
these measurements are given in figures (Fig. 5). For
comparison the measurements of bones found from the
Pada settlement were used. It appears that the Bronze
Age horses in Saaremaa were on the average smaller
than the Viking Age animals in Northwest Estonia.
One must certainly keep in mind that the quantity of
measurable bones in all these investigated sites is very
small and thus the results may be random.
Artefacts connected with

the exploitation of horse:
cheek-pieces of horse harness
An artefact type related to horse is cheek-pieces of
horse harness, made from elk antler. From Estonia
seven such specimens are known: three complete
and two fragmentary pieces from Asva, one from Iru
and one fragment from the stone cist of the grave of
Proosa (Fig. 6) (Lugas 1970, p.113 plate 21.1-3;
Deemant 1980, plate IV.1; Lang 1996, plate VIII.2;
2007, fig.48.2,3; Sperling 2006, plates XLVIII.1,2 and
LV.1,2; Luik 2007, p.53ff). Some fragments of cheekpieces have been found also in Latvia, for example
Brikui, Mkukalns and Kalniei (Vasks 1994, p.115
plate VII.19,20; Graudonis 1967, plate XVIII.10);
and Lithuania, Petreinai (Grigalaviien 1995, fig.
100.11). Most of such artefacts are found from fortified
ARCHAEOLOGIA
BALTICA 11
vided more meat. As for colts, they were evidently not

slaughtered for food but died (or killed) for some other
reason. One cannot find direct answer to the question
whether horses were used as draught animals in the
Late Bronze Age in the osteological material from Asva
and Ridala. From Asva one I phalanx of a horse with
small exostoses was found. In Ridala no horse bones
with pathologies came to light. Unfortunately there is
no material for comparison of slaughter age of horses
from the Early Iron Age, but in the Pada settlement
dating from the Viking Age only 1/3 of horses were
slaughtered during the first three years of life (Fig. 4.
2); several horse bones with pathologies found from
Pada also suggest the exploitation of horses as draught
animals (Maldre 2007, p.73).
I
F ro m H or s e
I m age s of the
H or s e a n d
H or s e m e n
Fig. 6. Cheek-pieces of horse harness from Asva (AI 4366:

1644, 122) (photograph by Luik).
settlements and only a few are from graves (e.g. Proosa

in Estonia and Kalnie i in Latvia).
In the Bronze Age cheek-pieces were made from both
bronze and antler. Discoid and bar cheek-pieces of
various shapes, made of antler, are known from many
regions already since the Early Bronze Age (e.g. Poland, Hungary, Scandinavia, Ukraine: Bk 1992; Harding 2000, p.170 fig. 5.3; Choyke et al. 2004, p.184 fig.
10; Pankovski 2004; Polidovich 2004, pp.145 ff. figs.
2 and 3; Sitnikov 2004; Kristiansen 2005, p.684 fig.2;
Grski and Makarowicz 2007, p.107 fig.8). It has been
presumed that in the 1st millennium BC horse was also
used for riding, primarily for fast movement in battle (Harding 2000, pp.136, 170). Cheek-pieces found
from Estonia suggest that horse was used here for riding in that period, but probably such use range did not
have similar importance as in southernmore areas, for
example in Ukraine and Central Europe.
41

Late Bronze Age:
Archaeological Data
LIINA MALDRE
AND
HEIDI LUIK
Fig. 7. Antler points with spiral use-wear: 1 points from Asva (AI 4366: 1755, 1163, 1883, 1772, 1823); 2 spiral use-wear
on tips of antler points (AI 4366: 1772, 1823); 3 the use of antler artefacts was probably connected with the change of direction of some fibres pulled from somewhere (photographs by Luik).
Antler points with spiral use-wear

An interesting group of finds consist of about ten artefacts made from tine tip or tine, with spiral use-wear
at the tip. All these are found from Asva. These points
have been made from elk antler (Fig. 7.1,2; Sperling
2006, p.104 plates L.7-10 and LVI.10; Luik forthcoming 2007a, figs. 3-6). The only analogous artefacts
known to us at the present come from Smuszewie,
Poland, which is a settlement of the Lausitz Culture
42
(ca 1300500 BC) (Durczewski 1985, plates 50.2;

55.31,32,38; 56.1,8; 59.3,4).
On all points under discussion the spiral traces run in
the same direction (Fig. 7.1,2) and these traces seem to
be left by some fibres. Since the spiral lines are deeply
grooved into the antler surface, they must have been
made by some material containing or consisting of strong fibres. Studying the spiral traces on antler artefacts
it seems that their use must have been connected with
the change of direction of some thread or fibres pulled
from somewhere (Fig. 7.3). Probably there must have
The use of horse bones for making

artefacts
There are not many artefacts, which can be determined
as made from horse bones. Naturally one must keep
in mind that there are artefacts on which bone cannot
be determined to species (e.g. bone pins), it can only
be established that they are made from long bones of
large herbivores and possible species are cattle and elk
as well as horse. But where the material can be determined, it seems that cattle bones were used more
frequently for bone working. Cattle bones are also
more numerous among unworked faunal remains (e.g.
Lugas 1994, pp.74 ff. table 2; Sperling 2006, p.125ff
table 7 fig.38; Lang 2007, p.110 ff. table 1; Maldre
2008a, p.266 ff. tables 1-2 fig.2). All known worked
horse bones are metapodials some of them large middle metacarpal or metatarsal bones, others rudimentary
II or IV metapodials (Fig. 8.1).
Artefact type made from horse bones was awls. The
rudimentary metapodials of horse are, owing to their
shape, particularly suitable for making awls, requiring
only slight working. Therefore they have been used for
that purpose in many places and at different times. The
finds from Asva include more than ten such bones, collected as artefact finds, but most of them are broken
at the finer end and so it is not possible to establish
In addition, some worked metapodials are also known.

A horse bone with working traces was found by Piotr Wojtal among the faunal remains from Asva in the
course of the study. It is a metapodial of a young horse
with epiphyses still not ossified (Fig. 8.9). The sides
of the bone have been smoothed by cutting. For example skates have been made from limb bones of horses.
Both metapodials and radii have been used for this purpose. Bone skates are usually dated to a later period
but e.g. in Hungary skates are known dating from the
Bronze Age (Choyke et al. 2004, p.185 fig.15; Choyke
and Schibler 2007, fig.11). It is possible that the bone
in question was intended to be made into a skate but
one cannot be sure about it. No definite skate is hitherto known among the Bronze Age finds in Estonia. A
fragment of a skate was found from Iru (Lang 1996,
plate IX.7; Luik 2000, fig.3.5), and also a couple of
metapodials with working traces, which may be blanks
for skates, but these do not come from the Bronze Age
fortified settlement but from the Viking Age settlement
layer there.
BALTICA 11
whether they have been used as awls or not (about such

problem, although in later period, see e.g. Smirnova
1999, p.149ff). The same can be said about a couple
of such bones found from Ridala. It is sure only about
three points from Asva which bear clear traces of sharpening around their tips (Fig. 8.2-4). Some awls are
made from large middle metapodials by splitting. At
least three such artefacts, one of them unfinished, were
found from Asva (Fig. 8.5-7), and so was the fourth
point, with a head quite worn so that it is not quite sure
whether it was made from horse bone (Fig. 8.8).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
been more than one thread or fibre, which in the course

of work ran around the tip of the antler artefact which
probably was meant to tauten them after which these
threads or fibres ran together and were twirled into a
thicker cord. Probably the use of such tool was necessary to make a cord of even strength and spin as well
as to avoid the ravelling of threads. The occurrence
of such marked use-wear on the surface of artefacts
undoubtedly suggests contacts with strong material as
well as their very intensive and prolonged exploitation.
Which fibre could it be? One possibility is linen thread,
which is obviously strong enough to wear grooves into
antler or bone by prolonged motion. As for some antler points bearing particularly fine spiral lines, it seems
possible that the fibre worked with them could have
been horsehair. For example by a prolonged motion
in a fixed direction sometimes even hair has engraved
fine lines upon the teeth of antler combs (e.g. combshaped pendant from Pada: Luik and Maldre 2005, fig.
21; double simple combs from Otep and Lehmja:
Luik 1998, figs. 30 and 44). Presumably material processed with these antler points was used at making cord
or rope, used at seafaring, fishing or seal hunting. Ethnographic record contains information about the use of
both linen and horsehair cord for making fishing nets
and also for fishing line (Luik forthcoming 2007b).
I
F ro m H or s e
I m age s of the
H or s e a n d
H or s e m e n
Another split metapodial bone seems to be working

scrap rather than kitchen refuse, but it is not possible
to establish which artefact it was intended to be. One
more end of a horse metapodial with cutting traces
(Fig. 8.10) was found among faunal remains by Piotr
Wojtal. The traces may be also connected with flaying.
Although flaying traces known from later periods are
different (finer and smaller), they may have been different in the Bronze Age, depending on used tools.
Comparing data from Estonian sites with the neighbouring countries we may observe that the finds from
Lithuanian fortified settlements that we could study in
the collections of the National Museum of Lithuania
included only a few worked horse bones, and these,
too, were metapodials (Luik and Maldre 2007, p.9ff.
fig.40). In the National History Museum of Latvia we
had a possibility to study bone awls and points from
ivutkalns fortified settlement. Points made from horse
bones were not numerous there, constituting less than
5% of all points; mostly metapodial bones were used,
but some points were made also from horse ulna.
43

Late Bronze Age:
Archaeological Data
LIINA MALDRE
AND
HEIDI LUIK
Fig. 8. The use of horse bones for making artefacts: 1 horse autopodium, after Schmid 1972, pl. XXV; 2-4 awls made from
horse rudimentary II and IV metapodial bones, (Asva, AI 4366: 691, 3658: 535, 4366: 1804); 5-8 awls from III metapodials (Asva, AI 3658: 450, 3307: 113, 3658: 487, 3994: 1469); 9-10 horse metapodials with working-traces (Asva, without
number) (drawing and photographs by Luik).
Summary
What can be said about the exploitation of horse on the
basis of finds from Estonian Bronze Age settlements?
Although horse was apparently used as draught animal, the studied material did not confirm it directly.
The few cheek-pieces prove that horse was used for
riding, although not very widely. The extent of the use
of horse for riding depended most likely also on the
type of landscape. Horse was also used for flesh. Most
likely horse was not essentially a meat animal in Estonia, although it was used as such if necessary.
Besides flesh hide, bones, tendons and horsehair could
also serve as raw materials. Of the mentioned materials only bone is usually preserved in archaeological
44
material and its use can be proved. One must admit,

however, that horse bones were not a widely used raw
material for bone working. It must be mentioned that,
concerning determinable finds, mostly metapodial
bones were used. About other raw materials acquired
from horse only indirect information can be found. For
example cutting traces on one of the bones may indicate flaying. Horsehides were undoubtedly used. Awls,
which are found in large numbers from the Late Bronze
Age settlements (besides horse bones they were also
made from bones of other animals: e.g. Sperling 2006,
p.104 plates L.1-6 and LVII; Lang 2007, fig.71; Luik
forthcoming), also indicate the processing and use of
hides. Antler points with spiral use-wear may suggest
the use of horsehair.
The research was financed by Estonian Science Foundation (grant no. 6898). We are thankful to Piotr Wojtal
who turned attention to bone artefacts in the course of
studying faunal remains from Asva. We would like to
thank Liis Soon who translated this article and Kersti
Siitan who elaborated the illustrations.
Allme, R. and Maldre, L., 2005. Rsna-Saare I kbaskalmistu esialgseid osteoloogilisi andmeid. Setumaa
kogumik. 3 : uurimusi Setumaa loodusest, ajaloost ja folkloristikast = Setumaa symposium. 3 : research into nature,
history and folklore of Setumaa = Setumaaski sbornik 3
: issledovania po prirode, istorii i folkloristike Setumaa.
Tallinn: Ajaloo Instituut, 121-137.
Allme, R., Aun, M. and Maldre, L., 2007a. Cremations of The Culture of Long Barrows in Northern Setumaa
in The Second Half of The First Millenium. Preliminary
results. Humanbiologia Budapestinensis, 30, 113-122.
Allme, R., Aun, M. and Maldre, L., 2007b.
Predvaritelnye rezultaty izuchenia osteologicheskogo
materiala kurgannyh mogilnikov Rysna-Saare I i II v Severnoi Setumaa (Iugo-Vostochnaia Estonia). Arheologia i
istoria Pskova i Pskovskoi zemli. Seminar imeni akademika V. V. Sedova. Materialy LII zasedania, posviashchennogo pamiati professora A. R. Artemeva. Pskov, 298-310.
BK, U., 1992. Bronzezeitliche Geweihknebel in Sdpolen.
Archologisches Korrespondenzblatt, 22: 2, 201-208.
BRADLEY, R., 2005. Ritual and Domestic Life in Prehistoric Europe. London; New York: Routledge.
CHOYKE, A.M. and SCHIBLER, J., 2007. Prehistoric bone
tools and the archaeozoological perspective: research in
Central Europe. In: C. GATES ST-PIERRE, R.B. WALKER, eds. Bones as Tools: Current Methods and Interpretations in Worked Bone Studies. BAR International Series
1622. Oxford: B.A.R., 51-65.
CHOYKE,A.M., VRETEMARK, M.and STEN, S., 2004.
Levels of social identity expressed in the refuse and
worked bone from the Middle Bronze Age Szzhalombatta-Fldvr, Vatya culture, Hungary. In: S.JONES ODAY,
W. VAN NEER, A. ERVYNCK, eds. Behavior Behind
Bones. The Zooarchaeology of Ritual, Religion, Status and
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August 2002. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 177-189.
DEEMANT, K., 1980. Ausgrabungen des Steinkistengrabes
von Proosa. Eesti NSV Teaduste Akadeemia Toimetised.
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DURCZEWSKI, D., 1985. Grd ludnoci kultury uyckiej z
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GRSKI, J. and MAKAROWICZ, P., 2007. Reception of
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I. LASAK, eds. Long Distance Trade in the Bronze Age
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GRAUDONIS, J., 1967. Latviya v epokhu pozdneji bronzy i
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Haak, A., 2007. Loomaluude leiud keskaegses Viljandis:
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Translated by Liis Soon

Abbreviations
AI
Archaeological collections of the Institute of History, Tallinn University

Psalii... A. N. USACHUK, ed. Psalii. Elementy upryazhi
i konskogo snariazheniia v drevnosti. Sbornik statei. Arkheologicheskii almanakh, 15. Donetsk,
2004
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BALTICA 11
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Acknowledgements
I
F ro m H or s e
I m age s of the
H or s e a n d
H or s e m e n
45

Late Bronze Age:
Archaeological Data
LIINA MALDRE
AND
HEIDI LUIK
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Received: 15 January 2009; Revised 22 March 2009;
Liina Maldre
Department of Archaeobiology and Ancient Technology
Institute of History, Tallinn University
Rtli Street 6, 10130 Tallinn
Estonia
E-mail: liina.maldre@ai.ee
Heidi Luik
Department of Archaeobiology and Ancient Technology
Institute of History, Tallinn University
Rtli Street 6, 10130 Tallinn
Estonia
E-mail: heidi.luik@ai.ee
Santrauka
Arklys um svarbi viet bronzos amiaus visuomens gyvenime daugelyje Europos viet. Pabriama
jo ritualin svarba, taip pat jo, kaip turto, susijusio su
statusu, reikmingumas. iame straipsnyje pateikiama
informacijos apvalga apie arklius ir j naudojim Estijos vlyvajame bronzos amiuje. Aptariamasis periodas vlyvasis bronzos amius Estijoje datuojamas
1100500 m. pr. Kr.; tai laikotarpis, kai gyvenviei
struktroje atsiranda pirmosios tvirtintos gyvenviets
(1 pav.).
Kalbant apie archeologin mediag pateikta trumpa
apvalga apie Estijoje rastus arkli kaulus (2 pav.) ir
apie vlyvojo bronzos amiaus tvirtint gyvenviei
radinius, nuodugniau aptariant radinius i Asva ir Ridala gyvenviei Saaremaa saloje (35 pav.). Archeologini radini analiz aptaria su arkliu susijusius
bronzos amiaus kaulinius radinius dviem aspektais:
radinius, susijusius su arklio naudojimu (67 pav.), ir
radinius, pagamintus i arklio kaul (8 pav.).
BALTICA 11
Liina Maldre, Heidi Luik
K galima pasakyti apie arklio naudojim remiantis radiniais i bronzos amiaus gyvenviei? Net jei arklys
akivaizdiai buvo naudojamas kaip traukiamoji jga,
tyrinta mediaga to tiesiogiai nepatvirtina. Keletas
lautuk (6 pav.) rodo, kad irgas buvo naudojamas
jojimui, taiau nelabai plaiai. Arkliai taip pat bdavo naudojami msai; greiiausiai arklys nebuvo grynai
msai skirtas gyvulys Estijoje, nors, kai buvo btina,
arkliena buvo valgoma (34 pav.). Kaip aliava, be
msos, buvo naudojama arklio oda, kaulai, sausgysls
ir autai. I mint produkt archeologinje mediagoje paprastai ilieka tik kaulai, ir j naudojim galima
patvirtinti. Arklio kaulai nebuvo plaiai naudoti kaip
aliava; reikia pridurti, kad pagal itirtus radinius naudoti tik ilgieji galni kaulai (8 pav.). Apie kitus i arklio gaunamus produktus galima rasti tik netiesiogin
informacij. Pavyzdiui, pjovimo yms ant vieno i
kaul atsirado nudiriant od (8: 10 pav.). Arkli odos,
be abejo, buvo naudojamos; ylos, kuri daugyb randama vlyvojo bronzos amiaus gyvenvietse, taip pat
kalba apie od apdirbim ir naudojim. Raginiai smaigai su spiralinmis darbo ymmis (7 pav.) gali rodyti
aut naudojim.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
A R K LY S E S T I J O J E V LY VA J A M E
BRONZOS AMIUJE:
ARCHEOZOOLOGINIAI IR
ARCHEOLOGINIAI DUOMENYS
I
F ro m H or s e
I m age s of the
H or s e a n d
H or s e m e n
Vert Diugas Brazaitis
47
ANDREI V.
ZINOVIEV
H o r s e s f r o m Tw o B u r i a l s i n
Samland and Natangen
( S e c o n d C e n t u r y, K a l i n i n gradskaia Province, Russia)
HORSES FROM TWO BURIALS IN SAMLAND

A N D N ATA N G E N ( S E C O N D C E N T U RY,
KALININGRADSKAIA PROVINCE, RUSSIA)
ANDREI V. ZINOVIEV
Abstract
Single and double-horse burials of second century AD from Samland and Natangen (Kaliningrad region, Russia) are described. All horses were in the good riding age. They bear constitutional similarities with horses from later burials in Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Scandinavia. Despite their small size, horses were used as riding and most likely were buried
with proprietors as afterlife mediators or servants.
Key words: horse, burial, Roman time, age, constitution, Kaliningrad region.
Introduction
The practice of horse burial has been present elsewhere
in continental Europe for about a thousand years prior
to its first appearance in archaeological records in the
area of Baltic tribes, in Sambia and Natangia in particular. It is known from Hallstatt period (800600 BC)
onwards (Grslund 1980, p.48; Shenk 2002, p.3) and
beautifully described in Homers Iliada (Homer 1924,
p.163ff). And if for Greek and Roman world we have
rich written evidences on burial tradition and physical
appearance of horses (see Hyland, 1990, p.189ff for
further literature on the subject), such an information
on Imperial outskirts and adjacent areas, populated by
50
Celtic, Germanic and Slavic tribes is more than scarce

(works by Caesar (10044 BC), Strabo (63/64 BC ca.
AD 24), Ibn Fadhlan (tenth century), Peter von Duisburg (? 1326) contain only hints of information).
Thus, only archaeology can provide us with the main
bulk of data on the subject.
Numerous works on horse burials, connected rituals
and horse physical appearance, exist for the area of
Baltic tribes and adjacent territories (Hollack 1908,
pp.145-193; Heym 1938, pp.10-30; Mller-Wille
1970-1971, pp.119-248; Oexle 1984, pp.122-172;
Amberger, Kokabi 1985, pp.257-280; Benecke 1985,
p.197ff; 2002, pp.187-200; Daugnora 1994, p.12ff;
1996, p.14ff; 1997, p.7ff; Hyland 1994, pp.68-81; Ber-
Fig. 1. The location of Berezovka (Gro Ottenhagen) and Schosseinoe (former Dorf Warten, Kreis Knigsberg) on the map
of Kaliningrad region.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
II
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
Fig. 2. Bones available for study (shown shaded): northern skeleton (A), southern skeleton (B) from Berezovka and
skeleton from Schosseinoe (C).
51
ANDREI V.
ZINOVIEV
Fig. 3. Double burial from Berezovka (former Gro Ottenhagen): NS northern skeleton, SS southern skeleton. Arrow shows preserved metal elements of bridle (photograph by Skvortsov).
ta ius, Daugnora 2001, p.387ff; Shenk 2002, pp.3-83;

von Babo 2004, pp.36-161; Kulakov 2005, p.273ff).
Most of them are dealing with Viking period (eight mid of eleventh century). Therefore, any information
on horses and their burials of earlier times, especially
on those at the beginning of AD, is of a great interest.
Materials and methods

Skeletons of three horses, uncovered by the crew of
Samland-Natangen Archaeological Expedition of Russian Academy of Sciences led by K.N. Skvortsov, from
two burials, have been investigated. Two skeletons of
double burial had been unearthed in 2004 near settlement Berezovka (former Gro Ottenhagen); the third of
a single burial has been discovered in 2007 near settlement Schosseinoe (former Dorf Warten, Kreis Knigsberg) (Fig. 1). First two skeletons are dated back to
the second half of second century AD, while the third
comes from the first half of the same century.
Due to the poor condition of bones, coupled with problems of storage, only a handful of complete bones have
been presented for our research (Fig. 2). This, however, was enough to characterize age, sex and stature
of horses in question. Age has been determined by
tooth wear, especially that of incisors (Levine 1982,
52
p.91ff; Muylle, Lauwers 1999, p.634ff; da Silva et al.

2003, p.103ff). To prove the age determination we also
used data on time of epiphyses and apophyses closure.
Sex determination was mainly based on presence or
absence of canines. However, for southern horse in
double burial, dental row of which was not available
for research in its entirety, morphological features of
pelvis, such as shapes of tuberculum pubicum dorsale
and ramus acetabularis ossis pubis, were taken into
consideration. The withers height and constitution have
been determined by methods of Vladimir Vitt (1952,
p.172ff) and Veniamin Tsalkin (1971, p.178ff) (table).
All measurements have been done according to Angela
von den Driesch (1976, p.92 fig. 44a,b). Anatomical
terms follow Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria (2005).
Results and Discussion

Double burial. Both skeletons were lying in an oval pit,
approximately north-west south-east oriented (Fig.3)
and covered with so-called stone pavement above.
Cremations of suggested slave and proprietor have
been found nearby to the west. Horse skeleton from
the southern part of pit (South skeleton SS) belongs
to the stallion of 3.54 years. Its withers height 129
131 cm attributes the stallion to the Vitts category
undersized. Diaphysis index (14.40) characterizes it
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 4. Horse burial from Schosseinoe (former Dorf Warten Kreis Knigsberg). Arrow shows a postmortem twist in the
thoracic region of vertebral column (photograph by Skvortsov).
Ta b l e 1 . M e a s u r e m e n t s o f e q u e s t r i a n l o n g b o n e s , u s e d i n c a l c u l a t i o n s
of withers height and estimation of constitution
Bone (mm)/Horse
Berezovka NS
Berezovka SS
Schosseinyi
Metacarpus
sin
dex
sin
dex
sin
length
204
208
dex
195
width of proximal epiphysis
47
45
47
width of diaphysis
32
30
35
width of distal epiphysis
47
44
46
Metatarsus
sin
dex
sin
dex
sin
length
239
250
dex
239
width of proximal epiphysis
45
48
46
50
width of diaphysis
37
31
28
32
width of distal epiphysis
45
52
44
44
as a thin-legged according to Tsalkin (1971, p.178ff).

Still having a snuffle in its mouth, SS lies on its right
side with head turned backwards over the left side. In
the contrast with SS, the north skeleton (NS) lies almost on the belly (with some tilt to the left side), with
hind limbs crouched under the croup and the head well
above the rest of the body. NS belongs to the stallion
of an equal age with SS. Its withers height, 126128
cm (short) and middle-leggedness (diaphysis index
15.60) make it a bit smaller but more stumpy than SS.
Skeletons of both horses do not show obvious traces of
mortal wounds.
Single burial contains the complete skeleton of
810-years old stallion (Fig. 4), buried close to the
inhumation of the supposed proprietor. Short, according to its withers height (121123 cm), the stallion has
thick legs (diaphysis index 17.90). It lies on its right
side with flexed legs. As in the case of double burial,
horse skeleton does not show any traces, which could
II
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
clarify the cause of animals death. A twist in thoracic

section of vertebral column is obviously postmortem
(Fig. 4, see arrow mark).
It is still known little on the native early stock of Europe (Hyland 1994, p.3). Besides the possibility of having several independent cases of local domestications
(Vila et al. 2001, p.474ff), horses could be traded or
acquired during wars and migrations. In general, Germanic horses have been considered smaller, than Roman. Julius Caesar reports on them as inferior even
in comparison with Gallic horses. Archaeological data
finely support this opinion. Although it is mainly based
on material from older burials, as it has been mentioned above, it appears that little has been changed in
Germanic and Baltic stocks for over centuries. Horses
from double burial are equal with some from the sixth
to the twelfth centuries burials of Latvia and Germany, whereas the stallion from single burial nicely fits
into Latvia-Central Lithuania group of sixth-twelfth
53
ANDREI V.
ZINOVIEV
Fig. 5. Data on metacarpal lengths and withers height of studied horses: NS northern and SS southern skeletons of
double burial from Berezovka; SB single skeleton from Schosseinoe, positioned on the scheme from Bertaius and
Daugnora (2001).
54
centuries (Fig. 5). All three stallions are undoubtedly

riding horses despite their size. As two slender-legged
horses form double burial can be considered best fitted for riding (southern skeleton still has some element
of riding harness Fig. 3), the stallion from a single
burial, despite its thick legs, is also good for this purpose. Thick legs do not preclude the horse from being
a good military companion. Publius Flavius Vegetius
Renatus (the fourth fifth century) among horses, best
suited for military purposes, named Hunnish, which
were short with gaunt belly and big bones. Age of
the buried horses support the idea that we deal here
with riding horses, which were in use before inhumation. Two horses from double burial just entered the
age of riding, which starts approximately after the end
of third year of equestrian life, whereas this period for
single-burial stallion has not ended yet. Most of the
horses from Roman Period and Early Medieval burials
are stallions and fit into age-span between 3.5-10 years
(Bertaius, Daugnora 2001, p.393 fig. 9; von Babo
2004, p.138 table 25). We can only speculate on causes
of death of buried stallions, as they do not show any
suggestive traces on the bones. Aside from the chance
of wounds made solely to soft tissues, there is still a
high possibility, that these horses have been buried
alive. This practice, when exhausted horse is forced to
the pit, was not unusual among Greeks, Romans and
Scandinavians (see Bertaius, Daugnora 2001 for further literature on the subject). The fact, that harnessed
not partitioned horses were buried with their possible
proprietors, rejects the hypothesis of ritual food offering for deceased. Most likely, horses in question were
either the part of wealth, buried with proprietors and
destined to serve them in afterlife, or mediators, which
would bring them to the heaven (Valhalla and etc.).
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Dr Konstantin Skvortsov (Kaliningrad
Museum of History and Art, Kaliningrad, Russia) for
providing a valuable material for the study. I also would
like to thank Dr Alexander Khokhlov (Tver Scientific
and Restoration Center, Tver, Russia), who supported
this study.
Translated by author
References
Manuscripts
von Babo, V.F., 2004. Pferdebestattungen auf dem frhmittelalterischen Grberfeld Drantumer Muehle (Gemeinde
Emsteck, Kreis Cloppenburg, Niedersachsen). Doktorarbeit. Hannover: Institut fr Anatomie. Tierrztliche Hochschule. Hannover.
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AMBERGER, G., KOKABI, M., 1985. Pferdeskelette aus
den alamanischen Grberfeldern, Giengen an der Brenz
und Kosingen. Fundberichte aus Baden-Wrtemberg,
Stuttgart, 10, 257-280.
BENECKE, N., 1985. Zur Kenntnis der volkerwanderungszeitlichen und frhmittelalterischen Pferde aus den Pferdegrbern Nordost-Polens. Zeitschrift fr Archologie, 19,
197-205.
BENECKE, N., 2002. Zu den Anfngen der Pferdehaltung
in Eurasien. Aktuelle archozoologische Beitrge aus drei
Regionen. Ethnographisch-Archologische Zeitschrift,
43(2), 187-226.
Bertaius, M., Daugnora, L., 2001. Viking age horse
graves from Kaunas region (Middle Lithuania). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 11(6), 387-399.
Received: 21 October 2008; Revised: 20 March 2009;

Andrei V. Zinoviev
Chaikovskogo avenue 70a
Biological Faculty
Tver State University, Tver, Russia 170002
E-mail: m000258@tversu.ru
IRGAI I DVIEJ II A. SEMBOS

I R N ATA N G O S K A P I N Y N
(KALININGRADO SRITIS,
RUSIJA)
BALTICA 11
Vitt, V.O., 1952. Loshadi Pazyrykskikh kurganov. Sovetskaia Arkheologia, 16, 163-205.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
DA SILVA, M.F., GOMES, T., DIAS, A.S., MARQUES,

J.A., JORGE, L.M., FAISCA, J. C., PIRES, G. A., CALDEIRA, R.M., 2003. Estimation of horse age based on
dental features. Revista Portuguesa de Cincias Veterinrias, 98(547), 103-110.
DAUGNORA, L., 1994. Steeds of Marvel burial-ground.
Proceedings of the Conference of the Second Workshop of
the Veterinary Medicine Anatomists of the Baltic and Nordic Countries. Riga, 12-15.
DAUGNORA, L., 1996. Steeds of Marvel burial-ground.
Papers of the Conference of the Third Workshop of the
Veterinary Medicine Anatomists of the Baltic and Nordic
Countries. Tartu, 14-19.
DAUGNORA, L., 1997. Metrical analysis of metacarpals
and metatarsals of horses in Marvel cemetery. Veterinarija ir zootechnika, 3(25), 235-246.
DRIESCH A. VON DEN, 1976. A guide to the measurement
of animal bones from archaeological sites. Cambridge:
Harvard University.
GRAESLUND, A.S., 1980. Birka IV. The burial customs: a
study of the graves on Bjoerkoe. Stockholm: Almquist &
Wiksell Intl.
HEYM, H., 1938. Das Grberfeld Zohpen. Ein Beitrag zur
Volks- und Kulturgeschichte des Nrdlichen ostpreussischen Binnenlandes von 400 bis zur Ordenzeit. Doktorarbeit.
HOLLACK, E., 1908. Die Grabformen ostrpreussischer Grberfelder. Zeitschrift fr Ethnologie, 40(2), 145-193.
HOMER., 1924. The Iliad. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ.
Press.
HYLAND, A., 1990. Equus: the Horse in the Roman World.
London: B.T. Batsford Ltd.
HYLAND, A., 1994. The medieval warhorse from Byzantium
to the Crusades. London: Alan Sulton Publ. Ltd.
KULAKOV, V.I., 2005. Eine verzierte wikingerzeitliche
Trensenstange aus Dollkeim (Kowrovo) im Samland. Archaeologisches Korrespondenzblatt, 35, 273-281.
LEVINE, M., 1982. The use of crown height measurements
and tooth eruption sequences to age horse teeth. In: B.
WILSON, C. GRIGSON, S. PAYNE, eds. Ageing and
sexing animal bones from archaeological sites. British Archaeological Reports, British Ser. Oxford, 91-108.
MLLER-WILLE, W.M., 1970-1971. Pferdegrab und Pferdeopfer im frhen Mittelalter. Berichten van de Rijksdienst
Oudheidkundig voor het Bodenmonderzoek, 20-21, 119248.
MUYLLE, S., LAUWERS, H., 1999. Age-related morphometry of equine incisors. Journal of Veterinary Medicine,
Series A, 46(10), 633-643.
Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria. 2005. Hannover,
Columbia, Gent, Sapporo: Edit. Comm.
OEXLE, J., 1984. Merowingerzeitliche Pferdebestattungen
Opfer oder Beigaben? Frhmittelalterliche Studien, 18,
122-172.
SHENK, P., 2002. To Valhalla by Horseback? Horse burial
in Scandinavia during the Viking Age. Ms. thesis. Oslo:
Univ. Oslo.
Tsalkin, V.I., 1971. Nekotoye itogi izuchenia kostnykh ostatkov zhivotnykh iz raskopok Moskvy. In: N.N. Voronin, M.G. Rabinovich, eds. Drevnosti Moskovskogo
Kremlia. Materialy i issledovania po arkheologii Moskvy.
oskva, 164-185.
VILA, C., LEONARD, J.A., GTHESTRM, A.,
MARKLUND, S., SANDBERG, K., LIDEN, K., WAYNE, R. K., ELLEGREN, H., 2001. Widespread Origins of
Domestic Horse Lineages. Science, 291(5503), 474-477.
Andrei V. Zinoviev
Santrauka
Nepaisant irg laidojimo praktikos egzistavimo balt kratuose romnikuoju laikotarpiu, dabartinje
literatroje aptinkama vien uuomin apie pat irg. Beriozovka ir oseinyj vietovse (Kaliningrado
sritis, Rusija) aptikti trij irg skeletai suteikia verting duomen apie romnikojo laikotarpio irgus
Sambijos ir Natangijos kultroje. Kapai datuojami II
amiumi. irgai buvo palaidoti netoliese galim j savinink. Pirmajame kape rasti dviej eril skeletai.
Abu irgai beveik neabejotinai buvo jojamieji: tai rodo
aptikti pakinkt fragmentai ir jojimui tinkamas amius
(3, 54 metai). Atskirame kape palaidotas senas, 810
met, erilas taip pat laikytinas jojamuoju. Nors jo emas gis ir storos kojos iandienins kavalerijos standartais neleist io irgo priskirti jojamiesiems, tokia
fizin konstitucija labai artima hun irgams, kuriuos
romnikojo laikotarpio specialistai laiko efektyviais
karo irgais. Panas irgai bdingi kaimyniniams
regionams (Vokietija ir Lietuva) viking laikotarpiu.
irg kauluose neaptikta poymi, kurie leist nustatyti j mirties prieast. Kamanot irg laidojimo
alia galim savinink faktas leidia atmesti ritualinio
maisto mirusiesiems hipotez. Labiausiai tiktina, kad
irgai, bdami gerovs dalimi, buvo laidojami alia j
savinink, kad iems tarnaut pomirtiniame gyvenime,
arba atliko tarpinink, gabenani juos Dausas, vaidmen.
II
R iding to
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H orses from
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55
The Role of Horse Burials

in the Bogaczewo Culture.
Key Studies of Paprotki
K o l o n i a S i t e 1 C e m e t e r y,
Northeast Poland
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak
THE ROLE OF HORSE BURIALS

I N T H E B O G A C Z E W O C U LT U R E .
K E Y S T U D I E S O F PA P R O T K I K O L O N I A
S I T E 1 C E M E T E RY, N O RT H E A S T P O L A N D
Magorzata Karczewska, Maciej Karczewski and
Anna Grzak
Abstract
The paper presents the problem of archaeological, archaeozoological and anthropological interpretations of horse burials from
the Roman Period cemeteries from the Bogaczewo Culture (Masurian Lakeland) territory. It is presented on the basis of the
multidisciplinary research of the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia located in the heart of Bogaczewo Culture territory.
Key words: Horse, ritual, Roman Period, archaeology, archaeozoology.
Archaeological observations1
The cemetery of Bogaczewo Culture in Paprotki Kolonia site 1 is one of the best preserved cemeteries from
the Roman Period in the Masurian Lakeland. Archaeological research of the cemetery began in 1991. So far,
534 human graves and 11 horse graves have been discovered there.2
Horse graves occupied three clearly distinct zones. The
largest one was situated in the middle part of the cemetery. On both sides of this zone there were clusters
All archaeological and archaeozoological analysis of horse
graves from the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia presented in
this paper were conducted within the grant No. 1 H01H
003 29 Sacrum et nature. The results of investigations
of the Bogaczewo Culture cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia
in the Great Masurian Lakes District financed by Polish
Ministry of Science and Higher Education, implemented at
the University of Bialystok.
2
So far the information on results of excavations at the
cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia were published in: BitnerWrblewska 1999, pp.109-114; Bitner-Wrblewska, Karczewska 2007, p.349ff; Bitner-Wrblewska et al. 2001,
pp.65-85; Grzak 2007, p.356ff, 359ff and 367; Grzak
et al. 2003(2006), p.243ff; Informator Archeologiczny
1997a, p.73ff; 1997b, p.58ff; 1998a, p.61ff; 1998b, p.58ff;
2005, p.182; 2006, p.153ff; Karczewska 1996, p.105ff;
Karczewska, Karczewski 2003, p.75ff; 2006, p.35ff;
2007a, pp.627-642; 2007b, pp.195-217; Karczewska et al.
2007, p.65; Karczewski 1997a, p.23ff fig.2; 1997b, pp.312
and 315; 1997c, pp.130 and 134-137, p.162 fig.III.3-16,
IV.1-15, map 2; 1999; 2001, pp.28, 41 and 103 with map
5; 2002; 2006, p. 55, 56; 2008, p. 42-45; Karczewski et
al. 2007, p.78ff; Karczewski et al. 2007a, p.75ff; Karczewski et al. 2007b, p.182ff; Mitkowska-Szubert 1996;
Nowakowski 1995, pp.39, 40 and 43; Nowakowski 2001,
p.85ff; Piasecki 2001, p.86; 2007, p.350ff; Szymaski
2000, pp.115-129, 131, 133-135, 144, 161-164 and 173183 fig.I.
1
56
of human graves containing the earliest burials. This

confirms the allotment of this zone already at the time
that the first burials took place in the cemetery. The
second zone was located on the south-eastern edge of
the cemetery, and the third on the south-western edge
(Fig. 1).
Eleven horses in the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia
were buried in rectangular or oval burial pits. In roofs
of two of them graves 290 and 398 a layer of stones
was found. Stones were from 10 to 30 centimetres
in diameter. Stone structures are also found in roofs
of horse graves at other sites of the Bogaczewo Culture, in the cemeteries in Mojtyny (Hollack, Peiser
1904, p.57) and in Wyszembork at sites II and IVa
(Szymaski 2001, p.104, Rogalska 2002, p.21). Horse
graves in the burial site in Paprotki Kolonia were usually oriented along the NE SW axis, and rarely along
the NW SE axis (grave 356), with horses head in the
south part of their burial pit. Such arrangement of a
horse body is typical for horse burials in the West Baltic Cultural Circle (Pitkowska-Maecka 2000, p.190;
Grzak 2007, p.366ff). Only grave 320 is an exception
to this rule, as the horse body was oriented along the
EW axis, with its head at west direction.
Animals were reposed in their burial pits in two positions. In the first one, called abdominal dorsal position, an animal lay on its stomach, a bit tilted to the
right. Horses in this position were found in at least two
graves (215 and 251). These animals had their legs
under their bodies. Horses in the second position lay
on their right (rarely left) side, with their forelimbs
bent and their hind limbs straightened. Their legs were
placed side by side in both leg pairs which may suggest
that they had been bound before they were put into the
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 1. The map of the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia site 1 (excavated in 19912007) with the location and C-14 dating of
horse graves (after Karczewska, Karczewski 2007).
grave or that their bodies were deliberately arranged in

a carefully planned, well-ordered position.
The arrangement of a horse body in its grave may indicate the way in which it was buried, as well as the
preceding ritual activities. The zoologists who investigate horse burials associate the first of the position
with burying animals alive (Krysiak, Serwatka 1970,
p.219). The arrangement of skeletons in horse graves
in the burial grounds of the Bogaczewo Culture does
not imply that the animals tried to get out of their grave
cavities. Because of there is not any evidence for that,
it is possible that the horse was completely weakened,
intoxicated or tied up before placing into the grave pit.
Even if such practices occurred, they must coexisted
with burying dead animals, and sometimes only parts
of their bodies.
In case of horse graves in Paprotki Kolonia there were
some evidences pointing to the possibility that the horses had been killed and quartered. Killing of a horse,
probably already inside the grave pit, has been affirmed
in the case of grave 215 (Fig. 1; 2; table 3).The horse
skeleton from the grave 215 had unnatural arrangement of the cervical vertebrae. Vertebra C5 was turned
90 degrees right of its standard anatomical position and
vertebra C6 was broken. These abnormalities can suggest that the animal was killed by breaking its neck. It
is less possible, that the horses neck was broken when
the dead animal was placed into the grave pit.
The horse skeleton from grave 290 diverges from the

norm even more (Fig. 1; 3; table 11). The horse was
placed on its right side. Unfortunately, the grave was
destroyed when the trenches were being dug during
World War I and only the east part of the burial pit survived. Only the cranium and the right side of the postcranial skeleton (cervical and thoracic vertebrae, ribs
and bones belonging to the right forelimb) were found
in the grave pit (Table 11). It means that the animal
was halved in sagittal plane. The horse lay on its right
side. Moreover, the cranium was about forty centimetres away west of vertically placed vertebra C1, and
with its teeth facing the vertebra. The horses head had
been cut off and placed with teeth in the direction of
its back. Everything was covered with a layer of several stones. The remaining untouched graves included
complete or almost complete skeletons (Tables 3; 7;
13; 17; 19 and 21; Figs. 25 Plate I.25).
Partial horse burials occurred in the grave 30A in
Netta, dating from the late Roman Period (Bitner-Wrblewska 2007, p.18) and from barrow 76 in Osowa,
from the early Migration Period (Jaskanis, Jaskanis
1961, p.172). They were also common in cemeteries
on the territory of Lithuania. Three types of horse burials from between the eight and the 11th centuries AD
were found near Kaunas: complete, partial (only a head
or a head with forelimbs was buried), and the burials
of fragmented scattered bones (Bertaius, Daugnora
II
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
57
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
For the first time in the history of research

on cemeteries of the Bogaczewo Culture
searches for macroscopic plant remains in
grave pits were undertaken at the cemetery
in Paprotki Kolonia. In the case of graves
containing skeletal burials of horse these
searches led to the discoveries of:
in grave 290, at the level of the front part
of the horses skeleton, harred fragments
of tall oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius), a
grass whose grains are of high nutritional
value,
in grave 320, charcoals from: birch (Betula
sp.), European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and
bark.4
Fig. 2. The location of a horse skeleton in grave 215

(photograph by Karczewski).
Whats more two clusters of charcoal located by the horses pelvic limbs and at the
point of crossing of the thoracic limbs and
pelvic limbs were discovered in grave 442.
Charcoals found next to the horses pelvic
limbs came from birch (Betula sp.) and
oak (Quercus sp.), while those found at the
place of crossing of the thoracic and pelvic
limbs came from pine (Pinus sylvestris) and
oak (Quercus sp.). The lack of traces of fire
on the bones of the horses limbs indicates
that either these charcoals came from fires
lit inside the grave pit before the horse was
laid there or that they were poured into it
during the ritual connected with sacrificing
the animal.
2001, p.390). But there is no any horse burial similar

to grave 290 from the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia.
One of the most important feature of horse graves from
the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia is the completely lack
of equipment. Establishing the chronology of burials
was possible on the basis of C14 dating (Fig. 1).3 The
oldest horse graves are dated to 218530 BP (grave
175) and 2010 30 BP (grave 254), while the youngest
grave is dated to 1760 30 BP (grave 398). This means
that horses were buried in the cemetery throughout a
period of 300-400 years, with the oldest burials laid already at the time of the establishment of the cemetery,
in the turn of the eras.
The C14 dating of eleven horse graves from the cemetery

in Paprotki Kolonia was financed by Foundation for Polish
Science within the program NOVUM.
58
Archaeozoological
observations
The archaeozoological analysis concerned 11 horse
skeleton graves found in the burial ground in Paprotki
Kolonia.5 Three of the analysed objects had already
undergone archaeozoological research at the Environmental Archaeology Unit, Institute of Archaeology,
Warsaw University (Zajkowska 1999).
The osteological material was identified anatomically
and zoologically (Driesch, Boessneck 1974). The age
was estimated according to the criteria established by
Kolda (1936) and Lutnicki (1972). The bones were
All palaeobotanical analysis were made by Dr Aldona
Bieniek, MA Katarzyna Cywa and MA Zofia Tomczyska
from the Wladyslaw Szafer Institute of Botany Polish
Academy of Sciences in Cracow.
5
Authors realize that 11 horse skeletons dated from 3-4
centuries are not a representative for statistic test. So all
remarks made on this base must be regarded as an assumption.
4
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 4. The location of a horse skeleton in grave 320 ( photograph by Karczewski).
II
R iding to
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H orses from
B urials
Fig. 5. The location of a horse skeleton in grave 398 (photograph by Karczewski).
59

Northeast Poland
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak
measured according to the unified Drieschs method

(1976). The measurements helped to calculate the
withers height according to Kiesewalters coefficient
(quoted after Lasota-Moskalewska 1997, p.156). Metacarpal slenderness was calculated by means of the
metacarpal slenderness indices (Cakin 1972, quoted
after Kobry 1984, p.29). Horse morphology was reconstructed by using the point-scale method devised by
Kobry (1989). The method also served to estimate the
morphological resemblance of the animals. The withers height of a particular individual was converted into
points of the point scale method and compared with
the separate measurements of the long bones (radial
bone, tibial bone and metapodial bone) of the animal.
The similarity scale consisted of the values determined
by the withers height 10 points. The measurements
within this range were marked with ~ in the animal
morphology tables, higher measurements with +
and lower with -. The marks connected with animal
illnesses were also described.
The research concerned 11 horse skeletons (Catalogue,
Tables 1-22). The sex of 10 animals was reconstructed all of them were males. The age range was wide
as there were relatively young individuals, killed at
the age of 5, as well as some very old horses (1721
years old). Adult animals (between 5 and 9 years old)
prevailed and only foals were missing. Similar age
distribution concerns horses from other burial sites of
the West Baltic Cultural Circle (Pitkowska-Maecka
2000, p.192). The age distribution of horses buried at
the Bogaczewo Culture cemeteries almost precisely
concur with the age distribution in the case of present
herds.
60
The withers height of horses buried in Paprotki Kolonia site 1, varied and ranged from about 115-127
centimetres (the horse from grave 442, Table 22) to
139143 centimetres (the horse from grave 320, Table 14). According to the division devised by Kobry
(1984) the horses were small (below 131 cm), small
medium (132135 cm), and large medium (136142
cm) and they were similar in size to tarpan and konik
/ Polish pony (a small Polish horse, a kind of semiwild pony). According to Kownacki (1963, quoted after Kobry 1984, p.61) this kind of a horse reach the
withers height of 128135 centimetres, and according
to Vetulani (1928) about 138 centimetres, whereas
tarpans described by Gromowa (quoted after LasotaMoskalewska, Perlikowska-Puszkarska 1994, p.195)
were 133136 centimetres high. The measurements
for the horses from the burial ground in Paprotki Kolonia calculated into points of the point-scale method
fall within the same height ranges. Single animals were
smaller or higher but it must be pointed out that tarpan withers height is only an estimate, as it was cal-
culated on the basis of limited osteological material.

Polish pony withers height does not seem to be well
established (Kobry 1984, p.61). Therefore, when the
measurements of horses from archaeological sites are
compared with those of Polish ponies, one has to bear
in mind that they vary greatly depending on different
breeding condition (Herman 1930, quoted after Koby
1984, p.62). It must also be stressed that the withers
heights reconstructed on the basis of the excavated
osteological material are approximate, and sometimes
a particular individual is given a wide withers height
estimate. This situation concerns the horse from grave
442. Its withers height estimate, based on the combined humerus, radius, femur, tibia, metacarpus and
metatarsus lengths, ranges between about 115 and
127 centimetres (Table 22). The withers height of the
horses from the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia was calculated according to Kiesewalters coefficients, which
had been determined on the basis of observation of
primitive horse breeds living in Europe at the end of
the 19th century. Therefore, the wide range of withers
height of the horse from grave 442 may be attributable
to the different proportions of particular bones of this
individual in comparison with the average proportions
of the same bones in the animal population analysed
by Kieselwalter. The withers heights of the horse from
grave 442 calculated on the basis of its radial and tibial
bone measurements are similar (123.7 and 127.3, respectively); the measurements of the metapodial bones
gave a bit lower estimations (withers height of 118.6
cm for the metacarpal bone and 121 cm for the metatarsal bone), whereas the lowest withers height (about
115 cm) was obtained after calculating the measurements of the humeral and femoral bones. It suggests
that this particular horse from the burial site in Paprotki Kolonia had different proportions of the stylopodial
part of the forelimb to its zeugopodial part and to the
metapodial part of both the forelimb and the hind limb
than the analogous proportions commonly encountered
in the animals examined by the German zoologist. In
order to show more clearly the differences in the length
and width dimensions of the long bones of particular
animals buried in the burial site, the absolute values
were calculated into points (Tables 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12,
14, 16, 18, 20 and 22). The analysis showed that horses
from graves 251 (Table 8) and 442 (Table 22) had a
similar morphotype; they had relatively longer radial
bones than metacarpal bones, while their tibial bones
and metatarsal bones were similar in length. In case of
animals from graves 215 (Table 4) and 320 (Table 14),
lengths of the zeugopodial elements (that is, the radial
bone and the tibial bone) were proportionally bigger
than the lengths of metapodial elements. The condition
of the horse bones from grave 254 (Table 10) enabled
A similar analysis was carried out on the basis of the

length dimensions of horse bones from the burial site
in Stoczno, dated to the Migration Period (LasotaMoskalewska, Perlikowska-Puszkarska 1994, p.197).
It revealed that dimensions of radial and tibial bones
were bigger than those of metapodial bones. Similar
results were obtained on examining the variability of
horse morphological features on the basis of horse osteological material from the sites on the present Polish
territory (Kobry 1984). As for the forelimb, the degree
of changes with time (from the Neolithic Period to the
Middle Ages) was lower for proximal parts and bigger
for distal parts. This was not the case for the hind limb
which may indicate different bio-mechanical function
of the forelimb and hind limb, resulting in bigger susceptibility of the hind limb to environmental factors
(Kobry 1984, p.64).
Another analysis concerned metacarpal slenderness according to Brauners coefficients (quoted after Kobry
1984, p.29). Metacarpal slenderness indices were calculated for 8 horses from the burial ground in Paprotki
Kolonia and pointed up the differences in the morphotypes of animals. Most metacarpal bones fell into
Brauners slightly massive- and slender legged categories (3 individuals in each group), while the categories
of massive- and medium slender legged horses were
represented by one individual each.
Pathological changes which made an animal unique

sometimes marked it to become a sacrificial animal
(Wgrzynowicz 1982, p.110). One ill animal was buried at the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia. Bone hyperplasia following a chronic inflammatory condition was
found on the cervical and thoracic vertebrae and the tarsal joint of the horse from grave 221. Bone hyperplasia
leads to ankylosis (deformation and stiffening of the
spine), which greatly affects an animals physical fitness. In case of this particular individual, the vertebrae
did not fuse and only tarsal joint fusion was observed,
which did not influence much the animals physical fitness. Signs of inflammatory condition found on bones
may be the consequence of using these animals for riding, since this particular pathology is more likely to occur in riding horses than in non-exploited individuals.
The appearance of ill animals in graves is not necessarily connected with deliberate selection of crippled and
ill horses for sacrificial animals; it can be the result of
burying riding horses and in this particular case it may
be attributable to the horses advanced age.
Horse graves from the burial site in Paprotki Kolonia
reveal certain similarities to other burials of the Bogaczewo Culture but some differences are also found (Rogalska 2002; Zajkowska 1999; Grzak 2007). As for
the similarities, all burial pits are of the same shape
and are similarly oriented. They show no relations to
human graves. Male individuals are preferred as sac-
BALTICA 11
The third analysis concerned the extent to which the

individual dimensions of long bones belonging to a
particular horse deviate from the value determined by
the withers height, calculated on the basis of length dimensions of long bones. Values higher than expected
regarded the majority of breadth dimensions: six times
the shaft breadth, four times the proximal part breadth,
and four times the distal part breadth. The metacarpal
bone length dimension of the horse from grave 356 was
the only exception as its value was bigger than the approximate relative withers height range of the animal.
Values lower than the established withers height range
also concerned mostly breadth dimensions: distal part
breadth four times, shaft breadth three times, proximal part breadth twice, and only once they concerned
the length dimension of a bone. These data suggest that
the morphological type of horses buried in Paprotki
Kolonia was not homogenic. Animals differed in the
metacarpal slenderness. The observed variety of morphotypes indicates unstable population dynamics. It
may have been caused by the possible control (usage)
of animals which can have been selected by their users. The increase in dimension variability is believed
to be an indicator of the early domestication (Benecke
1998). Wild populations exhibit lower variability of
bone dimensions.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
the analysis of the forelimb only, and the condition of

the horse bones from grave 398 (Table 20) of the hind
limb. In case of the former animal, the length dimensions of its radial bones were similar to the analogous
dimensions of its metacarpal bones, whereas the latter
had similar length dimensions of tibial bones and metatarsal bones. Similar analyses are impossible for horses
from other graves, as the bones in question either had
not been found or had been preserved in fragments
only. The analysis shows that horses had different
morphotypes. Two morphotypes were distinguished,
characterised by substantial differences in the length
of individual bones belonging to a particular animal.
In the first morphotype length dimensions of radial
bones are relatively bigger than the length dimensions
of metacarpal bones, whereas parametres describing
tibial bones and metatarsal bones are even (two horses
from graves 251 and 442). The length dimensions of
radial and tibial bones of a particular individual bigger than the length dimensions of its metacarpal and
metatarsal bones are typical of the second morphotype
(two horses from graves 215 and 320, and maybe also
the horse from grave 398). As for the horse from grave
254, proportions of its forelimb do not match any of
the presented morphotypes. It could have been an example of a fully developed type, with similar measurements of all analysed bones.
II
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
61

Northeast Poland
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak
rificial animals and there is no age selection. As far as

the differences are concerned, the analysed burials lack
equipment. The research which has been carried out
so far point to the wide range of withers height of the
sacrificial horses. It is also worth mentioning that the
buried horses vary in morphotype which may be the
result of length of their control by man.
The role of horse burials

in Bogaczewo Culture
The fundamental questions connected with graves containing horse burials are those concerning the reasons
for burying them and the criteria for the selection of
specimens. Hitherto literature indicated sex as the only
criterion for selection (Grzak 2007, p.359). It appears
that the maturity of the male could have constituted
another criterion. The skeletons found in the graves in
cemeteries of the Bogaczewo Culture were exclusively
those belonging to horses, adult, of different ages.6 On
the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia the youngest horse
was 5 years old when died, and the oldest was very
old. The horse from the grave 221 was handicapped
in respect of movement because of the illness, which
lead to the hyperplasia of neck and chest vertebra and
tarsus.
The morphological features do not provide the grounds
for determining if these were wild or livestock animals (Lasota-Moskalewska 1997, p.94; PitkowskaMaecka 2000, p.191ff). It is possible both: that horses
from the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia were stallions
captured from wild herds or they were domestic or
tame animals. As it was mentioned above some results
of archaeozoological analysis suggests that discussed
animals might be domesticated. We can also surmise
that these horses were specially destined for the sacral
purpose.
The reasons for burying horses in the cemeteries of
the Bogaczewo Culture, despite the attempts made,
have not been explained yet (Jaskanis 1974, p.248ff;
Pitkowska-Maecka 2000, p.190ff). In contrast to the
cemeteries of the Sudovian Culture (Jaskanis 1966,
p.49), it is impossible to indicate a direct connection
between a horse burial and a specific human grave.
Therefore, it is not likely that these horses were simply
burial offerings accompanying male burials, including the graves of warriors. The role of horse burials
in the sphere of magical beliefs, and the votive sphere,
emphasising the role of the horse as a symbol of vital
The only one exception is the horse from the object 120
discovered in Wyszembork site II. A skeleton of an animal
in the age of less than 3.5 years was found there. But it
must be noted that this object was situated outside of the
cemetery.
62
force and fertility was stressed (Jaskanis 1966, pp.50

and 55; 1974, pp.148-250).
In the case of the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia the
horizontal and vertical stratigraphy indicates that horse
burials were used for delimitation and dividing of
the sacrum space (Fig. 1). They were located in three
clearly distinct zones probably defined in the moment
of establishing the cemetery.
However, there is no visible regularity in the chronology of the graves which would point to the burial of
subsequent horses in a specific order. Two oldest burials (graves 175 and 254) were located in the southern
part of the central cluster of horse graves. Successive
burials (graves 215 and 221) in this cluster, which are
in one row with graves 175 and 154, became progressively younger to the north. The grave located in the
most extreme northern part of this cluster (grave 442)
was, however, older than graves 215, 251 and 254,
which constituted the central part of the cluster. The
interpretation of the spatial development of the central
cluster of horse graves is also greatly hampered by the
fact that a considerable part of it has probably been
destroyed by a dug-out made in the 1940s.
Three graves located on the south-eastern and eastern
edge of the cemetery (graves 320, 356 and 398) were
created in the space of about 200 years with the oldest
one situated in the south-western part of the cluster and
the younger one in the north-western part.
Rather interesting is the chronology of two graves located in the south-western part of the cemetery (graves
290 and 369). They were created within a very short
time interval or were simply created simultaneously.
The dating and distribution of horse graves in the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia indicate that there might
have been some connection between these graves and
the clusters of human graves in the vicinity of which
they have been located. In such a case horse sacrifices
were probably made by those members of the community, which buried its dead in the cemetery in Paprotki
Kolonia, who had the closest ties to the deceased buried in a given cluster or several neighboring clusters
of graves.
Conclusions
The horse graves from the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia shows certain similarities to other burials of the
Bogaczewo Culture but some differences are also
found. As for the similarities, all burial pits were of
the same shape and similarly oriented. They show no
simple relations to human graves. All the horse burials
from the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia, contained skel-
It is very likely that burying live horses and horses

killed earlier in the cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia took
place at times of particularly great significance for the
community which buried its dead in that cemetery. The
chronology of horse graves shows that these were not
cyclical sacrifices made at regular intervals. Whereas
the places of horse burials were precisely defined in the
space of the cemetery.
Catalog of horse burials from the

cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia site 1
Grave 175 (Tables 1 and 2; Fig. 6)
The horse skeleton was found at the bottom of a pit
oriented along a NESW axis. The upper part of the
pit was damaged. The animal lay on its left side, hind
limbs straight. The arrangement of the forelimbs is unknown. No equipment has was found accompanying
the horse skeleton. The northernmost part of the grave
pit had been damaged by the digging of grave 242 dated to phase B2/C1C1a. Results of radiocarbon dating of
the horse skeleton: 218530 BP.
The preserved skeleton was nearly complete. Three
incisors were missing. The cranium, mandible as well
as elements of the axial skeleton were preserved frag-
BALTICA 11
A feature which distinguishes the horse graves in Paprotki Kolonia from burials of this type known from
other cemeteries is the complete absence of equipment. Another feature, which has not been recorded
in other cemeteries of the Bogaczewo Culture, was the
use of plants and lighting fires or pouring charcoals into
grave pits in the ritual connected with burying horses.
mentarily. Only fragments of the scapulas, the pelvis and the right femur were found. Most of the limb
bones were represented in pairs. The recorded absence
of some fragments is probably due to the bad state of
preservation of the bones. Part of the osteological material was highly fragmented, which made anatomical
identification impossible. On the basis of the degree
of attrition of the incisor cups it was determined that
the horse was about 7 years old. The presence of welldeveloped canines indicates that the buried animal
was a male. Withers height: 136.7145.1 cm (Table
2). The metacarpal index was 15.22, which according
to Brauners criteria classifies the described animal as
medium slender-legged.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
etons of adult males, from relatively young individuals

to very old. Horses laid in graves in other cemeteries
of the West Baltic Cultural Circle were also male. In
morphological terms they are analogous to horses resembling the contemporary Polish ponies or to the extinct tarpan type.

The horse skeleton was found at the bottom of a big
pit which had a ceiling outline similar to a rectangle,
nearly vertical walls and a flat base. The skeleton was
oriented along a NESW axis, the head to the SW. It
lay in an abdominal-dorsal position (on the abdomen,
slightly tilted to the left side, resting against the grave
pit wall) with flexed limbs. The right forelimb was
slightly stretched out to the side in a northern direction,
the left one was positioned under the horses neck. The
horses head lay in a vertical position with the muzzle
directed downwards. The arrangement of the cervical
vertebrae differed from the anatomical arrangement.
The fifth cervical vertebra had been twisted 90 to the
right from its natural position, the sixth was broken.
There was no equipment accompanying the horse skeleton. Results of radiocarbon dating of the horse skeleton: 182530 BP.
II
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
The preserved horse skeleton was complete. The horse

was a male, aged about 7. Withers height estimated on
the basis of the dimensions of five long bones fell within the range of 133135 cm (Table 4). The metacarpal
index was 16.74, which according to Brauners criteria
classifies the described animal as massive-legged.
Grave 221 (Tables 5 and 6; Plate I.4)

The horse skeleton was found at the bottom

of a pit which closely fit the size of the animal, with an oval ceiling outline. The extent
of the grave pit with the oval outline of the
ceiling closely corresponded to the shape
and size of the skeleton. The skeleton was
oriented along a NESW axis. The animal
lay on its left side with the head directed
SE, muzzle directed E. Its forelimbs were
bent, the right limb next to the mandible,
63
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
Ta b l e 1 . H o r s e b o n e r e m a i n s f r o m g r a v e 1 7 5
Element of skeleton
Right
Left
5 pieces
Cranium
Hyoid bone
11 pieces
Mandible
I 9, C 4, P + M 24
Teeth
7 pieces of v. c. and v. th
Vertebrae
Sternum
A lot of pieces
Ribs
5 pieces of right and left bones
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
2 pieces
Ulna
6 left and right bones
Carpals
1 bone
1 bone
Metacarpus III
1 bone
1 bone
Phalanx I, forelimb
1 bone + 1 piece
Phalanx II, forelimb
1 bone + 1piece
Phalanx III, forelimb
1 piece
Pelvis
2 piece
Femur
1 bone
1 bone
Patella
1 piece
1 piece
Tibia
Fibula
1 bone
1 bone
Calcaneus
1 bone
1 bone
Talus
4 bones
4 bones
Tarsals
1 bone
2 pieces
Metatarsus III
8 pieces of 4 bones
Metacarpus II, IV;
Metatarsus II, IV
7 bones
Sesamoideal bones
1 bone
1 bone
Phalanx I,
hind limb
1 bone
1 bone
Phalanx II,
hind limb
1 piece
1 piece
Phalanx III,
hind limb
Unidentified bones
A lot of small pieces
the left limb away from the right one, closer to the hind
limbs. The hind limbs were straight and arranged in
a south-east direction. The eastern part of the pit had
been damaged by a modern object. The posterior part
of the skeleton was damaged (Tables 5; 6). The burial
was deposited directly under the arable layer, which
led to the damage of the cerebral part of the cranium
as well as the atlas and axis. No equipment has been
found accompanying the horse skeleton. Results of radiocarbon dating of the horse skeleton: 192030 BP.
64
As a result of the disturbance of the grave pit by a modern pit, the skeleton was only partially preserved (Table 5). Nearly all bone elements from the undamaged
part of the skeleton have been described. The only
missing elements were phalanges II and III of the right
hind limb and small elements, e.g. sesamoideal bones,
which might have been destroyed in the ground or
overlooked during exploration. The horses bones were
Grave 175 horse skeleton, a view from the right side.
Grave 175 horse skeleton, a view from the left side.
characterized by a bad state of preservation, relatively

few fragments of vertebrae and ribs were found. Many
bone chips have not been anatomically identified.
The horse was a male aged 1721. Withers height estimated on the basis of the dimensions of three long
bones fell within the range of 127.6133 cm. The metacarpal index was 15.87, which according to Brauners
criteria classifies the described animal as slightly massive-legged.
On the preserved cervical and thoracic vertebrae on
the abdominal side there was an osteophyte, probably
caused by a stiffening inflammation of the vertebrae
- spondylitis (spondylitis) (Zajkowska 1999, p.24).
Lesions were also recorded on tarsal and metatarsal
bones. As a result of deforming proliferative stiffening
inflammation of the tarsal joint known as bone spavin
(arthropathia deformans et ankylopoetica tarsi) there
was a symphysis between two tarsal bones.
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Calcaneus
Talus
Metatatarus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Measurement
Length of the glenoid cavity LG

Breadth of the glenoid cavity BG
Smallest length of collum SLC
Greatest length GL
Greatest length of the lateral part GLI
Breadth of the proximal end Bp
Breadth of the distal end Bd
Smallest breadth of diaphysis SD
Greatest length GL
Length of the lateral part LI
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Length of the dorsal surface Ld
Diagonal length of the sole DLS
Height in the region of the extensor process HP
Length of acetabulum LA
Greatest length GL
Greatest length from caput GLC
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest height GH
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
/mm/
Right
Left
Withers
height
/cm/
289
298
87
335
315
85
230
215
50
50
35
85
55
45
36
230
215
50
50
35
-
45
52
50
-
145,1
Points
70
70
53,3
56,6
50
~
~
35
40
45
~
~
~
136,7
137,8
BALTICA 11
Bone
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Ta b l e 2 . M o r p h o l o g i c a l d a t a c o n c e r n i n g t h e h o r s e f r o m g r a v e 1 7 5
73
73
-
110
67
60
269
263
49
51
32
81
57
53
33
47
51
47
40
-
110
65
60
269
263
49
51
32
82
55
43
32
46
50
46
40
65
59
/60/
40
140,2
II
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
57,7
60
65
70
-
~
~
~
40
40
40
40
-
~
~
~
~
65
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
Element of skeleton
Cranium
Hyoid bone
Mandible
Teeth
Vertebrae
Sternum
Ribs
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Carpals
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I, forelimb
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Fibula
Calcaneus
Talus
Tarsals
Metatarsus III
Metacarpus II, IV;
Metatarsus II, IV
Sesamoideal bones
Phalanx I, hind
Limb
Phalanx II, hind limb
Phalanx III, hind limb
Unidentified bones
Right
Left
Almost whole cranium + 108
small pieces
23 pieces
I 12, C 4, P+M 24
196 pieces of 38 vertebrae + 19
pieces of sacrum
10 pieces
232 pieces of 36 ribs
1 bone
8 pieces
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
11 bones
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
30 pieces
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
7 bones
1 bone
1 bone
11 pieces of 8 bones
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
About 200 pieces

which had a ceiling outline similar to a rectangle. It
was oriented along a NESW axis. The skeleton lay
on its right side, the head to the SW and muzzle to the
S. The forelimbs were bent at the elbow joint while
the hind limbs were straight, arranged alongside the
trunk and directed SW. No equipment was found accompanying the horse skeleton. The easternmost edge
of the grave pit had been disturbed during the digging
of the pits of graves 236 and 237. The chronology of
the complex has been determined, on the basis of the
66
equipment found in the grave, to phase B2a. Results of

radiocarbon dating of the horse skeleton: 188530 BP.
The animals complete skeleton was preserved, including phalanges (Table 7). The horse was a male. On the
basis of the degree of attrition of the incisor cups it has
been estimated that the horse was about 89 years old.
Withers height estimated on the basis of the dimensions
of five long bones fell within the range of 126.9133.8
cm. The metacarpal index was 16.09, which according
to Brauners criteria classifies the described animal as
slightly massive-legged.
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Calcaneus
Talus
Metatarsus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Measurement
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest height GH
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Smallest breadth of diathesis SD
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
/mm/
Right
Left
286
276
72
328
309
81
72
40
215
207
50
49
36
84
55
46
35
44
53
50
44
-
287
277
71
327
309
81
71
39
214
208
50
49
36
86
55
48
36
44
53
50
45
-
381
92
43
-
381
91
43
-
351
309
92
70
41
108
-
350
310
93
42
107
-
258
251
49
49
34
84
55
46
35
47
53
48
42
-
257
250
50
49
34
87
54
49
3
47
53
48
43
-
Withers
height
/cm/
-
134,9
134,1
about 133
Points
-
62
53,5
~
40
+
100
~
about 36 ~
50
50
55
-
30
55
45
80
-
about 135
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Bone
BALTICA 11
~
~
~
II
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
about 64 ~
70-73
55
90
+
~
-
about 134
about 45
about 70
55
>0
-
~
~
-
45
55
50
50-55
-
67
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
Element of skeleton
Cranium
Right
Left
77 pieces of neuro- and
viscerocranium
Hyoid bone
32 pieces
Mandible
I 12, C 4, P+M 24
Teeth
107 pieces of 12 vertebrae
Vertebrae
11 pieces
Sternum
125 pieces
Ribs
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
11 right and left bones + 2 pieces
Carpals
1 bone
1 bone
Metacarpus III
1 bone
1 bone
Phalanx I, forelimb
1 piece
1 piece
1 piece
1 piece
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Fibula
Calcaneus
1 bone
1 piece
Talus
3 bones + 4 pieces
Tarsals
14 pieces of right and left bone
Metatarsus III
Metacarpus II, IV;
Metatarsus II, IV
Sesamoideal bones
1 bone
Phalanx I, hind limb
1 bone
1 piece
Unidentified bones
1350 pieces

which had been largely destroyed by ploughing and a
military trench from World War I. This fact made it difficult to determine the shape and size of the pit. The pit
was oriented along a NESW axis. The skeleton lay in
the pit on its abdomen (or in an abdominal-dorsal position) with the head directed SW. No equipment was
found accompanying the horse skeleton. Results of radiocarbon dating of the horse skeleton: 201030 BP.
68
The only surviving parts of the skeleton were fragmented elements of the spine, ribs and sternum as well
as fragments of bones of: the proximal part of the forelimbs both scapulas and humeral bones, as well as
the proximal segment of the hind limbs the pelvis,
two femurs, the right kneecap and small fragments of
the tibia shaft (Table 9). The absence of teeth made
the determination of the animals gender or its age at
the time of death impossible. A certain hint as to the
horses age is given by the degree of development of

the proximal part of the femur. The proximal bone end
of the femur joined with its shaft which only indicates
that the animal had lived for at least 33.5 years and,
therefore, rules out the possibility of a burial of a morphologically immature individual. There is no available data for determining the animals morphology.
with an oval outline. The western part of the pit had
been damaged by a military trench from World War
I, which resulted in the fact that the hind part of the
skeleton was no preserved. The skeleton was oriented
along a NESW axis. A layer of large granite boulders
was deposited in the ceiling of the pit. There was no
equipment accompanying the horse skeleton. Results
Scapula - Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Calcaneus
Talus
Metatarsus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Measurement
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest height GH
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length - GL
Breadth of the proximal end - Bp
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
/mm/
Right
Left
70
326
307
79
73
37
207
199
48
47
33
78
52
44
33
-
326
308
79
74
37
208
199
48
48
33
78
53
43
33
48
-
Withers
height
/cm/
-
Points
about 133
127,6
60
50
~
46,6
~
80
+
about 29 ~
40
40
40
-
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Bone
BALTICA 11
~
~
~
II
-
56
52
249
241
50
46
30
75
53
42
33
43
49
43
-
248
49
29
-
43
49
46
43
-
128,5
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
about 35
60
40
-
~
~
25
35
40
55
-
69
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
Element of skeleton
Cranium
Right
Left
viscerocranium
Hyoid bone
12 pieces of right left bones
Mandible
I 12, C 2, P+M 24
Teeth
v. c 8 pieces, v. th. + v. l 6
Vertebrae
pieces, os sacrum 9 pieces, v. co.
12 bones
Sternum
26 pieces of right ribs, 25 pieces of
Ribs
left ribs, 200 pieces of ribs
18 pieces
3 pieces
Scapula
9 pieces
6 pieces
Humerus
1 bone
1 bone
Radius
1 bone
1 bone
Ulna
6 bones
6 bones
Carpals
1 bone
1 bone
Metacarpus III
1 bone
1 bone
Phalanx I, forelimb
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 pieces
12 pieces
Pelvis
11 pieces
5 pieces
Femur
1 bone
1 bone
Patella
2 pieces
2 pieces
Tibia
1 bone
1 bone
Fibula
1 bone
1 bone
Calcaneus
1 bone
1 bone
Talus
4 bones
4 bones
Tarsals
1 bone
1 bone
Metatarsus III
Metacarpus II, IV;
Metatarsus II, IV
12 bones
Sesamoideal bones
1 bone
1 bone
Phalanx I,
hind limb
1 bone
1 bone
Phalanx II,
hind limb
1 piece
1 piece
Phalanx III,
hind limb
Unidentified bones
950 pieces
of radiocarbon dating of the horse skeleton: 183530

BP.
70
The horse skeleton found inside the pit was incomplete

(Table 11). The preserved parts included the cranium
with full dentition, cervical and thoracic vertebrae, ribs
and all the elements of the right forelimb. The bones of
the left limb were not found, which suggests that the
animal had been halved in the sagittal plane (Table 11)
prior to burial. Part of the horse had been laid into the
pit on its right side with a bent forelimb. The cranium,
disarticulated from the rest of the skeleton, without the
mandible, was oriented in the same direction as the rest
of the skeleton, close to the spine, turned towards its
croup. Discovered to the east of it, about 40 cm from
the thoracic vertebrae, was an atlas positioned vertical-
ly on end. Fragments of the horses bones including the

mandible, which might have come from the damaged
part of the pit, were found in the fill of the military
trench. A fact which supports the possibility of these
mandible fragments belonging to the skeleton of the
horse found in grave 290 is the same age of the cranial
and mandible teeth. Speaking against this possibility is
the stratigraphy of the surviving part of the pit where
no signs of secondary disturbances of the layers have
been found.
On the basis of the horses dentition it has been determined that the buried individual was a male aged
about 67. The animals withers height was about 128
cm (Table 12) while the metacarpal index was 14.35,
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Calcaneus
Talus
Metatarsus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Measurement
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest height GH
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Length of the lateral part - LI
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
/mm/
Right
Left
52
42
67
-
42
68
-
315
303
77
71
35
205
198
44
50
33
77
54
45
34
42
50
46
41
/65/
/52/
37
-
314
/303/
70
36
205
198
46
50
32
77
54
44
35
42
50
46
41
-
63
62
/92/
67
38
58
61
243
251
49
51
31
76
54
43
35
45
50
44
39
-
Withers
height
/cm/
-
131,5
126,9
Points
about 48
43,3
40
60-70
24,4
~
~
+
~
20-30
55
35
~
~
~
20
40
25
40
-
62
61
330
307
93
66
38
-
243
250
47
510
30
76
54
43
34
45
49
43
39
-
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Bone
BALTICA 11
133,8
about 133
II
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
about 45
73,3
30
35
-
+
~
~
29
50-60
60
50-60
-
+
+
+
35
about 40
25-30
35
-
71
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
72
Element of skeleton
Cranium
Hyoid bone
Mandible
Teeth
Vertebrae
Sternum
Ribs
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Carpals
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I, forelimb
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Fibula
Calcaneus
Talus
Tarsals
Metatarsus III
Metacarpus II, IV;
Metatarsus II, IV
Sesamoideal bones
Phalanx I,
hind limb
Phalanx II,
hind limb
Phalanx III,
hind limb
Unidentified bones
Right
Left
v. c 11 pieces, v. th. 2 pieces, v.
l. 6 pieces, os sacrum 5 pieces,
v. co 2 pieces, 59 pieces of
vertebrae
2 pieces
20 pieces of right ribs , 18 pieces
of left ribs, 225 pieces of ribs
12 pieces
2 pieces
2 pieces
4 pieces
2 pieces
7 pieces
3 pieces
2 pieces
1 bone
1 piece
-
235 pieces
Fig. 7. The location of a horse skeleton in

grave 254 (photograph by Karczewski).
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Calcaneus
Talus
Metatarsus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Measurement
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length of acetabulum LA
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest height GH
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
/mm/
Withers
Height
/cm/
-
Points
Right
Left
47
-
BALTICA 11
Bone
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Ta b l e 1 0 . M o r p h o l o g i c a l d a t a c o n c e r n i n g t h e h o r s e f r o m g r a v e 2 5 4
II
-
60
87
40
58
58
-
60
-
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
73
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
Element of skeleton
Cranium
Hyoid bone
Mandible
Teeth
Vertebrae
Sternum
Ribs
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Carpals
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I,
forelimb
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Fibula
Calcaneus
Talus
Tarsals
Metatarsus III
Metacarpus II, IV;
Metatarsus II, IV
Sesamoideal bones
Phalanx I,
hind limb
Phalanx II,
hind limb
Phalanx III,
hind limb
Unidentified bones
Right
Left
viscerocranium
16 pieces
I 8, C 4, P+ M 18
v. c. 2 , v. th. pieces, v. 3 pieces,
330 pieces of vertebrae
350 pieces
72 pieces
24 pieces
8 pieces
3 pieces
6 bones
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 piece
2 pieces
3 pieces
1 bone
7 pieces
2 pieces
-
1 piece
5 pieces of 2 bones
4 bones
-
80 pieces
which according to Brauners criteria classifies the described animal as slender-legged.

with an oval outline. The skeleton was positioned on
its right side, oriented along an EW axis with the head
directed W. Its forelimbs were folded and the hind limbs
straight with the phalanges directed SW. Both pairs of
limbs were parallel to each other. The horse skeleton
was not accompanied by any equipment. Results of radiocarbon dating of the horse skeleton: 198030 BP.
The animals skeleton was preserved in nearly complete form, only phalanges II and III of the hind limbs
74
were found (Table 13). The horse was a male aged

about 5. Withers height estimated on the basis of the
dimensions of four long bones fell within the range of
139.1142.8 cm (Table 14). The metacarpal index was
14.10, which according to Brauners criteria classifies
the described animal as slender-legged.
Grave 356 (Tables 15 and 16, Fig. 8)
with an unclear, most probably oval outline. The pits
ceiling and its central part (at the level of the animals
trunk) were damaged by a military trench from World
War I. The skeleton lay on its left side along a NWSE
axis with the head directed SW. Several bone fragments
found in the fills of modern objects situated directly
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Calcaneus
Talus
Metatarsus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Measurement
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest height GH
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
/mm/
-
Withers
height
/cm/
-
/320/
295
71
79
35
223
206
50
46
32
85
53
46
33
45
51
46
-
Right
Left
Points
53
23,3
66,6
60
44,4
~
+
+
~
~
~
~
50
35
35
-
128
35
45
25
-
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Bone
BALTICA 11
II
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
75
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
Ta b l e 1 3 . H o r s e b o n e r e m a i n s f r o m g r a v e 3 2 0
Element of skeleton
Cranium
Right
Left
viscerocranium
Hyoid bone
Mandible
I 12, C 4, P=M 24, 1 piece
Teeth
of root
v. c 7 pieces, v. th. 39 pieces, v. l.
Vertebrae
17 pieces, v. th. or v. l 41pieces,
os sacrum 5 pieces, v. co 2
pieces, 38 pieces
2 pieces
Sternum
499 pieces
Ribs
9 pieces
15 pieces
Scapula
6 pieces
14 pieces
Humerus
2 pieces
2 pieces
Radius
1 piece
1 piece
Ulna
7 bones
7 bones
Carpals
1 bone
2 pieces
Metacarpus III
2 pieces
Phalanx I, forelimb
13 pieces
Pelvis
5 pieces
18 pieces
Femur
1 bone
1 piece
Patella
1 bone
14 pieces
Tibia
Fibula
Calcaneus
2 bones
Talus
3 bones
3 bones
Tarsals
1 bone
4 pieces
Metatarsus III
9 pieces
Metacarpus II, IV;
Metatarsus II, IV
4 bones
Sesamoideal bones
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 piece
Unidentified bones
630 pieces
over or in the vicinity of the pit were recognized as

elements belonging to the described individual. These
were bones from different parts of the skeleton (inter
alia fragments of the mandible, vertebrae, scapula and
metapodium). There was no equipment accompanying
the horse skeleton. Results of radiocarbon dating of the
horse skeleton: 191030 BP.
76
The only preserved parts were fragmented elements of

the head skeleton, the neck skeleton, the thoracic section of the spine, as well as fragments of the bones of
both forelimbs without the extreme elements and the
proximal part of the left hind limb up to the level of the
tarsus (Table 15). The horse was a male aged about 8.
According to estimates made on the basis of the length
of the metacarpal bones the animals withers height
was about 141 cm (Table 16). The metacarpal index

was 14.15, which according to Brauners criteria classifies the described animal as slender-legged.
The horses skeleton was found at the bottom of a pit
with an outline similar to an oval one. It was oriented
along a NESW axis with the head directed SW. The
skeleton was positioned on its right side. Its forelimbs
were folded, hind limbs straight with phalanges directed to the SW. Both pairs of limbs were parallel to
each other. There was no equipment accompanying the
horse skeleton. Results of radiocarbon dating of the
horse skeleton: 184030 BP.
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Calcaneus
Talus
Metatarsus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Measurement
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest height GH
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
/mm/
Right
Left
55
45
6
75
/317/
329
80
72
38
227
219
47
47
32
-
55
45
-
/317/
329
79
72
38
/227/
/220/
47
4
31
-
Withers
height
/ cm/
-
Points
-
50
50-53,3
43,3
90
50
~
~
+
~
-
35
40
30
-
142,8
140,4
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Bone
BALTICA 11
II
-
62
62
348
322
/92/
71
41
57
57
264
261
47
48
29
83
52
43
34
44
49
45
43
34
/110/
57
58
-
83
52
43
34
44
48
45
43
-
104,4
139,1
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
62,2
/70/
55
50
-
~
~
~
52,2
50
50
40
-
~
~
-
30
30-35
35
55
-
77
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
78
Element of skeleton
Cranium
Hyoid bone
Mandible
Teeth
Vertebrae
Sternum
Ribs
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Carpals
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I, forelimb
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Fibula
Calcaneus
Talus
Tarsals
Metatarsus III
Metacarpus II, IV;
Metatarsus II, IV
Sesamoideal bones
Phalanx I,
hind limb
Phalanx II,
hind limb
Phalanx III,
hind limb
Unidentified bones
Right
Left
250 pieces
200 pieces
I 12, C 4, P+M 4
v. c 150 pieces, v. th. 1 piece
1 bone
1 bone
11 right and left bones
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
3 pieces
1 piece
1 bone
3 pieces
3 pieces
4 bones
3 bones
-
Fig. 8. The location of a horse skeleton in grave 356 (photograph by Karczewski).
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Calcaneus
Talus
Metatarsus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Measurement
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length of acetablum LA
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Breadth of the proximal end - Bp
Greatest length GL
Greatest height GH
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
/mm/
-
Withers
height
/cm/
-
225
220
49
/50/
32
-
226
220
49
51
32
87
56
46
33
-
Right
Left
Points
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Bones
BALTICA 11
about 48
~
-
45
56,6-60
35
-
141
II
-
60
-
60
87
40
-
61
59
-
58
58
-
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
79
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
Element of skeleton
Cranium
Hyoid bone
Mandible
Teeth
Vertebrae
Sternum
Ribs
Scapula
Right
Left
viscerocranium
733 small pieces of cranium and
mandible
I 12, C 4, P+M 24
v. c. 123 pieces of 7 bones, v.
th. 56 pieces, v. l. 30 pieces of
2 bones, os sacrum 2 pieces, 100
pieces of vertebrae
117 pieces
29 pieces of right bone, 13 pieces
of left f bones, 53 pieces of both
bones
9 pieces
15 pieces
1 piece
2 pieces
4 pieces
2 pieces
13 pieces
16 pieces
10 pieces
1 bone
1 bone
7 pieces
14 pieces
1 piece
3 pieces
2 bones
1 bone
4 pieces of metapodium
-
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Carpals
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I, forelimb
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Fibula
Calcaneus
Talus
Tarsals
Metatarsus III
Metacarpus II, IV;
Metatarsus II, IV
Sesamoideal bones
Unidentified bones
about 190 pieces of ribs, scapula,
humerus, radius, pelvis, femur, 230
of scapula and vertebrae, 276 small
pieces
80
The discovered skeleton was incomplete (Table 17).

The distal parts of the forelimbs (below the bones of
the forearm) were missing as well as the distal parts of
the hind limbs (partially preserved metatarsal bones,
no phalanges). The horse was a male aged about 56.
The very bad state of preservation of the horses bones
made it impossible to take measurements necessary for
the reconstruction of the specimens morphology.
a NESW axis with the head directed SW, the muzzle

to the S. The skeleton lay on its left side. Its forelimbs
were folded and parallel to each other. The left hind
limb was straight and directed SW while the right one
was bent at the knee joint, as a result of which only the
distal part was parallel to the left limb. No equipment
accompanied the horse skeleton. Results of radiocarbon dating of the horse skeleton: 176030 BP.
The animals skeleton was preserved in nearly complete form, only phalanges II and III of the hind limbs
were found (Table 19). The horse was a male aged
about 6. Withers height estimated on the basis of the

with an outline similar to oval. It was oriented along
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Calcaneus
Talus
Metatarsus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Measurement
Greatest length of the glenoid cavity LG
Greatest length GL
Greatest length of the lateral part GLl
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Breadth of the proximal end Bd
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest height GH
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
/mm/
Points
Withers
height
/cm/
-
Right
Left
BALTICA 11
Bone
ARCHAEOLOGIA
II
-
69
/63/
-
68
63
-
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
81
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
Element of skeleton
Cranium
Hyoid bone
Mandible
Right
Left
60 of neuro- and viscerocranium
1 piece
28 pieces + 200 small pieces of
cranium and mandible
I 10, C 3, P+M 13
Teeth
v. c. 9 pieces, v. th. 3 pieces, v.
Vertebrae
l. 1, os sacrum 11 pieces, v. co.
7, 8 pieces of vertebrae
Sternum
297 small pieces
Ribs
1 piece
Scapula
6 pieces
6 pieces
Humerus
6 pieces
2 pieces
Radius
1 bone
Ulna
Carpals
2 pieces of 1
1 piece
Metacarpus III
bone
1 bone
Phalanx I, forelimb
4 pieces
6 pieces
Pelvis
8 pieces
3 pieces
Femur
1 bone
1 bone
Patella
1 bone
3 pieces
Tibia
Fibula
1 bone
1 piece
Calcaneus
1 bone
1 bone
Talus
6 right and left bones
Tarsals
1 piece + 2
1 bone
Metatarsus III
pieces of
metapodium
4 pieces
Metacarpus II, IV;
Metatarsus II, IV
2 bones
Sesamoideal bones
1 piece
1 bone
1 bone
3 pieces
Unidentified bones
-
dimensions of four long bones fell within the range of

121.8126.3 cm (Table 20).
panying the horse skeleton. Results of radiocarbon dating of the horse skeleton: 195530 BP.

The horses skeleton was found at the bottom of a pit
with an outline close to oval. It was oriented along
a NESW axis with the head directed SW. It lay on
its right side. Its forelimbs were folded while its hind
limbs were straight with the phalanges directed to the
south-west. Both pairs of limbs were parallel to each
other. Clusters of charcoal were found in the fill of the
pit at the point of crossing of the limbs and at the level
of the horses croup. There was no equipment accom-
82
An almost complete skeleton of the animal was preserved, only phalanges II and III of the forelimbs were
found (Table 21). The horse was a male aged about
1112. Withers height estimated on the basis of the
dimensions of six long bones fell within the range of
114.7127.3 cm (Table 22). The metacarpal index was
15.63, which according to Brauners criteria classifies
the described animal as slightly massive-legged.
Translated by authors
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Calcaneus
Talus
Metatarsus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Measurement
Smallest length of collum- SLC
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest height GH
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
/mm/
-
Withers
height
/cm/
-
72
-
Right
Left
73
72
63
37
190
43
31
-
121,8
Points
26,6
13,3
80
15
30
~
~
+
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Bone
BALTICA 11
~
~
II
-
83
56
56
311
284
82
62
34
93
54
53
229
45
28
-
56
55
82
34
-
237
229
45
45
28
73
50
41
47
41
39
-
123,8
126,3
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
about 28
33,3
10
15
-
~
~
22
40
35
30
-
+
~
~
45
>0
5
83
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
84
Element of skeleton
Cranium
Hyoid bone
Mandible
Teeth
Vertebrae
Sternum
Ribs
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Carpals
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I, forelimb
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Fibula
Calcaneus
Talus
Tarsals
Metatarsus III
Metacarpus II, IV;
Metatarsus II, IV
Sesamoideal bones
Unidentified bones
Right
Left
viscerocranium
6 pieces
12 pieces
I 12, C 4, P+M 24
v. c. 17 pieces of 7 bones, v.
th. 15 pieces. v. l. 10 pieces,
os sacrum 2 pieces, 32 pieces of
vertebrae
104 pieces
6 pieces
5 pieces
1 bone
2 pieces
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
2 bones
2 pieces
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
12 pieces
2 pieces
2 pieces
7 pieces
1 bone
1 bone
2 pieces
6 pieces
1 pieces
1 bone
1 bone
1 bone
3 bones
2 bones
1 bone
3 pieces
9 pieces
6 bones
1 bone
1 piece
1 piece
1 piece
1 bone
1 bone
1250 pieces
Scapula
Humerus
Radius
Metacarpus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Pelvis
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Calcaneus
Talus
Metatarsus III
Phalanx I
Phalanx II
Phalanx III
Measurement
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length of aceabulum LA
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest height GH
Greatest breadth GB
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest length GL
Greatest breadth GB
/mm/
Right
Left
53
43
60
257
236
67
310
285
74
69
34
192
185
45
44
30
76
49
43
-
256
236
67
310
74
34
44
30
76
49
44
-
Withers
height
/cm/
-
114,9
123,7
118,6
Points
-
42
35
50
11
25
25
25
-
+
~
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Bone
BALTICA 11
~
~
~
II
-
343
327
81
59
58
303
292
63
53
50
231
227
42
40
28
69
-
/81/
59
/58/
-
/65/
/52/
34
114,7
127,3
53
50
230
42
40
28
-
121
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
21
15
15
~
~
~
~
25
10
30
-
62
/67/
48
-
85
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak

Northeast Poland
References
Manuscripts
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SZYMASKI, P., 2001. Mikroregion osadniczy z okresu
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Mazurskim, vol. I-III, PhD dissertation, manuscript in Institute of Archaeology Warsaw University
ZAJKOWSKA, K., 1999. Analiza zwierzcych szcztkw
kostnych z grobw koskich ze stanowiska 1 w Paprotkach Kolonii, gm. Miki, pow. Giycko, woj. warmiskomazurskie, manuscript in Institute of Archaeology Warsaw
University.
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II
R iding to
H eaven :
H orses from
B urials
87

Northeast Poland
Magorzata
Karczewska,
Maciej
Karczewski
and
Anna Grzak
Magorzata Karczewska
Institute of Sociology University of Bialystok, Poland,
15-420 Bialystok, Uniwersytecki Sq. 1
E-mail: malgorzata.karczewska@gmail.com
amiaus, irg. Dominavo suaug, 59 met amiaus,

gyvnai. Kumeliuk kap neaptikta. Panaus amiaus
pasiskirstymas bdingas Vakar balt kultrinio arealo
irg kapams.
Maciej Karczewski
Institute of History University of Bialystok, Poland,
15-420 Bialystok, Uniwersytecki Sq. 1,
E-mail: barbaricum@wp.pl
irg gis svyravo nuo 115127 cm iki 139143 cm

ties ketera. giu jie primena tarpan ar konik / lenkik
pon. Morfotip variavim galjo lemti gyvn atranka. Matmen vairovs didjimas laikomas ankstyvosios domestikacijos poymiu.
Anna Grzak
Institute of Archaeology Warsaw University, Poland,
00-927 Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmiecie 26/28,
E-mail: abgrezak@uw.edu.pl
I R G K A P VA I D M U O
B O G A E V O K U LT R O J E .
PA P R O T K I K O L O N I A 1
K A P I N Y N O ( I A U R S RY T
LENKIJA) ANALIZ
Magorzata Karczewska,
Maciej Karczewski, Anna Grzak
Santrauka
Bogaevo kultros Paprotki Kolonia 1-asis kapinynas
yra vienas geriausiai ilikusi romnikojo laikotarpio
kapinyn Mozrijos eeryno regione. Iki dabar ia itirta 534 moni kapai ir 11 irg kap (1 pav.).
irg kapai buvo isidst trijose aikiai isiskirianiose zonose. Pirmoji j buvo kapinyno centrinje dalyje,
antroji pietrytiniame pakratyje, treioji pietvakariniame pakratyje (1 pav.). irgai buvo palaidoti dviem
pozomis staiakampio ar ovalo formos duobse: jie
buvo paguldyti ant pilvo, iek tiek pasukti kair arba
ant deiniojo (retais atvejais ant kairiojo) ono, sulenktomis priekinmis ir itiestomis upakalinmis galnmis. Koj padtis rodo, kad gyvnai galjo bti suriti
arba kad j knai buvo tikslingai suguldyti tokiomis
pozomis. Ant pilvo paguldyti irgai galjo bti palaidoti gyvi. Kai kurie poymiai rodo, kad gyvnai galjo
bti nuudyti ir ketviriuoti (28 pav; I: 25 iliustr.).
Radioaktyviosios anglies datavimas (1 pav.) atskleid,
kad ankstyviausi kapai datuojami 218530 BP (kapas
175) ir 2010 30 BP (kapas 254), o vlyviausias
1760 30 BP (kapas 398). Taigi irgai kapinyne buvo
laidojami madaug 300400 met, o ankstyviausi kapai sutampa su kapinyno rengimo laikotarpiu.
88
Archeozoologins analizs metu nustatyta deimties

(i vienuolikos) irg lytis visi vyrikos lyties (r. katalog, 122 lent.). Amiaus vairov buvo didel, nuo
santykinai jaun, 5 met, iki labai sen, 1721 met
Vieno irgo palaikuose nustatyta ligos poymi: kape

221 kaklo ir krtins slanksteliai bei iurnikaulio snarys buvo paeisti kaul hiperplazijos ir udegimo.
Udegimo poymiai gali bti gyvno naudojimo jodinjimui pasekm, kadangi i patologija bdingesn
jojamiesiems irgams. Ligot gyvn laidojimas yra
nebtinai susijs su luo ar sergani irg atrinkimu
aukojimui: tai gali bti jojamj irg laidosena, iuo
atveju aikintina senyvu irgo amiumi.
Nepaisant pastang, Bogaevo kultros kapinynuose aptinkam irg laidojimo prieastys nra itirtos.
Kitaip nei sduvi kultros kapinynuose, tiesioginio
ryio tarp irg ir moni kap nra. Taigi nepanau,
kad ie irgai atliko vyr (kari) kap kapi funkcij.
Paprotki Kolonia 1-ojo kapinyno atveju horizontalioji
ir vertikalioji stratigrafija rodo, kad irg kapai ribojo
ir dalijo sakralin erdv. Aikiai isiskirianios trys zonos galjo bti parinktos rengiant kapinyn.
Vienas svarbiausi Paprotki Kolonia 1 kapinyno irg
bruo, iskiriani j i kit panaaus tipo kapinyn
visikas irgo aprangos nebuvimas. Kitas Bogaevo
kultros kapinynams nebdingas, bet rastas Paprotki
Kolonia 1-ajame kapinyne bruoas augal naudojimas ir ritualinis lau deginimas bei angliuk brimas
kapo duob. Labai tiktina, kad gyv ir nuudyt irg
laidojimo ritualas um ypa svarbi viet kapinyn palikusioje bendruomenje. irg kap chronologija rodo, kad tai buvo reguliariais intervalais atliekami
aukojimai.
Bartosz
Kontny
Horse nd its Use in

the Przeworsk Culture in
the Light of Archaeological
Evidence
HORSE AND ITS USE IN THE PRZEWORSK

C U LT U R E I N T H E L I G H T O F A R C H A E O L O G I C A L
EVIDENCE
Bartosz Kontny
Abstract
As refers to the first article (the one concerning the Przeworsk Culture), the abstract is as follows: The author tries to reconstruct the role of the horse in the Przeworsk Culture basing on the extremely rare horse graves, remains of horses bones in
human graves (generally edible parts of skeletons), unique images of horsemen and horses of clay vessels (urns) and pieces
of horse harness as well as spurs found in weapon graves. Results of archaeological researches are also taken into consideration.
Key words: horse, spur, the Przeworsk Culture, archaeozoology.
In memory of Maria Agnieszka Bajkowska
The Przeworsk Culture is one of the most lasting and essential cultural units in proto-historical Europe. Additionally, it had
a clearly military character, which was manifested in the presence of weapons among grave goods. For that reason it seems
obvious that the use of the horse (war-horse) should also find reflection in materials attributed to this culture. The problem is
however more complicated.
Animal remains in graves

Tacitus remarks that the Germans constructing the
pyre, they do not accumulate on him garments, neither
the redolency; they put his own weapon to every to the
fire, they also add the horse to some (Tacitus, Germ.
27.2). It is assumed that this statement is not consistent with the reality confirmed by archaeological methods although it refers aptly to the presence of horses
in graves of Baltic peoples (e.g. Garbacz 2000, p.158;
Kolendo 2008, p.136). One should however notice that
Tacitus words indicate that horses were burnt on the
pyre together with the gear. Thus one should look for
horse remains among burnt animal bones. Unfortunately, inasmuch as investigations of human bones are
part of the research standard, animal remnants are analysed quite rarely. Generally, it is stated (Baejewski
1998, p.167) that sheep / goats, cattle, pigs (among the
Indo-European nations these animals were the most often given as offerings to various, mostly chthonic, deities) as well as birds, probably goose or hens, are the
predominant species among the identified burnt bones.
Bones of these species are considered as consumption remains, which confirms the special selection of
animals used at wakes and triznas. Horses and dogs
are represented very seldom (Wgrzynowicz 1982,
pp.224-230; Baejewski 1998, p.167). On the basis of
a significant sample from the cemetery at Kamieczyk,
Wyszkw district, it was possible to establish that animal bones were more frequent in human graves in the
92
Roman Period than in the Late Pre-Roman Period, and

the phenomenon was the most predominant in Phase
B2 (Dbrowska 1997, p.113). It should be remarked
that bones of animals and birds are not closely correlated with any type of grave goods sets or the gender of
the deceased (Czarnecka 1990, p.40)1.
The results of general studies were confirmed by
materials from large and well analysed necropolises
of the Przeworsk culture2. At the burial ground from
Chmielw Piaskowy, Ostrowiec witokrzyski district,
horse bones were discovered only in one grave, No 18S
(Godowski, Wichman 1998, table 6). In Kamieczyk
fragments of horses skeletons were found only in five
cases (per 180 burials with animal bones): in graves
46, 209, 232, 249, 271? (Dbrowska 1997, p.112ff table 3). Horse bones were not found at the necropolis in
Krupice, Siemiatycze district (Jaskanis 2005, table 6).
As refers to Nadkole, Wgrw district, they appeared
only in grave 44B (Andrzejowski 1998, table 15), and
maybe also 108 and 119A (uncertain determination).
They also appeared exceptionally at the burial ground
Results of the analysis of the bones from the cemetery
at Kamieczyk confirm this observation with respect to
bones of small ruminants (sheep, goat) and pigs, but cattle
and bird bones were much rarer in childrens burials than
in those of the adults (Dbrowska 1997, p.114).
2
Materials from the cemetery in Niedanowo, Kozowo district, have not been taken into consideration as the bone
material was mentioned sporadically and without determination as to the species (Ziemliska-Odojowa 1999,
p.127).
1
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 1. Plan of the grave 22 from Grzybw; a-f grave goods (after Garbarcz 2000, plate XXXIII).
in Oblin, Garwolin district: the horse remains from

graves 46, 47 and 272 (Czarnecka 2007, pp. 22 and 62)
were considered to be pieces of the skeleton equivalent to the parts of the animal body which were used of
consumption (Czarnecka 2007, p.111), and thus grave
goods made of food or remains of meet consumed
during the funeral ceremonies; other researchers of
significant necropolises also accepted this explanation (Andrzejowski 1998, p.104; Godowski, Wichman 1998, p.80). It is, however, worth to note that in
some cases at the burial ground in Oblin (graves 45a
and 47) the presence of small bones from parts of the
body not meant for consumption (metapodia, digits)
were discovered. That is why some undefined symbolic meaning is assigned to them; in grave 128a, in
turn, a fragment of a horse mandible was found, serving probably as tool (spatula) (Czarnecka 2007, pp.38
and 111)3.
Horse bones were found in grave 25 (with weapons and

a horse-bit) from Kalinowo, Strzelce Opolskie district,
dated on the basis of pottery to Phase B2. The horse-bit
indicates that a warrior with his mount were burnt at the
pyre (Szydowski 1959, p.173ff plate VII). Unfortunately,
there is no precise data about the animal remains.
Horse graves
Materials from the main burial grounds of the Przeworsk Culture, published in the series Monumenta
Archaeologica Barbarica do not allow to indicate the
relation between sex and age of the deceased and the
presence of horse bones in the grave4. The sporadic
Chmielw Piaskowy: grave 18S adultus, grave with
weapons (Godowski, Wichman 1998, p.23); Kamieczyk:
grave 46 45-55 year old woman, grave with no weapons (Dbrowska 1997, p.19), grave 209 more than 50
year old woman, grave with no weapons (Dbrowska
1997, p.49), grave 232 45-55 year old woman?, grave
with weapons (Dbrowska 1997, p.52), grave 249 juvenis, grave with no weapons (Dbrowska 1997, p.55),
grave 271 25-35 year old woman, grave with no weapons (Dbrowska 1997, p. 58); Nadkole: grave 108 50-60
year old man?, grave with weapons (Andrzejowski 1998,
p.41), grave 44B 17-25 woman, grave with no weapons (Andrzejowski 1998, p.27), grave 119A infans I,
grave with no weapons (Andrzejowski 1998, p.44); Oblin:
grave 45a infans II/iuvenis-maturus, grave with weapons
(Czarnecka 2007, p.21), grave 46 human bones, grave
with weapons (Czarnecka 2007, p.22), grave 47 human
bones, grave with no weapons (Czarnecka 2007, p.22),
grave 128a adultus, grave with weapons (Czarnecka
2007, p.38), grave 272 iuvenis?, grave with no weapons
(Czarnecka 2007, p.62).
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
93
Bartosz
Kontny
Horse nd its Use in

Evidence
94
Fig. 2. Furnishing and cross section of the horse and human grave from ugi (after Petersen 1932, figs.11-13).
The next, considerably later, discovery from ugi,

Gra district (Petersen 1932), comes from Phase D1 of
the Migrations Period (Tejral 1992, p.242 fig.9.14-23;
Mczyska 1999, footnote 4). Discovered in 1926 during roadworks which strongly disturbed its structure,
it contained unburnt skeletons of a horse and a man,
and rich grave goods, i.a., a sword Type XI after M.
Biborski (1978), a head of a shafted weapon, a spur,
a horse-bit, a glass cup similar to Type IV after E.
Straume (1987, p.34), buckles from horse gear with an
oval, thickened frame, a brooch and wheel-made ceramic vessels (Fig. 2). In a pit of a shape similar to a
rectangle a horse lying on its side on the NS axis, with
the head pointing to S and the back, to E was depos It should be remarked that after K. Garbacz these were
Roman arrowheads which arrived in connection with the
Marcomannic Wars (Garbacz 1995). This concept, however, seems to be less convincing because Roman arrowheads are not known from the areas far from the Roman
Limes (see Kaczanowski 1992) and, furthermore, we have
to do with a stray find, thus the connection in time with the
Marcomannic wars is not confirmed.
Evident features of the Hunnish culture are, however,

represented in the inhumation grave from Jakuszowice,
Kazimierza Wielka district (Fig. 3), in which a man
and a horse together with a horse gear were deposited
(Nosek 1959; cf. Godowski 1995; Wichman 2004).
The feature was discovered accidentally and there is
no information about the arrangement of the skeletons.
The discoverers took some of the discovered artefacts,
but the majority ultimately was sent to Cracow where,
since 1938, they have been part of the collection of the
Archaeological Museum. The bones are, unfortunately,
lost and the records in the museum archives indicate
only that, according to the determination made by
professor J. Talko-Hryncewicz, they were of a young
man. The Huns elements include an iron sword with a
cross-shaped cross-guard, an amber large sword bead
decorated with an almandine set in gold, but first and
foremost gold plates covering the limbs of a reflective
bow. The last-mentioned one was kept always in a drawn
position and could not have been used in combat due to
its morphological features (Lszl 1951a, p.92ff): the
plates cover the whole length of the limbs, so making a
shoot would cause their lasting damage; moreover, the
plates were not flexible enough to follow the vibration;
additionally, the construction would make it very dif-
BALTICA 11
The first one is from Grzybw, Staszw district (Fig.

1), where in grave 22, disturbed by trenches dug during the 2nd World War, a horse skeleton was found
(Garbaczowie 1990; Garbacz 1992; 2000, pp.47, 51,
144 and 158 with fig.XXXIII-XXXVII). It was partly
preserved: some vertebrae and bones of hind legs were
undisturbed whereas the skull was damaged and partly moved. The observation was made difficult by the
fact that the outline of the burial pit was not visible. A
complete animal had been originally deposited in the
grave. It lied on its left side along the SWNE axis.
Fragments of the skull and teeth were preserved in the
NE part of the skeleton. At the moment of its death
the horse was more than 5 years old (unfortunately,
there is no metric data or information about the horses
sex). Near the head and hind legs of the animal burnt
pieces of grave goods typical of the Przeworsk Culture
were found, which allowed to date the burial to the late
stage of Phase B2: i.a., fragments of a shield boss Type
7a after M. Jahn (1916) and a fragment of a brooch
determined as Almgren V, series 8 (Almgren 1923).
No burnt human remains were preserved in the burial,
which is explained by the fact that the feature was disturbed; the author of the publication assumed that it
was an animal-human burial (Garbacz 2000, p.158).
The presence the horse in the above-mentioned grave is
explained by Sarmatian influences, confirmed also by
finds of Sarmatian arrowheads from the burial ground
at Grzybw (Dobrzaska 1999, pp.83 and 85)5.
ited. The horses head was twisted to the back towards

N. The human bones were found outside the grave
(thrown out by workers), which made it impossible to
make a reliable reconstruction of the deceaseds location. By his right side there was a sword, and by his
left side, a shafted weapon. The exceptional character
of the grave allowed J. Tejral (2000, pp.6 and 12) to
associate it with the so-called post-Chernyakhov horizon (phenomenon manifesting itself in the existence in
central Europe of numerous groups of regional character, revealing the influences of the Chernyakhov Culture as well as Sarmatian and Germanic impacts, which
existed in Phase D1). The closest analogy to it is supposed to be the identically dated grave from jhartyn
in Hungary, in which an unburnt skeleton of a warrior
with a sword and a shield was accompanied by a horse
skeleton with a horse-bit (Bna 1961). A. Baejewski
(1998, p.135) treats the burial from ugi as a result
of Sarmatian influences, whereas A. Kokowski, linking the presence of the horse with the nomadisation
of the local elite, perceives in it the Huns influence
(1998, p.135). The last suggestion seems hardly probable, due to the relatively large at that time (Phase D1)
distance from the area settled by the Huns (Pannonia
was to fall under the Huns rule as late as in the 430s)
and the lack of other premises suggesting the proposed
ethnic connotations. It is more probable that we have
to do with general nomadic influences, in my opinion
convincingly explained by Tejrals interpretation.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
presence of burnt horse bones at burial grounds of the

Przeworsk Culture is not compensated by horse skeleton burials. From the area of that culture only three
graves of that kind are known.
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
95
Bartosz
Kontny
Horse nd its Use in

Evidence
Fig. 3. Furnishing of the princely grave from Jakuszowice (after Nosek 1959, plate 15.1-4).
96
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
Fig. 4. Plan, cross section and furnishing of grave 27a from Dzierzgowo (after Szela 2006, figs.4-7).
97
Bartosz
Kontny
Horse nd its Use in

Evidence
ficult to dismantle the bow string; finally the bow is too

small (approx. 80 cm) for Hunnish combat bows6. The
burial is dated to Phase D2 (Godowski 1995, p.156)
and has been considered to be a grave of a representative of the local elites (Godowski 1995, p.162), for in
the neighbourhood there is a large settlement of the
Przeworsk Culture, and the horse gear is typical of the
Germanic world (J. Werner 1956, p.85). He was, however, under a strong influence of the Huns culture or
even held power owing to the Huns (Godowski 1995,
p.162), which is suggested by the golden bow i.e.
an insignia a symbol of power (Lszl 1951b; cf. J.
Werner 1956, p.50).
It is worth to remind here one more interesting discovery, namely, that from the burial ground in Dzierzgowo,
Mawa district, at NE edge of the Przeworsk Culture
(Fig. 4). In one of the features (grave 27a) a horse tibial
bone was found (Szela 2006, p.228 figs.4-7). It was a
cremation burial deposited in a 3.0 x 2.4 m pit of 1.2
m thickness. In its E part the feature was covered by a
large stone placed on a pavement of small stones. The
assemblage contained i.a., an iron shield boss Type
7a after Jahn (1916) variant 1 after T. Liana (1970),
which dates it to the late stage of Phase B2 (Godowski
1992). The horse bone was at the depth of 0.9 m, in
its original location, for the grave was not disturbed.
Interestingly, the bone was not burnt and came from
a non-consumable part of the animal body. It seems
highly probable that this was an intentional, maybe
symbolic, act. There are no analogies for this kind of
behaviour at the area of the Przeworsk Culture, but one
can refer to similar acts in the area of Lithuania. During the Early Roman Period and in the early stage of
the Younger Roman Period (Phases B2 and B2/C1), in
the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Grave culture and
in the other regions of Lithuania (e.g. the area of the
Lower Nemunas Culture), parts of the horse were used
in the ritual; they were found in or close to burials of
armed men. Usually the horses head was buried, less
frequently its head together with legs or just head or
legs and parts of its spine and ribs, rarely also teeth
(Bliujien, Butkus 2007). On the one hand, such feature seems similar but on the other one there are certain differences, e.g. in Lithuania inhumation graves
of men were typical while the Przeworsk Culture ones
were characterized by cremation. The influences from
the area of Lithuania (a considerable distance) should
be considered only tentatively, yet they are quite probable, for at burial grounds in the NE edge of the zone
occupied by the Przeworsk culture in the Early Roman
Period there are perceptible influences of the Wielbark
but also Balts cultures, which may have been con They are 140-160 cm long (J. Werner 1956, p.47) or slightly less (Bna 1991, p.167ff).
98
nected with the penetration of the Przeworsk Culture

population to the north (Szela 2006, p.230). Besides,
one can not exclude the influences from the Elbe region, where single horse bones have been found in
some Early Roman Period burials (Bliujien, Butkus
2007, p.95, with further literature) what, however, is
less probable because of the considerable distance.
Although the above-mentioned examples are highly
interesting, they do not change the fact that the horse
played a very small part in the Przeworsk Culture burial rite and the few exceptions to that rule should be
treated as a result of external influences.
Riding equipment
Contrary to the above, parts of a riding equipment appeared in the Przeworsk culture graves quite frequently. One may consider here almost exclusively spurs,
as fragments of bits appeared only sporadically. Bow
spurs clearly predominated in the Przeworsk Culture;
different variants were used (Fig. 5). Initially (in the
Late Pre-Roman Period) they were symmetrical, large,
with a prominent prick, then more strongly arched with
a smaller prick, in the late part of Phase B2 and in Phase
C1a squat specimens with a massive prick, and in the
Early Roman Period usually asymmetrical, with an
additional, third fastening in form of a hook (Ginalski
1991). The X-shaped spurs, so frequent in the Early
Roman Period in the Elbe circle, the Wielbark Culture
or Scandinavia, represent a small percentage here. For
the latest phases of the Przeworsk Culture single, iron
riveted spurs are known. It is worth to mention also the
unique discovery from Peczyska, Piczw district: the
first example of an imported Roman spur in the Przeworsk culture (Fig. 6). A loose fragment of a bronze,
fixed with rivets to the boot, spur, probably from the
fourth century AD, was found there. The closest analogies can be found in the Roman part of Britain, at sites
of military designation (i.a., legionary camps). Thus
we have to do with both a rare and mysterious artefact. How did it get to this part of Europe? We can only
speculate, but it seems the most probable that it first
travelled with the Roman army to the middle Danube
basin and then it was brought to the area of todays
Peczyska by one of the many Germanic warriors
maintaining extensive contacts with the Roman army
(Kontny, Rudnicki 2006).
Let me follow the changes in the frequencies of burials
with horse-harness (Fig. 7)7, which are represented al7
The analyses presented here are based on the materials collected for my doctoral dissertation: Kontny 2001a (see also
Kontny 2001c; Kontny, forthcoming). The Catalogue of
that work contains 1357 Przeworsk culture weapon graves
from the Roman Period. Before the analysis a selection
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 5. Shapes and chronology of bow spurs from the Przeworsk Culture (after Ginalski 1991, fig.19).
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
Fig. 6. Spur from Peczyska (a) and its analogies (b-g): b Corbridge, Northumberland (Great Britain); c Bitternee,
Southampton (Great Britain); d Celje (Slovenia); e-f Chedworth, Gloucester (Great Britain); g Woodeaton, Oxford (Great
Britain) (after Kontny, Rudnicki 2006, fig.4, with further literature).
99
Bartosz
Kontny
Horse nd its Use in

Evidence
Fig. 7. Frequency of weapon-graves with riding gear (spurs)

in the Przeworsk Culture.
most exclusively by spurs. The first burials with horse

harness appeared in Phase A2 (which should be linked
with the appearance of spurs in the Przeworsk culture).
They appeared sporadically, and slightly increased in
importance in Phase A3. A significant increase took
place in Phase B1, when almost every fourth burial
contained parts of riding equipment. This result may
be to some extent explained by the fact that this paper
takes into account i.a. materials from the north-eastern
zone of the Przeworsk culture. At this area, especially
in the co-called Nidzica group from Phase B1 weapons
in burials appeared only exceptionally. Only the spurs
remained a common element of grave goods8. As this
area was taken into account there appeared a certain
overrepresentation of spurs in contrast to other categories of military equipment. This concerns several burials out of the 151 analysed ones so it does not seem that
the distortion should be considerable. Thus we have
to do with a more frequent than previously custom of
equipping the deceased with spurs. In Phase B2a burials with spurs were less numerous which to some (although, as it seems not decisive) extent may be due
100
was made in order to exclude burial assemblages the structure of which was disturbed or where no suitable observations as to their context were made, e.g., they were the
result of accidental discoveries or unprofessional excavations. As a result 894 burial assemblages were used in the
statistical part of the paper. The chronological divisions
are made following K. Godowski who distinguished the
groups of weapon-graves: Godowski 1992; 1994; Phase
B1 equals groups 1-2, Phase B2a group 3, B2b group 4,
B2/C1 group 5, late stage of Phase C1a and Phase C1b
group 6, Phases C2D groups 7a, 7b and 8. It should be
noted that not all the analysed phases had similar numbers
of burials with weapons (respectively: 151, 65, 203, 106,
77, and 72). The remaining burials are not precisely dated.
Thus the obtained results reflect the burial rites the least
precisely for Phases C2D (a long period of time with a
small number of burials with weapons), and also for Phase
B2a (in comparison to the number of burials dated precisely
for that phase, a large number of burials is dated broadly to
longer periods, embracing Phase B2a).
8
Okulicz 1970, p.426.
to the small number of burials9. This does not have to

mean that spurs were no longer used but might have
been a result of an inexplicable tendency to put spurs in
burials more rarely. In the consecutive phases the proportion of burials with riding equipment increased until
Phase B2/C1 and the period equivalent to the late stage
of Phase C1a and Phase C1b, when spurs could be found
almost in every third burial with military equipment10.
This seems to reflect the more frequent use of horse
by the warriors. In Phases C2D the spurs disappeared
from grave assemblages11, which certainly did not
mean that horses were no longer used but it was rather
a result of changes (decline) of the burial rite. It is even
assumed that the horse was used in battle to a greater
extent in this period; the importance of the horse was
to be expressed in the use of longer two-edged swords
equivalent to the Roman cavalry spatha12 and a clear
increase of the frequency of such swords in burials13.
K. Godowski accepted the possibility that the almost
complete lack of spurs in burials was connected with
changes in horse riding style14. However, in the light
of the bog deposits from Scandinavia from the Early
and Late Roman Period as well as the Early Migration
Period15 it seems obvious that spurs were still used at
the end of the Roman Period and during the Migration
Period16.
The reason of this phenomenon may be the fact that the
assemblages broadly dated to Phase B2 were not taken into
account for the number of assemblages with spurs is too
small for that period to change the results significantly (5
cases out of 64). As among the assemblages dated broadly
Phase B2 and Phases B1B2a spurs are quite rare, the frequency for the Phases B1 and B2a was in fact probably
slightly lower.
10
This observation is reliable for among the burials dated to
Phases B2bC1a and B2/C1 C1a a similar proportion contained spurs (16 burials 28.1% and 6 burials 33.3%,
respectively).
11
Ginalski 1991, p.74.
12
Cf. M. Biborskis findings on the evolution of sword forms
in the Przeworsk culture (1978, p.104ff).
13
Godowski 1992, p.84ff; Kontny 2001c, diagram 11.
14
Godowski 1992, p.85.
15
It is assumed that with respect to riding equipment they
are in many respects a better source of knowledge about
weapons than the grave goods: Ilkjr 1997, p.57ff; von
Carnap-Bornheim 1992, p.46ff and footnote 6; von Carnap-Bornheim 2000, p.52.
16
This is indicated by the finds from the Ejsbl North Deposit (dated to late stage of Phase C2 or slightly later), where
among the ritually deposited weapons belonging to ca 200
warriors, nine pairs of spurs, nine horse trappings with
chain reins, and fittings for nine saddles were discovered:
rsnes 1988, p.24. Although at Skedemosse (Oland), only
fragments of more than a dozen horse trappings not matching the spurs were found (Hagberg 1967, pp.33 and 73-75),
and a small deposit from Kragehul did not yield any elements of riding equipment (Engelhardt 1867, Table II), at
Vimose 24 spurs (including mainly ones dated to the Early
and Younger Roman Period) together with fragments of a
9
bit were unearthed (Engelhardt 1869, pp.24-25 plate 15.716; see Pauli Jensen 2003, pp.228-229 and 231-232) and
at Nydam one spur and pricks of over a dozen other ones
as well as numerous bits were found (Engelhardt 1865,
pp.33-34 plate XIV.5; Bemmann, Bemmann 1998, p.196ff
plate212), whereas at Thorsberg one spur (its remaining
part was made of bronze and the iron spike has not been
preserved; probably more iron spurs were deposited at the
site which were not preserved due to unfavourable environment) and fittings of horse trappings were discovered
(Engelhardt 1863, p.52ff plate15.32; 1866, p.61; Raddatz
1987, plates 39-47 and 100-106). Naturally, spurs and
horse harness elements were found also in Illerup (von
Carnap-Bornheim, Ilkjr 1996, pp.247-277).
17
See Perl 1990, p.151; Pohl 1994a, p.62.
18
The retinue is usually defined on the basis of Tacitus writings (Tacitus, Germ. 13, 2-3; 14, 1-3) as a voluntary, sworn
union of warriors (free men) and the leader, where the
warriors are obliged to give advice and provide military
service to the chief, and he should return them in protection and generosity. The more detailed aspect of how the
retinue functioned are subject to debate. For the definition
and kinds of German retinues see Schlesinger 1953, p.235;
Kuhn 1956, p.12; Wenskus 1961, pp.346-374; Hess 1977;
Steuer 1982, p.54ff; Kristensen 1983; Bazelmans 1991;
von Carnap-Bornheim 1992; Wolfram 1996, p.70ff. On
Celtic retinues: Birkhan 1993, p.1037ff. Prospects of tracing the retinue basing on the archaeological material are
rather poor (Kontny 2003a).
19
For collaboration of Germanic foot warriors and riders cf.
Tacitus, Germ. 6.3. Similar information concerning Ger-
As it was shown above according to the frequency of

spurs in grave furnishing, horse was probably quite
popular among warriors of the Przeworsk culture,
especially in the Early Roman Period (the greatest
number of spurs was found in burials from Phase C1).
Comparing it with the Ancient descriptions (e.g., of the
battle of Argentoratum23 by Ammianus Marcellinus
mans is given by Julius Caesar Caes., Bell. Gall. I, 48.57: There were 6,000 horse, and as many very active and
courageous foot, one of whom each of the horse selected
out of the whole army for his own protection. By these
[foot] they were constantly accompanied in their engagements; to these the horse retired; these on any emergency
rushed forward; if any one, upon receiving a very severe
wound, had fallen from his horse, they stood around him: if
it was necessary to advance further than usual, or to retreat
more rapidly, so great, from practice, was their swiftness,
that, supported by the manes of the horses, they could keep
pace with their speed.; equitum milia erant VI, totidem
numero pedites velocissimi ac fortissimi, quos ex omni copia singuli singulos suae salutis causa delegerant: cum his
in proeliis versabantur, ad eos se equites recipiebant; hi, si
quid erat durius, concurrebant, si qui graviore vulnere accepto equo deciderat, circumsistebant; si quo erat longius
prodeundum aut celerius recipiendum, tanta erat horum
exercitatione celeritas ut iubis sublevati equorum cursum
adaequarent.
20
Tacitus, Germ. 6. 3: On the whole, one would say that
their chief strength is in their infantry, which fights along
with the cavalry; admirably adapted to the action of the
latter is the swiftness of certain foot-soldiers, who are
picked from the entire youth of their country, and stationed
in front of the line; In universum aestimanti plus penes
peditem roboris; eoque mixti proeliantur, apta et congruente ad equestrem pugnam velocitate peditum, quos ex
omni iuventute delectos ante aciem locant.
21
Tacitus, Germ. 14.2: Indeed, men look to the liberality of
their chief for their war-horse and their bloodstained and
victorious framea; exigunt enim principis sui liberalitate illum bellatorem equum, illam cruentam victricemque
frameam.
22
See Kristensen 1983, pp.44 and 50.
23
According to Ammianus Marcellinus (Amm. 16, 12, 34), at
a certain moment among the masses of foot German warriors there were heard voices calling the few riders belonging to the tribal aristocracy (the kings sons) to dismount,
for it was feared that if the Romans were to start winning,
they would use their horses to escape from the battlefield.
Obeying these voices they dismounted and fought on foot:
Pohl 1994b, p.164. This indicates that the horse was treated mainly as a means of transport to the battlefield (evacuation from the battlefield, chasing the defeated enemy) and
a sign of the warriors high rank, and not as a tool used
extensively in the battle.
BALTICA 11
possessing horses on their own were possibly located

higher in the hierarchy of retinue than foot warriors,
collected from inexperienced youngsters20. Therefore
it doesnt sound astounding that horse is presented by
Tacitus as one of the most desired war booties, together
with bloodstained framea21. The latter seems to be a
metaphor but obtainment of a war horse actually elevated warriors to a higher position22.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
There are no premises to assume that the Przeworsk

Culture population had any centrally commanded
troops using another style of fighting than brave but
uncoordinated attacks typical for the majority of the
Germans17. As refers to the military use of a horse it
seems that these animals determined the high rank of
the warrior and also were a means of transport to the
battle, an element facilitating chasing the enemy or, in
case of defeat, escape from the battlefield. The combat
potential of the horse could have been exploited rarely
in normal battles but more significantly during shortterm military incentives e.g., during looting forays of
the retinue (comitatus), see: Kontny 2003a18, although
as these expeditions were probably off-handed it is
hard to assume that horses were used as a part of tactical units. They helped to move faster (greater surprise
value, effectiveness of the attack, chasing the defeated,
escape in case of defeat or for fear of revenge, etc.)
which does not, however, exclude, plundering forays
made by warriors on foot. The aim was rather to use
the speed offered by these animals. One should assume
that they might have served as means of transport not
only for mounted warriors but also their foot brothersin-arms. Horseback without a saddle left enough room
for two persons and the horse might have carried two
warriors, especially for a short distance. It was probably very important for methods of fighting used by
the retinue that consisted of mounted warriors as well
as foot ones19. We may draw a conclusion that warriors
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
101
Bartosz
Kontny
Horse nd its Use in

Evidence
and information by Tacitus concerning the Venethi24)

as well as the representations of the Germans in Roman
iconography (reliefs on the column of Marcus Aurelius
and the Portonaccio Sarcophagus25) we obtain the different image: these sources seem to indicate that only
a small number of Germanic warriors fought on horseback in the Roman Period (also in the late stage of it).
The fact that warrior groups did not necessarily have to
be composed mainly of riders is also indicated by the
bog finds from the Early and Late Roman Periods. As
they were composed of weapons won in the battle from
the defeated aggressors, they represent the weapons
used in practice, not filtered through the burial rites.
The analysis of the military equipment found there allows to conclude that only a small part of warriors had
horses; they represented the highest ranks, who also
possessed elements of costume and ornaments, as well
as shield fittings, made of precious raw materials and
richly decorated26. This picture may be determined to
some extent by the character of the supposed attacks:
the invaders most probably got to the area of Jutland
Peninsula by boat. The vessels discovered at bog sites
from the Roman Period (above all Nydam boats A, B
and C (Shetelig 1930; Rieck 2003), could not be used
to transport large animals (see Crumlin-Pedersen 1987,
pp.101 and 103). From the other side there are many
premises (analyses of horse skeletons put in bogs as
offerings, the stylistics of riding gear, etc.) to assume
that the invaders did bring the horses or at least horse
harnesses (von Carnap-Bornheim 1998). Thus the
problems of transport did not ultimately preclude using
the horses, the more so as there could have been other
transporting units (Crumlin-Pedersen 1987, p.103).
The Venethi are described by Tacitus (the Roman historian was not certain whether they should be counted as
Germans): in their plundering forays they covered large
distances on foot and they differed from the Sarmatians in
their fondness for walking and speed (Tacitus, Germ., 46.
2). This description may be interpreted as a confirmation
that pillaging attacks organised without the use of horses
were also effective.
25
At the column representations a clear domination of
Germanic foot warriors over the equestrians can be seen
despite the fact that the presented warriors are generally
identified on the basis of their garments as members of the
elite warrior group (nobiles), who could probably afford to
keep a horse (see Schymalla 1987, p.50).
26
Illerup Place A: 5-7 warriors of highest rank with silver
shield fittings, swords richly decorated according to local
demands, horses, and other military equipment; more than
30 warriors of medium rank with bronze shield fittings,
swords and shields with Roman bronze fittings etc.; almost 300 warriors of lower rank with iron shield fittings
and pairs of shafted weapon heads (Ilkjr 1997, p.56ff;
see Ilkjr 1994, Table 1). Ejsbl Nord: 12-14 officers, at
least nine of whom on horseback, at least 60 middle rank
warriors with swords and one hundred and several ten warriors of the lowest rank (rsnes 1988, p.25; see Bemmann,
Bemmann 1998, p.357ff).
24
102
Fig. 8. Number of spurs from graves of the Przeworsk culture in the Roman and Early Migration Period.
Nevertheless in my opinion the above circumstances

certainly limited these possibilities: we do not know
finds of boats big enough to transport horses although
horse harness was surely taken by invaders (see: von
Carnap-Bornheim, Ilkjr 1996, pp.260-265). Let me
assume that they counted on horses robbed on site,
after reaching the land to be plundered. How then to
explain the certain popularity of spurs in the Przeworsk
culture graves? Probably it proves that war horses were
used but not in direct encounters but in looting forays
of retinues. It is possible that the increase of the proportion of burials with spurs among the weapon-graves
of the Przeworsk Culture might have been connected
with more frequent war expeditions, including, perhaps the Marcomannic Wars. There are no premises,
however, to assume that the possible increased use of
horses resulted in creating regular cavalry troops following the Roman model.
As spurs are the most frequent element of a riders gear
found in graves, it is worth to consider how numerous
they are in respective burials (Fig. 8). In order to do
that the numbers the of occurrences of one, two and
more than two spurs for the respective phases of the
Roman Period (taking into account the data from the
Late Pre-Roman Period was pointless due to the very
low number of spurs) are presented in Diagram 1. It
turns out that for most of the phases the number of cases where grave goods included one or two spurs is very
similar. Only in Phases B2b, B2/C1 there are more pairs
of spurs, although this observation does not reflect the
actual tendency: as in graves broadly dated to Phases
B2bC1a single spurs are predominant, also in this case
it is possible to accept that spurs occurred singly or in
pairs with the same intensity27. This difference is clearer only for the late part of Phase C1a and Phase C1b,
although also in this case one should remember that
some of the graves in which single spurs are predominant are dated less precisely. The cases where grave
27
In other, broadly dated, burials single spurs and their pairs

occur in similar numbers.
The fact of using single spurs in the Antiquity was

mentioned, i.a., by A. Nadolski (1954, p.80). Analogies from various cultural circles and epochs (e.g.: single spurs placed on the left leg in Thuringian graves
from the Migrations Period) indicate that a single
spur was worn on the left leg (ak 1959, p.62ff; ak,
Makowiak-Kotkowska 1988, p.271; see Bochnak
2004, p.28). The cases of adding to burials of single
asymmetrical spurs with a third fastening variant G after J. Ginalski (1991), well-known from the Przeworsk
culture, indicate the fact of using the spurs also in this
case on the left leg. In spurs of this type the shorter
bent heel arm was fixed the internal part of the foot,
and the longer, straight one, to the external part, whereas the third fastening the hook should have been in
this case pointing upwards (Jahn 1921, p.59; Ginalski
1991, p.68; ak 1959, p.63)28. It is thus possible to say,
basing on the form of the spur, on which foot it was
worn. The analysis of the artefacts of this kind from
the area of the Przeworsk Culture allows to support the
conception that single spurs were worn on the left foot;
single spurs from grave 7 from Chmielw Piaskowy
(Godowski, Wichman 1998, p.17ff plateVIII.7, IX.7,
XC.1) and grave 67 in Stare Babice, Warsaw West district (unpublished materials, in collection of the Museum of Ancient Iron Smelting in Pruszkw)29 and from
the disturbed grave from Dbowiec, Krotoszyn district
(Piaszykowa 1956, p.191; collection of the Archaeological Museum in Pozna), indicate that spurs were
fixed on the left foot. Other known to me finds of single
spurs, variant G can not be assessed: these spurs were
atypically devoid of the third hook or were too damaged to specify on which leg they were worn30. J. ak
also draws attention to the way of mounting the horse
The discussed problem has been recently taken up

by R. Gawroski (1998) who looked for reasons why
the single spur was used31. In his opinion, the use of
the left spur could result in bending the mount to left,
which was to increase the strength of the hit thanks to
the additional use of the weight of the animals body.
Moreover, the spur may have been meant to facilitate
the right turn, described by Tacitus as the manoeuvre
characteristic for the Germans (Tacitus, Germ. 6). Another benefit of hitting the mounts left flank with a
spur was to be turning its head, which enlarged the
warriors striking field and gave more possibilities to
operate with heavy weapons (e.g., the sword) from the
horseback. Taking a sceptical attitude to some of the
above explanations although not denying them I would
like to mention a possibility of a considerably simpler
solution of the question why the deceased were provided with only one spur. As a result of discussions I had
with M. Eng. Grzegorz Mikua, a many years standing and still active jockey, there appeared the following possibility: if one spur were used during the fight
then it would be useful on the left leg; it would serve
to steer the horse to the right (avoiding a painful prick
from the left the horse moves to the right). As warriors
left hand was occupied by the shield (or the reins) they
kept the offensive weapon in the right one, the horses
movement increased the strength with which the horserider setup pressed against the opponent32. Moreover, a
strong stimulus from the left side prevented the horse
from panicking; a panic reaction could have been triggered in the horse during the fight, which would result
in a desire to escape from the source of danger being
on the right side. The use of the spur placed on the left
leg held such impulses in check.
J. ak erroneously presents a reverse configuration of the

discussed elements (1959, p.63). The above described
style of wearing spurs are also confirmed by the finds of
spurs variant G after J. Ginalski from inhumation graves of
the Sudovian culture in Szwajcaria, Suwaki district, barrow 2 and 50 (Antoniewicz et. al., 1958, pp.23-27 plates I,
V.11-12; Antoniewicz 1961, p.14ff fig.10 plate VI.24-25).
29
I would like hereby to express my gratitude to the Directors of the Museums in Pozna and Pruszkw for granting
me the access to their collections.
30
One can find in the literature an attempt at determining
on which leg a minimally asymmetrical spur was worn
(sub-group E2 after Ginalski) from grave 2 at Kocierzew
Poudniowy, owicz district. The conclusion that it was
worn on the left leg (Skowron 1998, p.84) does not seem,
however, reliable as the asymmetry was only slight and
could have been caused by, e.g., deformations due to the
heat on the pyre (the spur is made of bronze).
It is also worth to consider how the occurrence of more

than two spurs in grave goods can be explained (I do not
take into account here the cases when a larger number
of spurs was found in double graves, i.e., ones where
other elements of grave goods are evidently doubled).
As it was said above, such cases are very rare, yet pro-
28
T. Bochnak considered if it is possible to explain the

appearance of single spurs in graves from the Late PreRoman Period at the area of Central Europe by the phenomenon of monosandalism, i.e., going to fight with only
one foot shod, which is confirmed for the Ancient world.
However, he ultimately came to the conclusion that this
phenomenon does not apply to the Central European barbaricum (Bochnak 2004, p.27).
32
J. ak says that a horse spurred in its left flank turns to the
right even when it is galloping (1959, p.63).
BALTICA 11
when saddles without stirrups were used (stirrups were

not known in the Roman Period), which was executed
by vaulting the horse right leg first. If the spur were in
this case on the riders right leg it would wound the
horse (ak 1959, p.64).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
goods included a larger number of spurs are extremely

rare. One may thus assume that basically either one or
two spurs were added to the grave goods. It seems that
this phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the
then riders actually used one or two spurs.
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
31
103
Bartosz
Kontny
Horse nd its Use in

Evidence
portionally significantly more frequent in Phase B2a33.

Such cases were interpreted e.g.: asc manufacturers
graves (ak 1959, footnote 38). It seems however that
the explanation of this phenomenon is simpler. It should
be noted that the cases when many spurs were found
are mostly confirmed for richly equipped graves (i.a.,
with swords Ciebowice Due, Kolonia Rychocice,
Lizawice, Lachmirowice, Sandomierz-Krakwka), and
even in princely graves, e.g., the grave from Sandomierz-Krakwka. The richest grave from barbaricum is
the famous discovery from Muov in Moravia, where
as many as 17 spurs were discovered (Tejral 2002; see
Kontny 2003b, p.141 with footnote 139). It thus seems
that additional spurs indicated an extraordinary status of the deceased, connected with the possession of,
e.g., a large number of horses. To explain this phenomenon, analogies from the Elbe circle may be helpful.
In rich (inhumation) graves No II and III from Marwedel, Kr. Lchow-Dannenberg, additional pairs of
spurs were found, situated far from the legs: behind the
head. Taking into account their careful arrangement,
they are interpreted as a proof that the deceased was
equipped with a pair of riding boots with permanently
fixed (riveted) X-shaped spurs. This interpretation is
extended to discoveries of more than one pair of spurs
in cremation burials (Bischop 2006, p.108ff fig. 0).
Taking into account the similar chronology and form
of (X-shaped) spurs, an identical interpretation should
be adopted with respect to graves from Phase B2a from
Sandomierz-Krakwka, Kolonia Rychocice, Lizawice
or Kamieczyk. Adherence to this custom clearly had a
supracultural character and was an element of the ritual
practised by Germanic elites. It is probable that in a
similar way slightly earlier and later assemblages with

bow spurs should be explained, although in these cases
the inference can be only indirect.
From the area of the Przeworsk Culture (rare) finds of
also other parts of the bridle are known. The most spectacular group of artefacts are chain reins (Fig. 9). Finds
from the area of Barbarian Europe were first collected
by T. Baranowski (1973), and they were also taken into
account in S. Wilbers-Rosts study (1994), or, incompletely, in M. rsnes (1993) one. From the area of the
Przeworsk Culture only several of them are known34.
There is no certainty as to where the bridle with chain
reins was invented. S. Wilbers-Rost showed prototypes
for respective components in various regions of Europe: the cheeks had Balkan roots, mouthpieces, Italian or Celtic, chain reins, Celtic, whereas nose-band
fittings, Celtic or Roman (1994, p.99ff). The bridle in
the final form could have appeared at the turn between
Phases B1/B2 in Sambian Peninsula which was within
reach of Barbarian and Noricum-Pannonian influences
and from which comes the most numerous collection
of early bridles (Wilbers-Rost 1994, p.101ff). This is
where from, through exchange, as gifts, or in connection with amber trade, they could have found their way
to the area of the Przeworsk Culture; a considerable
similarity of the elements known from Sambia and
Polish lands can be seen (Wilbers-Rost 1994, p.105ff).
Though this conception seems probable, the collection
of the artefacts is too small to exclude the opposite direction, i.e., the inflow of Przeworsk Culture bridles
with chain reins to Sambian Peninsula (Wilbers-Rost
1994, p.106)35. Unfortunately, it is not known how
Czekanw, Ostrw Wielkopolski district, stray find
(Kostrzewski 1923, p.257 fig.769; Baranowski 1973,
p.410 fig.6), find from the Bug river in the vicinity of
Kamieczyk (Baranowski 1973, p.419 fig. 8; Wilbers-Rost
1994, p.189), Ostrwek, Inowrocaw district, discovery
from a destroyed cemetery together with a mouthpiece
type Ka1 after S. Wilbers-Rost (Kostrzewski 1923, p.183
fig.664; Zielonka 1970, p.166, plate 4.24; Baranowski
1973, pp.419 and 430, fig.17; Wilbers-Rost 1995, p.190),
cinawa-Jew, Lubin district, from a destroyed cemetery
(Kontny 2001b, p.86ff fig.13, with further literature) and
Zakw Kocielny, owicz district, grave (Wawrzeniecki
1912, p.55 plate XXVIII; Baranowski 1973, p.419 fig.19;
Wilbers-Rost 1994, p.193). The recent years have not
yielded any new discoveries from the area of the Przeworsk culture. Although it was initially suggested that
chain reins were part of the assemblage from grave 22 at
Grzybw (Garbaczowie 1990, p.276ff), the idea was justly
abandoned and the chain links were determined as parts of
a drinking horn (Garbacz 1992, p.181 figs.1-2).
35
W. Nowakowski treats it as a local form, characteristic
of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture, developing here starting from Phase B2 (1996, p.56ff). There are no grounds to
acknowledge the concept by V. Kulakov, who considered
Sambian bridles with chain reins as Roman imports. In his
opinion they appeared in Sambian Peninsula owing to the
34
The diagram includes the following assemblages (double

burials were not taken into account): B1 Niedanowo,
grave 247: 4 spurs (Ziemliska-Odojowa 1999, p.48ff
plate LXXVI: 247.3-6); B2a Kamieczyk, grave 60:
3 spurs (Dbrowska 1997, pp.21-22 plate XXVIII.60,
XXIX.60), Kolonia Rychocice, Wielu district., grave 6:
5 spurs (Jadewska 2004, pp.292-297 plate I-IV), Lizawice, Oawa district, disturbed grave: 4 spurs (Hendel,
Modzioch 1981), Sandomierz-Krakwka, Sandomierz
district 9 spurs (Wilkoski 1938, p.118ff; Kokowski,
cibior 1990, plate 385. 1-12; remarks concerning spurs
see Kontny 2003b, footnote 139); B2/C1 Bratove, rayon
Vinogradov, grave 3: 4 spurs (Kobal 1997, p.38 fig.6),
Ciebowice Due, Tomaszw Mazowiecki district, grave
61: 4 spurs (Biborski 2000, pp.54-55 fig. 9.6-9), Lachmirowice, Inowrocaw district, grave XVII: 3 spurs (Zielonka
1953, pp.370-371 fig. 13), Opatw, Kobuck district, grave
745: 3 spurs (unpublished, in collection of the Institute
of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University; I would like to
thank professor P. Kaczanowski for granting me the access
to these materials); C1 (late stage of Phase C1a and C1b)
Rzeszw-Zalesie, Rzeszw district: 3 spurs (Czopek 1998,
p.125 fig.81; Gruszczyska 1999, p.286), Terebovlja (exTrembowla), rayon Ternopol: 3 spurs (Kropotkin 1977,
p.182 with footnote 17 fig.11.7-9).
33
104
Apart from this exceptional find, the

snaffle bits started to appear in the PrzeFig. 9. Bridle with chain reins from Kamieczyk, loose find (drawn by J.
worsk culture in the Early Roman PeOkulicz; after Baranowski 1973, fig.18).
riod. One may enumerate here e.g. the
fragment of a specimen from Peczyska,
Piczw district (Nosek 1947, p.147ff
popular such solutions were in the Przeworsk Culture, figs.46-47) from late stage of Phase B1 (i.a. bronze
for they appeared among grave goods only exception- vessels Type 133 and 18-21 after H.J. Eggers 1951, a
shield boss Type Jahn 6), find from Kalinw, Strzelce
ally, unlike in Sambia.
Opolskie district, grave 2536 (Szydowski 1959, p.173ff
Also pieces of horse-bits and other metal parts of the
plate VII), dated to Phase B2 by pottery findings, another
horse gear are quite rare. The earliest example of the bit
specimen from Bodzanowo, Radziejw district, grave
(Fig. 10) is the find of a curb bit from the grave in the
27, dated by fibulae of group V series 8 after O. Almsettlement of Malkowice, Proszowice district (Jamka
gren (1923) to Phases B2bB2/C1 (Zielonka 1961, p.192
1947), dated to the Early Roman Period Phase B1 (alfig.6). There are also Early or Late Roman Period items
though the coherence of the assemblage is uncertain)
of that type although not all of them are surely deterand considered as an import from Thrace (Baranowski
mined: fragment of a bridle (?) from Rostki, Ostroka
1973, pp.454 and 461 fig. 30) or generally the Balkans
district, grave 1 (Kempisty, Okulicz 1965, plate 88.1(uczkiewicz 2000, footnote 171). Such forms of horse2) dated to B2/C1C1a (i.a. a belt-buckle Type G 46 after
Roman Army horsemen (see Kulakov 2005, p.45), what
seems utmostly improbable taking into account their relatively great number.
Remains of a horse were found there (Szydowski 1959,

p.174).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
bit, described as Thracian type, i.e.

type II after Z. Woniak (1974, p.112ff)
or XVI after W.M. Werner (1988), are
typical of the Padea-Panagjurski Kolonii
group (Srbu, Rustoiu 1999, p.81 figs.67; Rustoiu 2005, p.109), located in modern Romania (the region of Oltenia) and
Bulgaria (the area around Vratsa as well
as the tableland around Sofia and to the
south of the Balkan Mountains). The
group was ethnically heterogeneous,
including Thracian, Celtic and Dacian
elements. Horse-bits of the Thracian
type are dated to Phases LTC2 and LTD1
(Rustoiu 2005, fig. 10). Apart from the
Padea-Pangjurski Kolonii group they
appeared also in the Celtic territory but
it seems to be secondary (Woniak 1974,
p.112ff). The type in question was then
used in the Thracian lands during the
Roman Period (Woniak 1974, p.113
with footnote 175). They are extremely
rare outside the Padea-Panagjurski Kolonii group area, appearing uniquely in
the tribal territory of Scordiscii, in Italy
and Western Hungary and among the
Dacians in Romania what is treated as
a prove of contacts with middle Moesia
and North-Western Thracia (Woniak
1974, pp.113 and 116). Z. Woniak
connects the find from Malkowice with
this group of findings (1974, p.113 with
footnote 179).
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
36
105
Bartosz
Kontny
Horse nd its Use in

Evidence
Fig. 10. Curb bit from Malkowice, grave find (drawn by J. Okulicz; after Baranowski 1973, fig.30).
106
R. Madyda-Legutko 1986, a shield boss Type 7a after

Jahn 1916, a fibula of group VI series 2 after O. Almgren 1923), find from Roszkowice, Kluczbork district
dated to Phase C1 (Raschke 1940, p.142; Szydowski
1964, p.174; see Baejewski 1998, p.190), fragment
of a bridle from Opatw, Kobuck district, grave 714
(unpublished materials from the collection of the Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University; dating
after terra sigillata pieces and a fibula group VI after O. Almgren to Phase C1a), fragment of a bridle (?)
from Piaski, Piotrkw Trybunalski district, grave 170
(Skowron 1997, p.51ff plate VIII. G.170) from Phases
C2C3 (i.a. lancehead Type XXII after P. Kaczanowski
1995); one should remind also a find of an Early Roman
Period iron bridle and rein-fastener of type that cannot

be described aptly from Sadowie, Ostrw Wielkopolski district, grave dug in a barrow from the Bronze Age
(Jasnosz 1955, p.142 fig.3)37. The latest bridles proved
for the Przeworsk culture come from princely graves at
ugi (phase D1) and Jakuszowice (phase D2) and were
mentioned above. There were also different types of
bridles in use, probably curb bits, what is confirmed by
a find of a mouthpiece type Ka1 after S. Wilbers-Rost
from Sokowek, Woomin district, grave 1, dated to
phase B2b (Liana 1960, pp.375-376 fig. 1; Baranowski
37
Elements of this kind are highly varied, hence many of

these finds are determined only in a general way (WilbersRost 1994, p.70).
Archaeozoological data
There still remains the question of the finds of horse
remains from the settlements of the Przeworsk culture.
Although the state research on the settlements is far
from being satisfactory, the obtained bone remains
allow to formulate certain general conclusions. The
results of archaeozoological analyses concerning the
horse in the Przeworsk Culture have been collected
by M.A. Bajkowska (1999). The results of her investigations show that the percentage of horse bones of
among the totality of animal remains in settlements
usually did not exceed 6% and was never higher than
10% (cattle remains decidedly predominated). It was
slightly smaller in settlements from the area of Greater
and Lesser Poland than from Mazovia and Podlasie.
Bajkowska observed a regularity that the larger proportion of horse bones was accompanied by a higher
frequency of wild animal bones, yet she considered
that it was impossible to decide whether this should be
interpreted as a sign that wild horses were hunted or not
(see Krysiak 1956, pp.97-102; 1958, p.140; Godynicki
1973, p.33). Another important result of Bajkowskas
study is establishing the sizes of horses from the area
of the Przeworsk Culture. The most numerous were individuals of an average size with rather thin limbs. In
the investigated by her assemblage the heights at the
withers ranged from 100 to 145 the cm and the largest concentration of measurements was in the brackets
of 125 and 140 cm (average 131.7 cm). These were
animals similar to the so-called Polish horse: with a
forehead of average width, elongated eyes and wide
face. The author of the study explained the existence
of individuals decidedly going beyond the average in
two ways. On the one hand, she drew attention to the
fact that castration was applied, which in the case of
individuals subjected to it before reaching the second
year of age could have increased their height at withers by about 4-6 cm (Kobry 1984, p.50). On the other
hand, she allowed, following other researchers (Lasota-Moskalewska, Kobry 1998, p.9), for occasional
imports of large individuals from the Roman Empire
(Roman provinces Noricum and Pannonia were famous from the horse farming see Bknyi 1968;
1974) or the area of the Chernyakhov Culture where
large horses were also known (Tsalkin 1966, p.40ff;
Sacral context
Exceptionally, horses could have been used at settlements for sacral purposes. This is supported by the discovery from Biskupice, Pruszkw district, at the area
of West Mazovian metallurgical centre (Fig. 11). At the
area occupied by a field of smelting kilns, an empty
space was found, circular in shape. In the centre a
complete horse skeleton was uncovered (Woyda 1978,
p.100; Makiewicz 1993, p.72). The animal had been hit
over the head with a piece of slag and killed (the piece
of slag was stuck in the horses head), having its legs
bound. The grave may have been originally covered by
a barrow (Woyda 2002, p.125 with footnote 41 fig.10;
2004, pp.141-142 fig.10). Another ritual horse burial,
also surrounded by smelting kilns was discovered in a
nearby settlement in Pruszkw-Reguy, Pruszkw district (Woyda 2002, p.125; 2004 fig.9).
BALTICA 11
So far there are no reasons to believe that the Przeworsk Culture population could use the saddles.
Rajewski 1994, p.212). M.A. Bajkowska considered

local selection leading to production of tall individuals as hardly probable, due to the lack of individuals
of intermediate heights between the large ones and
the predominant average-sized horses. She linked the
existence of particularly rare, small individuals with
the trade in the individuals of short breeds, similar to
today Shetland ponies or with incorrect determination
of donkey bones, erroneously classified as horse bones
(horse and donkey skeleton differs in the skull but the
other parts are very similar). Donkeys could have got to
the area of the Przeworsk Culture by way of trade. Bajkowska also established that post-consumption traces
on horse bones were found very seldom and the bones
were usually not broken up. Fragments coming from
well muscled parts of the body were also rarely found
among waste from the settlements. Moreover, an overrepresentation of the head bones and under-representation of trunk bones (always by more than 10% and at
some sites even above 40%) can be noticed. Finds of
limb bones were close to the model percentage distribution. All this leads to the conclusion that basically
horse meat not was consumed, and consumption could
have taken place only in exceptional situations, like
famine, offering of a horse, or the animals inability
to work. It should be stressed here that in settlements
a low percentage of young animals was found (0.38%6.6% at a site). At some sites, however, remains of old
horses were discovered, which suggests high longevity
of these animals.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
1973, fig. 7. 5; Wilbers-Rost 1994, p.191). Additionally we know a loose find of a bronze strap-end type Rh
2a after S. Wilbers-Rost, probably from leather reins,
found in Sikucin, Zduska Wola district (Baranowski
1973, fig.20; Wilbers-Rost 1994, p.191).
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
Iconography
Theoretically the importance of the horse may have
been testified by the presence of this animal at icono-
107
Bartosz
Kontny
Horse nd its Use in

Evidence
Fig. 11. Horse burial in the smelting field from Biskupice: a assumed location of smelting kilns; b skeleton of a horse; c
piece of slag on the horses skull (after Woyda 2004, fig.10).
108
graphic representations. Unfortunately, representations of animals are very rare in the Przeworsk Culture
(Fig. 12). Exceptionally one can find them on weapons (see Kaczanowski 1988) and on pottery. Within
the first group so far no representations of the horse
have been found, whereas pottery from burials has
yielded two examples of horse images. The first one
comes from an urn grave of a woman (grave 30) at the
burial ground in Biaa, d district, dated to Phase
C1a. On this urn, besides other figural representations,
four schematic figures of riders were engraved (Makiewicz 1970, pp.188-189 plate XII. 8-15, XIII. 1; Bugaj
1999, plates 22-24). They may be part of a narration,
depicting deities or a procession (Bugaj 1999, p.187,
with further literature). The other representations come
from czany, Radom district. On fragments of an urn
from grave 15 there preserved engraved images of

orants and riders, less schematic than in the case of the
find from Biaa (Bujakowska 2004, p.315). This was a
grave with weapons, including i.a., a shield boss Type
7a after Jahn (1916), a shield grip Type 9 after the
same author, with fan-shaped, distinct rivet plates, and
a pair of heads of a shafted weapon, dated to the late
stage of Phase B2 (Bujakowska 2003). The unique character of the above mentioned representations does not
depart from the Barbarian standard, for horse pictures
appeared uniquely in Barbarian Europe, if all the vessels are to be taken into consideration (see Bugaj 1999,
p.162ff). In the interpretation of these representations
attention is drawn to the military and sacrificial importance of the horse as well as its connection with the
fertility symbolism of German mythology (besides the
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
Fig. 12. Images of horses on the Przeworsk Culture pottery: a Biaa, grave 30 (after Bugaj 1999, fig. 23); b czany, grave
15 (after Bujakowska 2004).
wild boar, the horse was the animal of Freya, a fertility goddess). Also its function as the mount of deities:
Odin or the valkyrie (Bugaj 1999, p.222), is stressed.
Conclusions
Summing up it should be underlined that although in
principle absent in accessible to us manifestations of
burial rites, the horse played a significant part in the
Przeworsk Culture society. Consumption is not an is-
sue here (horse bone remains from the settlements

seem to exclude such a possibility) and we deal rather
with the military and, in part, symbolic importance.
Judging from the frequency of graves with spurs, the
horses significance reached its peak at the beginning
of the Early Roman Period. Taking into account the
knowledge about the Germans military technique,
one may suppose that the horse was first of all used for
harassing the enemy, making up part of the activity of
military retinues. Using it in regular combat required
109
Horse nd its Use in

Evidence
well-thought-out tactics, yet no trace of it can be found

in the case of the Przeworsk Culture. Undoubtedly, the
possession of a horse also stressed its owners status,
which is indicated by Tacitus words mentioned above
and the fact that the riders importance was so eagerly
manifested by putting spurs in graves.
Translated by Sylwia Twardo
Bartosz
Kontny
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III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
113
Bartosz
Kontny
Horse nd its Use in

Evidence
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Received: 29 January 2009; Revised: 10 March 2009;
Bartosz Kontny
Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw
Krakowskie Przedmiecie 26/28 00-927 Warszawa
E-mail: bartosz.kontny@uw.edu.pl
ARCHEOLOGINIAI DUOMENYS
A P I E I R G I R J O PA S K I RT
P E V O R S K O K U LT R O J E
Bartosz Kontny
Santrauka
Pabrtina, kad nepaisant to, jog i esms irgo apraik
beveik nerandame mums prieinamuose laidojimo apeig altiniuose, Pevorsko (Przeworsk) kultros visuomenei irgas buvo svarbi gyvenimo dalis (112pav.).
Maistui jis nebuvo vartojamas (arkli kaul liekanos
gyvenvietse liudija prie toki galimyb). Taigi mes
greiiau susiduriame su karine ir i dalies simboline
irgo svarba. Sprendiant pagal kap su pentinais pasitaikymo dan, irgo reikm pasiek aukiausi tak
ankstyvojo romnikojo laikotarpio pradioje. Turint
omenyje inias apie german karybos ypatumus, galima manyti, kad irgas vis pirma buvo naudotas
prieams sutrikdyti, dalyvaujant karinei palydai. irgai
nuolatos buvo pasitelkiami kautynse, ir tai reikalavo
gerai apmstyti taktik. Taiau iki iol nra enkl, kad
taip buvo daroma Pevorsko kultroje. Neabejotinai
irgas pabr jo savininko status. Tacitas ra: Germanai neturi tokio paproio, kaip mes, apjodinti irg
ratu: irgus veja tiesiai arba pasuka tik dein (turima
omenyje pentinu) ...38 Taigi raitelio svarba buvo pabriama, dedant kapus pentinus (5 pav.).
Vert Rasa Banyt-Rowell
38
114
Lietuvika citata i: Publijus Kornelijus Tacitas, Germanija. Vilnius, 1972, In: Rinktiniai ratai 6 (vert J. Maiulien), (tomo red. nuoroda).
Abstract
During the Roman period the Bogaczewo Culture cemeteries in Masuria included horse graves. The features often contained
bits, whereas other parts of horse tack were found rarely. The horse graves discussed in the paper cannot be unequivocally
linked to human burials - possibly horsemens graves, as the latter had been situated shallowly under the surface, which led
to their damage.
BALTICA 11
WOJCIECH NOWAKOWSKI
ARCHAEOLOGIA
HORSE BURIALS IN ROMAN PERIOD

C E M E T E R I E S O F T H E B O G A C Z E W O C U LT U R E
Key words: Horses burials, Bogaczewo Culture, Roman Period, Masuria.
Horse graves1 found in the area adjacent to the stretch

of the eastern Baltic coastline, in the Balt lands (Bitner-Wrblewska 2002, fig. 1; 2006, fig. 1), have always been of much interest to archaeologists (Hensche
1862; Alseikait-Gimbutien 1946, pp.55-57 and 13138; Kulikauskien 1953; Jaskanis 1966; 1968; 1974,
pp.97-98, 169-171 and 196-199; Pitkowska-Maecka
2001; Grzak 2007; Bliujen, Butkus 2007). Some of
the earliest finds of this kind include horse teeth from
early Iron Age barrows in Kurmaiiai, on the coast of
western Lithuania (Kulikauskien 1953, p.212; Jaskanis 1968, p.82ff, Kulikauskas 1968, p.27). Interestingly, on the Samland Peninsula the earliest graves
containing horse bone occurred in the late phase of
the Early Roman Period. A number of these finds are
just horse teeth, like in Kurmaiiai, often of unspecified date (Bujack 1891, p.14; Jankuhn 1939, p.246ff).
However, there are also archaeological features with
complete horse skeletons accompanied by rich grave
goods enabling one to establish a precise chronology
(La Baume 1944, p.2 figs. 5-6).
Horse burials were far more numerous in the Balt lands
in the Late Roman Period (Jaskanis 1966, p.44ff; 1968,
p.82ff; Kulikauskien 1953, p.212ff) at that time the
area where such burials were common extended south I would like to thank all my colleagues who have helped me
with searching for archive materials referring to the finds
discussed in this paper, and have made them available for
publication: Dr Christine Reich, Prof Wilfried Menghin,
Prof Mathias Wemhoff, Horst Junker and Horst Wieder
from Museum fr Vor- und Frhgeschichte in Berlin, Prof.
Claus von Carnap-Bornheim and Dr Volker Hilberg from
Archologisches Landesmusem in Schleswig-Holstein,
Dr Arnis Radin and Janis Ciglis, M.A., from Latvijas
Nacionlais vsturas muzejs in Riga, Ms. Mirja Ots from
Aialoo Institut in Tallinn. I am especially grateful to Dr
Anna Juga-Szymaska and Dr Pawe Szymaski. The
research presented herein was performed under Ministry
of Science and Higher Education Grant No. N 109 016
31/0933.
wards embracing the Sudovian Culture territory on the

upper Czarna Hacza River (Jaskanis 1961, p.172, Antoniewicz 1963, p.168, Kaczyski 1976, on the Sudovian Culture).
Research into horse graves of Roman date occurring
in the southern regions of the Balt lands (Fig. 1) in
the Bogaczewo Culture territory in Masuria (Nowakowski 2007) has been hindered by cultural aspects
of this area. Nearly all cemeteries of this archaeological culture were in fact used by the Olsztyn Group
people also later in the Migration Period (Nowakowski
2000). In such circumstances the features of ambiguous date cannot be unequivocally associated with the
Bogaczewo Culture, still less due to the fact that horse
burials were also characteristic of the Olsztyn Group
burial rites (Baranowski 1996). Indeed it is difficult to
establish a precise date of the majority of horse graves
uncovered in Masuria, mainly due to the poor state of
source materials, resulting from the Second World War
and its aftermath (Hoffmann, Sobieraj 1999; Kolendo,
Nowakowski 2000; Nowakowski, Lemke 2003), which
has limited the possibility of using reports of excavations carried out before 1945. Later research, conducted according to contemporary exploration methods,
revealed no more than twenty features (Grzak 2007,
p.366ff table 1), and it must be noted that their generally bad physical state and poor equipment, or in some
cases the lack of it at all, do not allow precise establishing of chronology. Furthermore, only the features
recovered after the Second World War could undergo
archaezoological analysis.
The existence of the two so different categories of
sources makes it necessary to apply a similar division
within available research results on Roman Period
horse graves recorded at the sites of the Bogaczewo
Culture. The first part of this study is a short review
of the scarce in number but well documented features
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
115
Horse Burials in Roman

Period Cemeteries of
the Bogaczewo Culture
WOJCIECH
NOWAKOWSKI
discovered after 1945 and already presented in research papers over a few recent years (Grzak 1998;
2007; Pitkowska-Maecka 2001; Szymaski 1998;
2005, pp.96-99 and 126-127 with plates XXVIII and
XXXVIII). The second part of the study is concerned
with a far more numerous, but often uncertain, group
of horse graves uncovered during excavations carried
out before the Second World War, and which have become known only due to old publications and archive
records.
Features revealed after 1945

The biggest series of graves discovered after 1945
comes from the Bogaczewo Culture cemetery in Paprotki Kolonia, Giycko county , site 1 (Karczewska
1998; Karczewski 1999; 2002; Karczewska, Karczewski 2007), none of the eight features though (Nos.
175, 215, 221, 251, 254, 290, 320, 356) contained any
equipment (Grzak 2007, p.366ff table 1). Therefore
dating was based on stratigraphic sequences, which led
to determine the burial time in grave 251 as phase B2
of the early Roman Period, surely at its earliest time,
whereas the date of grave 175 was estimated as the B2/
C1C1a phases. The arrangement of three other features
(graves nos. 215, 221 and 254) in alignment with grave
no. 175 suggests that all of them are likely to be of
approximately the same date (Grzak 2007, p.359).
It must be noted though that these features were located in the severely damaged part of the site (Karczewska, Karczewski 2007, p.197), and consequently all
the conclusions need to be looked at carefully before
being accepted. Summing up, one of the eight graves
from the Paprotki Kolonia cemetery can be dated to the
Early Roman Period (grave 251), and one (grave 175)
to the Late Roman Period. Dating another three graves
(nos. 215, 221 and 254) to the Late Roman Period remains only a hypothesis. In the case of the rest of the
graves (graves nos. 290, 320 and 356) it is necessary
to apply a chronology embracing the whole period during which the cemetery had been used, which indicates
that they could be even of the Late Migration Period
date. Therefore, the possibility that a certain number
of horse graves in the Paprotki Kolonia cemetery
are linked to the Olsztyn Group cannot be ruled out
(Grzak 2007, pp.354 and 359)2.
Such correspondence cannot be found though in the case
of the latest discoveries done in 2008 at the cemetery in
Robawy, county Reszel. Out of five horse graves unearthed
there (nos. 3, 4, 12, 20 and 31) three did not contain any
equipment, whereas the other two (nos. 12 and 31) included artefacts of the Migration period. Consequently it appears reasonable to accept such dating for all five features
from Robawy this data comes from unpublished research
116
A number of horse graves were also recovered in the

1980s and 1990s at the Bogaczewo Culture sites located around Lake Salt (Szymaski 2005). The earliest
one is thought to be the feature from site II in Wyszembork, Mrgowo county, the settlement which had been
inhabited since the early Iron Age (Walu, Manasterski
1998; Gadki 2002; 2007; Szymaski 2005, p.126ff).
On the edge of the settlement a steep-sided pit with a
circular outline was revealed (feature 120). Its upper
part was filled with more than a dozen stones, including pieces of quern-stones, and below them there was
an incomplete horse skeleton lacking most limb bones
and lying on its side. The bones were accompanied by
pieces of a vessel of a typical early Bogaczewo Culture form, most likely of the beginning of Early Roman Period or even the end of Late Pre-Roman date
(Szymaski 2005, pp.126-127 plate XXXVIII.2-3;
Grzak 2007, p.361), which corresponds to dating of
the latest finds in this settlement (Gadki 2002, p.194
plate VII.9; 2007, p.28ff plate III). The location of the
feature outside the cemetery as well as the circular
shape of the pit in which the horse was tightly put in
differ significantly from the rites observed in the Late
Roman Period. It is possible then that these variations
resulted from experimentation with the rites which had
not yet been firmly established. However, the pit may
have also been a landfill site, which the carcass of the
horse was thrown into (Szymaski 2005, p.126ff).
Doubts such as these do not affect horse graves in the
nearby Bogaczewo Culture cemetery in Wyszembork,
site IVa (Szymaski 2005, pp.17-106). Six features
were uncovered there, three of which (graves nos. 166,
220 and 298) can be of Late Roman date (Szymaski
1998; 2005, p.96ff). In all three cases the horse had
been laid in an elongated pit and covered with a number
of loose field stones. Above graves nos. 166 and 220
the bottom parts of human cremation graves were revealed, but they were damaged to such an extent that
it was impossible to confirm their definite relationship
with the horse burials (Szymaski 2005, p.98ff plate
XXVIII.1). In both features the horse skeletons were
accompanied by single-jointed bits with large rings,
and two pairs of buckles, a bigger and a smaller one,
with a rectangular, axised frame whose corners were
slightly rounded. The buckles resemble items of types
AD29-30 or AE12-14 (Madyda-Legutko 1987, pp.3235 and 40-41 with plates 10.29-30 and 11.12-14).
Similar specimens were found at Balt cemeteries in
complexes of Late Roman date, including horse graves
(Szymaski 2005, pp.72-73). In grave 298 apart from
a horses skeleton, pieces of a late Roman vessel were
found over the animals head (Szymaski 2005, p.96).
done by Iza Mellin-Wyczkowska, M.A., to whom I am
grateful for letting her study results be used in this paper.
Thus the graves discovered after 1945 at the Bogaczewo Culture cemeteries did not provide evidence to
accurately determine when this custom had emerged
in Masuria, or whether there had been a closer link
between the features and the burials of the horsemen.
However, they did enable an archaezoological analysis
of the gathered remains to be carried out. The results
show that all the horses were rather small and tarpanlike. Among the horses whose gender could be discerned there were no mares, though it was impossible
to determine whether they were stallions or geldings.
The majority of the specimens were mature, between
5 to 9 years old, though younger and much older
ones could also be found (Grzak 2007, p.359ff fig.7;
Pitkowska-Maecka 2000, p.189ff figs. 2-3). These
results seem to confirm the hypothesis that the horses
buried at the Bogaczewo Culture cemeteries had been
saddle horses. The lack of mares, which suggests that
the majority of the horses or in fact all of them may
well have been stallions, lets us assume that they had
been combat steeds. Due to the lack of unequivocal
archaezoological evidence though, this claim must remain a hypothesis.
The first publication on horse graves discovered at a

Bogaczewo Culture cemetery was a monograph on the
site in Mojtyny, county Mrgowo (former Moythienen,
Kreis Sensburg Fig. 1 cf. Hollack, Peiser 1904; Jaskanis 1977, p.302ff). Three features with horse skeletons (graves 92-94) had been uncovered there. One of
them, grave 92, did not contain any equipment, whereas the other two produced single-jointed bits with large
rings (Hollack, Peiser 1904, p.57 plate VIII.93-94).
An interesting find was a big, cylinder-shaped bronze
bell (grave no. 94) originating in Imperium Romanum,
as similar specimens had been used by Romans as a
decoration of horse tack (Nowakowski 1988, pp.75-76
and 82-83 with figs. 2-3). The presence of the bell in
a horse grave in Masuria indicates that not only did
the Bogaczewo Culture accept the item itself, but its
use in the Roman world had been acknowledged and
accepted as well. Unfortunately, the type of the bell
unearthed in Mojtyny can be found in a wide rage of
date, so it can only be assumed to have arrived in Masuria with the biggest wave of Roman imports at the
beginning of the Late Roman Period. A publicized plan
of the Mojtyny cemetery does not provide grounds to
believe that there is a connection between features containing horses skeletons and human graves, but it suggests that horse graves had been located on the edge of
the cemetery (Hollack, Peiser 1904, plate XIII) or at
least on the edge of the area under excavations.
The above results concur with observations referring

to horse graves revealed after 1945 in other parts of the
Balt lands, first and foremost in the Sudovian Culture
territory (Pitkowska-Maecka 2001, p.192ff; Krysiak
1958; Krysiak, Serwatka 1970), and at the cemetery in
Netta, Augustw county (Serwatka 1970; 2007), which
is unique on its own within the southern part of the Balt
territory (Bitner-Wrblewska 2007, p.115ff).
Features discovered before 1945

The digging methods used in the late 1800s and early
1900s to uncover dozens of cemeteries did not guarantee that no other graves had been left unnoticed and
undiscovered in the said to have been excavated sites.
Indeed, even at sites where excavations had been carried out new features were still being unearthed many
years later (Bitner-Wrblewska 1995), among them
newly identified horse graves (Baranowski 1996).
Moreover, the damage done during the Second World
War greatly limited the possibility of using the results
of studies carried out before 1945. It must be emphasized here that only a small number of the then discovered features were presented in a published form.
Information on the others comes from the archives of
the former Prussia-Museum in Knigsberg (Junker,
Several years after the monograph on the Mojtyny

cemetery, a short article on the site in Ogonki, county
Wgorzewo, was published (former Ogonken, Kreis
Angerburg cf. Jaskanis 1977, p.307). By a mere coincidence, more than a dozen unurned cremation graves
had been uncovered there, together with a number of
unidentified equine bones (Pferdeknochen Grigat
1927, p.82; Grzak 2007, p.359), which may well have
come from destroyed horse graves. The gathered finds
indicate that at least a number of features should be
dated to the Late Roman Period, whereas the presence
of cross-bow fibulas with long, plain catch-plates of
Dollkeim/Kovrovo type (Jakobson, Archive; cf. Bitner-Wrblewska 2001, pp.43-47 and 50-52 with fig.7)
indicates that the cemetery had been used even in the
Early Migration Period. Therefore, the hypothetical
horse graves in the Ogonki cemetery may well be dated
to this period3.
An example of this kind is the situation at the Roman Period Bogaczewo Culture cemetery in Sypitki, county Ek
(former Sypittken, Kreis Lyck), the only horse grave was
BALTICA 11
Wieder 2003), which became available only in the

1990s, and from study records of archaeologists researching archaeological evidence before World War II
(Juga-Szymaska 2007).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
This suggests that grave 298 could be of the same date,

though the possibility that the potsherds had come from
an earlier grave, destroyed while excavating the grave
pit, cannot be ruled out.
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
117

WOJCIECH
NOWAKOWSKI
Fig.1.Map of the Bogaczewo Culture sites containing horse graves: a features of Roman date; b features likely to be of
Roman date. 1 Babita, site I; 2 Gsiki; 3 Grko, site III; 4 Janowo; 5 Kamie; 6 Koczek, site II; 7 Lisy; 8 Machary, site
I; 9 Mojtyny; 10 Muntowo; 11 Ogonki; 12 Onufryjewo; 13 Paprotki Kolonia, site 1; 14 Raczki; 15 Stare Kiebonki;
16 Stawiny; 17 Strgiel, site I; 18 Sunik; 19 Wawrochy; 20 Wyszembork, site II; 21 Wyszembork, site IVa; 22 Zalec.
Even during World War II reports about new discoveries were published. In 1940 excavations at the Bogaczewo Culture cemetery in Grko, county Mrgowo
(former Gurkeln, Kreis Sensburg), site I, were carried
out (La Baume 1941, p.88; Jaskanis 1977, p.272). In
the spring of 1941 yet another cemetery was discovered
in this village site III, where along fifty cremation
graves from the Roman Period a horse grave was also
unearthed (grave no.1). This discovery was reported
only in everyday papers (KAZ 1941; PZ 1941). Likewise the case of the features from Ogonki, information
about the horse grave from Grko can be completed
with archival data, which provides evidence to establish that the feature had been discovered by a mere
coincidence and explored by unprofessional researchers before regular archaeological investigation was
undertaken. The excavations revealed only the horses
skeleton, laid on the right side (Fig. 2). Accidental discoverers accounts led to reconstructing a circular outline of burnt soil with charcoal pieces, located on the
edge of the pit, partly over the horses head. Arguably,
it was a cremation grave equipped with two vessels
118
at the same time the oldest feature dated to the Late Migration Period (Kotzan 1935, p.13; La Baume 1944, p.13).
and unspecified iron fittings (eiserne Beschlge),

which could have been parts of the bridle. One of the
fittings along with a bronze ring were found during the
excavations (Fundarchiv, 1549, Bd. 2/13, 32). It seems
relatively unquestionable to link the feature with the
Bogaczewo Culture, whereas viewing it as a burial of
a horseman buried with his horse seems rather dubious
due to the poor quality of the research done by accidental discoverers and further reconstruction of the grave
based on unprofessional accounts.
The last horse grave reported before 1945 is feature
9 from the cemetery in Raczki, county Augustw (La
Baume, Gronau 1941; Jaskanis 1977, p.317ff). The
site, located just by the former border of East Prussia,
was investigated in 1941. A short publication of the research results contained information on twenty cremation graves unearthed at that time, one of which (grave
no. 9) although partly destroyed, was said to have held
a poorly preserved horses skeleton. Reportedly, over
the horse burial, there was an unurned cremation grave,
the equipment of which contained only one spear of
type E5, dated to the end of the Early Roman and the
beginning of the Late Roman Period (La Baume, Gronau 1941, p.61 fig.1.t; Ginalski 1991, p.62ff fig.11.14-
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig.2.Grko, site III, horse grave 1 (after Fundarchiv).
19). Therefore feature 9 from Raczki appears to have

been a horsemans grave buried together with his saddle horse (cf. Reitergrab mit Pferdebestattung La
Baume, Gronau 1941, p.61) unfortunately, also in
this case the partial damage of the feature along with
the lack of complete excavation records make such interpretations dubious.
Other horse graves in the Bogaczewo Culture cemeteries have never been mentioned in publications and
have only been known through the archive materials.
In some cases information comes in the form of a short
note, without a description of the feature or the artefacts accompanying it, which could give grounds to
determine the chronology of the feature. For example
it is the case of grave 45 from site I in Strgiel, county
Wgorzewo (former Gro Strengeln, Kreis Angerburg
cf. Jaskanis 1977, p.326), which had been marked
on the cemetery plan as a horse grave (Fundarchiv,
1510, Bd. 1/5, Bd. 2/18; cf. Grzak 2007, pp.357 and
367). All the graves uncovered in this cemetery can be
dated to the Early Roman Period, so presumably the
discussed grave might be of the same date. However, a
later date of the feature cannot be ruled out4.
The plan of site I in Strgiel shows a mysterious feature
No. 44, an inhumation grave, located next to horse grave
45. Both features may well be linked to each other and
both might come from the Middle Ages or even the modern era. Due to the lack of grave goods in both burials and
the poor state of documentation covering the excavations
carried out in the late 1800s it is not possible to arrive at a
Similar concerns refer to graves 209 and 454 from the

cemetery in Janowo, county Mragowo (former Heinrichsdorf, Kreis Sensburg cf. Jaskanis 1977, pp.281282, as Jdrychowo), both of which were supposed
to contain horse burials (Pferdebestattung), and yet
there is no data on other finds (Schmiedehelm, Archive
7.12/111). Due to the long period of time within which
the cemetery in Janowo had been used, lasting through
the Roman and Migration periods, both graves may
well be linked even to the Olsztyn Group of the late
Migration Period. Such reservations are also shared
with reference to other horse graves in Bogaczewo
Culture burial grounds, which either did not contain
any equipment, or the equipment was not well documented. Namely these are the features from Koczek,
county Mrgowo (former Koczek, Kreis Johannisburg
cf. Jaskanis 1977, p.285), site II, grave 117 (Schmiedehelm, Archive, 7.13/63), Stare Kiebonki, county
Mrgowo (former Alt-Kelbonken, Kreis Sensburg cf.
Jaskanis 1977, p.326), graves nos. 21 and 23 (Fundarchiv, 1848/Kossewen, Bd. 1/40), Sunik, county
Ktrzyn (former Sussnick, Kreis Rastenburg), grave
62 (Schmiedehelm, Archive, 7.13/30), and Wawrochy, county Szczytno (former Wawrochen, Kreis Ortelsburg), grave 107 (Fundarchiv, 603, Bd. 1/24).
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
The difficulties in dating horse graves also apply to

sites at which whole series of similar features were
final interpretation yet cf. Fundarchiv, 1510, Bd. 1/5, Bd.
2/18.
119

WOJCIECH
NOWAKOWSKI
revealed, for example at the cemetery in Lisy, county Wgorzewo (former Lissen or Lyssen, Kreis Angerburg cf. Jaskanis 1977, p.296ff; Iwanicki 2007,
p.153), seven horse graves had been uncovered (Pferdebestattung, graves: nos. 63, 64, 80, 86, 97, 99 and
100 Fundarchiv,1464, Bd. 1/7-11; Schmiedehelm,
Archive 7.18/4-5; cf. Grzak 2007, p.354). In 1927 one
of the features (grave no. 63), which also contained a
bit and two iron buckles, was dated by the researcher of
the site, W.Gaerte, to 5./6. Jahrh that is to the Migration Period (Fundarchiv, 1464, Bd. 1/7). Due to the lack
of narrower data referring to the finds from grave 63,
the date suggested by W.Gaerte cannot be confirmed
today. Furthermore, there are no grounds to establish
the date of the other horse graves containing only bits
and buckles. The exception to this was grave 80, where
four fittings of the bridle straps, described as crosslike, had lain around the horses head (kreuzfrmiger
Riemenbeschlag Fundarchiv, 1464, Bd. 1/9) unfortunately, in the case of these finds both the Roman
Period (Grunert 1939, fig. 13 plate VII; Bitner-Wrblewska et al. 2001, p.75 fig.10.10-12), as well as the
Migration period date (La Baume 1944, figs.16-17) are
equally likely. Summing up, taking into consideration
the long functioning of the cemetery in Lisy, founded
in the Early Roman Period, it can be suggested that a
number of graves discovered at this site can be linked
to the Bogaczewo Culture. Presumably, revealing further archival data or finds at the cemetery in Lisy will
enable researchers to solve the problem.
Occasionally it is as difficult to establish the function
of a feature as it is to date it. In the late 1920s cinerary
urns were uncovered in close proximity to the hill fort
in wita Gra in Stawiny, county Giycko (former
Swienta Gora in Stasswinnen, Kreis Ltzen), and in
the mid 1930s more pieces of cinerary urns with dark,
carbon-like soil and charcoal were reported (Urnenscherben und dunkle kohleartige Erde mit Holzkohleresten). Along with these finds an equine skull was
unearthed (Fundarchiv, 761, Bd. 1/8). Presumably, it
might have been a cemetery with cremation graves and
at least one horse grave. The site should most likely be
linked to the Roman Period Bogaczewo Culture, or alternatively to the Olsztyn Group of the Migration Period. Though the features may well have been a wrongly
interpreted settlement of the early Middle Ages. This is
a good example of the problems encountered in Masuria while investigating Roman Period horse graves
unearthed before 1945.
Fortunately a significant number of horse graves discovered before World War II have been documented in
a much better way. These include two features from the
cemetery in Muntowo, county Mrgowo, uncovered
120
during F.E.Peisers excavations in 1909. In feature 45

there was a horse lying on the stomach in a long narrow pit, with its neck stretched upwards. Next to the
head there was an iron bit consisting of two twistedmetal bars and two side rings. Next to the torso three
iron buckles had been found, next to the ribs a specimen with a circular, single-parted frame of type AD1,
under the stomach a buckle of type AC5 with a pin
elongated into a belt plate, and to the east of the backbone an item of type AA14 with an eight-like frame
(Nowakowski 2004, p.199 plate XII.1-4).
The early 1900s documentation of the excavations
in Muntowo is not enough to establish precise stratigraphic sequences. However, on the basis of the sketch
illustrating the location of the features at the cemetery
in Muntowo, it can be assumed that over horse grave
45 as many as seven different objects had been found
(nos. 6, 30, 41, 44, 48, 51 and 52 Fig. 3)5. A brief
account makes it clear that one of them was a big single stone, c. 0.40.45 m in diameter (no. 6), three others were vessels with stones (nos. 30, 41 and 48), and
yet another was a layer of a cremation pyre remains
(no. 51). No human bone was found in any of them
(nos. 6, 41, 48 and 51) or even the lack of bone was
emphasised (no. 30) (cf. Nowakowski 2004, p.222ff).
Reportedly, human remains had only been present in
two features, whose stratigraphic link to horse grave
45 was emphasized in the account. Over the northern
part of feature 45 there was an urned cremation grave
(no. 44), and under the cinerary urn, in the remains of
the cremation pyre layer reaching 1 meter downwards
from the ground surface, the following equipment was
found: a hooked belt-clasp of type 2/a, a spearhead of
type X and a shield grip of type Jahn 5 (Nowakowski
2004, p.199 plate XI). The depth of the pit in which
the burnt layer was situated over the horses skeleton
suggests a link between the two features (graves nos.
44 and 45). Such relationship is also indicated by their
identical date to phase B1 of the Early Roman Period,
most probably its later segment (Nowakowski 2004,
p.208ff). The second urned grave (no. 52), situated over
the southern edge of the pit of feature 45, contained a
fibula of Almgren 60 type from phase B2, thus it was
of markedly later date. (Nowakowski 2004, pp.199
and 205 with plate XIV.1). Summing up, it could be
suggested that features nos. 44 and 45 are graves of
a rider and his saddle horse, whereas the objects: nos.
30, 41, 48 and 51 might have belonged to the varied
filling of feature no. 45. Originally, feature 6, that is a
5
The sketch by the author of the research F.E. Peiser

Fundarchiv, 50, Bd. 1/1c. Location of the features in this
figure differs from the earlier arrangement drawn on the
basis of the coordinates given in the excavations report
cf. Nowakowski 2004, p.221ff with plate III.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig.3.Muntowo, horse grave 45 and features located over its outline. Reconstruction based on the sketch in excavation
records (after Fundarchiv).
big stone, may well have been a grave on the surface.

Poor state of the excavation records makes this interpretation remain a hypothesis.
The second horse grave (grave no. 40) revealed at the
cemetery in Muntowo was markedly later. It was covered with stones. The horse lay with its head turned
southwards, the torso was on the right side and it was
bent eastwards. In the mouth there was a single-jointed
bit with rings at both ends, and an iron buckle of type
AG10 lay next to the left side. The deposit under the
horse contained incineration remains. In the grave pit
next to the horses torso and over it there were pottery shreds, including a fragment of a multi-hole handle of, most likely, type ID (Nowakowski 2004, p.25
plate X.11). These finds suggest a Late Roman date
of grave 40, most likely phase C1 (Szymaski 2000,
p.117ff plates VIII.2, IX.1 and XI; Madyda-Legutko
1987, pp.47-48 and 56 with plate 13).
Two other horse graves were unearthed at the cemetery in Zalec, county Mrgowo (former Salza, Kreis
Sensburg cf. Szymaski 2004). In grave 40 a horses
skeleton was found along with a bit and a buckle with
a tetragonal frame on an axis (Szymaski 2004, pp.162
and 169; 2005, p.115; cf. Grzak 2007, p.367). The
buckles shape corresponds to a simple type AG16,
occurring in great numbers within the whole area of
the Central-European barbaricum from phase B2 un-
til phase C1, or even longer (Madyda-Legutko 1987,

p.48ff plate 14.6 and map 34). Unfortunately, the other
horse grave at this cemetery (no. 21) had been devastated by accidental discoverers (Szymaski 2004,
p.161; 2005, p.115).
A horse grave (no. 27) was uncovered also at the cemetery in Gsiki, county Ktrzyn (former Meistersfelde, Kreis Rastenburg cf. Jaskanis 1977, p.270). On
the basis of its photograph (Fig. 4.a cf. Fundarchiv,
1383, Bd. 1/4) it can be asserted that the horse had had
a bit with two big rings in its mouth. Supposedly the
equipment of the grave included also a big iron buckle
with a tetragonal frame with rounded corners (Fig. 4.b
Prussia-Sammlung VII749263b), similar to the
corresponding finds from horse graves 166 and 220 in
Wyszembork (cf. Szymaski 2005, plates XXVII.1-2
and XXVIII.3-4), discussed above. It is justifiable then
to date horse grave 27 in Gsiki in the same way as the
horse graves in Wyszembork, which contained similar
buckles, that is to the Late Roman Period.
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
Also grave 23 from Kamie, county Mrgowo (former

Kamien, Kreis Sensburg cf. Jaskanis 1977, p.283),
can be of Roman date, more likely of a later phase. It
contained a horses skeleton with a bit with two rings,
resembling the items from graves in Wyszembork- repeatedly mentioned herein, along with three rectangular fittings, possibly belonging to the straps of the bridle
121

WOJCIECH
NOWAKOWSKI
Fig.4.Gsiki, horse grave 27: a horse head with iron bit with rings (after Fundarchiv); b iron buckle (Prussia-Sammlung).
(Szter 2009). A green coating on the horses skull suggests that the head pieces of the bridle might have possessed certain bronze elements, fittings or rivets.
A series of horse graves was also discovered at the
cemetery in Onufryjewo, county Pisz (former Onufrigowen, Kreis Sensburg cf. Jaskanis 1977, p.311, as
Piaski-Onufryjewo). At this large cemetery with over
400 cremation graves six features containing equine
bones were also noted (graves nos. 22, 26, 26a, 150,
179 and 246 Fundarchiv, 1162, Bd. 1/3, 11; Schmiedehelm, Archive 7.12/104). It is necessary to add to
this also the damaged grave 25, in which a horses bar
had been found it might have been a symbolic horse
burial. Similarly to many aforementioned cases, hardly
122
any of these graves contained equipment, which makes

it impossible to date them without a doubt to the Roman period. Two exceptions to this are grave no. 26, in
which two amber beads had been found, unfortunately
of little significance in terms of being chronology indicators, and the rich grave no. 22. Although the equipment of the latter had not been well documented, the
assemblage of artefacts an iron fibula, an iron buckle,
a struck flint and three amber beads (Fundarchiv, 1162,
Bd. 1/3) suggests its link with the Bogaczewo Culture from the Roman Period. Although there is no information on the arrangement of the horses bones, the
presence of burnt human bone next to the horses is
also worth noting. It might have been then a collective
grave of a rider and his horse, still this conclusion must
It is also difficult to determine the character of feature

86 in the same cemetery. This is the tag given to fragments of a horses skull lying in close proximity to a
small iron buckle and and a piece of a vessel with a
handle, both of which had been separated as feature
87 (Fundarchiv, 96, Bd. 1/13). Although the vessel
had been described as a big urn, there is no information on human bone. The features may well have been
the remains of an almost completely destroyed cremation grave with an urn (no. 87) accompanied by a horse
burial (no. 86), but the puzzling notes in the excavation
records do not confirm this interpretation. Whereas the
account of the handle of a big urn (Henkel einer
groen Urne) suggests that it might have been a vessel with a big, two-hole handle, typical of the Bogaczewo Culture in phases B2C1 of the Roman Period
(Szymaski 2000, pp.123 and 130-131). A similar assumption might be made with regard to a vessels handle from grave 478 containing a horses skeleton and
being severely damaged by roots of a tree (Fundarchiv,
96, Bd. 1/33), and consequently this feature might also
be linked to the Bogaczewo Culture.
In other horse graves in the cemetery in Babita parts
of horse tack have been found, the majority of which
were bits and buckles clipping straps of the bridle or
the girth. Such artefacts occurred in: grave no. 93 (a
bronze buckle), no. 211 (a bit and two iron buckles),
no. 228 (a bit and two iron buckles), no. 286 (a bit), no.
293 (a buckle), no. 316 (a bit and two iron buckles), no.
317 (a bit, two buckles, two metal fittings, and an iron
Numbering of graves complies with the inventory books
of the Prussia-Museum listing finds produced during the
research done by F.E.Peiser in 1913 cf. Fundarchiv, 96,
Bd. 1/10-24. Horse grave 6 unearthed during Peisers excavations in 1913 and mentioned here should not be mistaken for grave 6 from E. Hollacks research in 1899,
which revealed a well-known enamelled pendant (cf. Hollack, Peiser 1904, colour figure), and which eventually
was identified as Grave 498 Fundarchiv, 96, Bd. 1/6. cf.
Bitner-Wrblewska et al. 2008, p.150ff fig.17.
The Roman Period might be also the date of grave no.

213, in which apart from a horses skeleton covered
with a few stones there were a bit, two buckles and a
pin a piece of jewellery typical for the Bogaczewo
Culture, not occurring in features of the Olsztyn Group
from the Migration Period. It needs to be noted though
that the presence of the pin in this horse grave is rather
surprising as a pin was supposed to be a decorative element of a womans attire rather than mans; especially
when the pin had reportedly been found on the ribs,
next to the buckle which most probably clipped the
girth (Fundarchiv, 96, Bd. 1/17; Schmiedehelm, Archive 7.12/81).
There is no doubt though about dating horse grave 475
to the Roman Period (Fundarchiv, 96, Bd. 1/33). Next
to the horses head there were two rectangular buckles and the bridle fittings, including rectangular plates
with rivets and straps separators in the shape of square
plates with cut in edges (Fig. 5). Another rectangular buckle lay on the left side of the horses stomach.
The bit had a U-arched port in the center and shanks
made of iron bars (Grenz, Archive; cf. Raddatz 1993a,
fig.9). Such specimens are thought to be characteristic
of the Roman period (La Baume 1944, 2, fig. 1, 5:i,
7a; Baranowski 1973, figs. 1, 4.2, 7.4-5, 9.i, 15, 17,
21; Wilbers-Rost 1990, p.62; Raddatz 1993b), which
makes it possible to date horse grave 475 from Babita
to this period. The presence of the buckles with rectangular frames on axis in this feature lets one narrow the
chronology to phases B2B2/C1C1 (Madyda-Legutko
1987, p.48ff plates 14,15-18).
The retrieved inventory books of the Prussia-Museum in Knigsberg make it possible to determine a
relatively unequivocal chronology of horse graves in
Babita, site I (Bitner-Wrblewska 2008). On this basis it can be partially established that the horse burial in
grave 208 was accompanied by equipment resembling
the finds produced in the aforementioned grave 475.
Namely it included a bit of identical construction and
cross-like straps separators, whereas the iron buckle
with a half-circular frame settled on an axis (BitnerWrblewska 2008, plates XC-XCI; cf. Fundarchiv, 96,
Bd. 1/17; Schmiedehelm, Archive 7.12/81) indicates
a much later date of the feature, possibly phase C1 of
BALTICA 11
Yet another cemetery where numerous horse graves

were unearthed is site I in Babita, county Mrgowo
(former Babienten, Kreis Sensburg cf. Jaskanis 1977,
p.253ff). Also in this case dating some of the features
to the Roman Period and linking them on this basis to
the Bogaczewo Culture is either impossible or dubious.
Grave no. 66 can serve an example here: it contained a
horses skeleton without head, and no equipment. Directly over it there was a partly destroyed unurned cremation grave 5 (a horsemans grave?), which produced
only a piece of bronze wire (Fundarchiv, 96, Bd. 1/10;
cf. Schmiedehelm, Archive 7.12/86).
shield-formed fitting), though on the basis of the documentation available today (Fundarchiv, 96, Bd. 1/1314, 17-18, 20, 21; Schmiedehelm, Archive 7.12/81) no
better analysis can be done to determine their precise
date. It might be concluded then that a number of these
graves might have come from the Migration Period,
though it seems more reasonable to link the features
containing iron buckles (graves nos. 211, 228 and 316)
with the Bogaczewo Culture from the Roman Period.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
remain a supposition as in any other case discussed in

this paper.
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
123
Fig.5.Babita, site I, horse grave 475 (after Grenz, Archive).
124
WOJCIECH
NOWAKOWSKI

Other two horse graves from Babita, site I (graves

279 and 280) were located in a big, partially destroyed
stone lining (Fundarchiv, 96, Bd. 1/20). Both of them
contained bits with rings on sides, and buckles with tetragonal frames on an axis (Bitner-Wrblewska 2008,
plates XCV-XCVI). Interestingly, in grave 280 there
were two rather small vessels, reported in the excavation records as side vessels (Beigefe Fundarchiv, 96, Bd. 1/20), therefore most probably they had
not contained any burnt human bone remains. One of
the vessels, preserved almost intact, can be classified as
group IE of the Bogaczewo Culture pottery, dated to an
early phase of the Late Roman Period (cf. Szymaski
2000, p.118ff plate XII).
Two similar vessels, also referred to as side vessels in
the report, (Fundarchiv, 96, Bd. 1/34) had been found in
horse grave 477. Along them there were a bit with big
rings and two buckles: a tetragonal one lying next to
the right side of the horse and a semi-circular one with
the frame on an axis lying under the stomach (BitnerWrblewska 2008, plates CXIII-CXIV; Fundarchiv,
96, Bd. 1/34). These finds date the whole feature to
phase C1 (Madyda-Legutko 1987, pp.29-30 plate 9.17;
Szymaski 2000, p.118ff plate XII).
The inventory books of the Prussia-Museum also possess records on the finds in feature 190 in the cemetery
in Machary, county Mrgowo (former Macharren, Kreis Sensburg Jaskanis 1977, 300ff). At the level of 1.5
m deep there were three horses: one (No. 190a) under
a stone cover, and the other two (nos. 190b and 190c)
outside the cover (Fundarchiv, 1431, Bd. 1/11). Each
BALTICA 11
Also in the case of the artefacts in grave 195 drawings

printed in the inventory books (Bitner-Wrblewska
2008, plate LXXXVIII) made it possible to recognize
one of the buckles found in the feature as an iron specimen of a semi-circular single-parted frame, closely resembling items of type AD1 (Madyda-Legutko 1987,
p.24ff plate 7). On the same basis it was possible to
establish that amongst different fittings there were two
bronze rings with fittings and a hook-like catch (Voigtmann, Archive), bearing some stylistic characteristics
of Roman Period bridle elements (Baranowski 1973,
figs. 6, 9 and 12; Wilbers-Rost 1990, plates 3-9; Raddatz 1993b; Bitner-Wrblewska et al. 2001, fig. 6). The
description of grave 195 in the excavation report and
the sketch showing how the artefacts had been arranged
indicate that the horses skeleton had lain in a pit with
stones, next to its head there were a bit, buckles and
fittings of the bridle straps, and one more buckle was
situated by the front legs (Fundarchiv, 96, Bd. 1/16; cf.
Schmiedehelm, Archive 7.12/80).
horse burial was equipped with a bit with a singlejointed mouthpiece and side rings (Bitner-Wrblewska
2008, plate CCXXI), all of which resemble specimens
of the Roman period and consequently provide grounds
for linking this untypical feature with the Bogaczewo
Culture.
Conclusions
ARCHAEOLOGIA
the late Roman Period (Madyda-Legutko 1987, p.29ff

plate 9.17).
Despite the difficulties with dating horse graves, both

those uncovered in Masuria before 1945 and known
mainly from fragmentary accounts and features known
from research carried out after the war, at least c 30
graves can be deemed to have links with the Bogaczewo Culture (Fig. 1 Babita, graves nos. 195, 208,
211, 213, 228, 279, 280, 316, 475, 477and 478; Gsiki,
grave no. 27; Grko, grave 1; Kamie, grave 23; Machary, graves 190a, 190b and 190c; Mojtyny, graves
92, 92 and 94; Muntowo, graves nos. 40 and 45; Onufryjewo, grave 22; Paprotki Kolonia, site I, graves 175
and 251, and perhaps graves nos. 215, 221 and 254;
Raczki, grave 9; Wyszembork, site IVa, graves 166,
220, 298; Zalec, grave no. 40). Moreover, it can also
be expected that this number will gradually grow once
new data on finds from before 1945, retrieved from
archive records, has become available for academic research; such expectation is justified by the increase of
Roman Period horse graves in Masuria in recent years
(Grzak 2007).
Possibly also feature 120 from site II in Wyszembork
could have been included in the above list of the Bogaczewo Culture horse graves; however its peculiarities
such as: location outside the cemetery, a circular shape
of the pit, and the bent position of the horse skeleton allow of an interpretation that it could have been a refuse
pit with the carcass of a horse.
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
The binding rule of the Bogaczewo Culture, rendered

on the basis of available records, was to place the horse
in a narrow, tight, and elongated pit. The arrangement
of the skeleton indicates positioning the animal on the
stomach or on the side. The neck stretched upwards,
observed in some cases (e.g. Muntowo, grave no. 45;
most probably also Babita, grave no. 208), suggests
that horses might have been buried while still alive,
which was observed in the nearby Sudovian Culture
cemeteries (Krysiak, Serwatka 1970, p.219ff). In the
upper part of the pit filling there frequently appeared
stones, although research has failed to establish whether they had been arranged in any regular patterns. Unfortunately, there are no trustworthy accounts on stone
linings or stone covers mentioned in this paper several times (Steinpackung e.g. Gsiki, grave no. 27;
Machary, grave no. 190a).
125

WOJCIECH
NOWAKOWSKI
The equipment of the Bogaczewo Culture horse graves

appears to be quite homogeneous, in almost all cases
it included a bit, often coupled with other parts of the
horse tack most frequently buckles and less often
metal fittings. Other items, such as the spear in grave
no. 9 in Raczki, occurred occasionally and supposedly
they might have belonged to horsemens burials. In
certain cases, such as the pin in Babita, grave 213, or
the amber beads in Onufryjewo, graves nos. 22 and 26,
the finds suggest that the graves might have belonged
to women7. Though these graves may well be traces of
male burials burials of mounted warriors who had
been buried with their belongings comprising the most
precious and most prestigious possessions such as a
horse and a woman.
Pottery rarely occurred in horse graves, and it must be
noted that in most cases there were only pottery sherds,
which may well have come from damaged cinerary
urns in horsemens graves (e.g. Babita, grave no. 478;
Kamie, grave 23; Muntowo, grave no. 40). The exceptions to this are two graves from Babita (nos. 280
and 477), both of which contained two vessels marked
as side vessels, so there had been no traces of burnt-out
human bone in them. Other two vessels were supposed
to be found in the layer of dark soil over the horses
head in Grko. Also the vessels recorded within or
over the pit of grave no. 44 in Muntowo may have been
side vessels.
It may be concluded then that the custom of burying
horses at the Bogaczewo Culture cemeteries did not
differ from the rites observed in other parts of the Balt
lands: horse graves occurred even in the Early Roman
Period (Muntowo, grave no. 44), but supposedly the
biggest number of such features might be dated to an
early phase of the Late Roman Period. Also the custom
of equipping horse burials did not differ from the one
observed on the Samland Peninsula, or in the Sudovian
Culture (cf. Jaskanis 1974, p.196ff). Moreover, the
number of horse graves known from the Bogaczewo
Culture cemeteries does not seem to be smaller than in
other parts of the Balt lands (cf. the sound arguments in
A.Grzak 2007, p.353).
It is far more difficult though to find a link between
horses graves and horsemens graves within the
Bogaczewo Culture (Grzak 2007, p.357). Unquestionably, this is the result of the lack of barrows such as
those which had covered horse and human graves in the
Amber beads cannot be classified as elements of womens
attire exclusively: at the Sudovian Culture barrow cemetery in Korkliny, county Suwaki, amber beads were found
in the burial whose anthropological analysis revealed remains of a man (barrow II, grave no. 1). Under the same
barrow a horse grave was unearthed Jaskanis 1970,
p.152ff figs. 4-7 and plates I.3-8, II.1-6.
126
Sudovian Culture cemeteries. Moreover, all the Bogaczewo Culture human graves, which could possibly be
linked to horse graves had been severely damaged (e.g.
Grko, grave no. 1; Raczki, grave no. 9; Wyszembork,
site IVa, grave no. 166). Therefore it can be suggested
that those hypothetical horsemens graves had been located shallowly, just under the surface of the ground, in
the loose soil excavated in order to bury the horse.
Finally, one should believe that in the near future the
increasing number of the Bogaczewo Culture horse
graves, resulting from both new research and from
discoveries in the archive materials, will provide
enough evidence to verify opinions which are only
suppositions today.
Translated by Beata Furga
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gyvavo vadinamoji Bogaevo kultra, besidriekianti
dideliame Mozrijos areale. ios archeologins kultros kapinynai daugiausia buvo tirti prie Antrj pasaulin kar, juose gana danai buvo aptinkama irg
kap. Taip pat ir po 1945 met buvo atidengta daugiau
kaip tuzinas kapinyn su irg kapais.
Remiantis iuo metu pasiekiamais radiniais ir kasinjim ataskaitomis, su Bogaevo kultra galima sieti bent
jau trisdeimt irg kap dvylikoje kapinyn (1:a pav.),
be to, daugiau nei tuzinas kit kap i devyni kit
kapinyn greiiausiai taip pat priklauso iai kultrai
(1: b pav.). Galima tiktis, kad irg kap skaiius
iaugs, kuomet nauji duomenys apie radinius iki
1945met, aptikti archyvuose, taps prieinami tyrintojams i prielaid pagrindia ir pastaruoju metu iaugs romnikojo laikotarpio kap skaiius Mozrijoje.
Bogaevo kultros srityje buvo bdinga irg laidoti
siauroje, anktoje ir pailgoje duobje. Griaui padtis
rodo, kad gyvulys buvo guldytas ant pilvo ar ant ono.
Kai kuriais atvejais pastebta, kad kaklas itemptas
virun (pvz., Muntowo, kapas 45; taip pat greiiausiai
Babita, kapas 208; 3 pav.), o tai leidia numanyti,
kad irgai buvo laidojami gyvi, kaip pastebima kaimyniniuose sduvi kultros kapinynuose. Virutinje
duobs sampilo dalyje danai esama akmen, nors tyrintojams sunku nustatyti, ar tai buvo tam tikra tvarka
sudliotos akmen konstrukcijos. Deja, nesama patikim nuorod apie akmen apdjimus ar akmen
dang (Steinpackung, pvz., Gsiki, kapas 27; Machary, kapas 190a; 4 pav.).
Galima daryti ivad, kad irg laidojimo paprotys

Bogaevo kultros kapinynuose nesiskyr nuo apeig,
pastebim kitose balt emi dalyse: irg kap pasitaik jau ankstyvuoju romnikuoju laikotarpiu (Muntowo, kapas 44), bet manoma, didesnis toki darini
skaiius galt bti datuojamas ankstyvja vlyvojo
romnikojo laikotarpio faze. Taip pat irg kapi paprotys nesiskiria nuo pastebt Sembos pusiasalyje ar
sduvi kultroje. Juolab irg kap skaiius, inomas
i Bogaevo kultros kapinyn, atrodo, nra maesnis
nei kitose balt emi srityse.
Daug sunkiau Bogaevo kultroje atrasti ssaj tarp
irg kap ir raiteli kap. Neabejotinai tai kyla
i to, kad nesama toki pilkapi kaip sduvi kultroje, kurie deng irg ir moni kapus. Dar daugiau,
visi Bogaevo kultros moni kapai, kurie galt bti
siejami su irg kapais, buvo smarkiai apardyti (pvz.,
Grko, kapas 1; Raczki, kapas 9; Wyszembork, paminklas IVa, kapas 166; 2, 5 pav.). Todl galima daryti
prielaid, kad ie hipotetiniai raiteli kapai buvo rengti negiliai, tuoj po ems paviriumi, laisvose emse,
kurios buvo ikastos laidojant irg.
Tiktina, kad artimiausioje ateityje augantis Bogaevo kultros irg kap skaiius, besirandantis i nauj archeologini tyrinjim ir atradim archyvinje
mediagoje, suteiks pakankamai duomen esamoms
nuomonms, kurios iuo metu yra tik prielaidos, patikrinti.
BALTICA 11
I R G K A PA I R O M N I K O J O
L A I K O TA R P I O B O G A E V O
K U LT R O S K A P I N Y N U O S E
rios galjo rastis i sudauyt raiteli kap urn (pvz.,

Babita, kapas 478; Kamie, kapas 23; Muntowo,
kapas 40). Iimtis sudaro du kapai i Babita (280 ir
477), abiejuose kapuose buvo rasta po du indus. Nurodoma, kad indai buvo papildomos kaps, nes jose
nebuvo rasta sudegint moni kaul liekan. Kiti du
indai, spjama, buvo rasti tamsios ems sluoksnyje
vir irgo galvos Grko kapinyne. Taip pat ufiksuoti
indai Muntowo kapo 44 duobje ar vir jos galjo bti
papildomos kaps.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Wojciech Nowakowski
Institute of Archaeology University of Warsaw
Krakowskie Przedmiecie 26/28 PL-00-927,Warszawa
E-mail samland@wp.pl
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
Bogaevo kultros irg kap kaps yra gana vienalyts, daugeliu atvej tarp j bta sl, daniausiai ir
kit irgo kaman dali sagi, reiau metalini
apkal. Kit radini, toki kaip ietigalis Raczki kape 9,
pasitaik retai ir, matyt, priklaus raiteli kapams.
Keramikos irg kapuose randama retai, ir btina paymti, kad daugeliu atvej bta tik puod uki, ku-
129
KONSTANTIN
SKVORTSOV
Burials of Riders and Horses Dated

to the Roman Iron Age and Great
Migration Period in Aleika-3
(former Jaugehnen) Cemetery
on the Sambian Peninsula
B u ria l s o f rid e rs a n d h o rs e s dat e d

t o t h e R o ma n I r o n A g e a n d
G r e at M igrat i o n P e ri o d i n A l e i k a - 3
( f o rm e r J a u g e H n e n ) C e m e t e ry
o n t h e S ambia n P e n i n s u l a
KONSTANTIN SKVORTSOV
Abstract
Presently the greatest number of riders with horse burials on the territory of Sambian-Natangian Culture was discovered
in the Aleika-3 cemetery. The appearance of this burial custom falls on the beginning the middle of the second century.
The rite appears in Sambia in the completed manner. Horse equipment of Aleika-3 cemetery has numerous analogies in the
Danube region, this fact enables to suggest that its appearance in the region follows German-Sarmatian contacts during the
Marcomannic Wars. The custom to bury horse to a rider reaches Western Balts with the Germans who took part in these wars.
The grave furnishings of Aleika-3 riders in practice do not differ in contents from the tackle of Germania Liberia riders. The
abundance of the Roman imports found in Aleika-3 cemetery including the luxury items and clearly expressed relationship
with Welbark Culture are the result of the fact that the multiethnic society oversaw the beginning of the amber trade in this
region and probably controlled it. Archaeological evidence of Aleika-3 cemetery enables to conclude that the beginning of the
process of clan system degrading is fixed in the second century. This process was conditioned by penetrating of the German
ethnic component involved into amber trade.
Key words: Aleika-3 cemetery, Sambian-Natangian Culture, horse burials, riders, multiethnic society.
Introduction
At present time in the areal of Sambian-Natangian Culture1, not less than 41 graves of the firstfifth centuries
are known. However, the number of burial monuments
containing among the complex burial stock some findings so typical for the riders such as spurs is more considerable (Fig. 1).
The number of riders burial with horses is quite insignificant for the Roman Period and it enables to consider these complexes as the indicators of a deceaseds
social status and his having been a member of the clan
top. The situation only changes radically by the fifth
century when the number of such burials multiplies;
and by the end of the Migration Period, this ritual becomes an integral trait of the funerary rites which in
practice is characteristic for every male burial place
of the following periods up to Prussia conquest by the
German Order (Jaskanis 1974, p.171; Pashuto 1959,
p.501; Pronin et al. 2006).
Archaeological evidence tells about horses being used
in Sambia in the Bronze Age yet (Bezzenberger 1904,
p.41 fig.37). But appearance of the horse and rider
burials proper in the cultural circle of the Balts and in
the area of Sambian-Natangian Culture belongs to the
Early Roman times (Nowakowski 1996, p.63). It was
130
Presently also known as Dollkeim-Kovrovo Culture.
then that burials of riders with horses become an integral part of the local funerary tradition, which existed
without any radical changes up to 13th century.
Key studies of the Aleika-3 (former

J a u g e h n e n , r. S a m l a n d ) c e m e t e r y
Aleika-3 (former Jaugehnen, r. Samland) cemetery is
situated in the northern part of the Sambian Peninsula,
1.75 km to the east from Romanovo village in Zelenogradsky dictrict of the Kaliningrad region (former
Pobetten, Kreis Samland) on the southeastern glacis of
the massive moraine elevation on the fundamental left
bank of the Aleika River (Fig. 2). This cemetery unknown in the prewar time was discovered in the course
of exploration connected with the construction of Kaliningrad gas storage and developed in 2004
(
Kalashnikov 2004).
In 20052008 years in the course of stationary field
works on this monument done by Sambian expedition
of the Archeology Institution of the Academy of Science of Russia, 4600 sq. km were researched (Fig. 3).
554 burial complexes were investigated, of which 517
were dated to the second the beginning of the fifth
centuries and 37 to the end of the 1112th centuries.
The examined part of the site presents approximately
70% of the assumed grave area.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 1. Horse burials in southern part of the West Balts area (after Nowakowski 1996 with authors additions).
general, the burial stock

is quite traditional for
the burial monuments
of Sambian-Natangian
Culture of the Roman
Period. It is represented
by different kinds of
bronze and iron fibulae,
silver neck-ring, sashlike bracelets of different types, amber beads,
Roman glass and mosaic beads, iron tool, some
pieces of armament,
and etc. In some burials,
bronze and silver Roman coins of the second
century are found.
III
H o rs e s ,
H o rs e m e n ,
and Equest ria n
E q u ipm e n t:
P r e par e d
f o r War ,
B u ria l s , a n d
O f f e ri n gs
Pottery is represented
by the hand made vessels of different types; it
Fig. 2. Location of Aleika - 3 (former Jaugehnen) cemetery (after Ibsen, Skvorzov 2004,
is quite possible to draw
fig.1).
a parallel between some
Burials in the grave were arranged in two zones. The pottery (vessels) forms and the material of the neighsouthern one was almost completely occupied with boring Przeworsk and Wielbark cultures (Smirnova et
complexes dated to the Roman Iron Age and to the al., 2007, pp.57-73).
Migration Period, and the northern one contained the
Today Aleika-3 is the only grave in the areal of Samobjects dated to the 1112th centuries.
bian-Natangian Culture where inhumation with the
In the block of burials dated to the Roman Iron Age northern orientation dated to the third fourth centuand to the Migration Period, the overwhelming part ries are present. In their stock, there is a lot of elements
was presented by cremations (urn or non-urn graves) connected with the German antiquities available;
and only 46 burials were completed according to the among them there are pear-shaped and pole-axe-form
inhumation rites. 5 of them are dated to the second amber pendants; silver bracelets with snakelike endcentury, 41 burials to the third fourth centuries. In ings and etc. There are often found fibulae of A158
131
KONSTANTIN
SKVORTSOV

Fig. 3. Burial of the early phase at Aleika-3 cemetery. Drawing by Skvortsov.
type made of iron of which the areal of creation according to some researchers is the areal of Przeworsk
Culture (Godowski 1970, p.15ff). Amber beads found
in these burials are considered to be the earliest made
with the help of a lathe and are dated to the beginning
of the third century. Beads of this kind are widely represented in the materials of the simultaneous graves of
the Elblg group of Wielbark Culture. All these facts
let us think of a possible multiethnic membership of
the group of people who left this monument. Perhaps
we can speak about including the bearers of Wielbark
Culture coming from the
Elblg
Heights into the Baltic environment (Pietrzak 1997, plates LXVII, LXXII
and CXII). According to the conclusions of J. OkuliczKozaryn it is there that the centre of Wielbark Culture
belonged to that time, that the cultural impulses spread
to the territory of the Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania,
feeding the arising Cherniahovsk Culture and keeping
tight connections with the centre of culture on the Danish Peninsula (Okulicz-Kozaryn 1992, p.104ff).
132
Some traces of damage caused in the twelfththirteen

centuries by the local population while trying to yield
nonferrous metal from the burials are fixed overall the
examined area of the monument. Just 30% of exam-
ined burials were left untouched. Numerous fragmented and intact items coming from the burials ruined in
the Middle Ages and in the agricultural works of new
times were found in the top soil. Most of these findings concentrated in the south and the east parts of the
examined area.
It is quite interesting to mention the abundance of raw
amber that can be found in the burials and in it stuff
layer. Graves material also includes work pieces for
trapezium shaped and axe-shaped pendants. Pieces of
amber quite often have size and shape that are typical for findings in the amber hoards and in the amber
workshops in Southern Poland (Cofta-Broniewska
1999, pp.157-175).
There were fragments of glass and Roman vessels
(Megarian cup?) among the findings. We should mention numerous samples of fritted silver found in every
examined pit both in the top soil and on the day surface
in some complexes damaged by medieval robbers as
well as fragments of silver items including the fragments of two silver spoons, belonging to Luxus class
the fragmented Ligulae silver spoons. These spoons
are widely represented in the mortuary stock of the late
Raiders from Aleika-3

In the group of 517 burials of Aleika-3 cemetery belonging to the early years of the Late Roman Iron Age
and in the Migration Period, 52 male graves were accompanied by the horse burials.
The main body of the discovered rider-with-the-horse
burials in Aleika-3 cemetery is dated to the end of the
second the beginning of the third centuries and consists of 48 from 52 burials. We can detect some definite planigraphy correlation of the considerable part of
these burials: most probably, they are placed in rows
oriented along the northwest southeast line with the
average distance between the burials about 5 meters.
All these burials represented complexes traditional for
Sambian-Natangian Culture. In them, horse burials accompanying urn cremations of the riders were situated
to the west of the latter. The horse skeletons are situated
in the pits with their heads to the south with different
deviations; the pits are oriented along the northeast
southwest line.
It should be noted that the percentage of the riderwith-the-horse burials dated to the Roman Period in
Aleika-3 grave is significantly higher than in all the
rest graves examined in large areas up to present time.
For example, from more than 300 examined burials of
Bolshoe Isakovo
(former Lauth Kr. Knigsberg) cemetery, which is contemporaneous with Aleika-3, there
are 27 horse burials discovered. Only seven of them
are dated to the Roman Period and 20 of them are dated
to the fifth century (Skvortsov 2004/2005, pp.111-219;
1998;
1999
;
2000
;
2002
;
2003
;
2004
).
Similar situa-
The ceramic set of the earliest rider burials was presented by various shaped by hands vessels like urns,
small vessels of different types (as a rule with the polished outer surface, often decorated with the slit zigzag
ornament and having a rudimentary multipart handle),
and in Late Roman Period by various vessels of the
Dollkeim type. The rest stock of the burials with horses
as a rule was more diverse than in the burials without
horses. It is represented by iron spearheads of different types, knives, bush-end axes, shield buckles and
shield handles, spurs, razors, scissors, drawing knives,
whetstones, steels, awls, pins, pincers, iron and bronze
details of the belts (Fig. 4.1-3). Most of the fibulae are
crossbow brooches (intact and fragmented) made of
bronze, seldom of silver. In the majority of cases,
the variants of A161-162 are presented. In burial 275
there was found the bronze fibula of the Almgren type
covered with the soldered sheets of embossed gold foil.
Such fibulae are in great number presented in the areal
of the Roman Iron Age Wielbark Culture and on the
islands of the Baltic Sea in Scandinavia (Machajewski
1998, p.190). In the burial 263 there was found the
fragmented comb made of horn. In the ruined rider
cremation 319a dated to the Late Roman Period there
was a spiral gold ring weighing 13 g among the other
fragments of mortuary stock items. Some single findings of glass and amber beads can be discovered in the
burials as well as some pieces of raw amber, which
do not have any traces of fire exposure. It may prove
the suggestion that amber was placed to the grave as
a funeral gift at the last step of the burial ritual. As a
rule, one to three bronze Roman coins are found in every male burial. It should be mentioned that it is in the
middle of the second century that in the mortuary stock
in the graves of Sambian-Natangian Culture and first
of all in the male burials some Roman bronze coins
appear in great number; they are often discovered
together with the pieces of raw amber. This fact can
serve as an indirect evidence of the specific role of the
men-warriors in amber trade. All these coins mainly
come from the Antoninus dynasty emission, from Trajan up to Commodus (Bollin 1926, pp.203-240). As a
rule, they do not have any traces of being long handled.
Judging by the coins state and by the dating of the rest
stock we can say that they got to the burials without
long delays. It enables us to use their numismatic dating for the period (Nowakowski 1996, p.75). This fact
can be an evidence of the high amber trade intensiveness in the second part of the second century. As a rule
in the warrior burials, the coins are found next to the
BALTICA 11
The greatest part of these findings is connected with

the burials of the end of the second the beginning of
the third centuries. Some of these rare artifacts come
from the Danube provinces of the Roman Empire
and belong to the time close to the Marcomanni Wars
(166180). In spite of the remarkable percentage of the
damaged burials, survived examined objects are of full
value and contain very important information about the
grave functioning in the Roman Iron Age and in the
Migration Period. At the same time, the overwhelming
part of the horse burials remained untouched. In some
cases the contents of the mortuary stock of these horse
burials enables to date the damaged rider complexes.
tion tends to be observed in the other cemeteries of the

Sambian-Natangian Culture. As a rule the burials were
overlapped by the remains of the masonry ruined by
the age-old ploughing.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Roman times in so-called princely graves of the barbarian nobility from Germania Liberia up to Sarmatia
(Ondrouch 1957, p.219 table. 28.2; Eggers, Stary 2001,
Table 341.10-11; Sharov 2003, pp.39, and 40 tab.13.35; Brndsted 1963, p.202; Schulz 1953, Tab. XIX. 2;
Stenberger 1977, p.282 fig.177).
III
H o rs e s ,
H o rs e m e n ,
and Equest ria n
E q u ipm e n t:
P r e par e d
f o r War ,
B u ria l s , a n d
O f f e ri n gs
133
Fig. 4.1,2. Grave goods from burial -263 (iron, bronze, pottery, stone).
Drawings by O. Khomiakova and A. Sidorov.
134
KONSTANTIN
SKVORTSOV

BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
III
H o rs e s ,
H o rs e m e n ,
and Equest ria n
E q u ipm e n t:
P r e par e d
f o r War ,
B u ria l s , a n d
O f f e ri n gs
Fig. 4.3. Grave goods from burial -263 (silver, bronze, iron, pottery, amber, antler/bone).
Drawings by O. Khomiakova and A. Sidorov.
135
KONSTANTIN
SKVORTSOV

Fig. 5. Grave goods from burial -418 and reconstruction of horse equipment. Drawing by K. Yuganov, O. Khomiakova
and Skvortsov.
136
numerous items of armament, which have many analogies in the materials of Przeworsk Culture and in Scandinavia. In the Late Roman Period in contrast to the
phase B2/C1, burials of all age groups without any sex
differences can be observed. In the phase C1/C2 (particularly during the Goth wars) Roman bronze coins
can be found in greater quantity than in the previous
period; their most part also relates to the Antoninus dynasty emission as in the previous time. Bronze Roman
coins become the most widely spread good substitute
in the trade relationship of that time (Bursche 1988,
p.43). However, as opposed to the previous period, a
considerable part of the coins is much rubbed out and
sometimes they are used as pendants. The same phenomenon can be observed in some complexes of Cherniahovsk Culture where most coins either are pendants
or are rubbed out after being very long handled (
Tikhanova 1979, p.40ff). It is necessary to specify that the
overwhelming part of the coins is Italic. It enables us
to suggest that the most part of them comes from the
territories of Roman province of Dacia and Pannonia:
only here bronze coins circulated in significant number
(Kropotkin 1961, p.25). It is highly probable that the
coins come to the territory of Sambian-Natangian Culture and to the adjacent territories primarily as a result
of military and trade activities of the bearers of Prze-
worsk Culture before and in course of the Marcomanni

Wars, and then as a result of the Goths war activities
in the third century on the Danube (Budanova 1990,
p.103). Perhaps all these out of use coins came from
some state depositaries. This suggestion is indirectly
proved by information about barbarians being paid by
the coins of Marcus Aurelius and of Antoninus Pius,
the emperors of the third fourth centuries who had
to produce payment from the treasury using out of use
coins. In this case, we should speak about the coins of
precious metals but coins of bronze and copper could
probably be collected too (Kropotkin 1970, p.52ff;
Tikhanova 1979, p.38ff).
As for the horse burials proper, it should be noted that
because of peculiarities of local soil chemical composition, as a rule almost nothing survive from the horses
skeletons except teeth and so called shadow of the
horse body. In horse burials the stock was represented
by a typical set: various examples of bit as a rule ringed,
made of iron; iron buckles and numerous other details
of harness made of iron and bronze, more seldom of
silver. In some cases in horse burials, there could be
found iron spurs, sickles, scissors and drawing knives,
which judging by their placement were primarily in the
horse bags.
Fig. 6. Horse riding gear: bronze strap-distributor 1 Aleika-l burial -460;

2-3 Analogue from Danube -Limes area. Drawing by Skvortsov and
K. Yuganov.
Fig.7. Roman bronze horse bell from horse burial A-415.

Drawing by Skvortsov.
Among the rare findings made in the horse burials in

the grave early zone, a full set of horse harness from
burial 418 dated to the end of the second century is
particularly worth pointing out (Fig. 5). It is made of
bronze with numerous round and rectangular plates
in opus interrasile style, with ten bronze belt tips and
parting rings. In this complex, there were also some
large iron rivets with the bronze heads, which judging by their size and placement served for fastening
the details of wooden saddle. That time, similar in
contents horse sets are known in the Roman provinces
and in the places of swamp sacrifices in Scandinavia
(von Carnap-Bornheim, Ilkjr 1996; Oldenstein 1977,
Tables 62-64).
A bronze cast cross-shaped divider of belts was discovered in burial 460 dated to the end of the second c. to
the beginning of the third century (Fig. 6). Analogies
Some not very large bronze Roman

bells (Fig. 7) so-called tintinnabula
were found near the remains of the
horse sculls in two burials also dated
to the end of the second the beginning of the third centuries. Some iron
Roman big bells were discovered
in graves 302 and 550 (Fig. 8.1-2).
These bells of pyramidal shape bells
are known from in Sarmatia (
Nowakowski 1988, p.99ff). In the areal of
Sambian-Natangian Culture findings
of this kind are dated to the same period but in the quantity they are found in
Aleika-3 grave they are not known yet
on any other monument (Nowakowski
1996, p.67).
In burial 423 dated to the beginning

of the third century, iron bit with the
propeller-shaped cheek pieces were
discovered (Fig. 9.1-2). Many researchers connect this kind of bit with
Sarmatians (von Carnap-Bornheim
2003, p.378ff figs.4-5). Propellershaped cheek pieces of a very close
type come from Dacia (Werner 1983,
fig.2). In the areal of western Balts2,
there are known two other places of finding bit of this
kind also dated to the beginning of the third century
(La Baume 1944, p.17 fig.26). Bridle bits of this kind
originate from the place of swamp sacrifices in Torsberg in the north of Germany (Raddatz 1987, p.85). In
burial 478 (the end of the second century) there was
a bronze cast nose plate (Fig. 10) with extraordinary
decorated upper part.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
to it are known in the Roman castles

in the Danube section of limes where
they are dated to the second century
(Gschwind 2004,
p.176 table 60; Her

ramhof, et al. 1986-1987, p.303 fig.
154.1). Finding of this kind in the areal of Sambian-Natangian Culture and
in the southeast of the Baltic region is
found for the first time.
III
H o rs e s ,
H o rs e m e n ,
and Equest ria n
E q u ipm e n t:
P r e par e d
f o r War ,
B u ria l s , a n d
O f f e ri n gs
Almost full horse harness with plenty of elements (Fig.

11.1-3): dividing rings, belt tips, buckles, bronze silver
plated cross-shaped bridle dividers, ring furniture and
bronze rivets with silver cover survived in burial 328
(cf. for distribution map of the cross-shaped bridle dividers look to Christine Reich article in this volume).
Comment of volume Editor: bridle bits with iron propellershaped cheek-pieces were found at Padvariai burial ground
For this see: Bliujien, Butkus 2007, p.105 fig.9.
137

Similar in shape plates are known in the

materials of the Late Roman Period in the
neighboring cultures (Banyt-Rowell 2004,
p.46 fig.6.1-3; Bitner-Wrblewska 2007,
table XXXVIII. Bliujien, Butkus 2007,
p.104 fig.8; also see Christine Reich in this
volume).
KONSTANTIN
SKVORTSOV
Four horse burials dated to the end of the

second c. to the beginning of the third century are worth special mentioning. There were
remains of two horses in each of them. It is
possible that the fact of double horse burial
is not only a sign of a deceaseds high social
position but it is also reflection of religious
beliefs of the ancient habitants of these places. These burials of the Roman times on this
territory can be found extremely seldom.
Similar burial dated to the end of the second century was discovered in Berezovka
(fromer Gross Ottenhagen) burial ground.
It was under 1.2 m high barrow, with massive stone masonry about 7 m in diameter,
with the cremation of not less than two people (Ibsen, Skvorzov 2004 p.402ff figs.7 and
13).
In the grave early zone, the latest rider-withthe-horse complex is burial 356 dated to
the beginning of the fifth century, in which
riders cremation underwent plunder, the
stock survived partly but the horse burial remained untouched. In it, there were remains
of two horses with the metal details of the
horse harness among which it is necessary
to mention bimetal ornamented bridle bit
made of bronze and iron (Fig. 12). This type
of bit having a constructive particularity - a
bronze, more often silver faceted cap with
a ring loop put on a free end of an iron rod
is characteristic for Hun period (Zasetskaia
1994, p.40ff tables 4.12; 16.13; 30.5; 44.5;
47.5; 20, 21). The closest analogies of these
bits are known in the burials of Przeworsk
nobility of the early Hun period on the territory of Poland in Lugah / Koenigsbruch
and in Jakuszowice (Petersen 1932, p.154ff;
Godowski 1995, pp.155-179 fig.4.1).
138
Fig. 8.1-2. Grave goods from horse burial -302 and bridles
reconstruction. Drawing by Skvortsov.
Presently examined part of the grave enables us to suggest that from the beginning
of the fifth century its functioning was interrupted for at least 600 years. Only at the
end of the 11th the beginning of the 12th
centuries ancient Prussians begin to bury
their deceased in 60 meters to the north of
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
1
2
the graves dated to the Roman Iron Age and the Migration Period.
Judging by the context of the complexes discovered in
the process of researching, Aleika-3 grave, as we can
see at present moment, is an exceptional phenomenon
for Sambian-Natangian Culture.
Relationships of
the Sambian-Natangian Culture
III
H o rs e s ,
H o rs e m e n ,
and Equest ria n
E q u ipm e n t:
P r e par e d
f o r War ,
B u ria l s , a n d
O f f e ri n gs
In spite of the fact that Sambian-Natangian Culture

was on the periphery of barbaricum, its appearance
and development is connected with the interest in amber, which sharply increased in the first century AD.
The demand for it in Rome and its provinces attracted
attention of the representatives of Przeworsk Culture to
this region (Shchukin 1994, p.278). Keeping in mind
the fact that at the turn of ages Przeworsk Culture kept
good contacts with the cultures of Central Europe and
Scandinavia (Shchukin
1994, p.228ff),
such development of the situation looks quite realistic.

3
Fig. 9.1-3. Details of bridles with propeller shaped cheekpieces. 1 Aleika-3 horse burial -423; 2 Cheek-pieces from
Sarmatian sites (1a6a); 2 Thorsbeg bog find (7); 3 Bridles
reconstruction after grave goods of Aleika-3 burial A-423.
Drawings by Skvortsov, A. Sidorov and K. Yuganov.
This time is characterized by the appearance of a great

number of the Roman and Noricum-Panonian imports
and their derivatives produced in barbarian environment in our region. Setting of trade connections between the Roman provinces and the western Balts in
the Early Roman Period before the beginning of the
Marcomanni Wars and for some time after them prob-
139
KONSTANTIN
SKVORTSOV

Fig. 10. Bridle detail: bronze cast nose plate (Naseberg) from horse burial -478. 23 Analogues from Danube-Limes
area. Drawing by Skvortsov.
ably went on through the mediation of the bearers of

Przeworsk Culture.
From the moment of its appearance in the second part
of the first century and up to the first part of the second
century the dominant funerary rite of Sambian-Natangian culture was the inhumation with the northern orientation.
140
In the second part of the second century during a short

period of time inhumation rite disappears completely.
Urn and non-urn cremations replaced this rite. The

funerary rite type like most innovations in mortuary
stock in this period is connected by its origin with
the cultures of the west, and first of all of Przeworsk
Culture and Scandinavia. At the same time, by the
end of the second century the beginning of the third
century the lot of imports from the areal of Wielbark
Culture considerably increases (Bliujien 2007 pp.312
and 317). Perhaps it is connected with the bearers of
Wielbark Culture moving to the south of the territo-
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
1
III
H o rs e s ,
H o rs e m e n ,
and Equest ria n
E q u ipm e n t:
P r e par e d
f o r War ,
B u ria l s , a n d
O f f e ri n gs
Fig. 11.1-3. Grave goods from horse burial -328 (1);

Cruciform shaped bridle mounts from burial A-238,
Netta and Althof Insterburg (2); Reconstruction (3).
Drawings by Skvortsov, K. Yuganov and O. Khomiakova.
141
KONSTANTIN
SKVORTSOV

Fig.12. Grave goods from burial -356. Drawing by O. Khomiakova.
ries, which were previously occupied by the bearers

of Przeworsk Culture because of its weakening after
taking part in the Marcomannic Wars. It is possible that
some not very large part of Przeworsk people moved
by the wave of Wielbark migrants had to leave territories earlier settled and to get to West-Baltic culture. The
same time in the materials of the graves in the Pregel
River valley, the Roman imports that can be related to
the items of luxury appear: a dagger pugio from Alt
Ilischken, a fragmented terra sigillata from the burial
at Klein Flies and some others (Nowakowski 1996,
p.68ff plates 92.1; 99.8-8 and 102.2). In the region of
Mazurian Lakeland and in Sambia, the situations provoked by the same processes are similar. The most
number of imports here fall on the phases B2/C1C2.
(Nowakowski 2001 p.26ff). During the phase C1/C2 in
the burial grounds of the Sambian-Natangian Culture
there opens a horizon of rich burials containing specific stock: fibulae of Monstreosa type (Skvortsov 2000),
silver bracelets with snakelike endings; numerous jewelry pieces of silver and bronze and some other stock
originally connected straight to the areal of Wielbark
Culture, to the regions of Scandinavia and Germania
Liberia. It is very much likely that a considerable part
of the buried was of either German origin or autochthons tightly connected with the ruling clans on the
Elblg Heights and in Scandinavia.
142
From the third century, the role of representatives of

Wielbark Culture in amber trading on the prior Sambia Vistula mouth section of the amber way increas-
es. New findings made in some graves of the Roman

Period are the evidence. The value of the amber way
section from Sambia along the Vistula bay to the Vistula delta is very difficult to overestimate (Skvortsov
2007a; Goverdovskii 2008; Andrzejowski, Cieliski
2007, p.279). The people who left Aleika-3 grave could
control collection of amber in the beginning of the way.
Not less than eight simultaneous burial grounds are
known in the radius of 5 km from Aleika-3. It indicates
the high density of settling on this territory in
that time. Habitants living along in the valleys
of small rivers of Sambian Peninsula went out
to the Pregel from where
they could reach lands in
the Vistula mouth where
amber accumulated for
its moving from the Baltic Sea shore to the Roman boundary.
Conclusions
At present time the
greatest number of rider
with the horse burials in
the territory of SambianNatangian Culture are
Fig. 13. Tomb of Svebian

horseman in Roman military
service.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 14.1. Grave goods from horseman burial -275 (bronze, gild bronze, iron, pottery).
Drawing by O. Khomiakova and A. Sidorov.
discovered in the materials of Aleika-3 cemetery. It

should be noted that the appearance of this rite falls on
the beginning the middle of the second century. The
rite appears in Sambia in the completed manner. Numerous analogies of the horse burial stock of Aleika-3
cemetery found in materials of the region of Danube
enable us to suggest that it owes its appearance to the
German-Sarmatian contacts during the Marcomannic Wars (Kokowski 2003, pp.275-291; Tejral 2003,
pp.239-274 tables 1; 3; 4; 5; 7; 16; 17; 18). This rite
reaches the areal of the Western Balts with the Germans who took part in these wars. From this moment
the burials with horses appear in the Sudovian culture
and in the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Grave Culture (Bliujien, Butkus 2007, p.115). In the late Roman time, singular cases of this rite penetrating from
the areal of Sambian-Natangian Culture to the Baltic
Sea islands and to Denmark are known. In Denmark
on the Zeeland Island in Skovgarde cemetery, there
was found the horse burial 26 dated to the third century
(Ethelberg 2000, p.25ff). It is possible that this burial
as well as findings of bit in the burials on the Funen island, which are not found on the neighboring territories
and according to K. Raddaz point to the connections
with the west Balts tribes of Sambian Peninsula in the
Roman Period (Raddatz 1956 p.173ff; 1962).
The earliest rider burials found in the grave belong to
the second part of the second century that is phase B2/
C1. Besides there are some burials made according to

the inhumation rite, which are dated to the phase B2b.
Chronological proximity of the considerable part of the
burials is proved by their planigraphy interrelation.
Appearance of the most part of the rider complexes
is close in time to the last period of the Marcomannic
Wars and may be a reflection of exactly these events
happening in the Danube provinces of the Roman
Empire. Most probably, the abundance of the Roman
import items on this monument including the luxury
items is the result of the fact that this multiethnic society faced the beginning of the amber trade in this
region and probably controlled it. Riders of Aleika-3
represented the top of this society from the Marcomannic Wars up to the early Hun period when the last centers of Wielbark Culture disappear from the region of
Vistula(Godowski 1970, plate VII). In less degree,
we can connect the findings of new Roman import categories with the possible participating of representatives of this multiethnic society in the last period of
the Marcomannic Wars, in higher degree with their
participation in amber trade.
III
H o rs e s ,
H o rs e m e n ,
and Equest ria n
E q u ipm e n t:
P r e par e d
f o r War ,
B u ria l s , a n d
O f f e ri n gs
The tackle of Aleika-3 riders in practice does not differ

in contents from the tackle of Germania Liberia riders.
As an example of a typical armament set of the population close to Sambian we can mention the grave stone
of a Suebi rider in the Roman service from Heidelberg
143
144
Fig. 14.2. Grave goods from horse burial -275A (iron, bronze). Drawing by O. Khomiakova, A. Sidorov and
A. Dementeva.
KONSTANTIN
SKVORTSOV

BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 14.3. Horseman and his horse from Aleika-3 cemetery (burial -275). Reconstruction by Skvortsov and K. Yuganov.
(Speidel 1992, p.89ff) (Fig. 13) and compare it with

the stock of burial 275 (Fig.14.1-3).
The materials of Aleika-3 cemtery in the context of
other examined monuments of Sambian-Natangian
Culture of the Roman Iron Age enable us to conclude
that the beginning of the process of clan system degrading is fixed on this territory in the second century.
It was conditioned by penetrating of the German ethnic
component involved into amber trade to the Balts environment. This process could only start during or after the Marcomannic Wars, influence of which showed
off not only in economic and in social changes on the
territory of Germania Liberia but touched upon the
periphery of barbarian world including the territory of
Sambia. All these facts can indirectly prove the possibility of presence of the highest social status burials
in the areal of Sambian-Natangian Culture. No doubt,
they can be discovered in future.
Translated by Marina Evstafieva
Abbreviations
Arkhiv IA RAN Arkhiv Instituta Arkheologii Rossikoi
Akademini Nauk, Maskva.
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R O M N I K OJO I R D I D I OJO
TA U T K R A U S T Y M O S I
L A I K O TA R P I S A M B I JO S
P U S I A S A L I O A LE I KO S 3
(BUVS JAUGEHNEN)
3 - I OJO K A P I N Y N O R A I T E L I
I R I R G K A PA I
Santrauka
I dabar inom Sambijos-Natangijos kultros kapinyn daugiausia raiteli ir irg kap rasta Aleikos
3-iajame kapinyne (12 pav.). Reikia pabrti, kad is
paprotys paplinta II a. pirmojoje pusje ar io amiaus
viduryje. Sambijos pusiasalyje paprotys laidoti raitel
ir irg paplinta visikai susiformavs. Didelis Aleikos
3-iojo kapinyno radini analogij skaiius su Dunojaus regiono kapinyn radiniais leidia kelti prielaid
apie german ir sarmat kontaktus markoman kar
metu. is paprotys sieja vakar baltus su germanais,
dalyvavusiais iuose karuose. Nuo to laiko kapai su
irgais iplinta sduvi ir Vakar Lietuvos kapinyn su
akmen vainikais kultrose. Vlyvajame romnikajame laikotarpyje is paprotys i Sambijos-Natangijos
kultros arealo prasiskverbia Baltijos jros salas ir
Danij. Danijos Zelandijos saloje Skovgardo kapinyno
irgo kapas 26 datuojamas III amiumi.
III
H o rs e s ,
H o rs e m e n ,
and Equest ria n
E q u ipm e n t:
P r e par e d
f o r War ,
B u ria l s , a n d
O f f e ri n gs
Ankstyviausias Aleikos 3-iojo kapinyno raitelio kapas

yra i II a. antrosios puss arba tarpsnio B2/C1. alia
taip pat rasta griautini kap i B2b laikotarpio. ios
kapinyno dalies kap chronologija nustatyta remiantis
kap isidstymu kapinyne ir tarpusavio ryiais.
Didioji dalis raiteli kap kompleks chronologikai yra artimi baigiamosioms markoman kovoms ir
147
KONSTANTIN
SKVORTSOV

vykiams Romos imperijos Dunojaus provincijose

(314 pav.). Labai gali bti, kad romnikojo importo ir tarp j prabangos daikt gausa Aleikos 3-iajame
kapinyne rodo, kad daugiataut bendruomen pradjo
prekiauti gintaru ir galbt net i prekyb kontroliavo.
Aleikos 3-iajame kapinyne palaidoti raiteliai priklaus ios bendruomens diduomenei iki ankstyviausiojo
hun laikotarpio, kai paskutiniai Vielbarko kultros
centrai inyko i Vyslos emupio. Yra nedidel tikimyb, kad ie radiniai sietini su numanomu ios daugiatauts bendruomens atstov dalyvavimu markoman
karuose, bet kur kas labiau su j sitraukimu prekyb gintaru.
Aleikos 3-iajame kapinyne rast irg apranga praktikai nesiskiria nuo Laisvosios Germanijos raiteli
aprangos. Kaip tipik romn samdinio ginkluots
pavyzd galima paminti Haidelbergo sveb raitelio
antkapinio akmens piein (13 pav.) ir palyginti j su
Aleikos 3-iojo kapinyno kapo 275 inventoriumi (14
pav.).
Aleikos 3-iojo kapinyno ir kit tirt Sambijos-Natangijos kultros romnikojo geleies amiaus paminkl
mediaga leidia teigti, kad giminins bendruomens
irimas ia prasidjo II a. Tai lm german etninio
komponento skverbimasis balt aplink per prekyb gintaru. is procesas prasidjo markoman kar
metu arba tik jam pasibaigus, o jo taka ekonominiam
ir socialiniam gyvenimui pastebima ne tik Laisvosios
Germanijos teritorijoje, bet vairialyps takos paliet
ir barbar emi periferij, skaitant ir Sambijos-Natangijos kultros teritorij.
Vert Audron Bliujien
148
AUDRON BLIUJIEN AND DONATAS BUTKUS

Abstract
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
B U R I A L S W I T H H O R S E S A ND E QU E S T R I A N
E QU I PM E N T O N T H E L I T H U A N I A N A ND
L AT V I A N L I T T O R A L S A ND H I N T E R L A NDS
(FROM THE FIFTH TO THE EIGHTH CENTURIES)
In the fifth to the eighth centuries, graves of well-armed men and their riding horses or the ritual parts of horses were spread
throughout almost the entire mainland part of Lithuania and Latvia, or in the territory between the Nemunas and Daugava
/ Western Dvina Rivers. This was the northernmost part of Europe in which the custom had spread in the fifth to the eighth
centuries. While the horsemens and horses burial customs varied in separate regions of the defined area, still everywhere the
horseman and horse were interred in one grave pit, with the horse almost always to the persons left. In their journey to the
Afterlife, however, the bond between horseman and horse began to vary in the communities that lived in the more peripheral
regions. The variety of burial customs was associated with differences in the communities social structure; these differences
affected interment traditions and formed different burial rites. The custom that existed in the Roman Period on the littorals of
Lithuania and Latvia to bury ritual horse parts (the head or head and legs) and spurs with armed men disappeared; here only
bridle bits symbolized the horse in armed mens graves in the fifth to the eighth centuries. Warriors graves with equestrian
equipment spread throughout the entire region between the Nemunas and Daugava in the fifth to eighth centuries. With the
change in burial customs (with the spread of cremation), and, apparently, in worldview, riding horse burials appeared that no
longer could be associated with the concrete burials of people.
Key words: warriors, ritual or sacrificial horse parts, equestrian equipment, Migration Period, Lithuania, Latvia.
Introduction
The littorals of present-day Lithuania and a part of
Latvia constituted the northernmost barbaricum territory in which riding horses so often were buried with
well-armed persons. Armed mens graves with horses
are an expressive funerary feature of the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Grave Culture during the Roman Period (from periods B2 and B2/C1)1. However, in the huge
remaining territory between the Nemunas and Daugava/ Western Dvina Rivers in this period, there are no
armed mens graves with horses or ritual horse parts
except for one burial ground in the lower Nemunas region2 and three burial grounds in the influence zone of
the Bogaczewo or Sudovian Cultures3 (Bliujien and
Butkus 2007, p.113).
Currently, 21 cemeteries and 86 human graves with riding
horses are known (Bliujien and Butkus 2007, p.96).
2
Dauglaukis (Taurag district) male grave 12, with horse
head and part of spine.
3
A partially decomposed horse skeleton was found in the
Stanaiiai cemetery (Vilkavikis d.) among cremation
grave remains in urns (Merkeviius 1990, p.84). While the
Stanaiiai cemetery and horse burials chronology is not
altogether clear, recent analyses of the ceramics (the urn)
and fibula (A133) found in this burial site suggest that the
site belongs to phase B1B2/C1 of the Bogaczewo Cultures
influence zone (Grias, Bitner-Wrblewska 2007, p. 271ff
figs.14-16).
1
The custom of burying sacrificial horse parts, usually only the horses head or horses head with legs
and hooves, or even teeth with the horsemen on the
Lithuanian and Latvian littorals comprises 9.1 percent
of known burials of the entire communitys members.
It must be emphasized that in these mens graves, sacrificial horse parts generally were buried to the left of
the person. Such an association between man and horse
suggests a clearly understood purpose, one emphasized
by the burial rite: the horse was used for riding. The
horseman mounts his horse from the left (contemporary riders are taught to mount the horse in this fashion). Thus, this at first glance apparently insignificant
burial rite would suggest that both in life and in the
Afterlife, the bond between the horseman and his horse
was based on practical rules.
A considerable horizon of armed mens graves already
exists on the littoral in the Early Roman Period in
which only bridles or bridle parts or spurs were placed
in the graves in place of the horse. This custom also
was widespread in the hinterlands (Michelbertas 2000,
fig.2). A larger diffusion of graves with elements of
equestrian equipment than the diffused territory of men
buried with horses is most likely a distinctive form of
expression of the common custom of Balts to bury the
horse; it not only marked the buried individuals social
status, but also signified a strictly unregulated diversity
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
149
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND DONATAS
BUTKUS
Burials with Horses and

Equestrian Equipment
on the Lithuanian and Latvian
Littorals and Hinterlands
(From the Fifth to
the Eighth Centuries)
of burial rites. On the other hand, the absence of horse

burials beyond the coast, i.e., in the funeral customs of
other communities that lived in areas surrounding the
Balts, could have formed due to a distinct economic
structure, in which horse rearing did not constitute an
important part of the economy, so that the burial of
horses that were healthy and necessary in vital activities would have been economically unsubstantiated or
even detrimental. Thus, instead of the horse, only symbols that denoted the horseman and his horse (bridle
parts and spurs) were used for burial rituals and for
demonstration of social status or warriors hierarchy.
Horsemens graves with horses and horsemens graves
with elements of horse gear and spurs are found in the
same cemeteries in the West Lithuanian Stone Circle
Grave Culture area; they are synchronous. Thus, the
burial rite features (to bury ritual horse parts with the
armed men) that had developed in the West Lithuanian
Stone Circle Grave Culture area illustrate the warriors
hierarchy and militarys dependency on the societys
nobility that already existed in the Roman Period.
However, graves with horses in the West Lithuanian
Stone Circle Grave Culture area markedly diminished
at the very end of the third century. Today it is difficult to say with what kind of phenomena this decrease
of graves with horses was associated. The number of
armed men with horses, just as the number of graves
in general, and even of people themselves, possibly
decreased because, it might be, that a portion of the
Aestii were drawn into the migration of the Wielbark
Culture people (ulkus 1995, p.96ff fig.IX and XII).
Therefore, it is altogether possible that some Aestian
highest-ranking military chieftains and their mounted
warrior retinues, as mobile, well-armed groups of
people, streamed into the military being formed by
the Gothic elite, and together engaged to the northern
shores of the Black Sea. The significant consolidation
process of the Gothic military force and its movement
southeast might have taken place in the third century
(Urbaczyk 1998, p.404ff). It is most likely that Aestian chieftains and their retinues vanished in the long
journey southeast or disappeared without leaving
a trace in the process of the formation of the Chernyakhov Culture. The third century is the time of the
barbarians military activity in the vast Germania expanses, when maraudering and military raids by mobile
groups in the Roman provinces became an inseparable
and main aspect of the social life of various barbarian
groups (Brather 2005, p.159). Thus, in one way or another, Aestian horsemen could have streamed into this
process.
150
Curonian warriors during

the Migration Period and the horse
s y m b o l i s m o f L i t h u a n i a s l i t t o r a l
The last warriors graves with horses disappeared from
the littoral in the first half of the fifth century and this
process coincided with the final collapse of the West
Lithuanian Stone Circle Grave Culture and the appearance of a new derivative the Curonians, who
replaced the Roman Periods culture (Fig. 1; Table 1).
By the density of its population and level of material
culture, the littoral a previously flourishing region
looked like a peripheral region in the Early Migration
Period, compared to the lower Nemunas and Central
and East Lithuania. Apparently for ideological and
economic reasons, the horses burial tradition significantly changed along the coast: from the middle of the
fifth century until the sunset of the Curonian Culture in
the first half of the thirteenth century, neither complete
horse nor its ritual parts were buried any longer (Fig.
1). Spurs disappeared in the region together with the
last warriors graves with horses; they are found only
in rare exceptions in graves of the second half of the
fifth to first half of the seventh century (Table 2). Spurs
are found in graves of Curonian warriors of the Viking
Period (Table 2), while stirrups occasionally occur in
this cultures latest phase. Bridle bits, however, remain
the main artefact symbolizing the horse in the Curonian Culture during the fifth to eighth centuries and
strongly suggest that the buried man was a horseman
(Plate III.17; Table 2).
Only four, more peripheral sites from the Early Migration Period with burials of well-armed horsemen
with horses have been found (Fig. 1) (Michelbertas
1968, p.101f; Navickait-Kuncien 1968, p.165 fig.7
and 8; Bliujien 1998, p. 283 fig.5; Reich 2007, fig.2;
Bliujien and Butkus 2007, pp.99-105). The most
noteworthy of these is grave 35 from the Reket cemetery that dates to the beginning of the fifth century, in
which a complete horse was buried on the mans left
side (Navickait-Kuncien 1968, p.165 fig.7 and 8).
This burial is distinguished in the whole coastal region
because it is the only one in which a complete horse
skeleton has been found in a horsemans grave in this
period. The man from Reket cemeterys grave 35 was
buried as an armed horseman and his set of weapons
consisted of two different-sized lances, a socketed axe,
and a scythe, which together with whetstone constantly accompanied the coastal mens set of weapons. The
burial tradition of including scythes and whetstones to
Curonians weapon sets vanished only in the ninth/tenth
centuries and this process was coincide with the spread
1. Reket
2. Upelkiai
3. Rdaiiai
4. Auktkiemiai (former
Oberhof)1
Kretinga
Kretinga
Kretinga
Klaipda
5. Barznai
6. Jurgaiiai
7. Rubokai
8. Vidgiriai
9. Kreivnai
10. Greinai
11. Vievil II
12. Kataunaliai
13. Poer
14. Pagrybis
15. viliai
16. Naujasis Obelynas
17. Skrandnai
18. Plinkaigalis
19. Kalnikiai
20. Vervai
21. Marvel
3
4
Curonian cemeteries
52
1
103
6
42
1
452
?
Cemeteries of the Lower Nemunas region

ilut
25
4
ilut
23
5
ilut
512
10
ilut
63
9
ilut
48
1
Taurag
18
1
Jurbarkas
1
1
Samogitian cemeteries
ilal
40
6
ilal
133
16
ilal
217
38
ilal
99
13
ilal
1
1
Teliai
1
1
Central Lithuanias cemeteries
Kdainiai
361
1
7
3
Raseiniai
253
4
Kaunas city
>2003
2?
Kaunas city
>1004
1
Sk
Hd, HdL, Teh
Hd
Sk, HdL, Teh
I
I
I
I, II (?)
HdL, Teh
HdL,
HdL, Sk?
HdL or Sk
Sk?
HdL
II
IV
II
II
IV
II?
II
Hd
Hd
Hd/HdL
Hd
Teh
HdL
IV
IV
II
IV
I
II
Hd part
Sk
Sk
Sk?
Sk
II
IV
II
IIIV
II
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Ta b l e 1 . L i s t o f m a l e g r a v e s w i t h r i t u a l h o r s e r e m a i n s o r h o r s e s k e l e t o n s
d a t e d t o t h e f i f t h - e i g h t h c e n t u r i e s ( t a b l e s d a t a c o m p i l a t i o n b a s e d o n r e s e a r c h
reports and publications) 1 site name and culture group; 2 district; 3 total
number of researched graves or barrows (B); 4 number of males with horse
graves; 5 complete horse skeleton (Sk), head (Hd), head and legs (HdL), teeth
o n l y ( Te h ) ; 6 c h r o n o l o g y : G r o u p I : m i d - 4 t h t o f i r s t q u a r t e r o f 5 t h c e n t u r y ;
Group II: mid-5th to first quarter of 6th century; Group III: 6th-7th centuries;
G r o u p I V: 7 t h - 8 t h c e n t u r i e s
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
East Lithuanian barrows

22. Antasar (Laukiai, Sariai)
venionys
8B
2
Sk
II
23. Taurapilis
Utena
8B
4
Sk
II
24. Paduob-altalin
venionys
18B
1
Sk
II
25. Pavajuonys-Rkuiai
Ignalina
2B
1
Sk
II
Reinas cemetery form north of Kurzeme and Semigallian cemeteries from Jelgava district
26. Reinas (Lazdu Kalni)
Tukuma, Latvia
?
1
Teh
I
27. GaideiVidui
Jelgavas, Latvia
24
1
Teh
II
28. Kakuni
Jelgavas, Latvia
76
1
Teh
II
Christine Reich currently is finishing a thorough publication about this cemetery. Also see: C. Reich article in this volume.
2
Approximately 30 mens graves have been found in the Rubokai cemetery (Bezzenberger 1909, pp.149-172).
3
Not all research reports have survived, thus the exact number of investigated burials is unclear.
4
Mindaugas Bertaius currently is preparing a thorough publication regarding this cemetery.
1
151
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND DONATAS
BUTKUS

(From the Fifth to
152
ornaments of the Curonians warriors (Plate

III). Very elegant bridles adorned with
bronze details or bridle bits with cheekpieces were extremely rare in Curonian Culture (Gaerte 1929, p.296 fig.244a; Danilait
1961, p.120; Tautaviius 1996, p.158; Reich 2007, plate III.2) On the other hand, it is
unclear whether the entire bridle with leather bridle parts undecorated with metal, the
rein, and the iron bits were placed into the
grave, or if the bits were abstracted from the
bridle during the ritual. Since by Curonian
custom the bridle bits were placed at the
head together with the weapons and almost
always on the left side, and buckles rarely
were found near them, we can assume that
only bits would more often be placed into
the grave, and that these symbolized the
horse to the Curonians. The bridle bits become an inseparable part of the Curonian
Fig. 1. Spread of the 5th-8th century mens graves with horses between
warriors burial complex from the end of the
the Nemunas and Daugava / Western Dvina Rivers.
sixth to the first half of the seventh century
Site list shown in Table 1.
(Table 2). In the time period discussed in
and settle over cremations burials rites4. Coming back this article and in the context of the littoral, a Curonian
to the Reket grave 35 it should be mentioned, that ad- community that lived in todays Lazdininkai district is
ditionally a shoulder-belt, silver and bronze fibulae, distinguished in that it left an exceptional burial site:
and tweezers were found. Showing that even in the the Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis6) cemetery (Bliujien
Afterlife, the horseman controls the horse, in the Ro- 2006, p.185ff fig.2). All other Curonian burial site maman Period the spurs often are found not by the person, terial of the time discussed in this article is considerbut rather by the horses ritual parts. The same holds ably poorer (Table 2).
true in this warriors and horses grave the spurs were
Grave 73/2000 of the Lazdininkai cemetery, dated
placed on the horses forehead (Navickait-Kuncien
from the end of the sixth to first half of the seventh
1968, p.180).
century, best represents the stratum of this periods
Although the burial of horses stopped in the Early highest status warriors. The weaponry of this periods
Migration Period on the littoral, another feature of warriors consisted of a one-edged sword, two distinct
the region was the continual expansion of well-armed spears, a socketed axe, and a knife (Plate III.8,9,13mens graves with equestrian equipment (Fig. 2; Ta- 15). A pillum-like spearhead, which perhaps was used
ble 1). It must be emphasized that only riding bits are by cavalry or by infantrymen against cavalry, is over
found in the graves of well-armed men from the mid- 60 cm long. It might be that the pillum-like spearheads
dle of the fifth century5 until the end of the thirteenth is Curonian weapons innovation, because only certain
century. The bridle bits became a symbol of the horse parallels are known from the adjacent regions of this
to the southern Curonian warriors of that time, even time. Nevertheless it seems that long shears with a
though their value, within the set of riding gear, must long ferrule were quite common to the weaponry of
have been quite low (Plate III.17). The worth of the the sixth eight century, notwithstanding that blades
bridle bits seems even smaller when compared to the of these lances were distinct. Parallel to the pillumrare context of the arms, weaponry, and impressive like spearhead might be a specimen from the Su4
There is not possible to deduce parallels between Norwe- vorovo (former Zohpen, Dollkeim-Kovrovo Culture)
gian weapons graves (Nordische Stufe VVII), which cemeterys grave 453 (Kulakov 1990, pp.70 and 115,
sometimes are accompanied from one to three scythes and plate XXII.5). An analogue to the pillum-like spearCuronians weaponry set which constantly is companioned head from Lazdininkai might be lance from former
by scythe, but there is time to testify certain similarities
Fifshbach (Kreis Kirfcfberg) (Petersen 1939, p.128ff
(Nrgrd Jrgensen 1999, plates 3; 7; 9; 11; 12; 13 and
fig.130.c). E. Petersen thought Alamannen weaponry
etc.).
5
Algirdas Varnas dated the cessation of horses in graves influence on this spearhead type. Quite similar pillumin Curonian Culture to the seventh century (Varnas 1998,
p.292).
Further referred to as Lazdininkai.
26
14
17
7. Reket
8. Rdaiiai
9. Tbausiai
10
10 1
19 1 1 1
110 0
111
6. Palanga
12
14
18
150 133 0
21
3. Kiauleikiai
5. Lazdininkai
Total no. horsemen and warriors

Total no. graves
Bridles
Bridle bits
4. Laiviai
Line No.
2. Kauiai
Cemetery
Statistical unit total
1. Girkalai
Swords
Spearheads (no. graves)
Spurs
Dat.
Total
Swords
5th cen. first half
0 39 14 23
1
Spearheads
0 54 28 20
4 1
8 6
4 3
2 2
10
Dating
7th cen.
3 30
Other weapons
4th cen.
5th cen.
5th-6th cens.
6th cen.
Armament
1 1 1
1 2
1 1
From total, no. w/ bits

With swords (no. graves)
Spearheads (no. graves)
3 7 4 23 1 1 23 17 5 15
1 3
9th-10th cens.
10th cen.
11th cen.
8th cen.
8th-9th cens.
9th cen.
2
Other weapons (no.graves)
Dating
1 3 3 13
1 1
1
4th cen.
11
13
1 20
5th cen.
Dating
2 19 3 39
BALTICA 11
4 50
ARCHAEOLOGIA
11
12
59
55
20
13
3 65
79
Armament
Swords
W/o horsemn atr.
7th cen.
8th cen.
8th-9th cens.
9th cen.
9th-10th cens.
10th cen.
11th cen.
Total
4th cen.
5th cen. first half
Armament
Spearheads
With spurs
Other weapons
With bits
7th cen.
8th cen.
With horses
Other weapons
Attributes Armament
5th-6th cens.
6th cen.
Mens graves without horsemens attributes
8th-9th cens.
9th cen.
Mens graves with horsemens attributes
9th-10th cens.
Mens graves with horses
10th cen.
11th cen.
Ta b l e 2 . C u r o n i a n m a l e g r a v e s w i t h h o r s e s ( f i r s t h a l f o f 5 t h c e n t u r y ) , w i t h e q u e s t r i a n e q u i p m e n t , a n d m a l e g r a v e s w i t h
w e a p o n s ( 4 t h - 11 t h c e n t u r i e s )
Total no. graves w/ spurs
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
153
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND DONATAS
BUTKUS

(From the Fifth to
Fig. 2. Spread of the 5th-8th century mens graves with equestrian equipment between the Nemunas and Daugava / Western
Dvina Rivers. 1 Kapsde (Liepja d.); 2 Oenieki (Liepja d.); 3 Auktkiemiai (Oberhof); 4 Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis) (Kretinga d.); 5 Reket (Kretinga d.); 6 Rdaiiai I (Kretinga d.); 7 Upelkiai (Kretinga d.); 8 Jurgaiiai (ilut d.); 9 Kreivnai
(ilut d.); 10 Rubokai (ilut d.); 11 Vluikiai (Taurag d.); 12 Vidgiriai (ilut d.); 13 Pagrybis (ilal d.); 14 Sauginiai
(ilal d.); 15 viliai (ilal d.); 16 Poeer (ilal d.); 17. Rsi-Debei (Saldus d.); 18 Priedtes (Dobeles d.); 19 Lieki
(Dobeles d.); 20 rstaii (Doles d.); 21 Razbuki (Jkabpils d.); 22 Ratulni (Jkabpils d.); 23 Salenieki (Luizas d.); 24
Plinkaigalis (Kdainiai d.); 25 Marvel (Kaunas city); 26 Kalnikiai (Raseiniai d.); 27 Eitulionys (Trakai d.); 28 Bagoiai
(Varna d.).
like spearheads (Peter Stadlers type 380) occasionally

appear in Avar graves of the Late Early or Middle Avar
Period (c. 580 to c. 630) in the Carpathian basin, but
the are shorter (Garam 1995, p.350 fig.208.9,10)7. The
shorter spear from Lazdininkai grave 73/2000 resembles Stadlers type 4308. The pillum-like spearhead
unknown in Scandinavian (and Gotlandic) weaponry

of this time (Nrgrd Jrgensen, 1999, pp. 88ff, 134ff
fig.71). It might be underline that Curonians swords
from the end of the sixth to the first half of the seventh
century have their equivalents in Scandinavian weaponry (Nrgrd Jrgensen, 1999, p.50 figs.12-14,19).
Type 380 examples appear in the Tiszafred cemetery in

Hungary and Devnska Nov Ves cemetery in Slovakia
(Garam 1995, p.350 fig.211 plates 173; 182;183;188; Eisner 1952, plates 20.4; 28.5; 50.1; 65.8; 81.8).
8
Type 430 examples appear in the Devnska Nov Ves
cemeterys graves 107, 132, 453, 616, 765a, and 842, and
Tiszafred cemeterys graves 721 and 950 (Eisner 1952;
Garam 1995 p.349 fig.208.6). They also can be found
in the Klked-Feketekapu A cemetery in Hungary (Kiss
1996, p.233).
An ornate belt (sometimes bound with silver plates

decorated with an interlaced design (Flechtbandornamentik) and openwork bronze bindings), shoulder-belts,
and personal ornaments usually two or even three
fibulae of crossbow ladder or animal-headed type, spiral finger rings, and one or two small or shaped amber
beads, comb-shaped pendants, and unique amber arteacts constitute a characteristic part of graves goods
154
In placing the long spearheads used in battles with

or by cavalry and only horse symbols (bridles) into
the graves of well-armed men, the Curonians apparently were guided by the practical side of the matter:
the horses were a valuable asset for the military. On
the other hand, analogies with geographically more
distant and improved weapons suggest that Curonian
warriors could have participated in both regional (with
communities that were gaining strength, that were in
the gateway position in the lower Nemunas and that
could block comfortable coastal contact in the south)
and interregional conflicts for control of the littoral and
domination over the region.
Wa r r i o r s , h o r s e s , a n d f u n e r a l c u s t o m s
in the lower Nemunas region,
Samogitia, and Central Lithuania
Horse burial rites differed in the lower Nemunas region
from those practiced on the littoral. With the exception
of one known grave in the Dauglaukis cemetery, horses
were not buried with armed men in the Roman Period
in the lower Nemunas (Bliujien, Butkus 2007, p.113).
Armed mens graves with horses appear in the fifthsixth centuries in the lower Nemunas (Fig. 1; Table 1).
Multicoloured beads with relief eyes were found in
Lazdininkai cemetery during excavation of 2007 and
2008.
In the fifth-sixth century cemeteries of Barznai,

Greinai, Rubokai, and Vidgiriai, mens burials contain either complete horses or their ritual parts head
and legs, sometimes only teeth (Fig. 1; Table 1). Either
a horse or its parts were buried with a third of the men
in the Rubokai cemetery (Bezzenberger 1909, pp.148172). Two horses were buried with several riders at
the Rubokai (grave 20) and Vidgiriai (graves 23, 30,
35, and 36) cemeteries (Bezzenberger 1909, p.158;
imnas 1990, p.102). Riders with two horses also
are known at Kalnikiai grave 39 in Central Lithuania
(Kazakeviius 1990) (Fig. 3). The armed man is buried
in one pit, with horse parts usually placed to the left of
the well-armed deceased.
The custom of burying ritual horse parts in the lower
Nemunas region and Samogitia appeared as a general
consequence of Migration Period events in the region.
The tradition was not adopted from the West Lithuanian Stone Circle Grave Culture because along the
Baltic coast the custom of burying ritual horse parts
broke off some time from the end of the third century
to the middle of the fourth century. As mentioned, only
single horse burials are known along the coast from the
beginning of the fifth century.
The stimulus for the custom of burying ritual horse
parts with armed men undoubtedly was also acquired
from neighbours to the southwest and southeast: from
the Dollkeim-Kovrovo as well as Olsztyn and Elblg
groups of people. Compared to the Roman Period, the
number of horse burials significantly increased in the
Dollkeim-Kovrovo Culture, where mens burials with
horses comprise up to 20 percent in the beginning of the
fifth century (Tiurin 2006, p.148). The number of horse
burials increases in the Migration Period in the Olsztyn and Elblg groups sites, as well as in the Suwaki
region (Jaskanis 1966, fig.1; 1968, p.89ff; Baranowski
1996, p.70ff fig. 1 table 1; Pitkowska-Maecka 2000,
fig.1 tables 1-3). On the other hand, in the stepped
grave pits of the Vidgiriai multi-ethnic community,
the horse burial rites share common features with the
middle Danube and with the nomads on the other side
of the Urals and the Black Sea shore (imnas 2006,
p.44ff figs. 14 and 15).
The Avars made a huge new impact on the spread and
development of horse burial customs as well as on
BALTICA 11
Graves of men buried with equestrian equipment also

increased in this region (Fig. 2). Ritual horse parts continued to be buried in the graves of armed men in the
lower Nemunas in the seventh-eighth centuries. Notably, in the seventh-eighth century Jurgaiiai cemetery
horse heads and legs are found to the right of the deceased, and only in the graves containing one-edged
swords.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
of men buried in the first half of the seventh century

in the Lazdininkai cemetery (Plate III). Furthermore
multicoloured glass paste beads this relief eyes are
quite common to the Gepidic, and Avaric cemeteries
in Hungary as well as to the Mazurian Lakelands cemeteries, and Curonian cemeteries on Lithuanian coast
(Stankus 1980, p.34ff; Garam 1995, p.290ff fig. 166;
Kiss 1996, p.197 plate 144; 2001, plates132;133;149;
Bitner-Wrblewska, 2008)9. The fashionable belt with
an interlaced design, just as the spearheads and multicoloured paste beads confirm the certain Balts connections with the Avaric environment. Most likely
that Curonian were involved into inter-regional trade.
On the other hand, however, the belts with openwork
plates, the interlaced design, and the typical form (lancet-shaped) of belt pendants and the fittings on their
ends all have proximate analogies in the Olsztyn and
Elblg (former Elbing) groups, and in Gotland, (Nerman 1969, plate 30.327,330; Bliujien, Butkus 2002,
p.88ff figs.3 and 4). An interlaced design were common to Germans in the Merovingian Time (Bertram
1994, pp. 44ff and 221 with figs.32 and 126). In the
first half of the seventh century, the Curonians copied
the shoulder-belt and sword sheath details as well as
dcors elements from the bridles used by the Elblg
group of people (cf. B. Konty et al. in this volume).
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
155
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND DONATAS
BUTKUS

(From the Fifth to
Fig. 3. Warriors grave with two horses in situ from the Kalnikiai cemetery (Raseiniai d.) and some of the warriors grave
goods (after Kazakeviius 1990): 1-3, 5-9 bronze; 4 silver; 10, 12, 16 bronze, pewter leader; 11, 13-15 iron.
156
the appearance of new elements of horse gear in Europe. Be that as it may, diverse customs of horse and
horse gear burials acquired unique regional features in
Europe and were intensively practiced (Mller-Wille
1970-1971, p.230ff; Vierck 1970-1971, pp.190-198;
Oexle 1984, pp.124-170; Genito 2000, p.234 fig.1;
Steuer 2003, p.51ff; Ruttkay 2009, p.286ff).
men and even boys (according to the grave goods,

size of the grave pit, and surviving anthropological
material)12 (Figs. 1 and 2; Table 1). A fragment of a
horse skull (grave 96) and horse hoof (grave 102) were
found in the disturbed graves of women at the Pagrybis
cemetery (Vaitkunskien 1995, p.75). No other data are
known about ritual horse parts in womens graves.
BALTICA 11
Judging by the set of grave goods, horses were buried with those well-armed men who held a high social
status in the lower Nemunas area the communitys
chieftains and military leaders. Shoulder-belts, battle
knives, one-edged swords, and ornaments (five fibulae, neck-rings, finger rings) are found in their graves,
while the horseman affiliation is indicated by spurs.
In the fifth to middle of the sixth century in the lower Nemunas area, just as in Central Lithuania, wellarmed men were buried with several rare fibulae and
shoulder-belts, and these graves often were accompanied by ritual horse parts (Astrauskas et al. 1999,
p.123ff, fig. 3; imnas 1999; 2000; 2006, p.80) (Figs.
1; 4). Thus, shoulder-belts are directly associated with
the general abundance or scarcity of a buried persons
grave goods, including weapons, imports, and silver
artefacts. This would suggest that the shoulder-belt
signifies the buried persons high social status. Comparing the spread of shoulder-belts on the littoral with
the remaining area, it is clear that in the fifth to middle
of the sixth century, shoulder-belts were known on the
littoral only in the Upelkiai cemetery (Fig. 4). At the
end of the sixth century to the beginning of the seventh
century along the coast, a new type of shoulder-belt
appears in the Lazdininkai cemetery10, for which so far
no analogies have been discovered in the entire East
Baltic region.
In Samogitian cemeteries, ritual horse parts usually

were placed at the deceaseds left side (Vaitkunskien
1995, pp.73-77 fig.98; 1999, p.116), thereby emphasizing that the horse was used for riding. Occasionally the
ritual horse parts were put above the head or by the feet
of the deceased, or to riders right (Vaitkunskien 1999,
p.115 fig. 129). The placement of ritual horse parts
is noticeably closely associated with weapons, upon
which horse parts usually were placed. Moreover, riding bits are found in the majority of horses mouths,
and bridle parts on their heads (Vaitkunskien 1995,
p.76; 1999, pp.117 and 122 fig.80.4,5). Burial rites of
riding horses vary in Samogitias cemeteries, especially in the seventh-eighth centuries. Single spurs are
found both in mens graves with ritual horse parts and
without them. However, spurs rarely are found in the
sites dated to the fifth-eighth centuries; this periods
spurs are known only from 20 find spots (Tautaviius
1996, p.152). Usually one spur would be placed in
the grave on the left foot (more often) or on the right
foot, or sometimes spurs were placed on both feet
(Tautaviius 1996, p.152; Kazakeviius 1993, p.80
and p.146ff; Vaitkunskien 1995, p.135). However, in
some Samogitian cemeteries, spurs are found not only
on the left foot, but also above the head or on the chest
(Vaitkunskien 1999, p.122). Regardless of the number
of spurs found in the graves, such graves are associated with armed men or horsemen, a portion of which
was buried with either horses or sacrificial horse parts,
depending on the dominant burial custom of the particular culture (Figs. 1 and 2).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
The fifth-sixth century territory between the Jra and

Dubysa Rivers i.e., Samogitia is distinguished for
its abundance of men buried with ritual horse parts
(Fig. 1; Table 1). Roman Period horse burials are not
found in this area11, since only riding gear bridles
and horsemens accoutrements spurs, are found in
the mens graves of the time (Bliujien, Butkus 2007,
p.113). The situation cardinally changed in the fifthsixth centuries when horses heads and legs, sometimes
hooves, began to be buried in that regions graves of
The shoulder-belts have been found in a very disintegrated
state, thus their reconstruction remains unclear. Currently,
the shoulder-belts are in the process of being preserved,
various analyses are being performed, and a publication is
being prepared. It might be that shoulder-belts of similar
construction or detail were found at the glisks-Anduliai
(former Andulen) cemetery (graves CCLXIII, CCCXXVII, and 430) (MVF archive: Ia 663f; Ia 727d-f; Ia 933k).
11
The only known exception is from the Pavkiai (iauliai
d.) barrow field, where several horse teeth were found in
barrows 14 and 15 (Michelbertas 1986, p.66).
10
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
Meanwhile, the vast majority of riding bits are found

only in the horses mouths or under the horses heads,
and also there are bridle bits found on the mens
legs or waist. However, among the seventh to eighth
century graves with ritual horse parts, there also are
graves with no riding bits. A portion of mens burials with ritual horse parts in seventh to eighth century
Samogitian cemeteries do not have any more weapons
(Vaitkunskien 1984, p.81ff). It must be emphasized
that in Samogitia, just as in the lower Nemunas, both
Parts of a foal were found in Pagrybis cemetery in the
grave of a child (grave 191); a foals head was found in
childs grave 32 in the Kataunaliai cemetery; remnants of
a foals head were found in childrens graves 167 and 251
in the viliai cemetery (Vaitkunskien 1984, p.81; 1995,
p.50ff; 1999, p.117).
12
157
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND DONATAS
BUTKUS

(From the Fifth to
Fig. 4. Spread of end of 4th to middle of 6th century () and end of 6th to first half of 7th century (*) mens graves with
shoulder-belts in Lithuania
1 Kalnikai (Raseiniai d.); 2 Marvel (city of Kaunas); 3 Plinkaigalis (Kdainiai d.); 4 Seredius (Jurbarkas d.); 5
Vidgiriai (ilut d.); 6 viliai (ilal d.); 7 Vluikiai (Taurag d.); 8 Upelkiai (Kretingos d.); 9* Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis)
(Kretinga d.); 10 auknai (Taurag d.); 11 Barznai (Taurag d.); 12 Pagrybis (ilal d.); 13 Paprdiai (Kelm d.).
horse and human are buried in the same pit. Usually

mens graves with horses are concentrated in small
groups in the cemetery. However, here mens graves
with horses are intermixed with womens and childrens graves, what could be evidence of strengthening
ties among family members. Additionally, the arrangement of the mens graves with horses allows for a
discussion of the distinction of separate higher status
families (Fig. 5).
Individual mens graves with horse teeth are known
from the area between the Ma and Daugava Rivers
as well as from the northern part of Kurzeme (Ziemtis
2004, p.86ff fig.2) (Fig. 1, Table 1). But so far no mens
graves with horses have been discovered in the northeastern part of Lithuania (Varnas 1998, p.298). However, both in the area between the Ma and Daugava
158
Rivers and in the northeastern part of Lithuania, individual mens graves with bridle bits or spurs are found
(Fig. 2).
In the fifth-sixth centuries, between the DubysaNevis basins and confluence of the Neris and Nemunas Rivers, single cemeteries are known in which a
horse or even two horses are found alongside wellarmed men with shoulder-belts, weaponry, and rare
ornaments (e.g., Kalnikiai grave 39) (Fig. 3). However, not many warriors graves with horses that date to
the fifth-sixth centuries are known in this region. The
situation changed in Central Lithuania in the seventh
century with the spread and establishment of cremation
burial rites (Table 1). At that time, inhumed burials of
horses which can no longer be associated with specific
cremation graves of people become mixed in among
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
Fig. 5. Distribution scheme of mens graves and mens graves with horses at the Poer cemetery (after Tautaviius 1984).
Horsemens graves are marked in grey.
159
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND DONATAS
BUTKUS

(From the Fifth to
the human cremation graves. Apparently, when the

custom of cremation dominated already in the Roman
Period, human cremation burials and inhumed horse
burials are not associated with any specific person,
thus the horse was a part of particular rituals. In the
Bogaczewo Culture, inhumed horse burials either border cremated groups of people, or are found along the
edges of the cemetery (Szymaski 1998, pp.142-154;
Karczewska, Karczewski 2007, p.202ff fig.2). We also
see a similar tradition in the later sixth-seventh century
Olsztyn group cemeteries (Tumiany, former Daumen)
in the Mazurian Lakeland; here, inhumed horse burials
surround human cremation graves (Baranowski 1996,
p.68ff fig.2). Thus, with the appearance of cremation,
the view toward the horse changes once again in the
region. The complex burial rites of this region would
suggest that the horse began to be buried not only when
burying people, but also, apparently, when celebrating
them during certain holidays. Also, of course, horse offerings are known in the region.
Dukes from the middle Danube their

farthest trip to East Lithuania
Only four barrow cemeteries contain mens graves
with horses in the area of East Lithuanias Barrow Culture during the Migration Period (Fig. 1, Table 1). It
is noteworthy that almost all of the discussed periods
burials with horses were plundered still in antiquity,
but even the remains of these burials show that the interred were high-ranking military chieftains and dukes.
Among East Lithuanias barrows, a complete horse
skeleton was found buried together with a horseman
(Tautaviius, 1981, p.23 fig.5; Semnas 1996, p.85;
Steponaitis 2007, p.132ff fig.1 and cf. A. Bliujien and
V. Steponaitis in this volume). In the territory of the
East Lithuanian Barrow Culture, riding horses were
buried with people of the highest social status, placed
on the same footing as dukes, as well as with their
retinue, who surrounded the duke even after his death.
Summing up
It is significant that in the fifth-sixth centuries in the
region between the Nemunas and Daugava Rivers, ethnic units who buried the horse or its ritual parts with
their deceased, emphasized the clear bond with wellarmed horsemen, the military, and warrior hierarchy:
the horse or its ritual parts (head, legs, and hooves) are
buried almost exclusively to the persons left and the
horses dependence on the horseman is stressed by other burial elements. The horse and person were buried
in the same grave pit.
160
On the other hand, the variety of funeral customs involving humans and horses and humans with equestrian equipment reflects a somewhat different view of the
horse held by the communities living on the Lithuanian
and Latvian littorals and hinterlands. Through the diverse human and horse burial rituals, people accented
both the significance of the riding horse in the military and its role as mediator between the living and the
dead, as well as, apparently, the gods. Starting with the
first half of the fifth century, a symbol of the horse appeared in the southern Curonian area: bridle bits.
In the seventh-eighth centuries, horse burials not associated with any specific human graves appeared due to
the custom of cremation; some cemeteries burials with
ritual horse parts either no longer contained weapons,
or these mens armament was incomplete. The new
form of funeral customs could have been associated
with the change in worldview of the Balts.
The diversity of funeral customs in the lower Nemunas, Samogitia, and Central and East Lithuania was associated with differences in social structure among the
communities, which affected the burial traditions and
formed both different burial rites as well as local differences in Baltic cultures, a phenomenon more clearly
expressed along the periphery. It is worth emphasizing
that despite the incentives for the expansion of armed
mens graves with horses, current Lithuanian territory
(the lower Nemunas, Samogitia, Central and Eastern
Lithuania), just as in the Roman Period, was the northernmost part of Europe where this tradition was sufficiently widespread in the fifth to eighth centuries.
Acknowledgement
We thank Florin Curta, Associate Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology of the University of
Florida, for references regarding Curonian pillum-like
spear analogies in Avar surroundings in the examined
period.
Abbreviations
AB Archaeologia Baltica, prepared at Klaipda Universitys Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology since Volume 6
AL Archeologija Lituana, Vilnius, from 1999
ATL Archeologiniai tyrinjimai Lietuvoje metais, Vilnius, from 1967
LA Lietuvos archeologija, Vilnius, from 1979
LAP Lietuvos archeologiniai paminklai. Lietuvos pajrio
IVII a. kapinynai. A. TAUTAVIIUS, ed. Vilnius: Mintis, 1968
Manuscripts
KAZAKEVIIUS, V., 1990. Kalniki, Raseini raj., Ariogalos apyl. Kapinyno 1991 m. Tyrinjim ataskaita/unpublished excavations report. In: Archyve of Lithuanian
Institute of History, F. 1, b. 1768.
IMNAS, V., 1999. Barzn kapinyno, iluts raj. 1999 m.
kasinjim ataskaita/unpublished excavations report. In:
Archyve of Lithuanian Institute of History, F. 1, b. 3490.
IMNAS, V., 2000. Barzn kapinyno, Taurags apskr.. Paggi seninija 2000 m. kasinjim ataskaita/unpublished
excavations report. In: Archyve of Lithuanian Institute of
History, F. 1, b. 3646.
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BERTRAM, M., 1994. Katalog der Trauschierarbeiten der
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1989 metais. Vilnius, 99-105.
IMNAS, V., 2006. Etnokultriniai procesai Vakar Lietuvoje pirmojo ms eros tkstantmeio viduryje. Vilnius:
Universiteto leidykla.
TAUTAVIIUS, A., 1981. Taurapilio kunigaikio kapas.
LA, 2, 18-43.
TAUTAVIIUS, A., 1984. Poers ploktinis kapinynas.
LA, 3, 93-118.
TAUTAVIIUS, A., 1996. Vidurinis geleies amius Lietuvoje (V-IX a.). Vilnius: Lietuvos Pilys.
TIURIN, E.A., 2006. Pogrebeniia V veka n. e. s koniami
mogilnika Gora Velikanov (HNENBERG). Rossiskiia
arkheologiia, 1, 142-150.
URBACZYK, P., 1998. The Goths in Poland where did
they come and when did they leave? European Journal of
Archaeology, 1 (3), December, 397-413.
VAITKUNSKIEN, L., 1984. Kataunali ploktinis kapinynas. LA, 3, 79-93.
VAITKUNSKIEN, L., 1995. Pagrybio kapinynas. LA, 13.
VAITKUNSKIEN, L., 1999. vili kapinynas. LA, 17.
VARNAS, A. 1998. Horse burials in Lithuania. AB, 3. V.
KAZAKEVIIUS, A.B. OLSEN and D.N. SIMPSON,
eds. The Archaeology of Lithuania and Western Norway:
Status and Perspectives, 291-294.
VIERCK, H., 19701971. Pferdegrber im angelschsischen
England. In: Berichten van de Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek. Jaargang, 2021, 119-248.
ZIEMTIS, G. 2004. Ornaments un simbols Latvijas
aizvstur. Rga: Latvijas vstures institta apgds.
ULKUS, V. 1995. Vakar baltai got-gepid migracijoje.

In: N. VLIUS, ed. Lietuvinink kratas. Kaunas: Litterae
universitatis, 74-107.
Received: 12 April 2009; Revised: 18 May 20009;
Audron Bliujien
Klaipda University
Herkaus Manto street 84, LT-92294 Klaipda
E-mail: audrone.bliujiene@gmail.com
Donatas Butkus
Kretinga Museum
Vilniaus street 20, LT-97104, Kretinga.
E-mail: kretingos muziejus@takas.lt
V V I I I A M I A U S K A PA I
SU IRGAIS IR IRG
APRANGA LIETUVOS
I R L AT V I J O S PA J RY J E
BEI KRATO GILUMOJE
Audron Bliujien, Donatas Butkus
Santrauka
VVIII a. beveik visoje teritorijoje tarp Nemuno ir Dauguvos upi plito gerai ginkluot vyr (raiteli) kapai
su irgais ir j ritualinmis dalimis (1 pav.; 1 lentel)
bei vyr (raiteli) kapai su irgo apranga (2 pav.; 2 lentel). Nepaisant paskat, dl kuri plito ginkluot vyr
kapai su irgais, dabartin Lietuvos teritorija (Nemuno
emupys, emaitija, Vidurio ir Ryt Lietuva), kaip ir
romnikuoju laikotarpiu, buvo iauriausia Europos
dalis, kur is paprotys VVIII a. buvo gana plaiai iplits. Raiteli ir irg laidojimo paproiai atskiruose
aptariamojo arealo regionuose buvo vairs, bet visur
raitelis ir irgas buvo laidojami vienoje kapo duobje,
irgas beveik visada mogaus kairje. Taiau raitelio ir
irgo ryiai engiant Anapilin vairesni bendruomense, gyvenusiose periferiniuose regionuose. Laidojimo
paproi vairov buvo susijusi su bendruomeni socialins struktros skirtumais, kurie veik laidojimo
paproius ir formavo skirtingus laidojimo ritualus. Kita
vertus, balt laidojimo paproi vairov, kalbant apie
mones bei irgus ir apie mones bei raitelio aprang,
rodo Lietuvos ir Latvijos pajryje, krato gilumoje gyvenusi bendruomeni i dalies besiskiriant poir
irg. Per laidojimo paproi, siejani mog ir irg,
vairov buvo akcentuojama irgo svarba karyboje ir
Pabrtina, kad tas etnines grupes, VVI a. gyvenusias

regione tarp Nemuno ir Dauguvos, kurios alia savo
mirusij laidojo irg arba jo ritualines dalis, sieja
akivaizdus ryys su gerai ginkluotais raiteliais, karyba,
kari hierarchija. ry pabria irgas arba jo ritualins dalys (galva, kojos ir kanopos), laidojamos beveik
iimtinai kairje pusje, irgo priklausomyb raiteliui
pabriama kitais laidosenos elementais (45 pav.).
irgas ir mogus laidojami vienoje kapo duobje
(3; 5 pav.). Taiau keiiantis laidojimo paproiams
(plintant kremacijai) atsiranda irg kap, kuri nebegalime susieti su konkretaus mogaus kapu. Naujas
laidosenos bdas galjo bti susijs su balt pasaulio
pasauliros kaita.
Nemuno emupio, emaitijos, Vidurio ir Ryt Lietuvos laidojimo paproi vairov buvo susijusi su
bendruomeni socialins struktros skirtumais, kurie
veik laidojimo paproius ir formavo skirtingus laidojimo ritualus bei lokalinius balt kultr skirtumus,
kurie rykiau pasireikia periferijoje. Aptariamuoju
laikotarpiu raiteli kapai su irgais kapinyne idstyti
nedidelmis grupmis. Taiau kartu pastebimas ir kitas
reikinys: raiteli kapai pradeda simaiyti tarp moter
ir vaik kap. Tai leist svarstyti apie stiprjanius eimos ryius (5 pav.). Kita vertus, toks kap idstymas
leist manyti, kad taut kraustymosi laikais ikyla eimos, turjusios auktesn socialin status.
BALTICA 11
Lietuvos ir Latvijos pajryje romnikuoju laikotarpiu

egzistavs paprotys alia ginkluot vyr vienoje arba
skirtingose kapo duobse laidoti ritualines irgo dalis
(galv arba galv ir kojas) bei pentinus inyko, ir V
VIII a. ginkluot vyr kapuose irg simbolizavo tik
slai (III: 17 iliustr.; 2 lentel).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
jo, kaip tarpininko tarp gyvj bei mirusij pasauli

ir, matyt, diev, reikm.
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
163
Horse Graves in the Elblg

Group. The Case of
the Cemetery at the Nowinka,
To l k m i c k o C o m m u n e
BARTOSZ
KONTNY,
JERZY
OKULICZKOZARYN
AND MIROSAW
PIETRZAK
H O R S E G R AV E S I N T H E E L B L G G R O U P.
T H E C A S E O F T he C E M E T E RY AT T H E N O W I N K A ,
TOLKMICKO COMMUNE*
BARTOSZ KONTNY, JERZY OKULICZ-KOZARYN AND
MIROSAW PIETRZAK
Abstract
The article presents 50 horse graves from the Late Migration Period cemetery of the Elblg group at Nowinka. There are discussed i.a. a burial rite, archaeozoological data, coincidences with human grave types of grave furnishing as well as analogies.
Key words: The Elblg group, Nowinka, the Migration Period, horse grave, Balts, archaeozoology.
Introduction
The burial ground of the Elblg group1 in Nowinka apart
from solely human graves yielded 50 horse graves, including three double ones (altogether 53 horses)2. This
makes up a significant assemblage, so far the largest at
the area of Elblg group of the West Balt circle3. Also
The Elblg group, Olsztyn group and Sudovian culture
were distinguished in 70s of 20th century (see Okulicz
1973; Kaczyski 1976; Kowalski 2000). As refers to Sambian Peninsula and neighboring areas its cultural situation
during phase E is unclear, as the former Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture is disappearing (Nowakowski 1996, p.96ff).
2
Graves nos. 8, 17, 18, 20, 21, 26, 34, 35, 44, 45, 47, 48, 52,
55, 60, 61, 62A, 62B, 65, 70, 77, 78, 80, 82, 83, 84, 87, 89,
98, 99, 102, 103, 104, 112, 114, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121,
127, 131, 137, 142, 147, 148, 149, 151, 155 and 160.
3
At the burial ground in cze, Tolkmicko com. (formerly
Silberberg bei Lentzen) 13 horse grave were discovered
(Dorr 1898), in Chojnowo, Tolkmicko com. (formerly
Conradswalde) 4 horse burials were found during pre-war
excavations (Neugebauer 1934, pp.321-322) and 3 more
after the war (Kowalski 1985, pp.227-228; 1987, p.281
and 284). From Elblg-ytno (formerly BenkensteinFreiwalde) excavated by R. Dorr in 19071912 6 graves
are known (Dorr 1914), and 5 more from investigations
conducted by various researchers in 191618 (Ehrlich
1920, p.184). It is known, however, that the excavations
were continued there from 1928 (Ehrlich 1932, p.404), so
the final number was probably larger. The burial ground
near Moniuszki St in Elblg (formerly Scharnhorststrasse)
yielded 10 horse burials (Ehrlich 1937a, p.80ff; 1937b,
p.268), but also there more horse burials were recorded
during the excavations conducted in the eve of the second
World War (Ehrlich 1941, p.96 fig.32.3-4). One should also
mention grave no. 21, discovered at the burial ground in
Elblg-Pole Nowomiejskie (formerly Elbing-Neustdterfeld), Elblg com. (Neugebauer 1937, p.55 fig.10.3), but
1
164
a comparison with another Balt necropolis famous for

its horse burials, Tumiany, Barczewo com. (formerly
Daumen),4 is favourable for the site at Nowinka5.
probably connected with the Elblg group. The burial
ground in Podgrze, Braniewo com. (formerly Huntenberg) yielded four horse graves (Peiser 1919, pp.339,
342 and 350), whereas Pask, Pask com. (formerly
Preussische Holland) yielded 3 (Ehrlich 1923, p.197). A
relatively small number of horse burials at the above mentioned burial grounds may be explained only to a certain
extent by the obsolete research methods, i.e., by the use
by the German researchers of steel probes, which were
pushed into the ground to locate a stone pavement and the
area was explored only if it was spotted (Dorr 1914, p.2).
This method was abandoned by B. Ehrlich when it turned
out that not all graves were covered with pavement. As
a result, from 1912 whole areas under investigation were
excavated (Dorr 1914, p.4; Ehrlich 1920, p.179). Doubts
as to the actual number of graves can be expressed in that
way only in the case of investigations at the burial ground
in cze and the first excavation seasons in Elblg-ytno.
The excavations at Moteczno, Braniewo com., yielded 5
horse graves (Ziemliska-Odojowa 1991, p.105).
4
At that necropolis of the Olsztyn group 33 horse skeletons, usually 1-2 individuals in one grave, were discovered
(Baranowski 1996, p.70).
5
In the present study there appear many comparisons to the
materials from the Olsztyn group cemetery at Tumiany.
This is due to the fact that this site is culturally relatively close, and, what is more, it yielded a large number of
graves, making up a set comparable to the materials from
Nowinka. References to other necropolises of the Elblg
group are of selective character due to the unsatisfactory
state of research on this cultural formation, basing almost
entirely on pre-war publications, which are usually of a
general character and present only a selection of the source
materials. At the same time it should be stressed that it was
not always possible to find analogies at the necropolis in
Tumiany, because not all of the issues discussed in the
* This paper was written to realise the research grant of the Ministry of Science and Information Technology: The burial
ground of the Elblg group from the West Balts Cultural Circle at Nowinka, Tolkmicko com. The complete study and
preparation for the publication (Project No.: N N109 0362 33; Contract No.: 0362/B/H03/2007/33).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
Fig. 1. Position of a horse and human grave: plan, section and arrangement of the horses skeleton from Nowinka, grave no.
148.
Burial rite
Horse grave were placed there in elongated pits, usually only slightly larger than the animals (in grave nos.
62A, 62B and 87 the pits were so narrow that horses
could barely fit in). In the same pit, between more than
a dozen and several ten centimetres above the horses
back, human cremation pit burials most frequently
with unburnt grave goods were located (Fig. 1), similarly to what was found for the same period at the area
of the Sambian-Natangian area. Above them single
stones were found, probably remains of stone pavements destroyed while ploughing (graves nos. 88, 26,
33, 37, 38, 48, 57?, 62A, 78, 83, 105?, 110, 127, 147,
present paper were reflected in the investigations of horse
burials from Tumiany.
148, 149?, 150 and 151). Also the stone cist around
the cremation burial 60 can be treated as a remainder
of a pavement. Only the pavement from grave no. 21
was better preserved. However in the majority of the
features no remains of pavement were found. In turn,
some features had the pavement, but it was not connected with the other features (features 22, 39, 112B
and 161). Their function is difficult to determine; only
in the case of feature 22 it is possible to suppose that
it was a hearth.
Similar grave with horse burials are quite typical of the
Elblg group. They were found at the burial ground
in Elblg, Moniuszki St (Ehrlich 1937a, p.80; 1937b,
p.268), cze (Dorr 1898, pp.6-7 and 10), Chojnowo
(Kowalski 1987, pp.281 and 284), Elblg-ytno (Ehr-
165

Group. The Case of
BARTOSZ
KONTNY,
JERZY
OKULICZKOZARYN
AND MIROSAW
PIETRZAK
lich 1920, p.184) or Moteczno (Ziemliska-Odojowa

1991, pp.105 and 109), where often, although not always, they were under pavements, sometimes consisting of several layers, circular, elliptic or irregular in
shape (cf. e.g. Ziemliska-Odojowa 1991, p.109). The
lack of pavements was explained by their destruction
by ploughing (Dorr 1898, p.7; 1914, p.3), which seems
justified, but most probably not all burials were covered with pavement (they were not found at all in, e.g.,
Chojnowo, cf. Neugebauer 1934, p.323, although some
of the stones recorded during the post-war excavations
may have been related to grave, cf. Kowalski 1985,
p.226 fig.IV; 1987, pp.281 and 284). Unfortunately, so
far there is no basis to determine for certain whether
the use of pavement has any chronological value.
At the cemetery in Nowinka, besides the predominating single grave, also burial pits with pairs of horses
(graves. 55, 120 and 131) were found. Double horse
burials are found in the Elblg group only in rare cases.
Besides the grave no.s from Nowinka one can mention only grave no. 15 from Chojnowo (Neugebauer
1934, pp.322 and 324) and lately also remains of a
grave no. from Komorowo uawskie, Elblg commune6. The anthropological analyses of bones from
grave below which horses were deposited indicate that
pairs of horses accompanied pairs of humans (grave
no. 55 woman and child, grave no. 120 woman and
man) or single people (grave no. 131 one adult?).
Although one can attribute the last-mentioned result
to imprecise determination based on burnt bones (cf.
Godowski 1974), the assemblage is too small to state
if in the burial rites there existed a relationship: pair of
people-pair of horses deposited in the grave.
Horse grave were placed under cremation burials of
warriors, i.e., grave with weapons (graves nos. 21 and
60), but also under ones anthropologically determined
as female graves (nos. 45, 18?, 48?, 63? and 149?),
grave of a woman and a child (graves nos. 55 and
151?), of an adult and a child (graves nos. 78, 82, 89
and 102), or even of only one child (graves nos. 70,
80, 104 and 121). The appearance of horse grave in
combination with grave of people of different age and
gender were noticed by R. Dorr, who made inferences
on the basis of the excavations at the burial ground in
cze (Dorr 1898, p.7ff)7.
In Nowinka horse grave no.s not connected with human
burials appeared only exceptionally (graves nos. 47,
119 and 160). In these cases one may conjecture that
The excavations conducted by Mateusz Bogucki PhD
from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish
Academy Sciences, whom we would hereby like to thank
for the information.
7
A general remark to this effect was made in reference to
the Balt areas by J. Jaskanis (1966, pp.55-65).
6
166
the human grave were destroyed by ploughing, which

is indicated by the traces of burning in the upper parts
of the investigated features. Only in the case of grave
no. 20 it is possible that only the horse was deposited
in the pit. Such cases were not, in the principle, found
in the Elblg group: the only known example comes
from grave no. 15 in cze where a horse burial under
a pavement without traces of a human cremation burial
was found. Less unambiguous is the discovery of two
horses with no connection to human burials in Elblgytno (Dorr 1914, p.6) due to the possibility that the
human grave may have been destroyed by ploughing.
At the burial ground in Nowinka complete skeletons
were found8 and the presence of incomplete skeletons
can be reliably explained by the worse preservation of
the bones. Grave no. 120 in which a pair of horses was
buried is an exception. In case of one of them the head,
cervical vertebrae, and some of fore-leg bones were
missing. It is certainly impossible to explain that by
the state of preservation of the feature as the skeleton
was located next to the edge of a burial pit: evidently
the horse was deposited in the burial after decapitation.
Depositing parts of the skeleton was confirmed in the
Elblg group by the discovery from grave no. 106 in
Elblg-ytno (Ehrlich 1920, p.187). The closest analogy from the Balt area for the discovery from Nowinka
is in this case grave no. XV from Tumiany (Olsztyn
group) where both buried horses were deprived of
heads (Baranowski 1996, p.70 fig. 39).
In Nowinka horse grave were NS orientated (with
the head directed towards S), with small variations:
NNW-SSE (grave no. 151) with the head towards SSE,
NW-SE with the head towards SE (graves 22A, 78,
84, 87, 89, 98, 102, 112, 120 and150) or NESW with
the head towards SW (grave no. 62B). Two features:
grave no. 45, oriented on the NS axis, but with the
head directed towards N and grave no. 44, oriented on
the WE axis, with the head towards E, are exceptions
to this rule (Fig. 2). The unique grave did not differ
from the other ones in the arrangement of horses bodies, their sizes, or equipment. The only departure from
the rule there was the fact that the horse from grave
no. 44 did not have the bit, which was the standard
element of the horse equipment. It was a young individual, aged 912 months, yet in the case of another
young individual, about one year old, from grave no.
60, the bit was in the muzzle. The orientation of horse
grave from Nowinka follows the customs of the Balt
peoples. Horse skeletons in the Elblg group were
arranged on the NS axis with the heads towards S,
with small deviations from this axis. This was con8
Partial burials were also found at other Balt areas: in the

Sudovian culture, in Sambian Peninsula and Lithuania
(Bitner-Wrblewska 2007, p.106 with further literature).
firmed by the investigations conducted at the burial

ground in Elblg-ytno (Ehrlich 1920, pp.181 and
184ff), Elblg, Moniuszki St (Ehrlich 1937b, p.274),
Podgrze (Peiser 1919, p.342) or Chojnowo (Kowalski
1987, pp.281 and 284). The only exception is the burial
ground in Moteczno where in three cases horse heads
were directed towards N, and only in one, towards S
(Ziemliska-Odojowa 1991, p.109)9. Horse burials in
the Olsztyn group and in the Bogaczewo, Sudovian,
and Dollkeim-Kovrovo cultures were also orientated
along the NS axis, sometimes slightly deviating towards E or W, often with the head oriented towards
S10 (cf. Jaskanis 1966, p.53; 1968a, p.96ff; Baranowski
1996, p.70ff; Kulakov 1990, p.22; Lasota-Moskalewska, Perlikowska-Puszkarska 1994, p.195; PitkowskaMaecka 2000, p.188; Grzak 2007, p.362), although
in eastern areas (Lithuania) departures from this rule
were observed (Jaskanis 1966, p.53). In such a situation the atypically oriented grave nos. 44 and 45 from
Nowinka seem more interesting.
At the discussed necropolis horse bodies were deposited in so-called ventro-dorsal position, natural
for a lying horse, sometimes slightly on the side. The
limbs were almost always bent and the fore-legs were
stretched forward, similarly as at other burial grounds
of the Elblg group (Neugebauer 1934, p.324; Kowalski 1985, p.227; 1987, pp.281 and 284; ZiemliskaOdojowa 1991, p.109) or generally Balt cemeteries,
particularly the ones from Samland Peninsula and
neighbouring areas (Jaskanis 1966, p.47; 1968a, p.89;
Baranowski 1996, p.70ff)11. At the cemetery in Nowinka some departures from this rule were also recorded
In this case, however, one should remember about the very
poor preservation of horse skeletons, as a result of which
the orientation of burials was reproduced only on the basis of the location of teeth in the pit (Ziemliska-Odojowa
1991, p. 109). This could have resulted in certain inaccuracies in the reconstruction.
10
In the case of inhumation grave, the horse skeletons were
oriented in the same way as the human remains, i.e., with
the head to N (Jaskanis 1965, p.53).
11
It should be, however, noted that in the Balt milieu horses
were also buried at their sides, which concerns especially
9
grave from the period of Roman influences (cf. Jaskanis

1966, p.46ff).
12
A similar position, although not so strongly twisted, was
found for one of the horses from the burial ground in
Elblg, Moniuszki Street (Ehrlich 1937b, fig.5).
13
A similar arrangement was found at the burial ground at
Moniuszki Street in Elblg (Ehrlich 1937b, fig. 6).
14
Such practices among Medieval Prussians are mentioned,
i.a., in Chronicon terrae Prussiae [The Chronicle of the
Prussian Land] by Peter of Dusburg III, 5 (cf. Jaskanis
1966, p.46ff; Grzak 2007, p.361).
15
No cases of crossing fore-limbs or placing the limbs very
close, or under the belly, which could have been interpreted as prove of tying the limbs (cf. Pitkowska-Maecka
2000, pp. 90-191), were found.
16
The burial ground has the features of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture.
17
Some researchers believe that tying the legs was a general
custom, and tied animals were lowered to the burial pits
on ropes (Krysiak, Serwatka 1970, p.219; PitkowskaMaecka 2000, p.191).
18
Also B. Ehrlich noted the fact that at the burial ground in
Elblg, Moniuszki St, pits were small, exactly fitting the
dimensions of the horses (1937b, p.274).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 2. Untypical orientation of the horses skeleton from

Nowinka, grave no. 45.
(Fig. 3): in grave no. 70 the horse was deposited with

its neck strongly bent backwards, in grave no. 87 the
head was turned towards the back, to the right12 and
downwards, whereas the horse from grave no. 127 was
arranged in a standing position only with slightly bent
legs; also horses from graves nos. 17, 60 and 62A were
put in a standing position. The stand of the horse from
grave no. 117 is also unique. The animal was pushed
into the pit in a twisted position with bent hind-legs,
trunk and neck strongly turned leftwards, and the head
between the fore-legs with the muzzle touching the
left hind-leg. In several graves (nos. 20, 34, 48, 55
both skeletons, grave no. 112) the horses had fore and
hind-legs strongly extended to the sides13. The last
mentioned cases can be explained by sagging of the
horses bodies under the weight of the soil. In the other,
less typical, cases the position of the horses seems to
indicate that the horses were put in the pits alive and
that they were trying to get out of the grave. The animals may have been ridden into the ground so that it
was easy to push them into the pit14 but it is also possible that they were stunned, poisoned or intoxicated.
J. Jaskanis also suggested starving the animal put in the
pit (1966, p.47), which seems hardly probable judging
from the arrangement of the skeletons from Nowinka.
No unambiguous cases of tying limbs,15 like those recorded for horses from the burial ground in Stoczno,
Korsze com.16 (Perlikowska-Puszkarska 1994, p.197)
and the necropolises of the Sudovian culture in Korkliny, Suwaki com. (Krysiak, Serwatka 1970, p.219),17
were found either. It is worth to note that the pits into
which animals were pushed were very narrow (graves
nos. 62A, 62B and 78)18. Generally it should be assumed that horses were deposited in pits before they
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
167

Group. The Case of
BARTOSZ
KONTNY,
JERZY
OKULICZKOZARYN
AND MIROSAW
PIETRZAK
Fig. 3. Untypical arrangement of the horses skeletons from Nowinka: a grave no. 87; b grave no. 117; c plan of the grave
no. 127; d section of the grave no. 127.
168
Archaeozoological data
Horses buried in Nowinka are almost exclusively
males20. This determination was confirmed for all cases
possible to identify, except for grave no. 121, where
probably a female was buried. It accompanied a human
child burial whereas horses male burials co-occurred
with grave of adult people (or adults with children). It
is hard to decide if we have to do with a principle or this
is an isolated case. In pre-war reports from excavations
at cemeteries the results of archaeozoological analyses
were not published so it is hard to find any points of
the reference. Similar results were found, however, at
the burial ground in Tumiany (Olsztyn group) where
only males (Baranowski 1996, p.71 table 1) were identified and in Stoczno (the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture)
where 1/3 of the horses was determined as male whereas it was impossible to determine the gender of the rest
(Lasota-Moskalewska, Perlikowska-Puszkarska 1994,
p.196). The tradition of burying males is confirmed
at the Balt areas also for earlier time, i.e., the Roman
In Orosius Chorography, 22 translated by King Alfred the
Great we find the information about horse races connected
with burial ceremony aimed to win the valuables formerly
possessed by a dead person. The precious items had been
divided and situated in known place. Then horse riders
were to hurry and get the prize (cf. Labuda 1961, pp.70
and 86). The significance of a horse in the burial rite is also
underlined by a mention from Treaty of Christburg, 13: a
peace treaty signed in A.D. 1249 between the pagan Prussian clans, represented by a papal legate, and the Teutonic
Knights. Pagan priests called Tulissones or Ligaschones
are described here during burial ceremonies; they were
reporting their visions of the mounted armed dead person,
riding the sky together with his retinue and a falcon (text
after Hartknoch 1679). For a role of a horse in a burial rite
see also Hoffman 2006.
20
The archaeozoological analysis was conducted by professors Krzysztof wieyski and Henryk Kobry (Warsaw
University of Life Sciences-SGGW).
19
The age of the buried horses, however, is different

from the results obtained for the Olsztyn group. The
average age of the individuals from Nowinka, calculated on the basis of 42 cases, was 4.1 years while the
youngest horses were 912 months (grave no. 44) or
about 1 year old (grave no. 60); the oldest were 8 years
old (grave no. 8)21. Thus young individuals were predominant. The essential differences were found, however, for Balt necropolises from other cultural units of
the West Balt circle. On the basis of 23 measurements
presented in the publication of horse burials from Tumiany (Baranowski 1996, table 1) it is possible to calculate that the analogous average was 7.3 years, and the
results were contained in the brackets from below one
year to 1417 years. The analysis of horse bones from
Stoczno, in turn, indicates that the individuals of various ages were buried there: from the young, through
the mature, to the very old ones (Lasota-Moskalewska,
Perlikowska-Puszkarska 1994, p.196). Similar observations were made based on finds from the Bogaczewo
culture (Grzak 2007, p.359) and generally from the
areas of settled by the Balts in north-eastern Poland
(Pitkowska-Maecka 2000, p.191 fig.2).
The analysis of the height at the withers brought interesting results. The average height at the withers of the
horses from Nowinka, calculated on the basis 17 measurements, was 128.9 cm, and the results are comprised
in the brackets from 123.6 cm to 136.3 cm (which
stresses not the big differences in height)22. A decisive
majority of horses had height at the withers between
125 and 133 cm,23 they were thus short or mediumsized individuals. Only a few cases were outside this
span. One should recall grave no. 121, where under
a cremation burial of a child probably a small-sized
(123.6 cm at the withers) female was deposited. It is
hard to state whether the height and gender of the horse
were in any way connected with the age of the deceased
In pre-war publications concerning the Elblg group remarks were sometimes made to the effect that young individuals were buried, e.g., in Chojnowo, grave no. 15
(Neugebauer 1934, p.23). Due to the bad state of preservation of the bones at the burial ground in Moteczno,
the horse age was determined only in one case: it was an
1842 month old individual (Ziemliska-Odojowa 1991,
p.113).
22

Although one should underline the case of a young individual from grave no. 48 with its height at withers 144.2
cm. Probably it would have grown even bigger if it hadnt
died so young.
23
In the reports from pre-war excavations at the sites of the
Elblg group, professor T. Mllers opinion was quoted
that short horses resembling East-European breeds were
buried (Ehrlich 1920, p.185; see Ehrlich 1937b, p.274;
Neugebauer 1934, p.323).
BALTICA 11
Period (Grzak 2007, p.359 fig.7; see PitkowskaMaecka 2000, p.191).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
reached rigor mortis, which is suggested by their natural positions. In some cases burying alive seems the
most accurate interpretation. The suspicions that living
animals were put in the pits and deprived of life as offerings in the grave were expressed already in the prewar period, on the basis of the observation from the
necropolises of the Elblg group (Ehrlich 1937a, p.82;
1937b, p.274). In grave no. 66 from site Elblg, Moniuszki St, a knife, which may have been used to kill
the animal, was found in the central part of the horses
back; moreover positions of many skeletons were said
to suggest that the horses fought for their lives (Ehrlich
1937b, p.274). Doubtlessly horses played significant
role during burials and their peculiar treatment was an
important element of funeral rites, although we cannot
reconstruct it even in general19.
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
21
169

Group. The Case of
not much taller, reaching 140 cm at the withers (Ilkjr

2007, p.104).
No evident relations between the age and dimensions
of buried horses and the grave no. goods, gender and
age of the people buried in cremation grave, etc., have
been recorded.
BARTOSZ
KONTNY,
JERZY
OKULICZKOZARYN
AND MIROSAW
PIETRZAK
Bridles
The grave goods in horse burials consisted mainly of
bridles (Fig. 4), represented exclusively by bridle bits,
sticking in muzzles. Only three horse skeletons were
not accompanied by bridles. In grave no. 44 this can
be explained by the fact that the buried individual was
too young (912 months) to be broken. On the other
hand, at that cemetery, grave no. 60, mentioned above,
contained a young (about one year old) individual with
a bridle in its mouth. Lack of a bridle in the case of one
of the horses buried in double grave no. 120 is connected with the fact that the individual was deprived
of its head. In turn grave no. 142, in which no bridle
was found, was disturbed and that is how its lack can
be explained.
Fig. 4. Examples of bridle-bits from Nowinka: a grave no.

62B; b grave no. 112; c grave no. 114; d grave no. 131.
human. Tall individuals were found in grave no. 48

(144.2 cm at the withers) and grave no. 82 (136.3 cm
at the withers). It is possible that their clearly larger dimensions can be explained by their individual features
and the use of castration, which, when applied before
the second year of life (horse from grave no. 48 was
1.53.5 years old whereas the one from grave no. 82
was 4.5 years old) may increase the height at the withers by about 46 cm (Kobry 1984, p.50). Horses of
similar size were typical of Barbarian Europe from the
Roman Period (Lasota-Moskalewska, Kobry 1998;
Bischop 2006, p.94),24 including the Bogaczewo culture (Grzak 2006, p.359 fig. 7) and generally the West
Balts circle (Pitkowska-Maecka 2000, p.192; cf.
Lasota-Moskalewska, Perlikowska-Puszkarska 1994,
p.197 fig.5). The Scandinavian horses, the remains of
which were discovered at the bog site of Illerup were
170
Cf. also B. Kontnys article in this volume.
24
Most of the bridles consisted of bipartite bits which

were symmetrical (graves nos. 17, 45, 52, 60 and 89)
but also slightly (graves nos. 103, 114 and 121) or
clearly asymmetrical (graves nos. 8, 47, 48, 62B, 127
and 149)25. Such forms represent type 1C1 according
to M. rsnes (199326). Significant part of bridles create
tripartite forms (graves nos. 20, 70, 80?, 98, 102, 112,
119, 120, 131, 155 and 160) representing type 1C2 according to rsnes (1993). Some of the central links
were 8-shaped (graves nos. 20, 98, 120) others were Sshaped with unfinished ends (graves nos 131 and 155)
or had the form of a rod with ends in the shape of little hooks (graves nos. 70, 80?, 102, 112 and 160). The
majority of central links were clearly shorter than the
remaining ones and certainly functioned as baubles
elements used as a piece for a tongue to play with,
in aim to accept the bridle easily; touching
the central link with the tongue makes the bit not getting too
deep into the mouth (also at present some horses with
a tendency to reject a bridle, do need such utensils)27.
They should be determined as type 1, subtype 2 according
to V. Kulakov (1990, p.35).
26
It should be noted that M. rsnes classification is schematic; the author did not distinguish the cases where links
of various lengths were found (1993, p.190).
27
This kind of form with short, S-shaped link can be determined as type 2 according to V. Kulakov (1990, p.36).
They are found at Balt areas, e.g. in Semigalian cemetery
at ukioniai, grave no. 69 (Griciuvien et al. 2005, p.129,
fig.670), in the East Lithuanian Barrows culture, e.g.
virbliai (wirble), barrow 55, grave no. 1 (Iwanowska
2006, p.117 plate XCIX.1) or in the Dollkeim-Kovrovo
25
culture, e.g. Pervomayskoe (former Warnikam) (La Baume

1944, fig. 4). They are known even further to the east, i.e.
from the area of the Long Barrows culture (Kazanski 2007,
p.245ff) and to the north (Scandinavia) in the Vendel Period and as refers to Gotland also from the Viking Age
(Sundkvist 2001, p.239). In horse grave from the East
Lithuanian Barrows culture both bipartite and tripartite
bits were common, not showing any significant variability
in time. Tripartite items have been recorded for the time
from the second half of the fifth century but they gained
the largest popularity in the 10th-14th century (Iwanowska
2006, p.68).
28
The authors would like to thank Marek Jagodziski PhD
from the Archaeological-Historical Museum in Elblg for
this information.
29
The only example except the plausible find of the bridle
with a cheeks made of antler/organic material from grave
no. 99 in Nowinka of a bit with cheeks comes from
Elblg, Moniuszki street (Ehrlich 1941, p.96 fig.32.4). It
should be attributed to type 5C3 according to M. rsnes
(1993) and it has an analogy e.g. in the find from Tumiany (La Baume 1944, figs. 16 and 19; Baranowski 1996,
fig.5).
In the analysis of the bits attention was paid to their

span: it was attempted to measure so-called interdental space, i.e., the maximum length of the part of the
bit which was in the animals mouth. It was possible
in 34 cases. The average value was 13.5 cm, and the
results were comprised between 9 and 18 cm. A very
small span (9 cm) was found in grave no. 8 where an
eight-year-old, rather short (125.8 cm at the withers)
horse was buried. This does not mean however that
there is a directly proportional relation between the
horse size and the span of the bit, for one of the largest span (17 cm) was recorded in the grave of a rather
short horse (grave no. 20 the horse of the age of 78
years, height at the withers: 127.4 cm). We have rather
to do with individual features of the horse skull structure and making simple comparisons with the horse
size is not justified. Besides, no correlations were observed between the bit sizes and heights or ages of the
horses. One can notice however, that the largest spans
appeared in tripartite bits (grave no. 20 17 cm, grave
no. 87 and 155 16 cm, grave no. 160 18 cm), and
only exceptionally in bipartite ones (grave no. 60 and
103 both about 155 cm), which can be easily explained by practical reasons: tripartite bits generally
were never set straight and the reconstruction of the
real interdental space should decrease its length. Also
the horses individual features of character should be
taken into account: their skittishness, sensitiveness of
the jaw, etc.
BALTICA 11
a tripartite bit was found only in grave no. 120; bipartite items were recorded in all the remaining cases. On
the basis of the scant available material it is hard to decide if the above mentioned differences have a cultural
character or they only are a result of different preferences of local communities. It is only possible to state
the almost complete absence of bridle bits with cheeks
in the Elblg group.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Some of central links were, however, of similar and

even greater length than the remaining ones (graves
nos. 80, 119 and160). In such cases we have probably
to do with bits adapted to calm horses down, for the
addition of a third, long, link made the pressure of the
bit on gums lesser than in bipartite bits. Both types of
bits have been recorded for the Elblg group: tripartite items with the short central link were discovered in
Elblg-ytno (Ehrlich 1932, fig.5.b) and in grave no.
21 in cze (Dorr 1898, p.11 plate I.23) whereas bipartite items were confirmed by the finds from Elblg,
Moniuszki St (Ehrlich 1937b, fig.2), Elblg-ytno
(Ehrlich 1932, fig. 5.a) and cze (the artefact the copy
of which survived in the collection of the RmischGermanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz, no 2004428 and
the item from grave no. 15 Dorr 1898, plate I.25).
The situation at the necropolis of the Olsztyn group at
Tumiany is slightly different. On this necropolis 14 of
17 horse grave (for 22 from 26 complete horse skeletons) contained pieces of equipment: mainly bridles,
but also fragments and decorations of headgear (Baranowski 1996, pp.72-73). However, the tripartite bits
(8 items) are more numerous here than the bipartite
ones (seven items), as compared to the proportion of
11:14 at the burial ground in Nowinka. Moreover bridle
bits with cheeks were quite frequent in Tumiany (five
cases), and they are proved also for other necropolises
of the Olsztyn group and for the Dollkeim-Kovrovo
ones as well (see La Baume 1944, p.14). Meanwhile in
the Elblg group they are almost unknown29. The next
difference between the two necropolises is the fact that
the richest, decorative headgear fittings appeared in
Tumiany, except for grave no. XVII, with tripartite bits
(Baranowski 1996, p.73) whereas in Nowinka the situation is opposite: in burials with rich headgear fittings
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
Bridle rings from Nowinka varied in their diameters

(average 5.2 cm, calculated on the basis of 92 measurements). It is worth to note the large items (grave no. 8
6.6 and 6.8 cm, grave no. 45 6.8 and 7.0 cm, grave
no. 52 7.6 and 7.7 cm, grave no. 55, horse II both
6.6 cm, grave no. 131 - twice 6.7 and 6.9 cm), which
can be determined as type 2B according to rsnes
(1993, p.190)30; the remaining items are smaller and
do not go beyond the dimensions of type 2C31. The
rings of larger sizes generally accompanied bipartite
They are not however as large as some of items from the
cemetery at Tumiany where rings of diameters up to 911
cm were discovered (Baranowski 1996, p.73).
31
As the studies on bits from the Merovingian Period indicate, the diameters of rings could have a chronological
importance. The sizes recorded for Nowinka, however, do
not allow to draw unambiguous conclusions in this matter
(see Oexle 1992, fig.3).
30
171
BARTOSZ
KONTNY,
JERZY
OKULICZKOZARYN
AND MIROSAW
PIETRZAK

Group. The Case of
rings had average sizes (diameters from 4.4 to 5.6 cm)

and they were found only
with bipartite bits. Some
of them had bronze fittings
for reins or cheeks. More
often than in the case of
iron items they appeared
together with ornamental
bronze headgear fittings
(graves nos. 17, 18, 21, 34,
65 and 83), which indicates
that the material probably
determined the status of the
horse owner34.
Rings of some bits had
bronze (graves nos. 17, 18,
65, 78, 83 and 84) or iron
(graves nos. 20, 45, 47,
119, 131 and 160) fittings,
serving to fix reins or straps
of the headgear first of all
cheeks (Fig. 5). This solution is frequently found
in the Elblg group, cf.:
cze, grave no. 13 (Dorr
1898, p.10 plate I.27),
grave no. 21 (Dorr 1898,
p.11 plate I.23), graves no.
41 (Dorr 1898, p.13 plate
I.26); Elblg-ytno, graves
Fig. 5. Bridles with fittings aimed to fix reins or straps (cheeks) from Nowinka: a grave
nos. 10, 13 and 41 (Dorr
no. 17; b grave no. 20; c grave no. 160; a: iron and bronze, c-d: iron.
1914, plate I.3-4) and 107
(Ehrlich 1920, p.193). At
the
burial
ground
in
Chojnowo,
on the other hand, the
bits (graves nos. 45, 52, 55, 84 and 118, horse II from
grave no. 131) and only exceptionally tripartite ones presence of greenish tarnish on one of the iron bits
(grave no. 131, the horse I)32. No relation between the was found (Neugebauer 1934, p.322), which suggests
diameter of rings and age of the horses or their height that originally there was a bronze fitting in that place.
Bronze items from Nowinka had the same form: they
at the withers has been observed.
were made of long rectangular plates, bent at half length
The decided majority are iron bridle rings, however, around the ring of the bit. The arms of the fittings were
also bronze ones were found (graves nos. 17, 18, 21, 34, originally joined together and with the strap by means
77 and 83). Bronze bridle rings have been also found of two or three rivets (depending on the length). Along
at another necropolis of the Elblg group, in Elblg- the longer edges an ornament in the form of two enytno in grave nos. 8, 10, 13 and 41 (Dorr 1914, p.7ff, grave lines was placed. Such fittings were used both to
plate I.3-5; Ehrlich 1920, p.182; 1932, p.404)33. Bronze fix the rein straps and headgear (cheekpieces) as they
A similar regularity can be found in Tumiany, cf. grave
no.s IX and XIV (Baranowski 1996).
33
Bronze bit rings with bronze strap fittings are also known
from the Olsztyn group. This is proved by the discovery
from grave no. 228 in Tumiany, the drawing of which has
been preserved in Kurt Voigtmanns archives stored in
Berlin (Prussia Museum inv. no VII.461.13005) and from
horse grave no. 1, in which, i.a., a considerable part of
headgear fittings of Tumiany type was preserved (Prussia
Museum inv. no. VII.304.11948a). We would like hereby
32
172
to express our gratitude to professor W. Menghin and Dr

H. Wieder from the Museum fr Vor- und Frhgeschichte
in Berlin for the possibility of using the above-mentioned
archives.
34
To a certain extent, for there are known bits completely
made of iron, which are accompanied by decorative bronze
fittings of the headstalls (graves nos. 8, 26, 47, 55, 60, 62B,
78, 82, 84, 117, 118, 120, 121 and 147). Additionally, an
opposite case is known: in grave no. 77, a bridle bits with
bronze rings without headgear ornaments was found.
Fig. 6. Organic remains from the horses back from Nowinka, grave no. 21: a plait of wattle or bast fibres, b traces of
fabric on the fur.
appear singly and then their function may be only a

subject of conjecture (graves nos. 18, 65 and 84), or in
pairs in such cases they were used to strengthen both
straps (graves nos. 17, 78 and 83). Much less can be
said about the iron specimens, due to the fact that they
were strongly damaged by corrosion. Only in the case
of bit rings from grave no. 20, a pair and a single fitting
of U-shaped iron plate was recorded, whereas in grave
no. 160 pairs of fittings attached to rings were made of
fan-shaped iron plates with single rivets at their broader ends designed to join the strap.
Saddles
In some grave it may be assumed that the horse was
buried together with the saddle made of organic materials (Fig. 6). Although such materials can not survive till
modern times, certain premises seem to confirm such
a presumption. In grave no. 20 iron and bronze fittings
located over the animals backbone were found, probably strengthening certain parts of the saddle. What is
more, fragments of wood were found in this place. The
presence of organic materials on the animals backs
was recorded in graves nos. 17 and 21. Their samples
were taken and, according to the analysis conducted
by Teresa Radek (Centre of Anatomy and Histology,
Academy of Agriculture in Wrocaw) in grave no. 17
these were fragments of moss and, in grave no. 21, tissues of wicker or bast making up a kind of plait. The
analysis of the samples also showed the presence of
remnants of tanned leather and of horse, cattle, and
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
sheep fur, which Teresa Radek interpreted as remains

of horse fur and remains of pieces of leather harness
tanned together with hair (cattle hides and hair) and
remains of fabrics (sheep hair). Also in grave no. 21
at the side of the animals hind part bronze plates were
found: maybe fittings of the dock (?). Iron fittings in
the form of plates connected by massive rivets spaced
out by ca 1 cm (fragments of wood were preserved between the plates) arranged in a way impossible to interpret, nails, and rectangular washers, were found near
the back of the horse buried in grave no. 89. In turn, in
graves nos. 119 and 155, large iron buckles, probably
used to fasten the girth (and thus to secure the saddle,
held in place by the girth)35, were found near the animals abdomen. The data presented above do not, of
course, allow to say anything about how the presumed
saddles may have been constructed. The only relation
to any of the various features of burial rites or grave no.
goods, which it was possible to observe, is that in grave
with alleged saddles bits had large spans (grave no. 20
17 cm, grave no. 89 14 cm, grave no. 119 15 cm,
grave no. 155 16 cm). It is hard, however, to establish
if this has any connection with using saddles.
Headgear
The most spectacular category of the equipment of
horse grave are the fittings decorating headgear straps.
They were found in many graves (nos. 8, 17, 18, 21,
26, 34, 47, 55, 60, 62A, 62B, 65, 78, 82, 83, 84, 117,
118, 120, 121 and 147), however, only in some of them
they were numerous enough and their arrangement was
similar enough to the original ones to make their reliable reconstruction. Headgear fittings were made of
very thin bronze plates36 which crumbled easily, which
was noted already in the pre-war period (cf. Ehrlich
1920, pp.191-192). No silver fittings were found at
Nowinka, similar to the ones recorded for the necropo Similar buckles (in form, dimensions, and the location in
the grave no.) were found at sites from the West Balts circle: in Tumiany (grave no. X, horse 20; grave no. XIII,
horse 23; grave no. XV, horse 27 cf. Baranowski 1996,
p.77 figs.30.c, 35.a, 40.d), in grave no. 3 in Stoczno (Lasota-Moskalewska, Perlikowska-Puszkarska 1994, p.193,
fig. 2), and also in the Sudovian culture: Szwajcaria, barrow 25 (Jaskanis 1966, figs.4-5) and Korkliny, barrow 2
(Jaskanis 1966, p.40 fig.6; Krysiak, Serwatka 1970, p.219)
although one should notice that the find from Szwajcaria is
definitely earlier. They should be interpreted in an analogous way.
36
The only exception is an iron fitting from grave no. 62A,
consisting of two rectangular plates: a larger one, about 2.4
cm long, bent at the end, and a smaller one joined to it by a
pair of rivets. Their exact function is difficult to establish,
although due to their location close to the animals muzzle
one may conjecture that the fitting strengthened the place
where the straps crossed.
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
35
173
BARTOSZ
KONTNY,
JERZY
OKULICZKOZARYN
AND MIROSAW
PIETRZAK

Group. The Case of
to tighten headgear or rein straps were found (graves

nos. 17, 18, 21, 62A, 112 and 114). In graves nos. 112
and 114 the location of buckles at the back of the skull,
on the left, suggests that they served to fasten the cheek
or throat-lash (in both grave no decorative headgear fittings were found) whereas thanks to a very well preserved arrangement of the headgear fittings from grave
no. 83 it was possible to state that the buckle was used
to fasten the throat-lash.
Fig. 7. Reconstruction of headgear from Nowinka, grave

no. 83; prepared in 1983 by Department of Preservation,
State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw for the exhibition
Batowie pnocni ssiedzi Sowian
(photograph by T. Biniewski).
lis at Chojnowo (Kowalski 1987, pp.281 and 284)37

or the more so, fittings made of gold or gilded, which
appeared, next to silver and bronze ones, at the burial ground in Elblg, Moniuszki street (Ehrlich 1941,
p.96). The most common form were rectangular strap
mounts decorated with lines engraved along the edges,
fixed with the use of pairs of rivets placed on shorter
sides. In some grave they were quite numerous (over
20 items). They appeared comparatively often at different necropolises of the Elblg group, where beside
forms decorated with grooves also items with 13 lines
made of stamped points were found, e.g., in cze,
grave no. 20 and 25 (Dorr 1898, p.22 plate III.19,24),
Elblg-ytno, graves nos. 10, 105 and 107 (Ehrlich
1920, p.191ff figs.2.f and 2.g-h), Chojnowo pre-war
investigations (Neugebauer 1934, p.321 plate LXX.4)
as well as features 1 and 14 (Kowalski 1987, pp.281
and 284). Less numerous were bronze strap connectors
of various forms (usually a few of them were found in
one grave) and lancet-shaped strap ends (graves nos.
21, 60, 82 and 83; in grave no. 82 also tongue-shaped
one) identical with these which served as belt ornaments. In some cases small buckles, probably serving
They were also found at the burial ground in Tumiany
37
174
It is possible to distinguish in the investigated material

several types of sets of headgear ornaments and their
considerable individual differentiation should be noted. The model known from the cemetery of the Olsztyn
group and hence called the Tumiany type (La Baume
1944, p.13ff)38 is represented by a set of fittings from
grave no. 83 in Nowinka (Fig. 7). Rectangular plates
covered in that case the cheeks, headpiece, browband,
noseband (in the exposed part, i.e., in the front part of
the head) and the central strap, running along the axis
of the horses head extending from the headpiece to the
noseband or even beyond it and ending with a lancetshaped fitting. Also part of the throat-lash was fitted
and the strap coming through the buckle was ended
with a lancet-shaped fitting. In the places where the
straps crossed, connectors in the form of circular plates
with four arms each ending with four rivets designed
to fix the straps were used. The central parts of the
connectors had circular bosses on which decorative arrangements consisting of concentric lines of embossed
points were made39. In the grave there were seven such
connectors, which provides a certain point of reference
owing to the very well preserved arrangement of the
headgear fittings. An almost identical arrangement of
headgear fittings was found in grave no. XVII (horse
30) in Tumiany (Baranowski 1996, p.77 figs. 4 and 50).
The only difference consists in the use of one of the
tongue-shaped fittings to decorate part of the central
strap, behind the headpiece found in Tumiany, while
in Nowinka it was used as an end of the throat-lash.
Connectors of this type were also found in other graves
at the necropolis in Nowinka (graves nos. 18, 34 and
60) but they belonged to incomplete or disturbed sets,
which made reconstruction impossible. Items from
grave no. 34 were not decorated whereas the ornament
on the connector from grave no. 18 differed in details
from the one presented above. Connectors of the dis It is worth noting that this type was not defined precisely
by W. La Baume, and the examples used to illustrate it
differ considerably (cf. Baranowski 1996, p.76). The common features, however, were supposed to be cross-shaped
strap connectors, elongated, rectangular mounts, belt buckles and tongue-shaped strap ends (the bits may have been
ended with rings or metal rods).
39
Such forms have no direct equivalents in rsnes classification (1993), representing a form between types 9D1 and
9D2.
38
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
Fig. 8. Bronze connectors with step pyramid motif in a centre: a-d Nowinka, grave no. 21; e-f Kobbe, grave no. 1 (after
Nrgrd Jrgensen 1992, figs.11.2-3); g Jelonki, loose find (after Nowakowski 1998, fig.1a); h Tumiany, grave no. 228
(after Nowakowski 1998, fig.1.b).
cussed kind were found at necropolises of the Elblg

group in Elblg-ytno, in grave no. 10 (Dorr 1914, p.8
plate II.1-3)40, graves nos. 105 and 107 (Ehrlich 1920,
p.192)41 and during later investigations (Ehrlich 1932,
In this case the ornament around the central boss (riveted
to the connector and not embossed) consisted of zigzag
engraved lines.
41
With the ornamental motif in the form of an engraved zigzag line with a central boss embossed from the inside.
40
fig.10)42, in Elblg, Moniuszki street (Ehrlich 1937a,

fig.2) among the others in grave no. 2 (Ehrlich 1937b,
p.274), and in Komorowo uawskie43. They were nu Both the items with the embossed boss and the flat ones,
originally with riveted boss.
43
A stray find from the excavations conducted by Dr Mateusz Boguckis from the Institute of Archaeology and
Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, whom we would
hereby like to thank for the information.
42
175

Group. The Case of
BARTOSZ
KONTNY,
JERZY
OKULICZKOZARYN
AND MIROSAW
PIETRZAK
merous also at other Balt burial grounds: in Olsztyn

group or in Sambian-Natangian area, e.g. in former
Koddien (Ehrlich 1920, p.192). Similar forms were
also discovered in the Merovingian circle where, however, they were more ornamental, cf.: Rommersheim,
grave no. 54 (Oexle 1992, plates 136 and 294.2-3)44
and Beckum II, grave no. 110 (Oexle 1992, plates 166,
370. 2; 167, 370, 3)45.
Somewhat different, simpler cross-shaped connectors
of type 9D1 according to M. rsnes (1993) with single
rivets at the ends of the arms and a small central boss
in the place where the arms meet (without a circular
central part) were found in grave no. 62 in Nowinka.
Similar solutions were discovered at the burial ground
of the Elblg group in cze, where four such fittings
were uncovered in grave no. 25 (Dorr 1898, pp.11 and
22 plate III.17). They are proved also for the Sambian
area, e.g. Izhevskoe,
raj. Kaliningrad, grave no. 8 (former Widitten-Elenskrug, Kr. Fischahusen) (Kleemann

1956, plate XXXI:8e).
The discovery from grave no. 21 is particularly worth
mentioning. Four cross-shaped connectors with pairs
of rivets at the ends of the arms and with a step pyramid
(with three steps) in the centre were found there (Fig.
8). They should be considered as a transitional form
9D1 and 9D3 variant b according to rsnes (1993).
A similar style of decoration was found on a brooch
from grave no. 23. The closest, although not complete,
analogy for this solution can be found in grave no. 228
from Tumiany, where a pair of connectors was found
differing from the items from Nowinka by the presence
of different texture at the upper surface of the pyramid
(Nowakowski 1998, p.196 fig.1.B; Kurt Voigtmanns
records, No. inv. Prussia Museum VII 461.13005) and
the shape of the pyramid, extending to the arms of the
connector (in case of the find from Nowinka the whole
pyramid is on a plate). Further analogies for such solutions can be found in Scandinavia among forms type
RV1a according to A. Nrgrd Jrgensen (1999, p.112),
cf.: Kobbe, grave no. 1 (Nrgrd Jrgensen 1992,
figs. 11.2-3 and 37; see rsnes 1966 fig.26) and Glasergrd, grave no. 2 (Jrgensen 1990, p.138 plate 31.23; see rsnes 1966, fig.25) on Bornholm and Torgrd
in Norway (Nrgrd Jrgensen 1992, fig.29.7-8) or
Valsgrde, grave no. 7 in Sweden (Arwidsson 1954,
plate 22.43,73). Connectors in the form of a pyramid
are also known from the Merovingian circle: Betzingen, Kr. Reutlingen (Oexle 1992, plates 3, 16.2) Beckum, grave no. 76 (Oexle 1992, plates 160; 349.2-3)
Curiously enough, in that case the ornament of stamped
triangles and pseudo-pearl-like pattern, which is typical of
items the Elblg and Olsztyn groups, was used.
45
Very decorative items, with cross-shaped mounts made of
a metal band.
44
176
Fig. 9. Fittings of a headgear arranged at acute angles from

Nowinka, grave no. 121.
and grave no. 73 (Oexle 1992, plates 158 and 348.2-3),

Xanten, grave no. 27 (Oexle 1992, plates 196; 430.2);
cf. also items more decorative and sometimes differing in details: Engers (Oexle 1992, plate 123, 269.1-2),
Klepsau, grave no. 6 (Oexle 1992, plates 39; 84.2-3),
Beckum, grave no. 17 (Oexle 1993, plates 154; 341.23), Regensburg (Oexle 1992, plates 102; 222.2-3),
Bremen, grave no. 12 (Oexle 1992, pl. 176, 379, 2-3)
and 14 (decorated: Oexle 1993, plates 178; 381. 2; 179,
381.3), Gammertingen (Rieth 1937, fig.4.7), and Junkersdorf, grave no. 411 (Oexle 1992, plates 183 and
393.1). These are not, however, ideal parallels: the motif of a pyramid on the finds from Scandinavia decorates a square plate which makes up the main part of
the connector (small projections with rivets are placed
in the corners of the plate) and not only the central part
of the cross-shaped fitting. Also their function is not
entirely identical with that of the Scandinavian finds: in
Kobbe only two pyramid-shaped fittings were found
and they functioned as connectors of the browband and
cheekpiece (Nrgrd Jrgensen 1992, fig. 28); pairs
of them appeared also in the Merovingian circle (cf.
Oexle 1992, passim), while in the assemblage from
Nowinka 4 items were discovered, thus also other pairs
of straps must have been connected (curiously enough
in the case of the find from Tumiany also a pair of connectors was found). Thus we have to do with a local
imitation of a decorative motif and not of the whole
product. Such interpretation is supported by another
find from the area of the Elblg group: a stray find of
a headgear connector from Jelonki, Rychliki com.: the
step pattern was used as a decoration of a connector
typical of the Tumiany type (Nowakowski 1998, p.196
fig.1.a). All that clearly proves that there existed contacts between the Elblg group and the southern part of
Scandinavia (cf. Hilund Nielsen 2000, fig. 3); manifested also by, i.a., the presence of a pair of S-shaped
brooches of Scandinavian type, variant L1a (rsnes
1966, p.299ff fig.164; Hilund Nielsen 1987, p.77;
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
Fig. 10. Bronze fittings of a headgear from Nowinka, grave no. 118.
177

Group. The Case of
BARTOSZ
KONTNY,
JERZY
OKULICZKOZARYN
AND MIROSAW
PIETRZAK
Rundkvist 2003, p.97ff) from grave no. 41 (Godowski

1981, fig.29; Kulakov 1990, plate VI.4), a beak fibula
(Godowski 1981, fig.28.a; Kulakov 1990, plate VI:3)
variant G1 (rsnes 1966, p.296 figs.101-103; Hilund
Nielsen 1987, p.76) from grave no. 38 or the stray find
of an equal-armed brooch of F1-2 type according to K.
Hilund Nielsen (1987, p.76) or tongue-shaped strap
ends of Nrgrd Jrgensens type ZR1 (1999, p.113)
/ rsnes C12 (1966, p.292 figs. 32-36) / Hilund
Nielsen C6b (1987, p.76) and T-shaped belt fittings of
Nrgrd Jrgensens type TR1 (1999, p.114) / rsnes
C10 (1966, p.292 fig.27) / Hilund Nielsen C5 (1987,
p.76) from grave no. 8446 (cf. horse harness from
Kobbe, grave no. 1 Nrgrd Jrgensen 1992, figs.
11.4-7, 37). It should be mentioned here that the three
last-mentioned forms often appear in the Merovingian
circle (rsnes 1966, pp.292 and 296) and they also appear in the Olsztyn group47.
In the discussed grave no. 21, on a partly disturbed
horse skull other bronze mounts of standard type (36
items) with double grooves along longer edges and one
or two rivets at the ends were found. They decorated
the browband, headpiece, noseband and the two cheekpieces; also 2 small buckles, 2 lancet-shaped strap ends
and some remains of the straps were discovered.
In grave no. 55, in turn, in the place where the straps
crossed, rectangular plates of equal lengths, overlapping so that they made up a pattern of an equal-armed
cross, were found (formally they should be determined
as type 9D1 according to rsnes). At the place where
they crossed they were joined by a rivet and similar
rivets were fixed at the ends of the arms of the connectors48. Unfortunately, in the discussed case it is impossible reliably to reconstruct the headgear: the two sets
of fittings (double burial) were scattered and mixed up.
It is, however, worth to notice the presence of connectors consisting of two plates: a longer one and a shorter
one fixed to it with a rivet placed at the end, and arranged at an angle of about 45. This is an example of
a solution serving both to decorate and strengthen the
branching out straps. In the case of the discussed grave
no., typical fittings of thin plate, decorated with lines
engraved along the longer edges were used.
Fittings arranged at acute angles are more numerous
at the analysed necropolis (Fig. 9). One should men In grave no. 35 there were found similar T-shaped fittings.
Cf. Kowalski 1991, fig.2; 2000, pp.215-216; cf. also the
finds of tongue-shaped fittings type ZR1 from grave no. 10
and 14 from Waplewo, Olsztynek com. (K. Voigtmanns
archives in the collection of the Museum fr Vor- und
Frhgeschichte in Berlin).
48
The cross-shaped connectors of this type were also found at
the burial ground in ecze, grave no. 25 (Dorr 1898, p.11,
plate III.15) and Elblg-ytno (Ehrlich 1932, fig.10).
46
47
178
tion here the sets from graves no. 78 and 121. In grave
no. 78 an almost intact arrangement of cheeks, browband, noseband and central strap (from the browband
to the place below the noseband) mounts was found.
Moreover, another specific feature of horse harness
from Nowinka is manifested here, i.e. multiplied straps
of the headgear: in this case the browband consisted of
three parallel straps covered with plates, whereas the
noseband, of two similarly decorated straps, the lower
of which was connected to the central strap at the angle of about 45. The lower end of the central strap
had the form of a mount similar in shape to a rectangle
but rounded at the end and with two decorative bosses:
they were attached to the strap with the use of two rivets. In grave no. 121, where fittings were partly preserved in their original arrangement, however, it was
found that some plates made up triangular patterns.
A reproduction of the former was obtained thanks to
the mounts going from the noseband on either side at
an angle to the central strap (motif of a triangle with
the apex pointing upwards). The second triangle was
slightly higher and had its apex was pointing downwards. It was made of plates going from the headband
at an angle towards the central strap. Also the headpiece, browband, cheeks, noseband, and the central
strap were mounted (from the headpiece to the level
below the noseband). The way of fixing the fittings is
also very interesting: they were attached by means of
pieces of flat wire running through holes in the metal
plates and bent on the inside. The plates were decorated in a specific way: in the centre there was a line
of embossed rosettes consisting of a central boss surrounded by a pearl-like motif, along the longer edges
there were standard double engraved lines. An almost
identical decorative arrangement (only the fittings of
the central strap did not reach below the noseband)
and the way of fixing them was found for the headgear
fittings from grave no. 147. The difference, however,
consisted in the decoration of the plates: they had a
stamped ornament of railing-like rows placed between
triple lines of pseudo-filigree. The same way of fixing
plates was proved for fittings from grave no. 82 (they
were ornamented with the pattern of embossed geometric and railing motives).
Also the decoration of rectangular fittings from grave
no. 118 in Nowinka is unusual (Fig. 10). Stamped ornament composed from four larger groups of hemispherical bosses was used; the spaces between them
were filled with rows of three or four smaller bosses
surrounded by pearl-like motif and bordered with double lines of pseudo-filigree; single rivets were placed
at the ends. These mounts decorated the browband,
noseband (in this case composed of a pair of parallel
straps), the central strap (from the headband to below
The find of fittings from grave no. 117

is completely exceptional (Fig. 11). On
the horses skull there lay fittings of the
browband, cheeks and the central strap
(probably extending from the headpiece to
the noseband). Unfortunately, they were
preserved in small pieces and it was impossible to reproduce how they looked
like: most probably they were rectangular plates decorated with stamped transverse railing-like ornament, similarly as in
grave no. 120. However, the square bronze
plates with the sides of 4.2 cm were completely unique. They were richly decorated with embossed motifs: at the edge
a row of pearl-like ornament was placed
between two straight lines, in the corners,
Fig. 11. Decorative metal blinkers (?) from the Elblg group cemeteries:
little squares, and in the inside impressed
a plan of the grave no. 117 from Nowinka; b bronze fittings from
rosettes with central points surrounded by
Nowinka, grave no. 117; c silver fittings from Elblg, Moniuszki street
pearl-like ornament (nine on one plate and
(after Ehrlich 1937b, fig.10).
twelve on the other). Some fragments of
the noseband) and the right cheek (the arrangement leather and fabric adhered to them. Due to their locawas almost intact)49. The lower end of the central strap tion it is supposed that they functioned as decorative
was made of an anchor-shaped plate with a rivet at the
end. The connectors from that burial (four items) are of 50 The motif of this kind was found in the Elblg group: a
very similar fitting was discovered in Elblg-ytno (Ehra very interesting form. They have the shape of circular
lich 1932, fig.10, the item shown in the top left corner).
shields on which the ornament was pressed, the same
An almost identical decoration as on the central piece of
on three of them, of a central boss and seven concenthe connectors from grave no. 118 in Nowinka was found
tric circles of pseudo-filigree; and on the fourth one the
on the shield fibula from cze, grave no. 76 (Dorr 1898,
p.20, fig.6). Also the decorative belt fittings from grave no.
above composition was enriched with a ring-shaped
73 in Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis) in Lithuania, dated to the
pearl-like pattern around the central boss. At the ends
first half of the seventh century, have a very similar form
of the arms pairs of semi-spherical bosses and single
Lack of the fittings of the left cheek may be explained by
the fact that the thin plate was destroyed.
49
(Bliujien, Butkus 2002, p.98ff fig.3.3).

This way of fixing was also found for the fittings of the
headgear straps from grave no. 47.
BALTICA 11
The set of fittings from grave no. 120 also

deserves attention. On the skull of horse I
mounts from the cheeks, the central strap
(from the headpiece to the lower part of
the skull), browband and headpiece were
found. They were joined in a similar way
as those found in graves nos. 121 or 147,
i.e. with flat wires bent inwards.51 The
decorative motif, however, was different:
in the centre there was a vertical line of
embossed railing motif and on either side
three rows of pseudo-filigree made with
the same technique (which strongly resembles the solution from grave no. 147).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
rivet holes were added. The preserved rivets join the fittings with the overlapping
ends of rectangular mounts of headgear
straps50. If this is compared to rsnes
typological suggestions, they represent a
mixed form 9D1/9D2.
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
51
179

Group. The Case of
BARTOSZ
KONTNY,
JERZY
OKULICZKOZARYN
AND MIROSAW
PIETRZAK
Fig. 12. Iron lyre-shaped object aimed probably for fixing the organic cheek bars from Nowinka and its parallels: a bridle
bit from Nowinka, grave no. 99; b lyre-shaped object from Nowinka, grave no. 99; c bridle bit from Korkliny, barrow 1
(after Jaskanis 1968b, plate I.1); d lyre-shaped object from Korkliny, barrow 1 (after Jaskanis 1968b, plate I.2); e bridle bit
with horn cheeks with iron fastenings from Przebrd (after Nowakowski 2007, fig.10).
180
blinkers. The silver head fittings from Elblg, Moniuszki Street, unfortunately known only from a photograph of the horse burial, which does not allow to
make a reliable comparison, may have had a similar
function (Ehrlich 1937b, fig.10). It may be also possible that the presence of blinkers suggests that harness
animals were deposited in the burials. This may be con-
firmed by the asymmetry of many bits, which would be

practical if they were used for two harnessed horses. It
should be reminded that in Nowinka, i.a., pairs of horses were found in burials. The predominant number of
single burials and the unique character of the discovery
from grave no. 117 seem, however, to contradict this.
One should also mention the rare find from grave

no. 99 where on the left side of a horses mandible a
lyre-shaped object of iron wire was found (Fig. 12).
An almost identical object was uncovered in exactly
the same relation to the horse in barrow 1 at the burial
ground of the Sudovian culture in Korkliny, Suwaki
com., site I. It was interpreted as a link between the
reins and the bridle (Jaskanis 1968b, p.304 plate I.2),
which, however, seems hardly probable due to its insufficient toughness. It is quite possible that we have to do
with a loop used for holding the cheek straps in place
(similar to a metal loop). However, the most probable
is the hypothesis that we have to do with a fastener
for the reins attached to holes in cheeks made of antler
sticks. They co-occurred with bridles with terminals in
form of rings of small diameters in which sticks were
put; additionally the hooks fixed cheeks in rings of low
diameters. Such sticks may not have been preserved
till today; they may have been made from materials
which are more easily decomposed, e.g., wood. They
appeared in bridles of Avar type, which are considered
to be the product of nomadic influences; starting from
the second half of the sixth century they reached to the
Balt areas (Nowakowski 2007, p.182), although also a
view has been
expressed that their chronology is broader and embraces the period from the turn of phases D/E
till phase E2 (Piwowarska, forthcoming). Similar solutions are known from, i.a., a Prussian cemetery in Suvorovo, raj. Gvardeysk (former Zohpen, Kr. Wehlau)
from grave nos. 115, 172, and 18352(La Baume 1944,
fig.27; Kulakov 1990, plate XII.11; Bitner-Wrblewska
2008, plate CCXXVII) and also from cemeteries of the
Olsztyn group in Tumiany, horse grave no. II (Baranowski 1996, p.84ff fig.6) and Wyszembork, Mrgowo
com., site II, feature 23 as well as the Prudziszki phase
necropolis from Przebrd, Suwaki com., barrow I
(Nowakowski 2000, fig.5.a; 2007, fig.10). The identity
of the finds from Polish lands with this form is supported by the fact that the item from Korkliny was
accompanied by a bridle with rings of small diameter
(3.4 cm); also the find from Nowinka has rings of internal diameter of 4.5 cm, which is much less than the
average for the other bridles from that necropolis (although they differ in details as the rings are not the part
of the rod as e.g. in case of the item from Korkliny).
In grave no. 65, in turn, inside the rings of the bit, two
iron fittings were found. They were made of two rectangular plates joined by three iron rivets covered with
bronze hemispherical tops. Between the plates remains
The purpose of three strap fittings from grave no. 34,

made of U-shaped bronze band with long rivets with
hemispherical heads is, however, unclear. Their reconstructed length was 5.8 cm. They were found near the
headgear fittings, yet they were disturbed, which makes
it impossible to establish what their function was.
52
The necropolis show a lot of parallels to the Nowinka cemetery.
Summing up it is worth to note that the sets of headgear

fittings from Nowinka, besides the solutions known in
the Balt world (similar to the Tumiany type) have their
specific features. These include the use of many straps
with mounts53 (graves nos. 78 and 118), including the
plates oriented towards one another at acute angles
(graves nos. 55, 121 and 147), the method of joining
decorative elements with flat wire (graves nos. 47, 82,
120, 121 and 147), characteristic patterns embossed on
fittings and their specific forms, even if produced by
external inspirations (cf. connectors from grave no. 21)
bearing traces of local production, or the use of unique
for the area ends of the central strap (graves nos. 78
and 118). All that indicates that headgear ornaments
were results of local production open to external influences.
Other grave goods

Generally, besides the ones listed above, other elements of horse burial grave no. goods were not found
in Nowinka. Although near the head of the horse from
grave no. 114 a talus bone of another animal was found
and in grave no. 121 a clay flask, whereas in grave
no. 149 a large stone was discovered near the horses
rump, all the above cases concern disturbed grave no.s.
For that reason both the bone and the flask should be
connected with the assemblages from the disturbed human grave54 and the stone with the disturbed pavement
covering the horse and human grave. At the other cemeteries of the Elblg group no other categories of goods
were found in horse grave. At the necropolises of the
Elblg group no horse caring utensils such as combs
and scissors, or knives and tweezers, known from the
Olsztyn group (Baranowski 1996, p.78ff) have been
found. It should be, however, reminded that at the
burial ground in Moteczno, tools were discovered in
Although a double browband is known from Tumiany (La
Baume 1944, fig.19), such a solution was exceptional in
the Olsztyn group. It is worth to note that standard crossshaped connectors with a small boss in the centre and less
typical T-shaped connectors cut from sheet metal were
used.
54
The presence of a fragment of a window urn near horse 8
in grave no. V in Tumiany was interpreted in a similar way
BALTICA 11
of leather straps were preserved. They were probably

used to fasten the reins.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
It seems that if we really have to do with a burial of a

harness horse, then it is a rather isolated case.
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
53
181

Group. The Case of
BARTOSZ
KONTNY,
JERZY
OKULICZKOZARYN
AND MIROSAW
PIETRZAK
horse grave: in grave no. 68 under the horses belly an

iron sickle was found whereas in grave no. 86 an iron
plane was found near the animal bones (ZiemliskaOdojowa 1991, p.113).
Chronology
The chronology of the burial ground is a separate matter. As the monograph of the burial ground in Nowinka
is still under preparation, it is impossible to settle all
the details of chronology at the moment. It can be only
said that the horse grave appeared in all phases distinguished for the necropolis. The cemetery should be
dated to the second horizon of the Elblg group, i.e.
Phase E2, and in reference to the chronology of the
Olsztyn group: Phase E2 and E3, which is equivalent
to the late sixth and early seventh century (Kowalski
2000, pp.220-224). This is confirmed by the dating of
the above mentioned artefacts imported or inspired by
external influences55.
Conclusions
To conclude it should be stated that the horse inhumation grave no.s from Nowinka have their closest analogies at the area of Sambian-Natangian area (cf. Kulakov
1990, p.22). This is indicated by the orientation and
arrangement of skeletons, occurrence of the remains
of stone constructions over the grave, tight connection
As for the connectors with the pyramid pattern: grave no.
1 from Kobbe is dated to the late sixth century (Nrgrd
Jrgensen 1992, p.193), identically as the grave from
Torgrd (Jrgensen 1990, p.56), whereas grave no. 2 from
Glasergrd is dated to the late sixth or early seventh century (Jrgensen 1990, p.61), which makes them a determinant for Phase II in the chronology of Scandinavian grave
no.s with weapons (Nrgrd Jrgensen 1999, figs. 107,
110 and 116). The dating of the analogy from the Merovingian circle is similar: grave no. 54 from Rommersheim
is dated with Justinians solidus minted between 552 and
565 (Werner 1935, plate 21.13; cf. Oexle 1992, p.42). In
turn, grave no. 110 from Beckum II is dated on the basis
of analogous forms of buckles to the last quarter of the
sixth century, i.e., Phase AM III according to H. Ament
(1977); it is also to determine the other parts of the harness
(Oexle 1992, p.55). S-shaped brooches type L1 are dated
to approx. 540-570 A.D. (Rundkvist 2003, p.104ff) and,
together with brooches type F1-2 and G1, are determinants
of Phase VIIA according to K. Hilund Nielsen, dated to
approx. 530-600 A.D. (Hilund Nielsen 2000, p.162ff).
TR fittings are treated as determinants of chronological
Phase II on Bornholm and in Norway, dated to 560/70610/20 and Phases I-II in Gotland, dated to 520/30-610/20
(Nrgrd Jrgensen 1999, figs. 107, 110 and 116), whereas
ZR tongue-shaped fittings are the leading forms for Phases
II and III in Norway and on Bornholm and also Phases I-II
in Gotland (Nrgrd Jrgensen 1999, figs. 107; 110 and
116).
55
182
with human cremation burials and the grave goods.

The similarities are not, however, complete: e.g., no
partial horse burials, present at the Sambian-Natangian
area, were found (Kulakov 1990, p.22). Influences in
this respect from other regions are doubtlessly minor:
the connection of horse and human corpses in the Olsztyn group was not confirmed, whereas Scandinavian
horse graves from the early part of the Vendel Period,
recorded especially on Bornholm, contained partial
horse burials (cf. Mller-Wille 1970-1971, p.161; Jrgensen 1990, p.52), later on horses were situated lying
on their sides, near the unburnt humans (cf. Jrgensen,
Nrgrd Jrgensen 1997, fig.48). Scandinavian influences are, however, visible in the inspirations for some
headgear fittings, which concerns, to a still greater extent, the relations with the area of the Olsztyn group.
Translated by Sylwia Twardo
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III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E q ues trian
E q uipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
183

Group. The Case of
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OKULICZKOZARYN
AND MIROSAW
PIETRZAK
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Bartosz Kontny
E-mail: bartosz.kontny@uw.edu.pl
184
Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn
Mirosaw Pietrzak
Archaeological Museum in Gdask
Piastowska street 106F/15, Gdask PL-80-358
ELBLIONGO GRUPS IRG

K A PA I , R E M I A N T I S N O V I N K O S
(TOLKMICKO GMINA)
KAPINYNO MEDIAGA
Bartosz Kontny, Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn,
Mirosaw Pietrzak
Santrauka
Straipsnyje nagrinjami Novinkos kapinyno irg kapai, j apranga, taip pat archeozoologiniai duomenys
ir laidojimo paproiai (112 pav.). Novinkos irg
kapai turi artim analogij su SambijosNatangijos
srities kapais. Tai pastebima lyginant irg laidojimo
krypt ir irgo padt kape, danai aptinkam akmen
konstrukcij vir kapo. Taip pat yra nemaa panaum
tarp abiej region degintini moni kap rangos ir
kapi. Taiau yra ir skirtum: pavyzdiui, nerasta palaidot irg dali, kas bdinga SambijosNatangijos
sriiai. Kit srii taka kapams neabejotinai taip pat
yra minimali: ryys su Oltyno grups moni ir irg
kapais nepatvirtintas, o Skandinavijos irg kapuose
i ankstyvojo Vendelio laikotarpio, ypa Bornholmo
saloje, laidotos irg dalys, netoli j randami griautiniai moni kapai. Skandinavijos taka vis dlto labiau
pastebima kaman stiliuje, kas pabria vis dar didel
Oltyno grups tak.
Abstract
According to the data of 2008, eight horsemen buried in grave pits with complete horse skeletons had been discovered in only
four of the East Lithuanian barrow cemeteries of the second half of the fifth century. The majority of these graves already
were pillaged in antiquity. The barrows with graves of men interred with horses are concentrated in a small territory between
Lakes Tauragnas, eimenis, and Vajuonis, in an area that does not exceed 50-60 sq. km. Particularly rich burials with silver
and silver artefacts, most of which originated in the middle Danube and Carpathian Basin, are found in this small region. Such
burials are associated with supreme rulers and high ranking military leaders. Burials of well, but standardly armed, horsemen
and infantrymen also are found in the region. They can be associated with the retinue of supreme rulers. Current data suggest
that while multi-ethnic groups of people reached the East Lithuanian micro-region between Lakes Tauragnas, eimenis, and
Vajuonis during the Migration Period, the newcomers vanished from the local population over the course of four generations. This small regions concentration of great wealth and military power, along with marked differences in social structure
emphasized even in the structure of the barrow cemeteries, would suggest that a form of government identical to that of a
chiefdom had been created in the region.
BALTICA 11
AUDRON BLIUJIEN AND VALDAS STEPONAITIS
ARCHAEOLOGIA
W E A LT H Y H O R S E M E N I N T H E R E M O T E A ND
T E N E B R O US F O R E S T S O F E A S T L I T H U A N I A
DU R I N G T H E M I G R AT I O N P E R I O D
Key words: horsemen, warriors hierarchy, East Lithuanian barrows, inhumation graves, migration, middle Danube, chiefdom.
The spread of East Lithuanian

b a r r o w s w i t h h o r s e m e n s g r a v e s
By 2008 data, the graves of eight horsemen buried in pits
with complete horse skeletons are known in four East
Lithuanian barrow cemeteries of the second half of the
fifth century. Horsemens graves have been found in the
barrow cemeteries of Antasar (also known as Laukiai
or Sariai, venionys district), Paduob-altalin 3
(venionys d.), Pavajuonys-Rkuiai (Ignalina d.),
and Taurapilis (Utena d.) (Pokrovskii 1893, p.164ff;
Kuncien 1971; 1972, p.50f; Tautaviius, 1981, p.23
fig.5; Semnas 1994, 1996, p.85; Steponaitis 2007,
p.132ff fig. 1; and cf. A. Bliujien and D. Butkus in
this volume: fig. 1, table 1). These barrows are concentrated in a small, but long-time wooded micro-region,
between Lakes Tauragnas, eimenis, and Vajuonis
(Bielnien et al. 2002, maps on pp. 30, 32 and 35;
Kudaba, Survila 2005, p.66). The area does not exceed
50-60 sq. km (Fig. 1). Barrow cemeteries are known
in this small region1 that have very wealthy graves and
luxurious artefacts made of silver, gold, and gilded
bronze that generally originated from the middle Danube. The burials of both high ranking rulers and high
The barrow cemeteries of Cegeln, Borava (ilin), Baliuliai, and Zibolik (all in the venionys d.), and, of
course, of Sudota, which definitely is a continuation of the
Paduob-altalin barrow cemetery.
ranking military leaders as well as of standardly wellarmed infantrymen are found in this region (Bliujien
2006, p.137ff and fig.8). The grave material suggests a
marked hierarchy.
The Antasar barrow cemetery
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
Two graves of horsemen with complete horse skeletons

were found in the Antasar barrow cemetery (Figs. 1,
2) 2. This barrow cemetery was first investigated at the
end of the 19th century, when F. Pokrovskii excavated
seven barrows. In the pits underneath the earth mounds,
he found either one or several inhumation graves
(Pokrovskii, 1893, p.164ff). A riding horse with its head
facing west was found in the pit of barrow no. 1, at the
base of the barrow. The skeleton of the horse was in
an unnatural position; apparently the horse was pushed
into the burial pit while still alive. By Pokrovskiis
description, we can guess that the person was buried
parallel to the horse, apparently on the horses left side.
Pieces of unburnt human bones were scattered beside
the horse, a portion of which had acquired a greenish
colour from the grave furnishings that had been on top
of them, but no grave goods of the human were found.
Over fifteen 818 m diameter barrows were discovered at
the end of the 19th century, scattered over a large area.
The mounds of the excavated barrows were encircled with
stones (LAA 1977, p.22).
185
We a l t h y H o r s e m e n i n
t h e R e m o t e a n d Te n e b r o u s
Forests of East Lithuania
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND VALDAS
STEPONAITIS
Fig. 1. Region between Lakes Tauragnas, eimenis, and Vajuonis with rich graves dated to the Late Migration Period: 1
Cegeln; 2 Borava; 3 Baliuliai; 4 Ziboliks; 5 Sudota; 6 Paduob-altalin; 7 Antasar; 8 Pavajuonys-Rkuiai; 9 Taurapilis (map drawn by G. Grias).
human bones or human grave goods were found near

the horses remains (Kuncien 1971, p.9). Thus, this
grave also was disturbed, apparently pillaged, and this
horses remains can be associated with the Migration
Periods inhumation grave only based on the data of
recent East Lithuanian barrow research.
The Pavajuonys-Rkuiai barrow

cemetery
Fig. 2. Antasar (venionys d.) barrow cemetery, barrow

no. 5, disturbed grave horseman and his horse in situ (after
Kuncien 1971).
186
Thus, it is probable that the grave was pillaged. Five

additional, partially destroyed barrows were excavated
at the Antasar barrow cemetery in 1971. A disturbed
horse skeleton with its head to the west was found at
the centre of barrow no. 5 (diameter 14 m), in a pit at
the base of the barrow (Fig. 2). No grave goods and no
The Pavajuonys-Rkuiai barrow cemetery3 is the second Migration Period barrow cemetery in which a pillaged grave of a horseman and horse were found, but in
this case the robbers apparently did not take much interest in the horse grave and did not disturbed it much
(Figs. 1, 3, 4). The barrow cemetery extends for 0.5
km along a road that connects two villages (Semnas
1994, p.3). Although the barrows are situated in a line
that stretches alongside the road, they also are con3
Seventy-four barrows are registered in this barrow cemetery, most of which have diameters of 813 m. Also recorded are several very large barrows (with diameters of
mostly 2528 m, up to 32 m) (Semnas 1994, fig.1; 1996,
p.85). Only two barrows have been excavated (nos. 6 and
11) (Semnas 1994).
The Taurapilis archaeological site complex consists

of the Taurapilis barrow cemetery which is on the
shore of Lake Tauragnas, and the Taurapilis hillfort,
approximately 600 m to the east. The barrow cemetery is comprised of two groups of barrows, situated
200-300 m from each other (Tautaviius 1981, p.19
figs. 1 and 2). Sls hillfort and disturbed barrows
as well as the eimatis group of barrows with its socalled cult site that are all located on the southeastern
end of Lake Tauragnas undoubtedly also fall into the
Taurapilis archaeological site complex (Vaitkeviius
2007, p.158 figs. 4 and 5).
Fig. 3. Pavajuonys-Rkuiai (Ignalina d.) barrow cemetery,

barrow no. 6. Disturbed grave of horseman and his horse in
situ (photograph by V. Semnas 1994).
Fig. 4. Pavajuonys-Rkuiai (Ignalina d.) barrow cemetery,

barrow no. 6. Remains of horsemans grave goods (1 bronze;
2 glass paste (after V. Semnas 1994).
nected in small groups, usually around larger barrows

(Semnas 1994). Barrow no. 64 is near one of the larger
barrow cemeterys barrows, barrow no. 705. A partially
destroyed grave6 in which a horseman was buried with
a horse to his left was found in the centre of barrow no.
6, in the pit underneath the barrow mound. The horse
lay on its left side, its front legs bent, head oriented to
the SW; no grave goods were found near the horse. The
disturbed remains of an inhumed person (fragments of
a few teeth) were found, with a spiral ring and a glass
paste bead as the persons only grave goods (Fig. 4).
Judging by the burial rite, the grave could belong to the
second half of the fifth century.
T h e Ta u r a p i l i s b a r r o w s i t e
Most of the wealthy and exceptionally wealthy burials of horsemen with horses four of them have been
The barrow is encircled with stones; the barrows diameter
is 10 m and its height is 1.4 m.
5
The barrows diameter is 28 m.
6
The grave pit is of an irregular shape of 3.3x2.9 m in size,
situated at the base, with a depth of 1.11.3 m.
4
Noteworthy is the fact that the ordinary or common

members of the community7 were buried in the eastern part of the Taurapilis barrow cemetery, while the
supreme ruler or highest status military leader with
his retinue were buried in the western part. In other
words, the armed horsemen and infantrymen surrounded their leader in the Afterlife just as they had
sustained him in armed conflicts, and, apparently, in
consolidating rule in this micro-region (Fig. 5). Two
of the largest barrows in the western group of barrows
were almost at the centre of the hill (barrow no. 5 the
dukes, and barrow no. 4 one of his retinues horsemen) and three more barrows were found at the edges
of the hill. The barrows were partially destroyed not
just by ploughing, but also by amateur archaeologists
in the beginning of the 20th century as well as by robbers in antiquity. Undisturbed graves were found only
in two of the barrows (nos. 5 and 6). In all of the barrows where clearer remains of graves were still found,
only graves of men who were, judging by the grave
goods, well-armed infantrymen and armed horsemen
were found, with the exception of disturbed barrow no.
2, in which the burial of a child and an adult of undetermined gender was found. The people who were buried
in barrows encircled with stones were buried individually (except for barrow no. 2), inhumed in a pit underneath the earth mound, together with weapons and
ornaments. Horses were buried together with the peo The barrows of the eastern group in which the common
members were buried is not discussed in this article.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
found in the Taurapilis barrow cemetery (Figs. 1 and

5). The Taurapilis barrow cemetery is an especially
rich and significant site of the Late Migration Period
that validates the existence of direct ties with the
middle Danube. After Joachim Werners publication
(1977, p.87ff), the grave of the duke of Taurapilis
became well-known throughout Europe (Menghin
1983, pp.31 and 52 fig.25; Schulze-Drrlamm 1986,
p.602 figs. 8 and 10; Kazanski 2000, fig.14; BitnerWrblewska 2001, p.127 fig.33; Kontny 2004, p.251;
Bhner 1989, p.440, fig. 12.9; Pinar 2005, p.311f
fig.15).
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
187
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND VALDAS
STEPONAITIS
Fig. 5. Distribution of western group of barrows within the Taurapilis (Utena d.) barrow cemetery, in which a so-called
duke (marked in darker shade) and his retinue (marked in lighter shade) are buried. The other barrows were disturbed (after
Tautaviius 1981, fig.2, with current authors additions).
ple in four of the graves. Later cremation burials were

dug into the earth mounds of some of the barrows.
T h e Ta u r a p i l i s d u k e
A 4050 year old man was buried in barrow no. 5,
known as the Taurapilis duke in Lithuanian and other
countries historiography because of his exceptional
grave goods and burial rite. Barrow no. 5 was 1415m
in diameter, 5060 cm in height, with a 1313.5 diameter circle of stones around the barrows mound
(Tautaviius 1970-1971, p.18; 1981, p.20ff, figs. 2-4).
A persons and horses skeletons with their heads to
the west were found almost at the centre of the barrow, in a 4.0x2.8 m large and 1.41.5 m deep pit8 at
the base of the barrow (Fig. 6). A two year old horse,
approximately 1.45 m tall and without any riding gear
not even bridle bits was buried on its left side and
to the deceased persons left (Tautaviius 19701971;
1981, p.22 fig. 5). The person was buried with an abundance of grave goods (Figs. 7-13, Plate IV). The arms
and armament, even the whetstone, were placed in an
order not necessarily typical of the East Lithuanian
Barrow Culture: the axe was placed on the deceaseds
pelvis, the spearheads just to the right of his feet, the
shield on top of the legs, the whetstone under his
head (Tautaviius 1981, figs.5-6)9. The largest group
consisted of weapons, which included a double-edged
sword10 (Zeitgruppe A or so-called childerichzeitlich11
group) in a wooden scabbard richly adorned with gilded
Deeper than this the pit narrowed; at the bottom, the grave
pit was 2.63.2 m long and 1.451.6 m wide.
9
The dukes retinue also was buried in a fashion not altogether typical of East Lithuanias burial rites.
10
The swords length is 92.5 cm, blade width is 5 cm. According to Menghin, the sword is 96.0 cm long (1983,
p.205).
11
The W. Menghin typology was used to describe the Taurapilis sword set. See: Menghin 1983 pp.31 and 52, fig.25,
catalogue no. 29.1-8.
8
188
silver mountings, two sword belt dividers covered with

bronze and fitted with gilded silver, as well as three
buckles which fastened the sword to the mans belt, and
a sword-pendant covered with gilded silver mountings
(Fig. 8; Plate IV). Such swords are dated from the end
of the fifth century to the beginning of the sixth century
(Tautaviius 1981, p.81) or the second half of the fifth
century (Menghin 1983, pp.31, 52, 58, 205 figs. 25; 50;
Bhner 1989, p.440 map 15). The end of the swords
scabbards was bound in a U-shaped mounting, decorated with volutes. The edge of the mounting must have
been decorated with a profiled offshoot that had broken
off (Fig. 8.10; Plate IV.1,10)12. Although the end piece
of a totally analogous scabbards U-shaped mounting
has not been found, similar artefacts have been discovered in southern Scandinavia, southern Norway, and the
middle Elbe (Tautaviius 1981, p.24; Menghin 1983,
p.354 map 18; Bhner 1989, p.440 figs.12.9; 13.3).
The tops of such sword scabbardsrectangular mountings are decorated with meander motifs for which close parallels are known in a very broad region: from
the southern part of Great Britain, to the upper reaches
of the Rhine and Danube, to Scandinavia (Menghin
1983, p.334 map 11). Paired dividers of sword scabbard belts are ascribed to the NydamPorskaer type
that was widespread in southern Scandinavia, Jutland
peninsula and known to have occurred on the island of
land (Fig. 8.7-8; Plate IV.4-5) (Menghin 1983, p.340
map 13). The principal find sites of cylindrical swordpendants made of opal (Kascholong, Cacholong)13
and covered with gilded silver mountings richly decorated with three three-legged swastikas are concentrated between the Tisza and Danube Rivers (Fig. 8.2;
This observation was noted in 2000 by Dr Dieter Quast
when he visited the Lithuanian National Museum.
13
The material composition was established by Dr Arnas
Kleimantas of Vilnius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Geology and Mineralogy. Tautaviius
wrote that the swords amulet was made from limestone
(Tautaviius 1981, p.24). Menghin had guessed that it was
made from chalcedony (Menghin 1983, p.205.e).
12
Fig. 6. Taurapilis barrow no. 5, duke and his horse in situ

(after Tautaviius 1981, fig.5).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Plate IV.2) (Menghin

1983, pp.144 and 356ff
map19). The sword was
fastened to the belt with
three gilded silver buckles richly adorned with
S-shaped, scrolled, and
triangular motifs (Fig.
8.3-5; Plate IV.6-7). A
small, round, silver detail decorated the centre
of the swords scabbard
(Fig. 8.9; Plate IV. 8).
The swords trappings
are all richly decorated
with meanders, scrolls,
volutes,
three-legged
swastikas, S-shaped, and
triangular motifs, fashioned by a chip carving
(Kerbschnitt) technique.
The custom of fastening
a large bead made from
various semi-precious
stones, glass, or amber
to the hilt of the sword,
as the magical swordpendant amulet, after
Marcomanni Wars as a
result of close collaboration between German
and Sarmatinan military
elite, spread between
Germanic people already
in the phase C1b (von
Carnap-Bornheim 2003,
p.371ff). It might be
that of fastening a large
bead resurgent and with
a new strength spread in
barbaricum during time
of expansion of the Hun
Empire (Werner 1956,
pp.26-37, 120-129, plate 21; Raddatz 1958,
p.81ff; Hagberg 1967,
p.43ff). The double-edged sword with richly adorned scabbard and swordpendant has analogies in the middle Danube region,
the surroundings of the Franks, Alamanii, Ostrogoths
and Gepids, and southern Scandinavia (Werner 1977,
p.87; Tautaviius 1981, p.24f, figs.7-16; Menghin
1983, fig. 50; Bhner 1989, p.440 map15; Legoux et
al. 2006, pp.31 and 54). The Taurapilis sword is the
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
189
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND VALDAS
STEPONAITIS
the Migration Period, but have their earliest prototypes in Scandinavias zone of influence (Kontny
2004, p.253ff figs.1-5). Two flat bronze rings were
found close to the dukes shield boss (Figs. 9.2,
9.3). The two bronze belt buckles of MadydaLegutko types H 22 and H23 (Madyda-Legutko
1986, plates 19.22, 19.23) and flat bronze rings
found with this duke might belong to the weaponrys hitch system. The everyday items found in
his grave include a whetstone and bronze tweezers
(Figs. 8.11 and 9.10). Bronze tweezers were a common grave good for men buried with Zeitgruppe A
(childerichzeitlich) type swords (Menghin 1983).
Two bronze spurs of type Leuna, sub-type E were
found on the dukes foot (Giesler 1978, p.13ff
and p.52ff). The spurs were fastened by straps that
had metal bindings and were decorated with rivets
(Tautaviius 1981, p.26 figs. 18-21) (Fig. 10).
Fig. 7. Taurapilis barrow no. 5, duke in situ

(photograph by Tautaviius).
northernmost find of its kind, although not the only one

discovered in northeastern Europes forest belt sites14.
This was the second sword of the Migration Period that
reached Lithuania; the first was an approximately 1 m
long double-edged sword that was found in the rich,
but disturbed, inhumation grave of a warrior, grave
no. 1 in the Kriktonys (Lazdijai d.) barrow cemetery
(Kulikauskas 1959, p.73ff figs. 3-5). According to the
grave goods, grave no. 1 of Kriktonys is dated to the
middle or second half of the fifth century.
The dukes other weapons and weaponry include two
lance-heads that belong to the Kazakeviius III type
(Kazakeviius 1988, p.4 fig.15.3 mapVII), a battle axe
with a narrow blade and blunt end and dots ornamenting the edges, a knife, and a shield boss with three
massive rivets (Fig. 9.1,2,9a-c). Various authors usually consider ornamented axes with blunt ends as battle
axes (Malonaitis 2008, p.76ff)15. Shield bosses with a
dotted or pearled pattern along the edges were characteristic of the East Lithuanian group of barrows during
Another one was found in Zarechye, in the province of
Ryazan, in grave no. 75a; the swords length is 96.6 cm,
the blade is 5.0 cm wide, and it, too, had a sword amulet,
made from amber (Akhmedov et al. 2007, p.359).
15
A. Malonaitis indicated that the Taurapilis dukes axe
was not ornamented. See: Malonaitis 2008, p.77.
14
190
An iron belt buckle, manufactured by the Tauschierunger technique, with a quadrangular iron belt
plate embellished with garnets inlays16 (in cloisonn
technique), fastened the dukes belt (Fig. 11; Plate
IV.11).17 This fashionable metalwork is ascribed
to the Komorn-Gltlingen-Bingen type, based on
Quasts typlogy; such belt buckles are found in both
womens and mens graves of the second half of
the fifth century (Werner 1977, p.88ff fig.2; Quast
1993, p.84ff and 125 figs.50, 51). Although such
buckles are known only from fourteen localities,
they are spread over a wide area from Georgia in the
southeast to the lower reaches of the Rhine and Sena
Rivers in the west. Still, the main find sites of this type
of buckle are concentrated between the upper reaches
of the Main, Rhine, and Danube Rivers (Quast 1993,
fig.51).
The dukes ornaments were relatively ordinary: a
bronze crossbow fibula of the Prague type (SchulzeDrrlamm 1986, p.602 fig. 8) found on his right shoulder, and one silver spiral finger-ring on his left hand
(Fig. 12.1-2). The fibula was fastened with its foot facing downward. Its placement on the right shoulder suggests that it was not an ordinary ornament, but rather
one that signifies the deceaseds exceptional status
(Fig. 7; 12.2). Romans and Germanics of high status
or of the highest rank usually would have golden fibulae fastened to their right shoulders, but with the foot
of the fibula facing upward (Almgren 191; Menghin
1983, figs.55, 58; Roberto 2008, p.164ff). It is noteworthy that other fibulae belonging to the Migration Period
and fastened to the right shoulder have not been found
in Lithuania. However, also noteworthy is the fact that
16
17
Gem determination by Dr A. Kleimontas.

The belt buckle is 4.7x2.8 cm; the quadrangular belt plate
is 3.8x1.9 cm.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
Fig. 8. Taurapilis barrow no. 5, dukes grave goods: 1, 1a sword (iron); 2 sword-pendant (opal mounted with gilded silver
plate); 3-5 gilded silver buckles; 6-10 details of scabbard (gilded silver, (7-8) bronze, plated with gilded silver plate;
11 bronze tweezers (curated at the Lithuanian National Museum in Vilnius, AR 540; drawing by A. Ruzien).
191
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND VALDAS
STEPONAITIS
the fibula was pinned

not in the Germanic
custom, with the foot
up. In Lithuania, fibulae usually were worn
in the fashion that they
fastened clothing over
the chest; crossbow fibulae were not fastened
with the foot up. Prague
fibulae were worn by
women in the middle
Danube and upper Elbe
River areas; both women and men wore them
among the Sudovians
(Schulze-Drrlamm
1986, p.712 fig.8; Jaskanis 1961, p.184 plate
III.6; Kaczyski 1966,
p. 204ff table X.6 and
fig.14;
DzierkrayRogalski, Promiska,
1966, p.218). In the
East Lithuanian Barrow
Culture area, however,
Prague fibulae have
been found only in the
graves of well-armed
men (Bliujien 2006,
p.133).
Fig. 9. Taurapilis barrow no. 5, dukes grave goods:

weapons and weaponry. 1, 4, 7-9a iron; 2-3, 5-6, 9b-d
bronze; 10 sandstone (curated at the Lithuanian National
Museum in Vilnius, AR 540; drawing by A. Ruzien).
192
The Taurapilis dukes

grave good assemblage
was complemented by
a fashionable silver
drinking horn, unique
in the East Baltic region
(Fig. 13). This drinking
horns opening relates
the Taurapilis dukes
grave good assemblage
with the Nydam style
(Voss 1954, p.174ff;
Bemmann and Bemmann 1998, p.221ff and
p.233 with figs. 80 and
86; Bliujien 2000, p.105ff fig. 5) Notably, some of
the Taurapiliss sword scabbard bindings and buckles
gilded silver dcor also have analogies in the influence
zone of the northern Germanic peoples. The dukes
set of grave goods, the weapons that dominate his grave
good inventory, the sword, the choice of the barrow at
the centre of the little hill, and the size of the barrow all
demonstrate the deceaseds exceptional status (Fig. 5).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 10. Taurapilis barrow no. 5, dukes spurs with shoe straps and rivets. 1-2 bronze; 3-4 bronze, silver (curated at the
Lithuanian National Museum in Vilnius, AR 540; drawing by A. Ruzien).
Fig. 11. Taurapilis barrow
no. 5, dukes belt buckle
with quadrangular belt
plate and garnet inlays.
Iron, gold, silver, garnets
(curated at the Lithuanian
National Museum in
Vilnius, AR 540;
drawing by A. Ruzien).
T h e Ta u r a p i l i s d u k e s r e t i n u e
The so-called duke was surrounded by wealthy inhumation graves of warriors who had silver grave goods
(neck-rings and bracelets with thickened terminals, or
Kolben type braclets) and iron fibulae, also not typical
in Baltic lands (Tautaviius 1981, fig. 36.5). However,
as much as can be determined from the preserved material, the soldierys grave goods did not match their
supreme leaders in their wealth and rarity. It is a pity
that many of these graves were demolished.
Barrow no. 4, with a horsemans and horses grave, was
the closest to the dukes grave only 56 m south of
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
it (Fig. 14)18. The barrow might have been disturbed by

an amateur archaeologist in the beginning of the 20th
century. The person and horse both faced west and the
horse lay to the deceased persons left, but differently
than any other horse in this barrow cemeterys graves,
this horse19 lay with its face down and legs under its
belly (Tautaviius 1970-1971, p.26).
Barrow no. 4s diameter was 1213 m and it was encircled

by a tall ring of rocks.
19
The horse was an 8 year old stallion, 1.361.37 m tall,
and researched by Associate Prof Vytautas Barauskas
(Tautaviius 19701971, p.67).
18
193
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND VALDAS
STEPONAITIS
The high ranking

horseman from the
Paduob-altalin 3
barrow cemetery
While excavating the Paduobaltalin 3 barrow cemetery in 2006,
one more burial of a supreme ruler
or highest ranking military chieftain
with a complete horse skeleton in the
same grave pit was discovered (barrow no. 17). This burial caused the
same archaeological sensation as the
1971 find of the Taurapilis dukes
burial. While approximately 36 km
separate the Paduob-altalin and
Taurapilis barrow cemeteries (Fig. 1),
there are visible differences between
the two barrow cemeteries. The Taurapilis barrow cemetery is smaller21
and it was left behind by a highly socially differentiated community, i.e.,
one that was divided into the communitys elite and its ordinary members
(Fig. 5). The Paduob-altalin barrow was arranged in a linear scheme22
along a very important ancient road
that led northward and connected the
Fig. 12. Taurapilis barrow no. 5, dukes fibula, spiral finger-rings and spiral
Dnieper and Daugava / Western Dvina
ornaments. 1 silver; 2-4 bronze (curated at the Lithuanian National Museum in Rivers23. Over 60 barrows of various
Vilnius, AR 540; drawing by A. Ruzien).
sizes (825 m diameters) have been
counted in this barrow cemetery, of
Another of the dukes retinues horsemen is buried in which 18 partially destroyed barrows and their remains
barrow no. 6, with a horse in the same grave pit20, bur- have been excavated (Fig. 16). Only fifth-eighth centuied to the mans right (Tautaviius 1981, p.35 fig.39). ry cremation graves have been found in the excavated
In this grave, the horse was buried with a bridle (with barrows. The Paduob-altalin horseman, buried in
the bits in its mouth and a small iron clasp under its barrow no. 17, was encircled by smaller, middle of the
neck) the only grave found in the entire Taurapilis fifth to seventh century barrows that contained graves
with cremated men and women24 who were buried with
barrow cemetery in which this was the case.
A horseman and horse of undetermined age who laid
to the horsemans right in a southwestwardly direction
were discovered in partially destroyed barrow no. 1
(Tautaviius 19701971, p.67). The deceased was buried with the grave goods characteristic of a warrior:
a lance-head of Kazakeviius III type (Kazakeviius
1988, p.4, fig. 15.3 map VII), a knife, a shield boss, and
a battle knife (length 32 cm). Also found in the grave
were an iron crossbow fibula with a cast bronze plate
catch, a bronze spiral finger-ring, and a B-shaped belt
buckle (Fig. 15).
The horse was 22.5 years of age, 1.331.34 m tall, and

researched by Associate Prof V. Barauskas (Tautaviius
19701971, p.67).
20
194
Fourteen remaining barrows were excavated in 1970

1971.
22
The layout of East Lithuanian barrow cemeteries by cluster or linear scheme is proposed by Vaitkeviius. See
Vaitkeviius 2007, p.118ff
23
See Bliujien 2006, p.138; Girininkas 2007, p.352ff
fig.13.
24
A 3550 year old mans cremation grave (with two spears,
an axe, and a buckle) was found above the barrows base
in barrow no. 16 (diameter 13 m, height 0.8 m), while a
2040 year old womans grave was dug into the base. Both
of the burials belong to the seventh century (Steponaitis
2006a, p.99ff; 2006b). Barrow no. 14 (diameter 8.59 m,
1415 m with the pits, height 0.72 m) and barrow no. 15
(diameter 8.1 m, 13 m with the pits, height 0.4 m) contained cremation graves of men and women with poor
grave goods, dated to the middle - second half of the fifth
century (Steponaitis 2006, p.88ff; 2006b).
21
Fig. 13. Taurapilis barrow no. 5, dukes silver drinking

horn and handle bindings (curated at the Lithuanian National Museum in Vilnius, AR 540; drawing by A. Ruzien).
poorer grave goods.

However, the strict order evident in the creation of the Taurapilis
barrows is not evident in
the Paduob-altalin
barrow cemetery.
BALTICA 11
In one of the largest

barrow cemeterys barrows, barrow no. 1725, a
2530 year old mans26
and horses grave was
found in a pit at the base
of the barrow. The 3.5
5 year old horse27 was
buried to the persons
left (Fig. 17; Plate V.23). The barrow mound
was constructed from
the surrounding areas
sand and there were
remnants of a stone circle. There was no continuous ditch around the
barrow; it was formed
from crooked and irregularly round 2.33.2
m wide pits (Plate V.2).
The part of the grave in
which the horseman was
buried was destroyed,
i.e., it was pillaged with
knowledge of the exact burial place of the
person, even if the five
empty pits, perhaps attempting to disorientate
robbers, were dug into
the barrow mound (Fig.
17; Plate V.2). However,
the robbers were not interested in the horse; apparently they knew that
in the best case scenario
the horse would be buried with a leather bridle
ARCHAEOLOGIA
The barrows diameter was 1517 m, the diameter with the

ditches was approximately 23 m, and its height reached 1.1
m. The grave pit was 3.4x2.3 m x 1.2 m deep.
26
Investigated by Prof Dr (HP) Rimantas Jankauskas, Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine.
27
The bones were researched by Prof Dr (HP) Linas
Daugnora (Steponaitis 2007, p.133). In opinion of Dr
Giedr Piliiauskien of the Lithuanian National Museum,
Department of Archaeology horse was 78 year old.
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
25
195
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND VALDAS
STEPONAITIS
196
Fig. 14. Taurapilis barrow no. 6s horseman and his horse

grave in situ (after Tautaviius 1981, fig.39).
Fig. 15. Taurapilis barrow no. 1s grave goods: 1-5, 7 iron;

6 bronze (after Tautaviius 1981, fig.36).
and iron bridle bits. Among the remaining things were

a fragment of the deceased man skull vaults vertex
and scanty skeleton fragments of the deceased which
were all heaped together in one corner of the grave pit.
Beside the pieces of bone, a fragment of a broken iron
battle knife, a bronze spiral, and two links of an iron
chain were found (Fig. 18). The massive tongue of a
buckle was found at the bottom of the burial pit, probably lost while pillaging the grave. The silver tongue
was 7.4 cm long, weighed 42.0 g, was gilded in gold,
had a triangular cross-section, and terminated with the
ornate head of some kind of creature. Moreover, the
tongue was decorated with geometrical designs (triangles, scrolls, volutes) in a chip carving technique, with
two relief motifs that resemble two-headed birds with
beaks, possibly preyed birds, and elaborate stamped
patterns typical of the Migration Period (Fig.18.2;
Plate V.1). No other motifs of bird heads of this style
were found. However, preyed bird motifs are known
from sword scabbard mountings from the second half
of the fifth century, as well as from Gepidic womens
silver sheet metal bow-brooches dcor, and other artefacts (Bhner 1989, figs.22.1 and 23.1-3; Nagy 2005,
fig.10). On the other hand, belt buckle tongues of the

third quarter of the fifth century ascribed by Bierbrauer
to the Gva Acquasanta type are decorated with the
sculptured head of a preyed upon bird (Bierbriauer
1975, p.134ff plate XL.2a). In creating their unique
animal style, the Germanic people largely leaned on
antique customs, their own artistic traditions, and, in
a sense, on mythology28; thus, in their artistic expression, they often united creatures into pairs, just like humans. Various pairs are reflected not only in Germanic
art, but also in burial customs, since sometimes their
warriors were furnished with a double set of weaponry
(Czarnecka 2007, p.50ff figs. 4 and 5; Bhner 1989,
p.476ff). Thus, the preyed bird motifs on the tongue
of the Paduob-altalin belt buckle corresponds not
only to the periods artistic tendencies, but also to the
ideological outlook of the time.
The shape of the Paduob-altalin buckles grip and
belt plate (square, rectangular, rhomboid, circular?)
is unclear. Belt buckles with tongues that terminated
in stylized heads of creatures as well as rhomboid or
28
Tacitus Germania, 43 (Hutton, 1970); Holmqvist 1955,

pp.9-33 figs. 6-48.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 16. Paduob-altalin barrows distribution. Barrow no. 17 marked in darker shade (map created by T. idikis; maps newest additions by Steponaitis).
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
197
BALTICA 11
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND VALDAS
STEPONAITIS
Fig. 17. Paduob-altalin barrow no. 17, horsemans and his horse grave in situ. 1 bronze finger ring; 2 iron ring; 3 piece
of iron chain; 4 gild silver belt buckle tongue; 5 knife fragments (drawing by G. Grias).
198
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
Fig. 18. Paduob-altalin barrow no. 17, horsemans grave goods: 1 bronze finger ring; 2 iron ring; 3 piece of iron chain;
4 gild silver belt buckle tongue; 5 knife fragments (curated at the Lithuanian National Museum in Vilnius; drawings
by A. Ruzien).
199
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND VALDAS
STEPONAITIS
quadrangular belt plates were a part of the typical costume of aristocratic women of the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Gepids, Franks, and other Germanic peoples
(Werner, 1977; Tautaviius 1981; Bierbrauer 1995; Pinar 2005, p.305ff figs.7 and 8; Kazanski, Gavritukhin
2006, p.319ff figs.3; 4; 8). However, as anthropological research data and grave inventories show, luxurious
silver buckles worn by women in the European forest
belt and in the East Lithuanian barrow area are found
in mens graves, except for the massive silver, goldgilded belt buckle with a rectangular belt plate found
in the Zibolik 3 barrow cemetery (Kliaugait 2000,
p.183 fig.15; Bliujien 2006, p.133ff fig. 9).
The tongue of the Paduob-altalin buckle is dated
to the third quarter of the fifth century. While precise
analogies to the tongue of the Paduob-altalin
buckle have not been found yet, there are known parallels in a large region from the Iberian Peninsula to
Merovingian France, including the middle Danube
area and Carpathian Basin, the area north of Italy, Crimea, Northern Caucasus, the Don River delta, and the
European forest belt (Csallny 1961, figs.CXCII.2;
CXCV.10; Annibaldi, Werner 1963; Aibabin 1990,
figs.22 and 23; Bierbrauer 1995, p.577ff figs.19.3;
21.5,6;22; Bezuglov, Tolochko 2002, 46ff fig.3.4; Kazanski, 2000, p.415 figs.2 and 3.6; Pinar 2005, p.309ff
figs.7-9; Pinar, Pinopol 2006, p.205 with fig.5; Kazanski, Gavrituhkin 2006, p.319ff figs.2; 15-18). All such
widespread gilded silver buckles are linked by general
stylistics and production technology. This belt buckle
(fragment) undoubtedly was a social status marker of
the buried person. Such buckles apparently were made
in middle Danube jewellery workshops, in the third
quarter of the fifth century. On the other hand, buckles
usually are individual piece products of general stylistics, thus they could very well have been manufactured
according to an individual persons order.
Paduob-altalin barrow no. 17 was robbed already
in antiquity; therefore we have only secondary data
to ascertain the horsemans social status. There is no
doubt that a high rank military leader or even supreme
ruler was buried in this barrow. The high ranking horsemans grave found in barrow no. 17 is not only the sole
inhumation grave found in the Paduob-altalin barrow cemetery, but so far it also is the wealthiest known
grave within the barrow cemetery, although in some of
the cremation graves, remains of fine pieces of fused
silver or gold artefacts, and fragments of bone (or antler) mountings or comb fragments were found (Steponaitis 1991, pp.5 and 7).
200
he horsemen of East Lithuania

The horsemens graves of East Lithuania during the
Migration Period are dated to the third quarter of the
fifth century or somewhat later. Such graves are known
both in that times Europe and in Scandinavia (Hedeager 1992, pp.287-292; Bitner-Wrblewska 2001,
p.121ff fig. 33). All the men for whom a horse was
buried are interred holding to the inhumation mode of
burial, even though at that time (in the third quarter
of the fifth century) in East Lithuania the custom of
cremation was passed spreading it already was dominant. In fact, these horsemen are the last people buried
in East Lithuanias barrows following the inhumation
custom. Only the graves of horsemen and their horses
are found in the barrows; these barrows mounds are
only rarely dug into with somewhat later cremation
graves (possibly those of family members). Not many
horsemens graves are known, thus, the largest percentage of the warriors of this period appear to be infantrymen, as opposed to the supreme rulers or dukes or
military leaders and partial retinues that were buried
with their riding horses.
Since the barrow is designated as the deceaseds dwelling in the Afterlife, the barrow, along with its size and
position within the site, constitute a very good means
of demonstrating power and wealth. The horseman and
his horse were buried in a single grave pit, with the
horse to the deceased persons left or right. The Taurapilis dukes horse (barrow no. 5) was buried to the
dukes left side, possibly to emphasize his exceptional
rank (Fig. 6). While we do not have many researched
horse bones, the extant data show that young horses
(stallions) were buried; the oldest researched horses
were 8 years old. Usually the horses were buried without bridles. This burial rites feature is in sharp contrast
to the costly ornaments, everyday household items,
and arms and armament with which the horseman is
seen off. The significance of the horsemans grave
goods and peculiar depreciation of the horse is a distinct regional feature because at that time burials with
horses harnessed with ornate saddles that corresponded with the rank of their masters were widespread in
Europe (Wieczorek, Prin 2001; Quast 2007 pp.35-64
fig.7). On the other hand, spurs are rarely found in East
Lithuanian Migration Period barrows (Tautaviius
1996, p.50; Zviaryga 2005, p.51; Akhmedov et al.
p.345). Only the duke (barrow no. 5) in the Taurapilis
barrow cemetery was buried with two spurs (Fig. 10).
Thus, the horse, just as the abundant weapons and elements of weaponry, would suggest that warrior horsemen were buried in such graves.
Persons of the highest social strata or ruling elite were

buried by different burial rites mostly cremation.
Only a few inhumations dated to the third quarter of
the fifth century have been found; we can assume that
differences in burial rites were small, but the chronological differences left in the material record are diffi-
Worth emphasizing is that the majority of East Lithuanian horsemens graves during the Migration Period
were pillaged and that the pillagers were well informed
about the graves burial rites: it is the wealthy peoples
graves that were robbed. The horses, because of their
poor accoutrements, did not interest the robbers. Many
reasons suggest that local people robbed the graves;
they knew the subtleties of how the graves were arranged and possibly the marks that indicated the
graves locations. We can thus assume that the graves
were robbed not long after the burials, for their silver,
gold, and bronze ornaments. Iron, however, did not interest the robbers (Kurila 2009, p.51ff fig.7).
One of the times main stimuli for robbery was that
it was the newcomers from the middle Danube who
were being robbed. This was after the newcomers ties
with the middle Danube area were discontinued, during the first quarter of the sixth century or somewhat
later even before the Gepid Kingdoms defeat in 567.
Since communities need stylish ornaments and personal items, first a portion of the luxurious items that were
available would be recycled and refashioned, then reused (Bliujien 2006, p.136 fig.9). On the other hand,
it is very possible that some of the fashionable silver,
gilded silver, or gilded bronze artefacts intentionally
would be broken and parts of them given as gifts or
payments to retinues, or as gifts to supporters. Another
possibility is that some gold and silver items would
be distributed as dowry when marrying off daughters
to representatives of local elite, hoping to ensure the
elites support, etc. The available material does suggest,
however, that East Lithuanias newcomers managed to
maintain power and the material culture that reflected
their distinctiveness not longer than four generations;
by the middle of the sixth century to the eighth century
the East Lithuanian Barrow Culture had acquired a different quality different burial rites and grave goods.
Notably, the local communities, just like the newcomers, neither created new ornaments based on the ones
they had, nor imitated them. In other words, grandparents, parents, and children laid together with their
wealth in East Lithuanias barrows.
BALTICA 11
Despite the stylistic variety and wide area in which

similar artefacts had spread, the material of Taurapilis and Paduob-altalin, just as that of the Sudota,
Borava, and Zibolik barrow cemeteries still has the
most analogies in the middle Danube region (Fig. 1).
In the middle of the fifth century to first quarter of the
sixth century, the territory between Lakes Tauragnas,
Kretuonas, and Vajuonis reflects the existence of a
large concentration of wealth of non-local origin as
well as power maintained by arms. This phenomenon
cannot be explained as a consequence of trade or economic ties, cultural influences, ideological changes, or
of a different form of communication between elites or
other contacts. Thus, it is entirely possible that this
small part of East Lithuania was directly affected by
several waves of migrations (Zabiela 1995, p.49f with
fig.35; Bliujien 2006). After the year 454, the fall of
the Hun Empire had a domino effect that provoked
extensive migratory movement of various tribes of
Europe, including ones that previously had not been involved in European politics or that had just felt the first
waves of migration at the beginning of the fifth century. Regional movements of people are difficult to recognize or positively affirm by archaeological material
because they are complex processes that can be comprehensively judged only by comparing regional materials and changes (cf. Burmeister, 2000; Teuws 2009,
pp.290-315; Quast 2009, p.8ff with literature references). On the other hand, the appearance of newcomers in
East Lithuania was neither massive nor long-term; in
fact, the newcomers apparently disappeared after four
generations (parents-children-parents-children), possibly even after two generations. Multi-ethnic groups of
people who had extensive interregional ties, including
ties with the middle Danube, settled in the small region
between Lakes Tauragnas, Kretuonas, and Vajuonis
(Fig. 1). People with high, but clearly different social
status appeared here. Among these people were persons
likened to that times aristocratic elite, i.e., to supreme
rulers or to the military leaders who stood in the forefront of their armed retinues, as well as, of course, their
standard armed retinues. This periods largest percentage of warriors appears to be the typical infantrymen,
as opposed to the supreme rulers or military leaders
who were buried with their riding horses.
cult to assess. Most likely the supreme rulers or highest

military leaders belonged to distinct ethnic groups and
their multi-ethnic retinues were related to these rulers
or military leaders only by ties of loyalty, i.e., an oath.
Be that as it may, the settlement of immigrants was a
positive influence on the formation of the East Lithuanian Barrow Culture. The graves of the Taurapilis and
Paduob-altalin highest status persons, as well as
the huge wealth and military power concentrated in a
small region, suggest that a form of government identical with that of a chiefdom had been created in the
region.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Concentration of wealth and power in

East Lithuania
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
201
AUDRON
BLIUJIEN
AND VALDAS
STEPONAITIS
Thus, no one was around to protect their ancestors

graves, to maintain ties with them through rituals. This
also could have been a serious reason for those whose
imagined ancestors were buried in the barrows to pillage the graves because they supposedly had the right
to their ancestors wealth (even through or tribal legislation) that was necessary to ensure lifes plenitude.
As well, the robbers of the rich graves could have been
those who were not tied in any way to those interred
in the barrows.
Conclusions
By 2008 data, eight horsemen buried in grave pits with
complete horse skeletons had been discovered in only
four of the East Lithuanian barrow cemeteries of the
second half of the fifth century. A unified tradition of
horse burial is not evident. The horse was buried to
the persons left or right, usually without a bridle. The
majority of these graves already were robbed in antiquity.
These barrows are concentrated in a small territory
between Lakes Tauragnas, eimenis, and Vajuonis, in
an area of no more than 5060 sq. km. Exceptionally
wealthy graves of warrior horsemen are found in this
small region; their graves contain artefacts of silver,
gold, or gilded bronze that originated mostly from the
middle Danube. Such burials are associated with supreme rulers or leaders with high military status. Also
found in the region are groups of well, but standardly
armed foot soldiers or infantrymen, probably the rulers buried retinue members. The concentration of huge
wealth and military power as well as clear differences
in social structure could be likened to a chiefdom.
Multi-ethnic groups of people reached the discussed
East Lithuanian micro-region in the Migration Period.
However, the newcomers disappeared among the local
people over the course of four generations.
age determinations of both humans and horses. We

also thank Dr Dieter Quast (Rmisches-Germanisches
Zentral Museum in Mainz) for sharing his experience
in the analysis of the Taurapilis dukes grave and for
the valuable literature references.
Abbreviations
AB Archaeologia Baltica, from 2006 prepared at
Klaipda Universitys Institute of Baltic Sea
RB Rocznik Biaostocki, Biaystok
LAA Lietuvos archeologijos atlasas, 3, Vilnius, 1977
d. district
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Received: 20 May 2009; Revised: 6 June 2009;
Audron Bliujien
Klaipda University
E-mail: audrone.bliujiene@gmail.com
Valdas Steponaitis
Lithuanian National Museum
Arsenalo street 1, LT-01100, Vilnius
E-mail: valdas.steponaitis@lnm.lt
T U RT I N G I TA U T
KRAUSTYMOSI LAIK
RAITELIAI GDIUOSE
RY T L I E T U V O S M I K U O S E
Audron Bliujien, Valdas Steponaitis
Santrauka
2008 m. duomenimis, tik keturiuose V a. antrosios puss Ryt Lietuvos pilkapynuose rasti atuoni raiteli,
palaidot vienoje kapo duobje su visu irgu, kapai
(1 pav.). Raiteli kap rasta Antasars (Laukiai, Sariai) ir Paduobs-altalins III (abu venioni r.)
bei Pavajuonio-Rkui (Ignalinos r.) ir Taurapilio
(Utenosr.) pilkapynuose (218 pav.). irgai ir raiteliai
laidoti duobse po sampilu. irgas laidojamas mogui
Be Antasars ir Pavajuonio-Rkui raiteli kap

(24pav.), straipsnyje aptariamas Taurapilio pilkapyje
5 palaidoto 4050 met amiaus vyro, dl iskirtinio
kapi komplekto ir laidosenos ypatum Lietuvos ir
kit ali istoriografijoje inomo kaip Taurapilio kunigaiktis, kapas. Kunigaikio kapi komplektas,
kapo inventoriuje vyraujantys ginklai, pilkapio vietos
parinkimas kalvels centre, pilkapio dydis rodo iskirtin mirusiojo padt (613 pav.; IV iliustr.). Kunigaikio kap supa jo ginkluotos raiteli palydos
kapai (5 pav.).
2006 m. tiriant Paduobs-altalins III pilkapyn,
rastas dar vieno aukiausi status (galbt prilygstant
Taurapilio kunigaikiui) turjusio raitelio ir jo irgo
kapas, deja, apipltas (17; 18 pav.; V iliustr.). Viename i didiausi pilkapyno pilkapi 17 vienoje duobje
po pilkapio pagrindu rastas 2530 m. amiaus vyro ir
irgo kapas. 78 m. amiaus irgas palaidotas mogui
i kairs (17 pav.; V: 3 iliustr.). Plik nedomino irgas, nes, matyt, jie inojo, kad irgas geriausiu atveju
bus palaidotas su odinmis kamanomis ir geleiniais
slais. I palaidoto vyro iliko tik kaukols skliauto
virugalvio fragmentas ir menki skeleto fragmentai,
kurie buvo sumesti viename duobs kampe ir alia kuri rasta sulusio ar sulauyto geleinio kovos peilio
dali, alvarin vija, gelein grandis ir nedidelis grandinls fragmentas (18 pav.). Kapo duobs dugne rastas, matyt, apipliant kap pamestas masyvus 7,4cm
ilgio ir 42,0 g svorio sidabrinis paauksuotas trikampio
pjvio sagties lieuvlis, usibaigiantis dailia gyvno
galvute, nors kokia buvo sagties lankelio ir diro apkalo forma, neaiku (18: 4pav.; V: 1 iliustr.). Paduobsaltalins sagties lieuvlis datuotinas V a. treiuoju
ketviriu. Nors tiksli analogij Paduobs-altalins
diro sagties lieuvliui kol kas nerasta, bet paraleli
inoma labai plaiame regione: nuo Pirn pusiasalio iki Dunojaus vidurupio, iaurins Italijos, Krymo
pusiasalio ir Kaukazo, Dono emupio bei iaurs ryt
Europos mik juostos paminkl.
BALTICA 11
eer, i teritorija teuima kiek daugiau kaip 5060km

(1 pav.). iame nedideliame regione randama ypa
turting kari raiteli kap, kuriuose rasta sidabrini,
auksini ar auksuotos bronzos dirbini, daugiausia
kilusi i Dunojaus vidurupio. Tokie kapai siejami su
kunigaikiais ar aukt karin status turjusiais karo
vadais. Regione taip pat rasta gerai, bet standartikai
ginkluot kari pstinink, priklausiusi kunigaiki
kariaunai, kap grup. Sutelktas didiulis turtas ir karin jga bei akivaizds visuomens socialins struktros skirtumai prilygo vadystei. Aptariamj Ryt
Lietuvos mikroregion taut kraustymosi laikotarpiu
pasiek polietnini moni grups, taiau ateiviai per
keturias ar tris kartas itirpo tarp vietini moni.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
i kairs ir i deins, beveik visada be kaman. Visi

vyrai, alia kuri buvo palaidotas irgas, buvo laidoti
laikantis griautinio laidojimo bdo, nors tuo metu, V a.
treiajame ketvirtyje, Ryt Lietuvoje ne plito, bet jau
vyravo kn deginimo paprotys. Faktikai ie raiteliai
yra paskutiniai mons, palaidoti Ryt Lietuvos pilkapiuose, laikantis inhumacijos paproio. Pabrtina,
kad tokiuose pilkapiuose randamas tik raitelio ir jo irgo kapas, labai retai toki pilkapi sampilus kasami
kiek vlesni sudegint mirusij kapai (galbt eimos
nariai). Daugumas raiteli kap jau senovje buvo apiplti (2; 3; 17 pav.; V: 3 iliustr.).
III
H or s e s ,
H or s e m e n ,
and Equestria n
E q u i p m e n t:
Pre pare d
f or War ,
B u rial s , a n d
O f f eri n g s
Straipsnyje aptariami pilkapynai koncentruojasi nedidelje teritorijoje tarp Tauragno, eimenio ir Vajuonio
205
The Cemetery f Oberhof

(Auktkiemiai) Horse
Graves nd Equestrian
Equipment
T H E C E M E T E RY O F O B E R H O F ( A U K T K I E M I A I )
H O R S E G R AV E S A N D E Q U E S T R I A N E Q U I P M E N T
CHRISTINE REICH
CHRISTINE
REICH
Abstract
In Oberhof (Auktkiemiai, western Lithuania) all forms of horse burials or offerings can be found: complete horses, horse
skulls or the skull and the limbs. In every case where a description is preserved the horse parts were placed to the left of all
other items or to the left of the human body, which might be a sign that the horse was used for riding. Horse remains, bridle
bits or spurs usually occur in mens burials that contain weapons. In the community of Oberhof it was not necessary to be on
top of the military hierarchy to be a rider or to receive riding gear as grave goods. On the other hand bridles, spurs or horse
parts are found quite often in very well furnished graves. So even if theses offerings are often connected with warriors, it
has to be considered that they might be not only an indicator for the doubtlessly existing cavalry but also for different social
phenomena.
Keywords: Roman Period, Migration Period, Viking Age, burials with horses, riding gear, cross shaped fittings.
Introduction
The cemetery of Oberhof (Auktkiemiai, district
Klaipda) is situated in what today is western Lithuania, northeast of the city of Klaipeda. It was excavated
from 1886 to 1888 by Otto Tischler and in 1894 by Alfred Jentzsch, Heinrich Kemke and Carl Kretschmann.
They investigated more than 4225 m2 and 452 graves.
The burial ground was in use from the Roman Age
up to the Middle Ages, i.e. from the third to the 12th
century AD. Oberhof has always been perceived as
one of the reference cemeteries providing the basis of
Otto Tischlers chronological phasing of Eastern Prussia. Nevertheless, apart from short reports by Tischler (1888; 1889; 1890), some illustrations, mentions
and references in the literature the material remained
unpublished. Until World War II the material and
documentation were housed in the Prussia Museum
in Knigsberg. During and after the war the archaeological collection of the Prussia Museum resp. of the
Landesamt fr Vorgeschichte was torn apart and badly
damaged. For more than 40 years the whereabouts
of the whole collection were unknown. Today, a part
of the collection is kept in the Museum fr Vor- und
Frhgeschichte, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Preuischer Kulturbesitz (Reich 2004/05; Reich, Menghin
2008). As no inventory books, especially no catalogue
of Oberhof, have survived, the grave units had to be reconstructed. This is possible by means of the preserved
objects and the archive material now kept in Berlin
combined with references in literature, old photographs, drawings and notes in other archives1.
Before entering into the main discussion of this paper

it is worthwhile to give a short overview of the sources
and their quality, since these factors naturally affect the
derivation of subsequent conclusions. Originally 3076
inventory numbers existed, 1541 of them are kept in
Berlin today. In addition 31 ceramic vessels reside in
the Muzeum Warmii i Mazur in Olsztyn, Poland. Every
item originally carried a small tag with a consecutive
number. The objects were fixed on cardboards organized by graves. Only a part of these cardboards have
survived and many objects have fallen off. Sometimes
the tags were also lost. In the process of reconstruction
and re-identification many of these objects were successfully reassigned to the corresponding graves.
The preserved archive material includes Tischlers descriptions of the graves. These are complemented by
typed copies made in 1943. Sometimes they are accompanied by small sketches or plans of the burials
on graph paper. Such descriptions are provided for 230
graves respective 313 graves and findings. In some
cases the original descriptions as well as the typed-up
copies are very badly preserved. In addition, the typed
copies contain numerous mistakes caused by misinterpretations of the original. There are no descriptions for
the burials discovered in 1894.
Other important sources which connect inventory
numbers with grave numbers are a list of Roman coins
found in Oberhof and small inventory cards that
were possibly fashioned for storage purposes. Photos,
illustrations in the literature and sketches in archives2
give further hints. All this information provides a rough
2
The project is sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (research grant Me 525/7).
206
Information on objects from Oberhof can be found in the

archives of Nils berg, Marta Schmiedehelm, Herbert
Jankuhn, Rudolf Grenz, Carl Engel, Bernhard Salin, CarlAxel Moberg and Fliks Jkobsons.
Graves with horse remains or riding

gear
There are several problems concerning graves with
horses or horse equipment in Oberhof in particular. In
Oberhof almost no bones are preserved, neither human
nor horse ones. Even if a detailed description with the
corresponding plans like in case of grave no. 7 (Fig.
1) exists, it is difficult to reconstruct the position of
the deceased. The items that were found in grave no.
7 fall into three groups. At Z11 the socketed axe was
placed above the spearhead; beside them a sickle had
been deposited. At E12 a silver neck ring with glass and
amber beads and a brooch were found. Next to them
a spearhead, a Roman coin, a knife and an iron fragment were situated. At F12 horse teeth with a bridle bit,
fragments from the bridle and a spur were found. This
means that the horse skull was situated to the left of all
other items, but it is not completely sure where to place
the head of the dead man. This of course is important
to determine on which side of the rider the horse skull
or the horse was put.
The silver neck ring and the glass and amber beads
do not give a clue either. Remains of birch bark were
found on the amber beads. Even if it seems possible
that the neck ring and the beads could have been worn
by the deceased, they could also have been placed in
a box or package of birch bark, which is a well docu The procedure used in the reconstruction of the contents of
a burial is explained in Reich 2007, p.196 plate II.2.
4
There is besides occasional missing cards a particularly big gap between grave no. 304 and 358. Distinctively
fewer cards are preserved for graves with higher numbers
than that. However for the burials excavated in 1894 the
Tischlersche Zettelkatalog is often the only source of information.
3
If no descriptions or plans of a grave are preserved,

one cannot say anything about the relation of horse
and man. The poor preservation of bones also makes
it hard to decide if a complete horse or which parts of
a horse have been buried. It would also be conceivable all bones of a horse burial could have completely
decomposed as it happened with most of the human
bones. In this case it is hard to tell if it is a horse burial,
if a complete or only parts of the horse were offered
or if it is the burial of a rider without the offering of a
real horse.
For grave no. 2 (Fig. 2) there is no plan, but a description5 exists. Looking at the preserved objects, especially because of the arm rings and arm spirals, one gets
the impression of a womans burial. But the description makes it quite clear, that this very shallow grave
was obviously disturbed. Only fragments of the iron
objects (tools or weapons) could be excavated. The
ornaments, like in grave no. 7, could be also a genuine offering that did not belong to the costume of the
buried man. Moreover in Oberhof the conditions for
the preservation of iron or metal in general are pretty
bad6. This means that not all grave items, e.g. weapons,
have necessarily survived.
There are only few harnesses in Oberhof with metal
fittings; bridles with bronze chains are missing totally. Exceptional fittings were found in grave no. 2.
Already Tischler (1889, p.28) mentioned them in one
of his preliminary reports. According to his description of the grave7 a horse skull, of which only the teeth
were left, with an iron bridle bit was found. The leather
bridle was rotten. Near the teeth four cross-shaped fittings were situated, the two smaller ones nearer to the
teeth, the two bigger ones with enamel decoration at
the temples. The bronze buckle found nearby should
have been part of the bridle as well.
BALTICA 11
The most important resource concerning the reconstruction is the so called Tischlerscher Zettelkatalog.
It is a card-file collection which today is kept in the
Muzeum Warmii i Mazur in Olsztyn. It includes 341
file cards referring to Oberhof. Although its original
function is unknown, it seems to reflect the state of
the former inventory. Probably it was used in order to
check the collection. Every card lists the contents of a
grave, albeit without inventory numbers. The Zettelkatalog hence allows determining the range of inventory
numbers for a grave by comparison with preserved objects, other sources and counting3. Naturally this method does not lead to exact results for every grave, since
not all file cards of the Zettelkatalog are preserved4,
and the other available sources are similarly more or
less incomplete (Reich 2007, 195ff; 2008, p.21ff).
mented custom in Oberhof. In this case the ornaments

were not attached to the costume and therefore cannot
be used as an indication of the orientation of the body.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
framework of association between inventory numbers

and graves.
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E ques trian
E quipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
The two bigger bronze cross-shaped fittings are silverplated. In the centre of each is a circle of red enamel
with a bronze star and a hemispherical-headed rivet on
Ganz flach unter dem 1ten Spatenstich Pferdekopf (sehr
verwittert, nur Zhne) mit Eisengebiss (zerbrochen); Der
Lederzaum ganz vermodert: am Gebiss sassen 4 kreuzfrmige Zierplatten, 2 kleinere liefen, nher dem Gebiss. 2
grosse mit rothem Email hher, also wohl an den Schlfen.
Dabei sind noch einige Bronzen, die mit der Erde zusammen ausgehoben wurden. Ferner dabei 1 Bronzeschnalle. In der Nachbarschaft dieser Stcke ein Eisenstck.
Dicht dabei ein Eisensporn. In der Nhe im hellen Niveau
noch einiges Eisen verstreut. Auch die Spirale einer Fibel. (PM-A 1246/1, Bl. 2 u. 4).
6
Several metal objects were recovered en block in order
to save them at all (Tischler 1888, p.6).
7
See footnote 5.
5
207
CHRISTINE
REICH

(Auktkiemiai) Horse
Equipment
Fig. 1. Grave no. 7 from Oberhof.
top. The smaller fittings are lacking the enamel circle

and the star. All fittings have hemispherical-headed
rivets at the end of each arm; fine wire is applied along
the borders.
Similar cross-shaped fittings are not only known from
western Lithuania, but also from Mazuria and Sudovia.
Occasionally they are found on the Sambian peninsula,
in Nadruvia (Nadrauen) and in the western part of socalled Samogitia (Fig. 3)8. Apart from the fittings from
Oberhof (Auktkiemiai, Klaipda district), grave no.
2 (Gaerte 1929, fig.245.a); Lazdininkai (Kretinga dis-
208
trict), grave no. 9/1992; (Bliujien, Butkus 2007, fig.10);

Lazdininkai, grave no. 6/1992 (Bliujien, Butkus 2007,
fig.8.2); Mazkatui (Liepja district, Latvia), grave
no. 23/1942 (Bliujien, Butkus 2007, fig.8.1); Stragnai (Klaipda district), grave context presently unclear
(Volkait-Kulikauskien 1971, fig.5); viliai (ilal district), grave no. 47 (Vaitkunskien 1999, fig.214); Netta
(Augustw district, Podlaskie voivodeship, Poland),
grave no. 79 (Bitner-Wrblewska 2007, Taf.38); AlthofInsterburg (Telmanova, Kaliningrad region, Russia),
grave no. 135 (Bliujien, Butkus 2007, fig.8.3); Greibau
(Gaerte 1929, fig.245.b); Pruschinoven-Wolka (Wlka
Prusinowska, Mrgowo district, Warmisko-Mazurskie
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E ques trian
E quipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
Fig. 2. Grave no. 2 from Oberhof.
Oberhof only the ones from Banduiai and Stragnai9

show enamel. All items from Pruschinoven-Wolka
(Wlka Prusinowska) are disc fibulae. The objects
voivodeship, Poland), grave no. 5 (Inv. Nr. V, 176, 7991;
Prussia Archive, Voigtmann-Kartei; Fotoplatte PM-F
922); Pruschinoven-Wolka (Wlka Prusinowska), grave
no. 36 (Voigtmann-Kartei); Pruschinoven-Wolka (Wlka Prusinowska) (Gaerte 1929, fig.245.c); Szwajcaria
(Suwaki district, Podlaskie voivodeship, Poland), barrow
32 (Antoniewicz 1963, fig.1.l); Audinischken (Audyniszki, Godap district, Warmisko-Mazurskie voivodeship,
Poland) (Voigtmann-Kartei); Adlig-Heydekrug (ilut)
(Jankuhn archive; Nowakowski, Banyt-Rowell 2001,
fig.3a.b); Banduiai (Klaipda city), presently grave
contexts unclear (Bliujien, Braiulien 2007, p.40 fig.1
(Puzinas archive); Paprotki Kolonia, site 1 (Giycko district, Warmisko-Mazurskie voivodeship, Poland), grave
no. 72 (Bitner-Wrblewska, Karczewska, Karcewski 2001,
fig.10.10-12).
9
It is not recognizable doubtlessly on the published photo.
from Lazdininkai, grave 9/1992 and Paprotki Kolonia,

site 1, grave 72 served as belt fittings. It strikes that
the rivet in the middle and the applied fine wire are
missing. This simple form was found also in Illerup
dal, where the fittings were fixed on the container for
the bridle chains (Carnap-Bornheim, Ilkjr 1996, plate
149; particularly UAY and ULH). In case of the fitting
from Greibau the rivet in the middle and the fine wire
are replaced by punched ornaments. Most of the cross
shaped fittings are known from the Late Roman Period,
only the ones from viliai, grave 47 have to be dated in
the Early Migration Period (Bitner-Wrblewska 2007,
p.82).
The harness from Oberhof, grave no. 360 was decorated with 36 rivets and two fittings: one of them a square
with a rivet at each edge, the second a flat square with
drawn-in sides. Also part of the harness were two strap
ends with attached rings and two iron buckles.
209
CHRISTINE
REICH

(Auktkiemiai) Horse
Equipment
Fig. 3. Distribution of cross-shaped fittings.
The common form of bridle bits in Oberhof are made

of iron and have a bit with two bars and rings. In grave
no. 7 a bridle bit with bronze rings was found. Grave
no. 75 contained a very special bridle bit (also see: iliustration for chapter III). The rings have horse-shaped
extensions (Reich 2007, plate II.2). The only known
analogy so far was mentioned by Tischler (1888, p.20):
a bridle bit from a cemetery near Heydekrug (ilut)
that was kept in the Mineralogisches Museum in Dresden. Its finding circumstances as well as its presentday whereabouts are unknown. It seems that this type
might be restricted to the former Memel Land.
Furnishings of burials with horse

remains or equestrian equipment
In Oberhof there are 29 burials with horse bones or
teeth, bridle bits or spurs (Fig. 4). These items usually
occur in mens burials that contain weapons. A rela-
210
tively high percentage of them is very well equipped:

three are furnished with a sword or a big battle knife,
five with two spearheads, whereas one spearhead and
an axe is the usual equipment (Reich 2007, p.197ff.).
In this first group, characterised by the offering of a
more or less extensive weapons set, frequently coins
were found. These burials also show ornaments, in two
cases silver neck rings.
The medieval graves of Oberhof (graves nos. 435, 436
and 440) with horse equipment show a different composition of grave goods. They regularly contain a wide
range of ornaments (brooches, neck-rings, arm-rings
and finger-rings) combined with spearheads, miniatures axes and knifes. The bridle bits have rings and
are made of iron. As there are no descriptions of these
graves preserved, it is unknown if there have been any
horse remains. The spurs are (with one exception in
grave no. 435) all miniature spurs. They are made of
thin bronze sheet metal with a short, thin prick and
ARCHAEOLOGIA
BALTICA 11
Fig. 4. Table of associated grave items in graves with horse remains and riding gear at Oberhof. Abbreviations: Ag: silver; Fe: iron; Bz: bronze; F: fragment; gr: large; KZ: Roman Iron Age;
VWZ: Migration Period; MA: Early Medieval Period.
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E ques trian
E quipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
211
CHRISTINE
REICH

(Auktkiemiai) Horse
Equipment
small rivet holes at the end of each arm. Doubtlessly

they were never used in practice. Curiously no stirrups
have been found in the cemetery of Oberhof.
The third group can be described as containing a bridle
bit and few weapons or tools, but almost no ornaments.
Possibly this might be due to preservation conditions.
None of these graves can be dated because not enough
relevant objects have survived.
Graves with spurs but without a bridle bit are generally furnished a bit poorer, especially concerning ornaments. Only three of them contain a spearhead or a
socketed axe.
All forms of horse burials or offerings as described recently by Bliujien and Butkus (2007) can be found
in Oberhof. Only grave no. 257 was called a horse
grave by Tischler. However, no detailed description of
it is preserved, the only item is a buckle10. Only a horse
skull was buried in graves nos. 2 and grave 365. Teeth
that might have been the leftovers of a horse skull were
found in graves nos. 7 and 150. In graves nos. 360, 238
and 109 horse bones in the last two cases also with
horse teeth point at least to a burying of the sacrificial
parts of the horse, those being the skull and the limbs,
maybe connected with the skin11.
In every case where a description is preserved the horse
parts were placed to the left of all other items or to the
left of the human body. This is common custom during
the Roman and Migration Period in western Lithuania;
it is seen as a sign that the horse was used for riding
(Bliujien, Butkus 2007, p.96 ff.).
A single tooth of a horse was found in grave no. 270.
This grave contained a small pin with a cross-shaped
head and bronze spirals, nearby a pot was found12. As
no weapons or tools belonged to his burial, the tooth
might have had the character of an amulet13.
Apart from grave no. 257, where we cannot be sure
entirely that it really contained a complete skeleton,
only one other horse skeleton was completely pre This bronze buckle has an oval frame and can be assigned
to group H, type 16 according to Madyda-Legutko (1986),
which is to be set in the early Migration Period (phase D).
11
At least in case of grave 238 a complete horse may have
been offered. The description is not clear and according to
it, the part where the horse was found was disturbed.
12
None of these items is preserved. There is a sketch of the
pin in the archive of M. Schmiedehelm. The grave is situated within a grave group that was formed during Period F
(seventh/eight century).
13
In the Tischlerscher Zettelkatalog an Eisenpfriem mit
Bronzering (iron awl with bronze ring) is recorded but
was crossed out later. So it is unclear if this item really
belonged to this grave. On the other hand it might be that
these are the remains of a snaffle bit with bronze rings.
In that case a horse skull with a bridle would have been
offered.
10
212
served (feature B 29). Unfortunatly no further description other than a short note and a plan is preserved.
The horse had no bridle bit in its mouth, but one bridle bit, a spearhead and one or two sickles were found
nearby. None of these items has survived, so nothing
can be said about their age. The horse skeleton was
found in an area that might have been an Aschenplatz
but was at least a burial ground in medieval times. On
the other hand this area had been used in the Roman
Age already, so it is also possible that the horse grave
belongs to this period.
Distribution of burials with horse

remains or riding gear
on the cemetery
The distribution map of horse remains in Oberhof14
(Fig. 5) shows that graves or features with horse teeth
or skull fragments are widespread over the whole
cemetery. Burials with horse limbs on the other hand
are found in the northern part and in one case in the
western grave group. Except for graves nos. 109 and
257 that can be dated to the Migration Period for sure
and grave no. 270 that is to be set in period F all other
burials or features, as far as they are datable, belong to
the Roman Period. The features that are situated in an
area that was also used in medieval times overlay and
disturbed graves of the Roman Iron Age. So it can be
stated that within the area used in the Roman Period the
graves with horse limb bones are situated in the north,
whereas the burials in the southern part contained only
horse skulls.
Bridle bits are distributed in more or less the same
area (Fig. 6), that is to say scattered across the whole
burial ground. They are absent only in the very Northern group that was used mainly during the Migration
Period and in the northwestern group were graves of
Period F were excavated. In all they cover a broader
area than that taken by burials or features with horse
remains. Obviously in the Migration Period as well as
in the Viking Age it was more common to offer only
the bridle instead of parts of the horse.
Compared to burials with bridle bits, graves with spurs
take more peripheral positions. This might indicate a
somehow lower status of the deceased. A spur marks
a person only as a rider, he does not necessarily have
to have possessed a horse. It is also conceivable that
the horse was not buried with him for economical reasons (e.g. because it was needed by the bereaved). This
would indicate a lower status related to wealth and
14
For the reconstruction of the plan of the cemetery: Reich

2007, p.196ff.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
III
Fig. 5. Distribution of horse skulls or teeth () and horse bones (
might have led to a more external position of the burial

within a grave group as well.
One of the few quite well documented areas in Oberhof
is the western grave group (Reich 2007, p.201ff. fig.3;
4). It was mainly used during the Migration Period. At
least three, maybe four subgroups can be distinguished.
These groups are based not so much on families but
on allegiance or loyalty groups. Sword graves occupy
a central position within these groups. The number of
weapons decreases the further away from these centres
the burials are located.
In each of these subgroups there is at least one grave
with a bridle bit or a spur. Grave no. 109 in the eastern
subgroup takes a special position because it is the only
burial with horse remains. While there is a spur in this
grave, a bridle bit as well as weapons are missing. Only
a sickle marks the deceased as male. This might be due
to the poor preservation conditions of the iron objects15.
Because of the spur, that can be assigned to type Leuna
In the Zettelkatalog verschiedenes verkrautet is recorded
and furthermore in the description not all objects are clearly adressed. Sickle and knife were obviously identified and
prepared in the process of restoration and conservation.
15
) in Oberhof.
described by Giesler (1978)16, this burial can at least be

set in period D17. Therefore it might be older than the
other graves in the western grave group that contain
equestrian equipment, but no horse remains.
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E ques trian
E quipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
In two cases (graves nos. 111 and 75) a bridle bit was
found in sword graves. On the other hand several warriors with a sword or a big knife were offered neither a
bridle nor spurs. This is the most apparent in the southwestern subgroup, where two men with swords and one
man with two spears and an axe were buried. Grave no.
73 however contained only a spur and perhaps an iron
fibula. Looking at the graves with riding gear or horse
parts (Fig. 4) or at the combination of grave goods in
the male burials of Oberhof in general (Reich 2007,
fig.2) this fact can be observed in burials of the Roman
Age and medieval burials as well.
Concluding it can be stated, that in the community of
Oberhof it was not necessary to be on top of the military hierarchy to be a rider or to receive riding gear
For help with the classification I am grateful to Bartosz
Kontny.
17
About similar spurs recently: Kontny, Natuniewicz-Sekua
2009, fortcoming.
16
213
CHRISTINE
REICH

(Auktkiemiai) Horse
Equipment
Fig. 6. Distribution of bridle bits (dark) and spurs (light; M miniature spur) in Oberhof.
214
Fig. 7. Distribution of weapon furnishings, horse remains and riding gear in the south-western grave group: burials with a
sword or a large knife (); with two spearheads (); with one spearhead (); with only an axe ( );with a bridle bit ();
with a spur ( ) or with horse remains ( ).
References
ANTONIEWICZ, J., 1963. Wyniki bada przeprowadzonych
w latach 19581960 na cmentazysku w miejscowoci
Szwajcaria. Wiadomoci Archeologiczne, 29, 166-190.
BITNER-WRBLEWSKA, A., 2007. Netta. A Balt Cemetery in Northeastern Poland. In: Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica XII, Warszawa.
KARCEWSKI, M., 2001. Nowa odmiana uzdy z wodzami
acuchowymi z cmentarzyska kultury bogaczewskiej w
Paprotkach Kolonii, stan. 1, woj. warmisko-mazurskie.
Wiadomoci Archeologiczne, 45, 19992001, 65-85.
BLIUJIEN, A., BRAIULIEN, R., 2007. Pramatniosios
Barbaricum paribio diduomens moterys ir j vyrai. Lietuvos Archeologija, 30, 39-68.
BLIUJIEN, A., BUTKUS, D., 2007. Armed Men and their
Riding Horses as a Reflection of Warriors Hierarchy in
Western Lithuania during the Roman Iron Age. Archaeologia Baltica, 8, Weapons, Weaponry and Man (In memoriam Vytautas Kazakeviius), A. BLIUJIEN, ed., 95-116.
Von CARNAP-BORNHEIM, C., ILKJR, J., 1996. Illerup
dal. Die Prachtrstungen. Jysk Arkologisk Selskabs
Skrifter, 25, 5-7, rhus.
GAERTE, W., 1929. Urgeschichte Ostpreussens, Knigsberg: Grfe und Unzer.
GIESLER, U.,1978. Jngerkaiserzeitliche Nietknopfsporen
mit Dreipunkthalterung vom Typ Leuna. Saalburg Jahrbuch, 35, 5-55.
JOVAIA, E., 2007. Skalvi istorijos altiniai: Vluiki kapinynas. Istorija, LXVI, 3-20.
KONTNY, B., NATUNIEWICZ-SEKUA, M., 2009 (forthcoming). A spur from Mylcin (?) as an odd piece in a
puzzle. Barbaricum, 8.
Rmischen Kaiserzeit und der frhen Vlkerwanderungszeit im mitteleuropischen Barbaricum. BAR Internat.
Ser. 360, Oxford.
NOWAKOWSKI, W., BANYT-ROWELL, R., 2001. Ein
kaiserzeitliches Grab mit einer Brustkette aus AdligHeydekrug (iluts Dvaras) im Lichte der Archivalien aus
dem Nachlass von Herbert Jankuhn. Lietuvos Archeologija, 21, 121-128.
REICH, Ch., 2004/05. Die Prussia-Sammlung im Museum
fr Vor- und Frhgeschichte. In: Das Berliner Museum
fr Vor- und Frhgeschichte. Festschrift zum 175-jhrigen
Bestehen. Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica, 36/37,
343-354.
REICH, Ch., 2007. Remarks on male burials in the cemetery of Oberhof (Auktkiemiai). Archaeologia Baltica,
8, Weapons, Weaponry and Man (In memoriam Vytautas
Kazakeviius), A. BLIUJIEN, ed., 195-204.
BALTICA 11
REICH, Ch., 2008. The cemetery of Oberhof (Auktkiemiai)

the Graves of the so-called Jngstes Heidnisches Zeidnisches Zeitalter, Latvijas nacionl vestures muzeja
raksti Nr. 14. Ptumi kuri senatn. Rga, 21-34.
REICH, Ch., MENGHIN, W., 2008. Die Prussia-Sammlung im Museum fr Vor- und Frhgeschichte. In: A.
BITNER-WRBLEWSKA, ed., Die archologischen
Inventarbcher aus dem ehemaligen Prussia-Museum.
Arkheologicheskie inventarnye knygi muzeia Prussia.
Aestiorum Hereditas, I, Olsztyn, 68-97.
TISCHLER, O., 1888. Das Grberfeld von Oberhof, Kr.
Memel. Schriften der physikalisch-konomischen Gesellschaft Knigsberg, 29, 14-23.
TISCHLER, O., 1889. ber den Zuwachs der archologischen Sammlung des Provinzial-Museums im Jahre 1888.
Schriften der physikalisch-konomischen Gesellschaft Knigsberg, 30, 27-31.
TISCHLER, O., 1890. Bericht ber die Archologisch-Anthropologische Abteilung des Provinzial-Museums der
Physikalisch-konomischen Gesellschaft. Schriften der
physikalisch-konomischen Gesellschaft Knigsberg, 31,
85-103.
VAITKUNSKIEN, L., 1999. vili kapinynas. Lietuvos
Archeologija, 17.
VOLKAIT-KULIKAUSKIEN, R., 1971. Lietuvio kario
irgas. In: Acta Historica Lituanica, VII, Vilnius: Mintis.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
as grave goods. On the other hand bridles, spurs or

horse parts are found quite often in very well furnished
graves. So even if theses offerings are often connected
with warriors, it has to be considered that they might
be not only an indicator for the doubtlessly existing
cavalry but also for different social phenomena, for example wealth.
Received 18 May 2009; Revised: 10 June 2009;

Christine Reich
Museum fr Vor- und Frhgeschichte
Schloss Charlottenburg Langhansbau
14059 Berlin
ch.reich@smb.spk-berlin.de
reich.christine@googlemail.com
OBERHOFO (AUKTKIEMIO)
K A P I N Y N O I R G K A PA I I R
RAITELI APRANGA
III
H orses ,
H orsemen ,
and E ques trian
E quipment:
P repared
for War ,
B urials , and
O fferings
Christine Reich
Santrauka
Oberhofo (dabar Auktkiemis, Klaipdos r.) kapinynas yra iauriau Klaipdos. Kapinyne rasta vos keletas
kaman su metaliniais apkalais (12 pav.). Iskirtinis
kryiaus pavidalo sidabro ploktele dengtas kaman
apkalas, puotas raudonu emaliu, rastas kape 2 (2pav.).
Panai kryiaus pavidalo apkal rasta ne tik Vakar
Lietuvoje, bet ir Mozrijoje bei Sduvoje. Reiau j
randama Sembos pusiasalyje, Nadruvoje ir iaurs vakarinje emaitijos dalyje (3 pav.).
Be prast sl, randam kapinyne, kape 75 rasti slai, kuri bronziniuose ieduose buvo komponuota po
irgo figrl (r. skyriaus III uskland). Kapinyne
215
CHRISTINE
REICH

(Auktkiemiai) Horse
Equipment
rasti 29 kapai su irg kaulais ar dantimis, slais ar

pentinais (4 pav.). J paprastai randama vyr kapuose
su ginklais.
Vlyvuoju geleies amiumi datuojamuose kapinyno
kapuose (435, 436 ir 440) rasta irg aprangos element ir ietigali, miniatirini kirvi ir peili.
Kapinyne randama vis manom irg kap ir auk
tip: irgo kapas (257); irgo galvos aukos (kapai 2 ir
365); irgo dantys, greiiausiai irg auk kap (7 ir
150) liekanos, irgo galni palaidojimai (kapai 360,
238 ir 108). Visais atvejais irg liekan randama kair nuo kit daikt arba mogaus kapo.
Kapinyno irg kap ir j liekan paplitimas (5 pav.)
rodo, kad ie kapai yra pasklid po vis kapinyn. Kapai su irg galni liekanomis paplit iaurinje kapinyno dalyje (vienas kapas rastas vakarinje kapinyno
dalyje). Beveik visi irg kapai (su retomis iimtimis
kapai 109; 257 ir 270) priklauso romnikajam laikotarpiui.
Kapai su slais paplit didesnje kapinyno dalyje
(6 pav.). J nra tik paiame iauriausiame kapinyno
pakratyje, kur laidota taut kraustymosi laikotarpiu,
ir iaurs ryt dalyje, kur laidota F periode. iaip jau
dti kapus slus vietoje irg labiau prasta taut
kraustymosi ir viking laikais. Lyginant kapus su slais ir kapus su pentinais, reikia pabrti, kad kap su
pentinais daugiau yra kapinyno periferijoje, kas lyg ir
liudyt emesn palaidotj status. Pentinas tik patvirtina, kad mogus yra raitelis, bet jis nebtinai yra
irgo savininkas. Bet visai manoma, kad irgas nebuvo palaidotas kartu su mirusiuoju tik dl ekonomini
prieasi.
Viena i geriausiai dokumentuot kapinyno dali yra
vakarin kap grup. ia daugiausia laidota taut
kraustymosi laikotarpiu. Galima iskirti 3 ar net 4 kap
pogrupius. J pagrindas yra ne tiek eimynin, kiek
vasalin priklausomyb. Kapai su kalavijais sudaro
centrin kap grup. Kuo toliau nuo ios grups, tuo
maiau ginkl randama kapuose. Tolimesnse grupse
yra bent vienas kapas su slais ar pentinu (7 pav.).
Baigiant reikt pabrti, kad raitelis Auktkiemi bendruomenje nebtinai turjo bti karins hierarchijos
atstovas. Pentin ar irgo dali danai randama ir turtingj kapuose. Net jei ios aukos kakaip susijusios
su kariais, negalima tvirtinti, kad taip palaidotieji neabejotinai buvo raiteliai. Tokie kapai galjo bti, pavyzdiui, turtins ir socialins diferenciacijos reikinys.
216
Bones nd Equipment f
Horses nd Mules n the
Ancient Battlefield of
Kalkriese, Northern Germany
SUSANNE
WILBERS-ROST
AND ACHIM
ROST
BONES AND EQUIPMENT OF HORSES AND MULES

O N T H E A N C I E N T B AT T L E F I E L D O F K A L K R I E S E ,
N O RT H E R N G E R M A N Y
SUSANNE WILBERS-ROST AND ACHIM ROST
Abstract
Among nearly 6,000 objects of Roman military equipment discovered at the battlefield of Varus in Kalkriese, there are also
numerous pieces of horse harnesses and carriage fittings. This paper analyses the find distribution and aims at reconstructing
military actions and post-battle-processes.
Key words: Kalkriese, Varus Battle, Roman equine equipment, mule, battlefieldarchaeology, post-battle-processes.
Introduction
For over 20 years we have been investigating an area
at Kalkriese Hill, a part of the Wiehen Mountain north
of Osnabrck and situated between the edge of the
Northern German uplands and the lowlands. Archaeological finds and features indicate that we discovered
the location of the Varus Battle, also known as Battle of the Teutoburg Forest1. Roman historians (Velleius Paterculus, Tacitus, Cassius Dio) inform us that
the Roman governor, Varus, had a summer camp at
the Weser in A.D. 9 and that he believed to stay in the
territory of Germanic allies. In autumn he intended to
return to the camps at the Rhine, when he was led into
an ambush and his three legions were almost completely destroyed by Germans under the leadership of
Arminius. For generations, people have been looking
for the site of this battle in different parts of northern
Germany and already in 1885 the famous historian
Theodor Mommsen (Mommsen 1885) had suggested
to locate the battle near Kalkriese because of the many
Roman coins which farmers had collected during their
fieldwork. However, he could not prevail with his ideas
against other theories.
The situation only changed when further Roman silver coins and especially three lead sling shots were
found by an amateur archaeologist by metal detecting in 1987 (Harnecker, Tolksdorf-Lienemann 2004,
pp.1-2; Schlter et al. 1992, p.307ff); they indicated
that Roman troops must have passed this area2. Field
A more detailed discussion of the interpretation of finds
and features in Kalkriese as relics of the battle of Varus
can be found in different articles: Moosbauer 2009, p.98;
Moosbauer,Wilbers-Rost 2009; Rost 2009a; Chantraine
2002 (numismatic aspects).
2
In this region a small number of contemporary Germanic
settlements are known, but there is no evidence that the
Romans had ever settled there.
1
220
surveys started in Kalkriese in 1988 and already a year

later Roman coins and some pieces of Roman military
equipment had been found at numerous places, scattered between the Wiehen Mountain and the Great Bog
situated 2 km north of the mountains (Fig. 1). Systematic excavations started in 1989 on a field called
Oberesch (Wilbers-Rost 2007) which yielded a
concentration of coins and military objects. Not only
Roman military equipment was unearthed but also an
artificial rampart. The rampart was not part of an enclosure as it runs parallel to a path along the hill. It had
obviously been used by the Germans as an ambush to
attack Roman troops whom they had probably expected at this place. With the rampart to the south, the wet
area to the north, creeks in the east and the west of the
field, the site was like an encirclement that allowed the
Germans to control the movement of Roman troops by
letting them pass or attacking them. Despite the wellequipped legions, the Varian troops would find it difficult to fight effectively in this situation, nor could they
escape unharmed.
Further sites indicate that actions did not only take place
at the Oberesch, but at different locations between the
hill and the bog; meanwhile a battlearea of more than
30 km2 has been identified, enabling us to reconstruct
part of the events: the Romans must have been coming
from the East where they had already been attacked at
various places before they reached the Kalkriese Hill
and the Oberesch.
The site Oberesch. Features and finds

The rampart at the Oberesch site (Fig. 2) had a total
length of about 400 m; it was bent several times and
was almost zigzagging (Wilbers-Rost 2007, pp.30-84;
2009). It must have had a width of about 4 m and a
height of nearly 2 m, and at least in one section there
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 1. Study area of Kalkriese.
IV
T he H orse
in Warfare
Fig. 2. Site Oberesch with excavated sections.
221
SUSANNE
WILBERS-ROST
AND ACHIM
ROST
was a palisade to protect the Germans on the wall. Behind the wall a drainage ditch prevented the rampart
from being damaged by strong rain. A number of small
passages allowed the Germans to leave the shelter of
the fortification in order to fight, but they could also retreat fast. It was constructed efficiently, making use of
the local topography and of material they found in the
immediate vicinity: sometimes turf and sand, sometimes even limestone where turf was rare. Probably the
wall was not very substantial. Some parts must have
collapsed during the fight or shortly afterwards which
resulted in special preservation patterns for Roman
equipment and bones.
The Roman items left on the battlefield indicate the
presence of both fighting troops and a large baggage
train (Harnecker 2008). We found a large variety of
weapons, for example lance heads, catapult bolts, pieces of pila, shield fittings, plates, buckles and fittings
of laminated armour and ring mail shirts. Furthermore,
there are tools and medical instruments, pieces of carriages and horses harnesses, as well as fragments of luxurious objects like glass vessels. Most pieces are very
small, like the hundreds of nails or fragments of shield
fittings. Only a very small number of the 5,000 objects
from the Oberesch are complete. Many show signs of
destruction, and a lot of long fittings were folded several times, probably for easier transportation. The Germans who plundered the battlefield after the fighting
had ceased were mainly interested in the raw material
- especially metal such as silver, bronze and iron - and
it did not matter if the objects still functioned3. Tons
of metal must have been left on the battlefield, but the
bodies and the baggage train were despoiled by the victors and most of the objects were taken away: the Germans could either use them or recycle the metal. This
explains why we do not find any complete armour but
only those small pieces and fragments which got lost
during looting. Such processes of despoiling must also
be brought into account for the discussion of fragments
of horses harnesses and chariots.
Skeletal remains
Because of the sandy soil we did not expect many
bones. Nevertheless, quite a number of human and
animal bones were excavated on the Oberesch during
the last years (Grokopf 2007; Uerpmann et al. 2007).
Single bones and some teeth were distributed across the
field, but bones were also preserved in rather unusual
Even the most famous among the finds from the Oberesch,
the iron face mask of a Roman helmet (Harnecker 2008,
Kat.-Nr. 92), was destroyed. Originally it had been plated with silverfoil which the German plunderers cut and
picked up.
222
features: eight bone pits containing both human bones

and the bones of mules and horses. The skeletons were
not complete and most of the bones were only small
fragments in a very bad condition, indicating that they
must have been exposed on the surface for several
years before their deposition. Some bones show signs
of sword strokes and all humans bones are from men4.
These relics are the bones of Roman soldiers and animals of their baggage train (Grokopf 2007, p.173ff).
We suppose that those pits are a kind of mass graves
for the Varian legions, probably the result of the burial
ceremony by the Roman general Germanicus who,
according to ancient written sources (Tacitus annales
1.61-62), is said to have visited the battle site six years
later where he buried the remains of the dead.
The best conditions for the preservation of bones existed directly near the rampart where they were covered
after its collapse and where even larger parts of skeletons of equides were unearthed. One skeleton of a mule
was nearly complete with only very few bones missing
(Fig. 3; Uerpmann et al. 2007, p.131ff; Wilbers-Rost
2007, p.98ff). A small bronze bell and rings of an iron
bit were preserved in their original position. Analyses
have shown that the mule died from a broken neck.
This feature provides a snapshot of the action: the mule
was soon covered by material of the wall before looters retrieved the metal objects and before wild animals
tore away parts of the carcass.
Bones of horses are quite rare on the Oberesch, but at
the western end of the rampart large parts of a small
horse might indicate a Germanic one (Fig. 4; Uerpmann et al. 2007, p.140ff; Wilbers-Rost 2007, p.99ff).
Its skeleton was not as well preserved as the one of the
mule. Zoologists assume that it had been laying on the
surface for at least some days, since we found a part of
the breast in a distance, i.e. wild animals like boars or
wolves had torn a few parts away before the carcass
was covered.
Another feature containing the bones of a mule found
in front of the wall is quite spectacular; skull, shoulder
and a part of the spine were found in combination with
many pieces of its harness: a large bronze bell, an iron
chain, various pendants, glass beads and bronze fittings (Fig. 5; Harnecker 2008, Taf. 45; Uerpmann et al.
2007, p.128ff; Wilbers-Rost 2007, p.95ff). These finds,
which were still in their original position, may help reconstruct the harness of a Roman army mule, probably
of a draft animal. The bell seems to have been used to
repair the pole of a shaft of a carriage; we suppose that
the mule had lost the carriage by an accident and had
probably strangled itself with the bit and the chain. In a
4
There was only one fragment of a womans pelvis (Grokopf 2007, p.174).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
IV
T he H orse
in Warfare
Fig. 3. Skeleton of a mule and teeth of a second one.
nearby passageway through the rampart another snaffle

and a few bones of another mule were found - maybe
the remains of the second mule which had pulled the
carriage. Features like these allow an insight into the
dramatic events of the battle.
E q u i p m e n t o f h o r s e s , m u l e s a n d c a rriages
The mules lavish equipment is quite astonishing, since
we usually connect such pendants, fittings and beads
with horses as riding animals rather than with mules
from the baggage train. In the case of isolated finds of
equine equipment, it is therefore difficult to attribute

them precisely to either horses or mules. From the
Oberesch we know about 50 objects which belonged
to horses and mules, cavalrymen and carriages5.
While yoke (Plate II.3) and carriage fittings (Harnecker 2008, Kat.-Nr. 311-314) indicate the presence of
carriages and draft animals, we may not decide clearly
whether the other snaffles and pendants (Plate II.5)
The analysis of the Roman objects from Kalkriese has not
been finished yet, and the list of finds mentioned in this
paper is not quite complete. For example, there might be
some more pieces of horse harnesses among the iron rings
found on the Oberesch (Harnecker 2008, Kat.-Nr. 636690).
223
Fig. 4. Skeleton of a horse. D: parts of spine and chest.
224
SUSANNE
WILBERS-ROST
AND ACHIM
ROST
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
IV
T he H orse
in Warfare
Fig. 5. Bones and teeth of a mule with metal parts of the equipment.
belonged to riding, draft or pack animals. The bar of

a curb bit and a Roman spur show that Roman riders
must have taken part in the fighting on the Oberesch,
while the only find of a Germanic spur could be attributed to either a Germanic rider or an auxiliary soldier
on the Roman side.
A rather unusual bit, probably of a riding horse, is a
so-called Steigergebiss (Plate II.4) nowadays these
bits are still in use for dressage to prevent young horses, especially stallions, from climbing. It must have
been Roman; another bit of this kind was found at the
Roman legionary fortress of Haltern (Harnecker 1997,
Kat.-Nr. 732 Taf. 68).
Find distribution
The distribution of horse and mule harnesses from the
Oberesch (Fig. 2) is not conspicuous: the finds are scattered all over the field without any find concentration.
What is remarkable is the number of fragments from
the equipment of draft animals from the baggage train6,
though there are only four iron parts of the carriages
themselves: two small iron pieces from the frame, one
of the shaft and a hook perhaps from the carriage (Harnecker 2008, Kat.-Nr. 311-314). There is no fragment
of a wheel, though each wheel usually had iron tires,
Besides five yoke fittings and the fragment of a chain
some of the snaffles and pendants will have belonged to
the equipment of draft animals as the above mentioned
mule with large metal equipment has demonstrated. The
features with a combination of equine bones and equipment covered by the wall were left out in this overview
because of their special preservation.
225
SUSANNE
WILBERS-ROST
AND ACHIM
ROST
shells, band-rings and a linchpin (Harnecker 1997,

p.4).
For the analysis of find distribution we also have to
look beyond the Oberesch, which, despite the enormous concentration of finds, was only a small part of a
much larger battle-area. The zone where we discovered
Roman military equipment stretches over more than 10
km from east to west through the narrow passage between hill and bog. The battle which took place in this
area was not a static warfare but a battle in a defile, i.e.
the Roman army was marching from east to west in a
long row when it was attacked by the Germans from
the side numerous times at different places. Although
horse and mule harnesses are more or less concentrated
at the Oberesch, there are finds elsewhere (Fig. 1), such
as a pendant used as decoration of a horse found in the
very east7. There is also one spur fragment in a short
distance east of the Oberesch and three yoke fittings
and perhaps one linchpin in the west. This means that
harnesses and equipment of horses have nearly a similar distribution to other fragments of Roman military
equipment in Kalkriese with nearly 90 percent of the
items having been discovered at the Oberesch.
Methodological aspects and

reconstruction of military events
At first this distribution pattern was very striking. On
the basis of find concentrations one might conclude
that the most intensive fighting must have taken place
in this small area of the Oberesch. However, when we
tried to interpret the find distribution from Kalkriese we
recognised that the selection processes that produced
the archaeological findings on battlefields are very special. In a funerary context grave goods do not necessarily reflect the social reality of the living because there
have been different rules for funerals which worked
selective; similarly, military equipment on a battlefield
should not automatically be taken as an indicator for the
intensity of the fighting. A variety of processes need to
be taken into account; especially the clearing of a battlefield at the end of the battle, including looting, has
a significant impact on the archaeological record (Rost
2008a; 2008b; 2009a). For our interpreting of find distribution it is necessary to regard not only the diverging
intensity of fighting but also the parallel development
of intensifying logistic problems that eventually led
to a total military disaster. As a battle in a defile, the
battle of Kalkriese was becoming more dramatic as it
progressed. Even the distribution of horse equipment
illustrates this phenomenon quite well. Written sources
We have to thank our colleague, Dr. Joachim Harnecker,
for the hint that a similar pendant was found in the Roman
fortress at Haltern (Mller 2002, Taf. 51 Nr. 556).
226
(Tacitus annales 1.64.4) inform us that Roman troops

were trained to rescue the wounded and to take care
of the baggage train in dangerous situations. We can
assume that they tried to act according to these rules
as long as possible. This means, however, that even in
the case of intensive fighting no significant amount of
military equipment was left on the field as long as the
wounded and their equipment were taken with the intact parts of the units. Hence it is not surprising that
fewer Roman objects were found in the east.
The circumstances must have changed completely
when the struggle against annihilation started and when
the logistics - including medical service and transportation - had broken down. Such an event may result in
a very different distribution of military relics. We are
sure that the Oberesch can be interpreted as a place
where the units were totally defeated. There, we found
thousands of fragments of Roman equipment, among
them most of the pieces of horse harnesses. Fragments
of equipment which was originally fixed to the bodies
of legionaries like armours, scabbards and belts imply
that dead and wounded Roman legionaries were looted
brutally at that site. Victoriously, the Germans stripped
the bodies of their adversaries, and small metal fragments like hooks, buckles and fittings sometimes got
lost in the process. In the case of a total breakdown
of army structures like in Kalkriese8, the baggage train
must have also been given up: without doubt some
carriages of the baggage train were demolished in the
battle, but many carriages may have been left by the
defeated army, especially when the mules were injured
or dead.
Conclusions
The archaeological finds from the Oberesch indicate
the multiplicity of processes following the fighting,
like looting, body-stripping and scrapping of the Roman metal equipment by the Germans. The winners
had no pressure of time: the booty had to be distributed
among the Germanic tribes that were involved in the
battle; transport of the booty, sometimes over long distances, had to be organised. We may therefore assume
that the Germans did not destroy the carriages to recycle the metal, but that they used them to solve their own
transport problems. Many carriages may have been removed from the site which may explain why only very
few metal fragments of carriages were found9. Presum West and especially northwest of the Oberesch Roman
finds may be interpreted as indicators for flight or following skirmishes (Rost 2008a).
9
Describing the course of the Varus battle, Cassius Dio
(56.21.1) reports that the Romans burned parts of their
baggage train themselves; if this report reflects true events
the troops might have had less carriages with them on the
8
Insofar, the rarity of carriage fittings and the higher

amount of fragments of horses and mules equipment
was less determined by the action than by processes after the battle. The distribution of horse or mules equipment and fragments of carriages is a good example
to show that we can not easily deduct the intensity of
fighting from the distribution of finds on a battlefield.
Acknowledgements
For his help to improve our English manuscript we
want to thank Dr Ralph Hussler, University of Osnabrck.
Translated by authors,
English improved by Ralph Hussler
References
Published sources
CASSIUS DIO, Historia romana, 56.
TACITUS, C., annales 1.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, C., Historia romana, 2.
Literature
Chantraine, H., 2002. Varus oder Germanicus? Zu den
Fundmnzen von Kalkriese. Thetis, 9, 2002, 81-93.
march through the narrow pass in Kalkriese. The amount
of equipment of riding horses and riders which entered into
the archaeological record may have also been influenced
by the alleged escape of the cavalry (Velleius Paterculus
2.119).
10
Mules used in the mountainous regions of southern Germany by the army still today are trained as pack animals
as well as for draft (kind information by Oberfeldveterinr Dr Franz von Rennenkampff, Ausbildungszentrum fr
Gebirgstragtierwesen 230, Bad Reichenhall), and we may
also expect this for mules of the Roman army.
BALTICA 11
GroSSkopf, B., 2007. Die menschlichen berreste vom

Oberesch in Kalkriese. In: Wilbers-Rost, S., Uerpmann, H.-P., Uerpmann, M. GroSSkopf, B.,
Tolksdorf-Lienemann, E. 2007. Kalkriese 3. Interdisziplinre Untersuchungen auf dem Oberesch in Kalkriese. Archologische Befunde und naturwissenschaftliche
Begleituntersuchungen. Rmisch-Germanische Forschungen, 65. Mainz: von Zabern, 157-178.
Harnecker, J., 1997. Katalog der Eisenfunde von Haltern aus den Grabungen der Jahre 1949-1994. Bodenaltertmer Westfalen, 35. Mainz: von Zabern.
Harnecker, J., 2008. Kalkriese 4. Katalog der rmischen
Funde vom Oberesch. Die Schnitte 1-22. Rmisch-Germanische Forschungen, 66. Mainz: von Zabern.
Harnecker, J., Tolksdorf-Lienemann, E., 2004.
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Senke. Archologie und Bodenkunde. Rmisch-Germanische Forschungen, 62. Mainz: von Zabern.
Mommsen, Th., 1885. Die rtlichkeit der Varusschlacht.
Sitzungsber. Preu. Akad. Wiss. Berlin (also printed in Th.
Mommsen, 1906. Gesammelte Schriften, 4,1 (Berlin).
Moosbauer, G., 2009. Die Varusschlacht. Archologie
und Geschichte. Becksche Reihe 2457. Mnchen: Beck.
Moosbauer, G., Wilbers-Rost, S., 2009. Kalkriese
und die Varusschlacht. Multidisziplinre Forschungen zu
einem militrischen Konflikt. In: Varusschlacht im Osnabrcker Land GmbH, Museum und Park Kalkriese, ed. 2000
Jahre Varusschlacht. Konflikt. Stuttgart: Theiss, 56-67.
Mller, M., 2002. Die rmischen Buntmetallfunde von
Haltern. Bodenaltertmer Westfalen, 37. Mainz: von Zabern.
Rost, A., 2008a. Quellenkritische berlegungen zur archologischen Untersuchung von Schlachtfeldern am Beispiel von Kalkriese. In: M. REDDE, S. v. SCHNURBEIN,
eds. Alsia et la bataille du Teutoburg. Un parallle critique des sources. Francia Beih. 66, Ostfildern: Thorbecke,
303-313.
Rost, A., 2008b. Plnderungsprozesse auf Schlachtfeldern Neue Aspekte auch fr Kriegsbeuteopfer? In: A.
ABEGG-WIGG, A. RAU, eds. Aktuelle Forschungen zu
Kriegsbeuteopfern und Frstengrbern im Barbaricum.
Internationales Kolloquium untersttzt durch Carlsbergfondet. Schleswig 15.18. Juni 2006. Neumnster: Wachholtz, 355-362.
Rost, A., 2009a. Alesia, Kalkriese, Little Big Horn. Das
neue Forschungsgebiet der Schlachtfeldarchologie. In:
Varusschlacht im Osnabrcker Land. Museum und Park
Kalkriese. Mainz: von Zabern, 110-117.
Rost, A., 2009b (forthcoming). The battle between Romans
and Germans in Kalkriese: interpreting the archaeological
remains from an ancient battlefield. In: Proceedings of the
20th Limes Conference. Lon 2006.
Schlter, W., BERGER, F., FRANZIUS, G., LIENEMANN, J., ROST, A., TOLKSDORF-LIENEMANN, E.,
WIEGELS, R., WILBERS-ROST, S., 1992. Archologische Zeugnisse zur Varusschlacht. Die Untersuchungen in
der Kalkrieser-Niewedder Senke bei Osnabrck. Germania, 70, 1992, 307-402.
Uerpmann, H.-P., UERPMANN, M., LANGGUTH, K.,
PAULUS, S., 2007. Knochenfunde aus den Grabungen bis
2002 auf dem Oberesch in Kalkriese. In: S.WilbersRost, H.-P. Uerpmann, M. Uerpmann, B. GroSSkopf, E. Tolksdorf-Lienemann, eds. Kalkriese
3. Interdisziplinre Untersuchungen auf dem Oberesch
in Kalkriese. Archologische Befunde und naturwissen-
ARCHAEOLOGIA
ably the Germans were able to take some of the pack

animals which had survived in exchange for dead or
wounded draft animals. Usually used by the Romans
for the transportation of tents, elements of wooden palisades and further less valuable objects, the Germans
could have freed the pack animals from this luggage
which was probably not very interesting for the looters since it mainly consisted of organic materials10.
The amount of equipment of draft animals from the
Oberesch may have resulted from Germans changing
the animals: when the plunderers tried to loosen the
harness from dead or wounded mules, which can be
quite a violent action, some of the fittings might have
been broken and lost in the grass, where they remained
undiscovered until today, comparable to the small fragments of the legionaries equipment.
IV
T he H orse
in Warfare
227
SUSANNE
WILBERS-ROST
AND ACHIM
ROST
schaftliche Begleituntersuchungen. Rmisch-Germanische

Forschungen 65. Mainz: von Zabern, 108-156.
Wilbers-Rost, S., 2007. Die archologischen Befunde. In: S.Wilbers-Rost, H.-P. Uerpmann, M.
Uerpmann, B. GroSSkopf, E. Tolksdorf-Lienemann, eds., Kalkriese 3. Interdisziplinre Untersuchungen auf dem Oberesch in Kalkriese. Archologische
Befunde und naturwissenschaftliche Begleituntersuchungen. Rmisch-Germanische Forschungen 65. Mainz: von
Zabern, 1-107.
Wilbers-Rost, S., 2009 (forthcoming). The site of the
Varus Battle at Kalkriese. Recent results from archaeological research. In: Proceedings of the 20th Limes Conference, Lon 2006.
Received: 6 March 2009; Revised: 24 April 2009;
Susanne Wilbers-Rost
Varusschlacht im Osnabrcker Land GmbH Museum und Park Kalkriese
Venner Strae 69
49565 Bramsche
Germany
E-mail: rost.wilbers@osnanet.de
Achim Rost
University of Osnabrck
Alte Geschichte Archologie der Rmischen Provinzen
Schlossstr. 8
49069 Osnabrck
Germany
E-mail: rost.wilbers@osnanet.de
IRG IR MUL APRANGOS

REIKMENYS BEI KAULAI I
K A L K RY Z S M I O L A U K O
IAURS VOKIETIJOJE
Susane Wilbers-Rost, Achim Rost
Santrauka
1987 m. pradti Kalkryzs (Kalkriese), romn ir german mio vietos, alia Osnabriuko (Osnabrck),
archeologiniai tyrimai. Kompleksini tyrim rezultatas i viet galima tapatinti su 9 m. po Kr. Varo
mio (Teutoburgo (Teutoburg) miko mio) vieta
(1, 2pav.). Vietos apira ir archeologiniai tyrimai leidia teigti, kad tai ne mao mio laukas, o didiulis,
daugiau kaip 30 km2, mio laukas, kuriame romnai
buvo puolami daugelyje viet. Obereo (Oberesch)
vietovje, mio lauko centre, germanai surent tvirtint pasal ygiuojantiems Romos legionams. Nors
romnai buvo pasireng miui, jie negaljo skmingai kautis, nes juos var didiul legion gurguol, ne
maesne klitimi tapo kalva pietuose ir pelk iaurje.
228
Daugiau kaip 6000 romn daikt, rast tyrinjant mio viet, patvirtina visik Romos armijos sutriukinim.
Oberee rasti kaul fragmentai teikia informacijos apie
mio dalyvius: vyrus, mulus ir irgus. Daugelis moni ir irg kaul rasta tose paiose duobse. i kaul
bkl rodo, kad jie nebuvo ukasti ikart po mio, o
tik po keleri met, galbt 15 m. po Kr., Germaniko
vadovaujam Romos pulk.
Be kaul duobse, Oberee rasta daugiau mul ir irg
kaul. Jie guljo ant senojo paviriaus, ant kai kuri
buvo uvirt netrukus po mio nugriuv tvirtinimai.
Dl to dauguma mul ir irg skelet gerai isilaik.
Vieno mulo skeletas rastas beveik sveikas (pilnas), o
kitas greiiausiai temps veim su didesne dalimi
pakinkt (35 pav.; II: 35 iliustr.).
Kiti daiktai slai, kabuiai, varpeliai ar pakinktai
leidia nustatyti, kam buvo skirtas gyvulys joti, neuliams gabenti ar kinkyti. Dauguma daikt rasta Oberee,
kiti netoliese aplink. Nordami geriau suvokti tiriam
mio lauk, modeliavome, kaip radini pasiskirstym
paveik german plikavimas. Pavyzdiui, mio lauke turjo bti gurguols veim liekan, bet rasta tik
keletas metalini veim dali fragment. Tai german plikavimo pasekm, kurios taka svarbi visiems
mio lauke likusiems romn daiktams. Nugaltojai
grobst ginklus ir kitus romn daiktus, kartais naudodavo metal kaip aliav. Romos legion veimai
galjo bti naudoti plik grobiui igabenti; jie juos
naudojo ne tik pagal paskirt, kas lm beveik visik
veim nebuvim mio lauke.
Laukuose ilikusi mi viet tyrimams retai kada
taikomos modernios archeologins technologijos.
Kalkryzs romn ir german mio vieta, kur rasta
tkstaniai daikt, suteikia puiki prog patobulinti
panai viet tyrim metodik ir radini interpretacijas. I visko sprendiant, mio vieta maiau nukentjo
nuo paties mio negu nuo plikavim, vykusi jau
po mio; dl to ne tik pasikeit mio lauke ilikusi daikt sudtis, bet kartu pakito mio lauko archeologins mediagos apsaugos ir sklaidos slygos. i
svarstym pagrindu straipsnyje aptariamos Kalkryzs
mio vietos arkli kinkinio reikmen ir aprangos liekanos.
Abstract
The article studies the tactics of Slavic mounted units in the army of Belisarius during the Gothic war in Italy. The texts of
Procopius of Caesarea show that the Slavs and the Ants during the Gothic war were part of the Hunnic detachment and were
mounted archers, like the Huns who conducted battle at distance, avoiding a close contact with the enemy. Beyond all doubt,
the Slavs and the Ants, or rather a small part of them, learned this fighting technique from the Huns, whose neighbours they
were on the Lower Danube and in the wooded steppe of the modern-day Ukraine.
BALTICA 11
MICHEL KAZANSKI
ARCHAEOLOGIA
L A C AVA L E R I E S L AV E L E P O Q U E
DE JUSTINIEN
Larticle est consacr ltude de la tactique des troupes montes slaves dans larme de Belisaire durant la guerre gothique
en Italie. Les textes de Procope de Csare montrent que les Sclavnes et les Antes faisaient partie du corps de cavalerie
hunnique et taient des archers monts, comme les Huns. Ils combattaient la distance sans entrer en contact direct avec
ladversaire. Sans aucun doute il sagit dun groupe limit qui a appris ce type des combats auprs les Huns, avec lesquels ils
voisinaient dans la steppe forestire et sur le Danube infrieur au 5e-6e s.
Mots-cles: Slaves- Huns- cavalerie archers monts guerre gothique.
Key words: Slavs, Huns, cavalry, mounted archers, Gothic War.
On sait, daprs les textes de Procope de Csare, de

Maurice et de Jean dEphse que des fantassins lgrement arms de javelots, de petits arcs et de lourds
boucliers reprsentaient le gros des troupes slaves du
VIe s. (Procope, BG III.14.25; Maurice, II.11.4; Jean
dEphse, III.6.25). Cette infanterie pratiquait essentiellement la gurilla sur un terrain bois relief peu
accessible (Kazanski 1999; Nefedkin 2003; Chouvalov 2004; Poliakov 2005). Bien entendu les auteurs
byzantins ont utilis les clichs habituels dans la description des Barbares doutre-Danube (Dagron 1987,
p.214f). Cependant les donnes archologiques sur les
Slaves du Ve-VIe s. (la civilisation de Prague et sites
apparents du Danube infrieur1, correspondant aux
Sclavnes des sources crites, la civilisation de Penkovka, appartenant aux Antes - ces derniers sont, selon
les auteurs anciens, les parents les plus proches des
Sclavnes - ainsi que la civilisation de Kolotchin, quon
ne peut pas mettre en liaison avec un groupe slave prcis) confirment les tmoignages des sources crites. En
effet, les flches et les lances sont les armes les plus
reprsentatives sur les sites slaves (voir le catalogue
des armesslaves: Kazanski 1999). Les Slaves ntaient
pas seuls de pratiquer ce type de guerre au VIe s., les
Maures dAfrique du Nord (Procope, BV III.11.26,27)
et les montagnards de Daileman (Procope, B.G. IV.13)
se battaient de la mme faon, bien que les uns et les
Dans notre tude sur les armes slaves (Kazanski 1999)
nous avons pris en compte, pour le Danube infrieur, uniquement les sites o la cramique slave non tourne du
type Prague est dominante.
autres connaissaient bien la bataille en rangs serrs

(Agathias, III.17,20,22).
Daprs les donnes archologiques, le mme type
darmement et donc le mme type de combat que chez
les Slaves, est attest chez les populations forestires de
lEurope orientale entre lez Baltes et les Ougriens,
cest--dire sur le territoire de Bilorussie et de Russie actuelles, tels que les porteurs des civilisations de
Tuchemlia (Chmidt 1995) et des Longs Kourganes
(Kazanski 2007). Ce qui les diffrencie, cest dune
part la diffusion chez les peuples forestiers dperons
(Perhavko 1978), peu connus dans les civilisations
slaves plus au Sud, et dautre part la prsence dans la
zone forestire de quelques pices dquipement militaire occidental, comme des lances, des umbos de bouclier, et des francisques (Kazanski 2000).
Il est aussi vident, que les Slaves au VIe-VIIe s. avaient des cavaliers (Ivanov et al. 1994, p.208), comme
le tmoignent par exemple Procope de Csare (voir
infra), Jean dEphse (III.6.25), Thophilacte Symocattas (VII.4.11). Le caractre de cette cavalerie slave
est lobjet de discussions. Ainsi, selon A.K. Nefedkin, ctaient plutt des guerriers qui se dplaaient
cheval mais combattaient pied, avec des javelots
(Nefedkin 2003, pp.80,88). En principe, cela nest pas
exclu, car les troupes mobiles des Maures africaines
la mme poque se battaient pied (Procope, BV,
II.11.19). Dautre part les cavaliers-lanceurs de javelots
sont bien attests dans larme byzantine, qui affronte
des Koutrigours en 557 (Agathias, V.19). La Guerre
IV
T he H or s e
i n War fare
229
La Cavaliere Slave
lepoque de Justinien
MICHEL
KAZANSKI
230
gothique de Procope de Csare est, mon avis, la

seule source qui contient des indications directes sur la
mode de combat des cavaliers slaves du VIe s. Notre
propos consiste donc examiner les informations fournies par Procope de Csare et les comparer avec les
donnes archologiques.
Rappelons quen 536/537 larme de Blisaire est
bloque par les Goths Rome. Lempereur Justinien envoie laide de Blisaire le corps mont sous
le commandement de Martin et de Valrien (Procope,
BG I.24.18-21). Il parat qu ce moment lempereur
navait pas de rserves. En effet, en 535/536 Constantin, chef des curies impriales, est envoy pour
semparer de Salona pratiquement sans troupes il
doit les engager au passage, en Illyricum (Procope, BG
I.7.26-29). Ainsi, le plus probable est que les soldats
de Martin et de Valrien soient fraichement recruts
spcialement pour la campagne en Italie. Il y a 1600
cavaliers, parmi lesquels des Huns (probablement des
Bulgares, cf. Jordans, Getica 37), des Antes et des
Sclavnes, les habitants des pays au Nord du Danube
sont majoritaires (Procope, BG I.27.1-3). Dautre part
des boucellaires de Martin et de Valrien, dorigine
cappadocienne (Procope, BG I.29.20-22) et hunnique
(Procope, BG II.13-15), faisant partie du mme corps
y sont mentionns.
Il est possible que Martin et Valrien soient spcialement
rappels de Lybie pour organiser lenvoi de troupes en
Italie. En tout cas, la date de leur dpart dAfrique (cf.
Procope, BV II.19.2) concide avec leur novelle mission en Italie. Les deux officiers sont trs probablement
originaires de Thrace (Procope, BV I.11.10) et connaissent ainsi les Barbares danubiens. Le statut du corps de
Martin et de Valrien nest pas clair. Peut-tre sont-ce
des foederati, car Procope les appelle stratiotes, cest-dire soldats des troupes rgulires; de plus, pendant
la guerre vandale, Martin et Valrien (Procope, BV
I.11.6; IV.3.4) dirigeaient justement des dtachements
de fdrs (Ivanov et. al. 1994, p.209). Dautre part
dans ce dtachement, conformment lusage dans les
troupes rgulires, les Huns, les Antes et les Sclavnes
sont encadrs par des officiers romains. Les Barbares
allis des troupes irrgulires, engags pour une campagne, forment dhabitude des troupes mono-ethniques,
dirigs par leurs chefs militaires nationaux. Citons
titre dexemple les Hrules, dirigs par Pharas ou les
Huns (Massagtes) de Sinnion et de Balas pendant
la guerre vandale (Procope, BV I.11.12), les Hrules
de Visandus, Aluith et Phanitheus en Italie (Procope,
BG II.13.18) ou encore les Huns - Savires, dirigs par
Balmach, Koutilzis et Iliger lors de la campagne perse
(Agathias, III.17). Dautre part on connat des cas o
les allis barbares de diffrentes origines se trouvaient mlangs au sein des mmes dtachements, comme
les Hrules et les Lombards sur le front Est, dirigs

par Gibros (Agathias, III.20). Cependant les troupes de
fdrs, sont formes lorigine par les Goths et les
Arabes, installs sur le territoire de lEmpire et plus
tard complts par les Romains (Zuckerman 2004,
p.166f). Or, les soldats de Martin et de Valrien ne correspondent pas ce critre.
Quoiquil en soit, Martin et Valrien ont sous leurs
ordres des soldats hunniques, antes et slaves monts,
parmi ceux-ci les Huns sont connus pour tre des archers sans gaux (Nikonorov, Hudiakov 2004, p.193).
Est-ce que leurs camarades de rgiment slaves
taient aussi des archers monts?Il faut tout de suite
prciser que dans larme de lEmpire dOrient, une
formation militaire spciale pour les Barbares, o les
Slaves et les Antes pouvaient devenir les tireurs darc
monts, nexistait pas. Les options, qui payaient les
soldats (Zuckerman 2004, p.167) et les gnraux, qui
les engageaient au service de lEmpire, souvent au moment du dpart pour le thtre doprations militaires,
cherchaient les guerriers les plus expriments et les
utilisaient sur le champ de bataille en profitant de leurs
modes de combat traditionnels. Ainsi, dans larme de
Justinien, les Huns sont des archers monts, les Hrules
forment la cavalerie lgre, les Tsannes du Caucase du
Sud reprsentent linfanterie lourde et les Isauriens linfanterie lgre. De toute faon, lutilisation darc
cheval demande des annes de formation, pour laquelle
le corps de cavalerie de Martin et de Valrien na tout
simplement pas eu le temps.
Les troupes sont envoys en Italie par bateaux, elles
passent lhiver en Etolie (Procope, BG I.27.1-3), o
Martin et Valrien peuvent mieux les prparer pour
laffrontement avec les goths. Enfin, en avril 537 les
cavaliers hunniques, antes et slaves arrivent Rome.
Les 1600 cavaliers de Martin et de Valrien reprsentent une force trs importante. En effet, toute larme
de Blisaire ne reprsentait que 5000 soldats (Wolfram
1990, pp.361- 362). Les troupes de Blisaire Rome
sont formes essentiellement de cavalerie, car beaucoup de fantassins romains se sont empars des chevaux des Goths (Procope, BG I.28.21,22). Linfanterie,
peu nombreuse, est sous les ordres de Principius et de
Tarmutus, le frre du commandant des Isauriens, ce
qui peut galement indiquer lorigine isaurienne de
ces fantassins. Dans larme byzantine les Isauriens
reprsentent les lanceurs de javelots et les frondeurs
(Agathias, III.20), on les utilise volontiers pour des
oprations commandos, comme lattaque de Naples
par laqueduc (Procope, BG I.10).
A ce moment Blisaire mne une srie de batailles contre les Goths sous les murs de Rome et le corps de Martin et Valrien y est engag (Procope, BG I.27.22,23).
Mais Blisaire a une autre explication du succs romain. Selon lui, pratiquement tous les Romains ainsi
que leurs allis hunniques sont de bons archers monts,
tandis que les Goths sont habitus se battre avec des
javelots et des pes, leurs archers se battant pied.
Comme rsultat, la cavalerie gothique est mitraille
distance par les Romains et les archers gothiques ne
peuvent faire face la cavalerie mobile romaine (Procope, BG. I.27.26-29). Ainsi nous avons une prsentation sans quivoque, provenant du meilleur spcialiste
militaire, expliquant la tactique des soldats de Martin et de Valrien dans leur bataille prs des murs de
Rome. Cest le contact distance, quand les rapides
cavaliers exterminent ladversaire, moins mobile, par
le tir larc. Il sagit srement de combattants aussi
bien hunniques, que sclavnes et antes, car les effectifs
engags, 1500 soldats, correspondent peu prs la
totalit du corps de Martin et de Valrien.
Blisaire parle expressment des allis hunniques de
Rome. Notons que dans la suite le dtachement de Valrien est qualifi de hunnique (Procope, BG II.4.11), bien
que les Sclavnes du Danube en font partie. En effet,
un Sclavne originaire du Danube, soldat de Valrien,
se distingue lors de la sige dAxium, par une action
clair de type commando , en capturant un Goth
ce dernier donne des informations sur la situation
dans la ville assige (Procope, BG II.26.17-24). Ailleurs Procope caractrise les Sclavnes et les Antes de
peuples aux m urs hunniques (Procope, BG III.14.28).
Comme nous le verrons plus tard, en 545/546 Blisaire
demande Justinien de lui envoyer en urgence une
grande quantit d Huns et dautres Barbares (Procope, BG III.12.10). Lanne suivante il reoit en renfort le corps de Jean et dIsaak, qui contient en effet un
nombre important de Barbares, notamment 300 Antes.
Ce sont srement les autres Barbares rclams au
mme titre que les Huns par Blisaire. Ainsi, on peut
conclure que Procope faisait un amalgame entre les
Huns, les Sclavnes et les Antes, malgr le fait que ces
En gnral, les ides des auteurs byzantins, et de Procope en particulier, sur lethnographie des peuples
barbares se distinguent considrablement des ntres.
Ainsi, seuls les Germains occidentaux, en premier lieu
les Francs (Procope, BV I.3.1,2; Procope, BG I.12.8,9;
Agathias, I.2) et les Alamans (Agathias, I.6) taient
considrs comme germaniques. Les Alains (Procope,
BV I.3.1,2), les Vandales (Procope, BG IV.5.5), les
Ruges (Procope, BG III.2.1,2), les Gpides (Procope,
BV I.2,2), et les Burgondes (Agathias, I.3) passaient
pour des Goths. Or, pour Procope, les Sclavnes et les
Antes faisaient partie des peuples ayant des murs
hunniques, donc proches des Huns.
BALTICA 11
deux peuples sdentaires se distinguent par leur civilisation des nomades de la steppe.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Le dtachement de 1500 combattants, cest--dire pratiquement tous ses effectifs, affronte les Goths dans
une bataille cheval. Ayant une supriorit numrique
crasante -1500 contre 500 les soldats de Martin et
de Valrien exterminent la troupe gothique. Les fantassins ne participent pas cette bataille, la cinquime
devant les remparts de Rome, et lissue du combat
est dtermine, comme dans tous les autres affrontements prs de Rome, par les archers monts. Le roi
gothique Vitigs considre quun mauvais sort est jet
sur larme gothique, car les Goths perdent aussi bien
en supriorit numrique, dans quatre premires batailles, quen attaquant avec des forces rduites, lors de
lengagement avec le corps de Martin et de Valrien.
Blisaire, aprs la cinquime bataille prs des murs de

Rome, envoie les troupes de Martin et de Valrien sur le
champ dit de Nron, pour une diversion; le combat se
droule avec des pertes lourdes pour les Romains, mais
le dtachement de Bochas, boucellaire de Blisaire
dorigine massagte (hunnique), arrive laide, ce
qui renverse la situation. La cavalerie romaine poursuit
les Goths (Procope, BG II.8,129-24). Ainsi, les troupes
hunno-anto-sclavnes, sont de nouveau engages au
combat cheval.
Aprs la bataille de Rome le corps en question est
divis en deux dtachements, lun sous les ordres
de Martin, lautre dirig par Valrien (Procope, BG
II.11.4). En 537/538 Blisaire envoie les troupes de
Martin semparer dArminium (Rimini daujourdhui).
Elles comportent 1000 cavaliers, dont 400, dirigs par
Damien, le niveau de Valrien, viennent du dtachement de ce dernier. Un pisode de cette expdition, qui
se produit lors de la sige de la forteresse de Petra attire spcialement lattention. Les soldats romains envoient sur les dfenseurs des projectiles (Procope, BG
II.11.15). Ce sont, sans aucun doute des flches, tires
dun arc fort. En effet, le jet de javelots ou des flches
avec un petit arc, du bas vers le haut des remparts, nest
pas vraiment efficace.
IV
T he H or s e
i n War fare
En 540/541 Martin et Valrien suivent Blisaire dans

sa mutation sur le front perse (Procope, BG III.1.1-3).
Soit leurs soldats hunniques, antes et sclavnes quittent
lItalie avec leurs chefs sur le front Est, soit, ce qui est
plus probable, ils sont rpartis dans dautres troupes.
Ainsi, daprs linformation de Procope, les Antes et
les Sclavnes du corps de Martin et de Valrien sont
les archers monts de type hunnique. Comme nous
lavons dj vu, ils ne pouvaient pas obtenir une telle
formation dans les rangs de larme romaine, car rien
de tel ny a t prvu pour les Barbares. Il reste supposer, que les Antes et les Sclavnes ont appris ce type
231
La Cavaliere Slave
MICHEL
KAZANSKI
de combat auprs des Huns (Poliakov 2005, p.27) bien

avant leur engagement dans larme de Blisaire. En
effet, depuis le Ve s. ils sont voisins dans la steppe
forestire de lUkraine (Kazanski 1999, p.4ff). Dautre
part il nest pas exclu, que les Antes, la fin du IVepremire moiti du Ve s., fassent partie de lempire
hunnique, car leur nom en langues altaques signifie
les allis (voir en dtails Kazanski 1998). Les incursions des Huns, des Sclavnes et des Antes dans les
annes 530, qui concident trangement dans le temps
(Procope, BG III.14.2) ou lattaque conjointe des HunsKoutrigours et des Sclavnes en 559 (Jean Malalas,
Chronique, 490.6-12) tmoignent de lexistence durant le deuxime tiers du VIe s. dune sorte dalliance
militaire entre les Slaves et les peuples de la steppe.
Cest dans le cadre dune telle alliance quun transfert
de la technologie militaire des Huns vers les Slaves a
pu avoir lieu.
En 546/547 des mercenaires slaves rapparaissent en
Italie. Comme nous lavons vu, Blisaire en 545/546
demande Justinien de lui envoyer des renforts, notamment des Huns et dautres Barbares (Procope, BG
III.12.10). Lempereur envoie les troupes de Jean et
dIsaak, composes des Romains et des Barbares, dont
au moins 300 Antes, comme on le verra, ainsi que le
dtachement des Hrules, dirigs par Philmuth (Procope, BG III.13.20-23). Le corps de Jean et dIsaak arrive en Calabre, prs de Brindisi, o les soldats romains
semparent des chevaux en grand nombre, ainsi tous les
soldats deviennent des cavaliers. Ils entrent en combat
cheval avec les Goths et renversent ladversaire par
une charge frontale (Procope, BG III.18.15.15). Blisaire qualifie le dtachement barbare de Jean comme
une troupe dlite (Procope, BG III.18.29). Il est peu
probable quil sagisse dHrules, car ils ne sont pas
directement subordonns Jean, mais ont leur propre
chef. Plus tard les 300 Antes de Jean dfendent la rgion de Lucca et Procope prcise que ceux-ci sont les
meilleurs combattants pour des lieux difficiles et pour
les montagnes (Procope, BG III.22.1-7). H.Wolfram
appelle les Antes chausseurs alpins et y ajoute des
Sclavnes, cependant ces derniers ne sont pas mentionns dans le dtachement de Jean (Wolfram 1990,
p.495, note 306). On peut conclure que les soldats
antes de Jean sont les guerriers polyvalents, capables
aussi bien daffronter ladversaire cheval (charge sur
les Goths prs de Brindisi) que faire la guerre en montagnes (dfense de la rgion de Lucca).
232
Or, comme nous lavons vu, les Slaves au VIe s., qui
affrontent lEmpire sur le Danube, sont dcrits par le
mme Procope, mais galement par Maurice et Jean
dEphse, comme des fantassins lgers, arms des javelots, des petits arcs et de boucliers (voir supra.), ce
qui tranche avec les tmoignages cits ci-dessus sur
les soldats de Martin, Valrien et Jean. Mais cette contradiction sexplique par le fait que sur le Danube, les
Byzantins ont affaire des armes populaires, composes des tous les hommes libres de diffrentes tribus,
tandis quau service de Constantinople sengagent de
vrais combattants professionnels, sans doute peu nombreux.
Dailleurs une situation semblable est atteste par
Procope et par Agathias chez les Francs. Agathias et
Procope de Csare soulignent que larme franque
est forme de fantassins, et que peu de guerriers ont
de chevaux (Agathias, II.5 ; Procope, BG II.25.2-4).
Mais le mme Agathias mentionne des troupes de cavaliers francs, qui couvrent dans une bataille la phalange
des fantassins (Agathias, I.21). Probablement ce sont
des guerriers professionnels qui forment les troupes
montes.
Examinons prsent les donnes archologiques qui
tmoignent de linfluence hunnique sur lquipement
militaire slave. Rappelons que les Huns au Ve-VIe s.
sont avant tout des archers monts, qui prfrent le
combat distance. Les cavaliers de la steppe, aussi
bien que ceux des peuples europens avant la fin du
VIe s. nont pas dtriers ce qui rend le combat rapproch assez difficile. Larme de prdilection hunnique est un arc renforc de plaques en os, il permet
denvoyer des flches lourdes, trois ailettes, qui
causent aux adversaires et leurs chevaux des blessures trs graves (voir par ex. Nikanorov, Hudiakov
2004, p.193ff). Les mmes arcs ont sans aucun doute
t adopts par larme romaine. Procope souligne, que
les arcs romains sont trs forts (Procope, BP I.18.34).
Les Romains tirent la corde darc jusqu loreille et ni
les boucliers ni les armures ne protgent ladversaire
dun tel tir (Procope, BP I.18.34). Dailleurs, quelques
plaques dos venant darc ont t dcouverts dans des
forteresses byzantines du VIe s., notamment Iatrus
sur le Danube (Gomolka-Fuchs 1995, pl.1.28) et Illithcevka dans la pninsule de Taman (Nikolaeva 1986,
pl.1.11).
Cet arc renforc et les flches trois ailettes sont bien
prsents dans le mobilier archologique de la steppe
partir de lpoque hunnique (Alfldi 1932, p.18ff;
Werner 1956, p.46ff; Zasetskaia 1994, pp.35ff; Anke
1998, pp.55-73) et durant tout le Haut-Moyen Age.
Sous linfluence steppique, les arcs renforcs et les
flches trois ailettes se diffusent chez les peuples sdentaires, jusqu un territoire allant de la France au
Nord-Ouest de la Russie modernes (Kazanski 1991,
p.135f; Kazanski 1999, p.202; azanski 1999, p.414;
Kazanski 2000, p.414; Kazanski 2000a, p.199). Citons
des exemples, tels que la spulture dun chef militaire
germanique de lpoque dAttila Singidunum, en Il-
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
IV
T he H or s e
i n War fare
Fig. 1. Lquipement militaire et questre dorigine steppique provenant des sites slaves du Ve-VIIe s. / Arrows, military
and equestrian equipment of steppes peoples origin found in the Slavic sites of the fifth-seventh century.
1 Kolodeznyj Bugor; 2 Hohlov Vir; 3 Tajmanova; 4 Pestchanoe; 5 Hotomel; 6 Rachkov; 7 Dresden-Stetzsch;
8, 12, 18 Davideni-Neam; 9 Tarancevo-Zanki; 10 Miklachevski; 11 Novye Bratuchany; 13 Sarata-Monteoru; 14 Trebujeny;
15 Kizlevyj; 16 Demjanka; 17, 19 Izvoare-Bahia; 20 Hitcy; 21 Selichte; 22 Volochskoe-Surskaja Zabora; 23 Klemetovitchi; 24 Veliki Budki; 25: Bolvanovo-1; 26 Tchernetchina; 27 Sarata-Monteoru. 13, 24: sans chelle/No Scale. After:
Kazanski 1999; Gorjunov 1981; Veretjuchkin et al. 2005; 26: Prihodnjuk 1998; Fiedler 1992.
233
La Cavaliere Slave
MICHEL
KAZANSKI
Fig. 2. Le mobilier provenant du btiment VI de lhabitat de lhabitat de Hitcy. The sixth century Slavonic pottery, iron and
bone artefacts found in the sunken building at the Hitcy settlement. 2,6-23: cramique (pottery); 3: fer (iron);
4,5: os (corne/bone/antler). After: Gorjunov 1981.
234
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 3. La moule fabriquer les boucles de harnachement, dcouverte Bernachevka et les boucles de harnachement
hunniques / Sandstone casting mould for producing harness buckles found at the Bernashevka, and Hunnic harness buckles.
1Bernachevka; 2 Kurnaevka; 3 Zdvijenskoe. After 1 Vinokur 1997; 2,3 Zasetskaia 1994.
lyricum (Ivanievi, Kazanski 2008, p.189), la tombe

princire germanique de lpoque post-hunnique
Bluina, en Moravie du Sud (Tihelka 1963) ou encore
la tombe privilgie almanique Esslingen-Rdern,
en Allemagne du Sud (Christlein 1972), o on a mis
au jour des arcs renforcs et des flches trois ailettes. Ces flches sont dautre part attestes en Rhnanie et en Gaule du Nord (Von Freeden 1991, fig.2.4,5;
Kazanski 1991, p.135ff fig.7.23-25), en Allemagne
du Sud (Von Freeden 1991, p.595ff) ainsi quen Allemagne du Nord (par ex. Von Quillfeld, Roggenbuck,
1985, pl. 121.696.b). La dcouverte la plus septentrionale vient d Uzmen, un habitat de la civilisation de
Tuchemlia, dans la partie sud de la rgion de Pskov
(Minasian 1979, fig.2.27).
Les dcouvertes sur les sites du Ve-VIIe s. appartenant
aux civilisations de Prague, Penkovka et Kolotchin,
montrent que les Slaves utilisaient, eux aussi, larc
renforc et les flches trois ailettes (fig. 1.1-19,26,27)
(Kazanski 1999, p.202). Certaines de ces flches ont
pu, bien entendu appartenir aux ennemis des Slaves,
attaquant leurs habitats (Chouvalov 2004). Cependant,
sur les sites slaves, do viennent ces dcouvertes,
peu dexceptions prs (par ex. habitat fortifi de Zimno:

voir Aulih 1972, pl.10.1-7), des traces de combats ou
des destructions ne sont pas attestes. En revanche, certaines dcouvertes de flches, Rachkov et Hotomel
(niveau infrieur du site), au fond des silos, dans le
remblai, tmoignent de leur appartenance au contexte
purement slave. La longueur des flches varie de 4,5
13 cm. Parmi les formes prsentes, celles largie dans
la partie mdiane sont typiques de lpoque hunnique
(par ex. fig.1.3,4), dautres, largies vers la base, sont
caractristiques de lpoque post-hunnique et avare (par
ex. fig.1.2,5,6,7,8,13,15,17,18). Ce dernier type apparat, en juger par les dcouvertes Bluina (Tihelka
1963, fig.10.9,10) durant la phase D3 de la chronologie
de Barbaricum (450)480/490). Dautre part ces flches
sont attestes dans le tombeau 152.1904 de la ncropole de Kertch (Zasetskaia 1998, pl.17.10,14,15), accompagnes dune plaque-boucle gpide de la premire
moiti-milieu du VIe s. (Zasetskaia 1998, pl. 17.17).
Malheureusement, pour la plupart des dcouvertes de
flches steppiques sur les sites slaves, on ne peut
donner quune datation assez sommaire, dans les limites du Ve s. tardif -VIIe s.
IV
T he H or s e
i n War fare
235
La Cavaliere Slave
MICHEL
KAZANSKI
Fig. 4. Les dcouvertes darmes et de pices d harnachement steppiques sur les sites slaves du Ve-VIIe s. / The steppes
origin weapons and harness fragments found in the Slavic sites of the fifth-seventh century. 1 Dresden-Stetzsch;
2 Hotomel; 3 Klemetoivitchi; 4 Rachkov; 5 Sarata-Monteoru; 6 Davideni-Neam; 7 Izvoare-Bahia; 8 Selichte; 9 Trebueny
Trebujeny; 10 Bratuchany; 11 Miklachevsky; 12 Hitcy; 13 Veliki Budki; 14 Pestchanoe; 15 Volochskoe-Surskaja Zabora;
16 Kizlevyj; 17 Tarancevo-Zanki; 18 Hohlov Vir; 19 Kolodeznyj Bugor; 20 Vladimirskoe; 21 Demjanka; 22 Tajmanova;
23 Bolvanovo-1; 24 Tchernetchina; 25 Bernachevka.
Civilisations archologiques: 1-7: Prague et les sites du Danube infrieur; 8-12,15-17,24: Penkovka; 13,14,18-23: phase
finale de Kiev et Kolotchin.
n1, 2, 4-7, 9-11, 14, 16-24: flches trois ailettes/three-leaf arrowheads; n 3, 8, 15 : boucles de harnachement en os/bone
saddle buckles; n 12: applique darc en os/antler bow bidings; n 13: garde en fer du type asiatique / iron hilt crossguard. Compte tenu lchelle de la carte la localisation des sites est approximative / location of the sites is approximate.
Citons dautre part la dcouverte dune plaque en os

dans le btiment VI de lhabitat de Hitcy, btiment appartenant la phase initiale de la civilisation de Penkovka, Ve-premire moiti du VIe s. (fig. 2.5) (Goriunov
1981, fig. 21.9), ou celle dun crochet de carquois,
avec une boucle, provenant de la ncropole slave du
VIe-VIIe s. de Sarata-Monteoru (fig. 1.27) (une dcouverte hors contexte: Fiedler 1992, fig.12.15). De tels
crochets sont attests dans des antiquits germaniques
dEurope centrale et occidentale du Ve-VIe s. (Bluina,
Nocera Umbra, Duraton: voir Ivanievi et. al. 2006,
p.41), mais galement chez les nomades de la steppe
de lpoque hunnique et post-hunnique (poque hunnique: Zasetskaia 1994, pl.37.21, 46.19; poque posthunnique: Komar et al. 2006, fig.39.10).
Encore un objet qui tmoigne de lapport steppique
dans lart militaire des Slaves: une garde en fer mas-
236
sif, dcouverte sur lhabitat de la civilisation de Kolotchin Velyki Budki, en Ukraine (fig. 1.24). Cette
garde appartient une arme lame, pe ou poignard, de type asiatique, selon la terminologie de W.
Menghin (1994-1995, pp.165-175). Les armes garde
en fer sont rpandues dans la steppe russe chez les Sarmates lpoque romaine (Hazanov 2008, fig.14. 6,7,
15.4,6,7; Skripkin 1990, fig.21.26,28; fig.22.1,3,6,7)
et se diffusent largement en Europe avec lexpansion
des Huns (Tejral 2003, p.503ff).
Le mobilier archologique montre que linfluence
steppique sur les Slaves a eu lieu galement dans le
domaine de lquipement questre. Ainsi, on a mis
au jour des boucles dharnachement en os, typiques
des nomades de la steppe2 (par ex. pour lpoque hun2
Certains chercheurs ont mme interprt ces dcouvertes

comme une preuve de lattribution non slave de la civilisation de Penkovka et des Antes (Corman 1996). Le mythe
En revanche les perons sont trs peu attests pour les

Sclavnes de la civilisation de Prague et pour les Antes
de celle de Penkovka (Kazanski 1999, p.204f). En fait,
il sagit dune seule dcouverte Zamczysko (Kazanski 1999, fig. 3.5), en Pologne, dont lappartenance la
civilisation de Prague na pas eu ladhsion de tous les
chercheurs (voir par ex. ak, Mackowiak-Kotkowska
1988, p.337, n122, o cet objet est attribu au IXe s.).
Les perons sont un peu mieux reprsents sur des sites
de la civilisation slave de Kolotchin (Kazanski 1999,
p.204f). Mais ces sites se situent essentiellement dans
la zone forestire dEurope de lEst, o les perons se
diffusent assez largement (Perhavko 1978). Les perons sont une invention occidentale, ils sont totalement
inconnus dans les civilisations steppiques. Les Slaves
reprsentent le groupe de peuples le plus oriental utiliser des perons depuis lpoque romaine, comme le
prouvent les dcouvertes sur les sites de la civilisation
dite de Kiev (Kazanski 1994; 1997, pp.264f). Mais en
gnral la cavalerie slave en Europe de lEst rappelle
plus celle de la steppe que de lEurope. Il faut dailleurs
noterque la plupart des pices dquipement militaire
et questre dorigine steppique, dcouvertes sur des
sites slaves vient de la zone de la steppe forestire du
Danube au Donetz (fig. 4), o les contacts entre les
Salves et les nomades taient les plus intenses.
Enfin, certaines dcouvertes funraires laissent supposer linfluence steppique dans les rites funraires
slaves. Ainsi lincinration, appartenant la civilisation de Prague, dcouverte Klemetovitchi, en Volhynie, contenait des mors de cheval et une boucle de
harnachement en os (voir notamment Kazanski 1999,
p.212 I.4). Ce mobilier est typique des tombes de la
steppe mais extrmement rare chez les Slaves, dont
les incinrations ne contiennent habituellement pas de
sur lattribution non slave des Antes est, malgr les tmoignages des auteurs anciens, trs vivace dans la recherche occidentale.
Soulignons, en conclusion, que cette influence des peuples nomades ne concerne quune partie des Slaves,
ceux qui peuplaient la zone frontalire de la steppe
forestire dans la partie sud de lEurope orientale.
Dans cette zone, ainsi que sur la frontire danubienne
de lEmpire, les structures sociales slaves voluaient
dune faon plus rapide, sous linfluence, voire la pression des hordes nomades et des armes impriales.
Cette position frontalire a favoris ici lapparition
et la cristallisation plus rapide des lites princires et
militaires ( propos des guerriers professionnels chez
les Slaves au VIe s. voir Ivanov 1996; ivkovi 1996).
Les sources crites attestent de lexistence de chefs
militaires sclavnes et antes partir des annes 560570 (Mnandre, Histoire, fr. 6, 48). Lexistence dlites
sociales se manifeste dans le matriel archologique un
peu plus tard, par des trsors slaves de la fin du VIeVIIe s., dcouverts sur le Dniepr (Martynovka: Pekarskaja, Kidd 1994) et sur le Dniestr (Krylos, Zalese:
Kropotkin 1971; Ugrin 1987). Les transformations sociales ont branl les systmes sociaux traditionnels,
avec lappartenance absolue de lindividu son clan
ou sa tribu. Lapparition des gens libres, lis plutt
un chef militaire qu une structure tribale a favoris
lapparition du mercenariat. Cela lexplique le dpart
de guerriers antes et sclavnes au service de lEmpire,
o les auteurs byzantins les attestent en 537-547.
BALTICA 11
mobilier. On peut expliquer lapparition de pices de

harnachement dans les tombes slaves comme une imitation des pratiques funraires steppiques, considres
comme des rites guerriers.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
nique : Dachevskaia 1995, fig. 3.8 ; pour la priode

post-hunnique : Kruglikova 1957, fig. 2.2; Matveev,
Cybin 2004, fig. 6.3) sur des sites des civilisations
de Penkovka (Selichte, Volochskoe-Surskaja Zabora)
et de Prague (Klemetovitchi) (fig. 1.21-23). Citons
dautre part la dcouverte dun moule pour la fabrication dobjets en bronze, provenant dun atelier du VIe
s. tardif, dcouvert dans lhabitat slave, de la civilisation de Prague, Bernachevka, sur le Dniestr (fig. 3.1).
Ce moule tait destine faire notamment des petites
boucles deux parties, une trapzodale, lautre ovale
(Vinokur 1997, fig. 16). Des boucles de harnachement,
comparables, mais pas tout fait identiques, ont t
mises au jour dans un contexte hunnique Kuranevka
et Zdvijenskoe (fig. 3.2,3) (Zasetskaia 1994, pl.11.8,
30.3).
IV
T he H or s e
i n War fare
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Michel Kazanski
C.N.R.S. UMR 8167: Orient et Mediterranee
Centre dhistoire et Civilisation de Byzance
Collge de France
52 rue du Cardinal Lemoine, 75005 Paris
E-mail: michel.kazanski@college-de-france.fr
J U S T I N I A N O E P O C H O S S L AV
RAITIJA
Tipiki klajokli ginkluots radiniai slav kultr

VVII a. Prahos (), Penkovkos (),
Koloino () paminkluose (sunks tribriauniai
strli antgaliai, kaulins baln sagtys, kaulinis lanko
apkalas, diro usegimo dalis, irgo aprangos sagi
liejimo formel) patvirtina slav raitijos, organizuotos
pagal hun pavyzd, buvim. Slav, gyvenusi mikasteps paribyje ar Dunojaus emupio pasienyje su
Bizantija, socialiniai santykiai vystsi spariau. ia
anksiau atsirado profesionali kari, ikilo karin diduomen, su kuria 560570 metais susidr avarai.
Matyt, mikasteps ir Dunojaus emupio gimini
santykiai nebuvo per daug grieti, todl ir Dunojaus
sklavinams, ir antams nebuvo draudiama tarnauti Romanijos kariuomenje. Ir i tikrj, samdyt moni
sluoksnis visada buvo utikrintas tradicini santyki
irimo indikatorius, dl to formuojasi laisvj moni, nesusiet gimininiais sipareigojimais, luomas.
Dunojaus emupio sklavinai ir mikasteps antai greiiausiai ir sudar profesionali kari grupes, kurios
pirm kart pasiymjo 537545 metais, tarnaudamos
Justinianui.
BALTICA 11
Be to, didij sklavin ir ant kari dal Balkan ukariavimo epochos metu sudar lengvai ginkluoti pstininkai, kuri ginkluot buvo lengvos svaidomosios
ietys, nedideli lankai ir kartais skydai, kuriuos gerai
apra Prokopijus ir Mauricijus savo ekskursuose apie
slav etnografij. Slav pstininkai teik pirmenyb
kautynms raiytoje, mikingoje vietovje, jos taktik, kalbant iuolaikiniais terminais, labiausiai atitinka
partizaninis karas.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
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ZASETSKAIA, I.P., 1998. Datirovka i proishojdenie paltchatyh fibul Bosporskogo nekropolja rannesredenvekovogo perioda. Materialy po Arheologii, Istorii i Etnografii
Tavrii, VI, 394-478.
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Le Monde byzantin I. LEmpire romain dOrient (330641). Paris, 143-180.
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Instituta, 35, 95-116.
IV
T he H or s e
i n War fare
I rus kalbos vert Audron Bliujien
Michel Kazanski
Santrauka
Straipsnis nagrinja Flavijaus Belisarijaus kariuomens slav raiteli bri taktik Italijoje Got karo
metu. Prokopijaus i Cezarjos tekstai liudija, kad got
karo metu sklavinai ir antai Belisarijaus kariuomenje tarnavo hun korpuse raitaisiais lankininkais kaip
ir hunai, kurie daniau kaudavosi nepriartdami prie
prieininko ir nestodami su prieu atvir kov. Be jokios abejons, sklavinai ir antai, o tiksliau palyginti
nedidel j dalis, imoko tokio kovos meno i hun,
VVI a. gyvendami kaimynystje Dunojaus emupyje
ir Ukrainos mikastepje (14 pav.).
239
Symbolic Horse Burials

in the Iron Age
of East Lithuania
SYMBOLIC HORSE BURIALS IN THE IRON AGE OF

EAST LITHUANIA
LAURYNAS KURILA
LAURYNAS
KURILA
Abstract
This article analyses symbolic horse burial rites in the East Lithuanian Barrow Culture of the tentheleventh centuries. Single
imitative inhumations and cremations are the dominant forms of horse cenotaphs. A variety of group imitative burial forms
also was practiced. Funerary rites for symbolic and actual horses were coexistent, and no chronological or spatial differences
between them are observed. Grave goods in burials of symbolic horses indicate lower status. Imitative burials of horses were
carried out by those who had no resources for the sacrifice of the animal itself as a grave good. The social implications of horse
burials or symbolic burials gained substantiality along with growing military activity and social stratification.
Key words: East Lithuanian barrows, horses, symbolic burials, grave goods, equestrian items, status.
Introduction
The horse was one of the few animals that sometimes
was provided funerary treatment by people. Although
far from being a general rule, horse burials occurred
more often and had considerably more features of a
proper burial than any other animal species. The economic and military significance of horses revealed
itself distinctly in ideology, rites, and views of the afterlife. Horses could assume a wide variety of roles in
funerary ritual that of a grave good, sacrifice or food
offering, or possibly simply the object of burial (Jaskanis 1966; Mller-Wille 1970-1971; Vaitkunskien
1981; Oexle 1984; Trinkaus 1984, p.677; Bond 1996,
p.82ff; Bertaius 2002, pp.169-204, Jukaitis 2005). In
many cases the horse was granted the attributes of a
substantial personage in the funeral, i.e., provided with
grave goods or ritual treatment common to humans.
The act of burial is a very symbolic one, but cenotaphs
(symbolic burials) contain an additional symbolism
within the funerary context itself. In those cases when
a dead body cannot or needs not be disposed, or is
not at all present, the funeral has no utilitarian function only an ideological one. Imitative ritual is then
more likely to be performed in order to accomplish the
objectives of the funeral as a social agency. This kind
of ritual would be more a social strategy of the living
rather than an assumed need of the symbolically buried
individual.
242
From the point of practicality, symbolic horse burials

might be rated as irrational (burying something that
actually does not need to be buried, under conditions
when no funeral actually is necessary). Still, the fact
of a common existence of horse cenotaphs in Late Iron
Age East Lithuanian barrows is becoming increasing-
ly evident as new excavation data emerge (Kuncien

1969, p.59ff; Bliujien 1992, p.113ff; VolkaitKulikauskien 2001, p.193ff; Jukaitis 2005, p.147ff;
Kurila 2005, p.67ff). This inevitably raises the question of the purpose of such a ritual. The phenomenon
of symbolic horse burial is unique in the context of the
Baltic tribes. Furthermore, it is the only clear example
in the region of animals who received symbolic treatment in funerary rites, which could indicate a specific
attitude toward horses in East Lithuania. An analysis
of the aforementioned graves might render a better understanding of both the position that the horse held in
worldview, as well as the general view held regarding
the transition from this life to the next.
A study of symbolic horse burials encounters difficulty in the very definition of the subject. The lack of
osteological data and the diversity of interpretations
regarding the archaeological material hinder the identification of symbolic horse graves among other burials.
A chronological analysis also is problematic due to the
difficulty of dating particular artefacts. Therefore, the
primary goals of this article are to define the features
of horse cenotaphs and to set a body of their typology,
chronology, and spatial distribution. Only then can the
material be addressed with the why? and what for?
questions.
Description and classification of the

material
A classification of horse burials in the East Lithuanian
Barrow Culture can be built on three parameters: actual
or symbolic, inhumation or cremation, single or group
(human and horse, or horse and horse) burial. Virtually
all possible combinations of these are present in the ar-
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 1. Locations of symbolic horse burials in the East Lithuanian barrows: 1 Alinka-Raistin; 2 Atmainai-Darsnikis;
3 Auktieji Rusokai; 4 Baltadvaris I; 5 Budriany (Belarus); 6 Dagilioniai; 7 Dovainonys I, II; 8 Dusinnai II;
9 Jakikis; 10 Jainai-Gelo; 11 Kapitoniks; 12 Kernav; 13 Kretuonys; 14 Kunigiks; 15 Kurkli ilas;
16 Pabar; 17 Perauktis-Kasiukai III; 18 Pilviny (Belarus); 19 Rkuiai-Paversmys I; 20 Rusi Ragas; 21 Sudota II;
22 Strva; 23 veicarai; 24 virbliai (map drawn by Kurila).
chaeological record, although represented in very uneven proportions. Since the subject of the present study
is limited to symbolic burials, the study deals only with
the latter two parameters. A symbolic horse burial is
defined as equestrian artefacts (bridle bits, stirrups,
whip handles, sickles1, buckles, bells, etc.) found in a
mortuary context that has no actual horse remains.
Symbolic horse burials or graves bearing the features
of a symbolic burial so far have been discovered in at
least 24 locations with East Lithuanian barrows (Fig.
1). The area of their distribution covers the entire territory of the East Lithuanian Barrow Culture (Kurila
2005, p.70ff fig.13). At least 62 horse cenotaphs had
been excavated up until 2007 (Tab. 1). Since the struc-
The sickle displays a strong correlation with inhumation

and cremation horse burials and equestrian assemblages
in the context of the East Lithuanian Barrow Culture. This
artefact never occurs in contemporaneous womens grave
assemblages. Since no solid arguments for other theories
are available, the interpretation of a sickle as a tool for
fodder production (Szukiewicz 1918, p.11) is still chiefly
in use.
ture of the burials is very diverse, six provisory forms

of cenotaphs can be distinguished:
1. Single cenotaphs that imitate inhumations are one
of the most frequent forms of symbolic horse burials.
At least 16 such burials have been excavated so far.
The grave goods are usually found at the base, in the
centre or in the periphery of the burial mound, without
any other interments. The sequence of the burial rite
roughly can be defined as placement of the items on
the ground and then erection of a mound over them. No
apparent effort was put into the performance or imitation of other stages of the funeral. The cenotaphs are
arranged slightly differently than actual horse inhumations (most of which had been interred in pits at the
base of the barrow). The majority of the graves contain
a single artefact: a sickle, stirrup, bridle bit, or whip
handle. Only one known burial in the Alinka-Raistin
barrow cemeterys barrow 20 was found to have
two items: a sickle and a bridle bit (Bliujien 1992,
p.108ff). Graves of this type are located in the western, northern, and central parts (the basin of the Neris
River) of the East Lithuanian Barrow Culture area, i.e.,
a territory that generally corresponds to the distribution
V
T he W orld
of H orse
S ymbolism
243

in the Iron Age
of East Lithuania
LAURYNAS
KURILA
of barrow cemeteries that contain inhumation or biritual horse burials (Ju kaitis 2005, p.143ff fig.3; Kurila
2005, p.66ff fig.10).
2. Single burials that imitate cremation also are a common form of horse cenotaphs. This form is represented
by at least 14 excavated graves. Their structure generally is the same as that of the above mentioned burials,
but the artefacts bear traces of exposure to fire. One
might assume this to be indicative of an additional
stage in the funerary rite. The grave goods probably
had been charred in imitation of cremation or placed
onto a pyre while cremating a human, and then buried
in a separate barrow. These graves contain considerably
more artefacts. Some examples include that of a sickle,

a bridle bit, a buckle, and seven bronze bells in AlinkaRaistins barrow 8 (Bliujien 1992, p.113) (Fig. 2); a
sickle, two stirrups, and an iron bell in Pabar barrow
6 (Kuncien 1969, p.61 fig.3); and a sickle, a bridle
bit, a buckle, a bronze bell, and an unidentified bronze
artefact in Strva barrow 2 (Girininkas 1978, p.124).
Single imitative horse cremations have been found distributed mainly in the southeastern and central parts
of the culture area where cremations or biritual horse
burials had been dominant (Jukaitis 2005, p.140ff
fig.2; Kurila 2005, p.66ff fig.10), although they do also
occur in the northern part. Since the effect of fire on
Ta b l e 1 . S y m b o l i c h o r s e b u r i a l s i n t h e E a s t L i t h u a n i a n b a r r o w s
AlinkaRaistin
AtmainaiDarsnikis
Dovainonys
II
Jakikis
Kapitoniks
Kernav
Kurkli ilas
AlinkaRaistin
Dusinnai II
JainaiGelo
Kunigiks
2
Pabar
Sudota II
Strva
244
3
20
21
12
23
11
12
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
first burial
later burial?
first burial
first burial
first burial
first burial
first burial?
4(B)
first burial
8
12
24
31
36
2
4(5)
1(37)
8
19
5
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
first burial?
first burial
first burial
?
later burial?
first burial?
first burial?
first burial?
first burial
first burial?
?
+
+
+
2
3
4
6
8
13
14
11
2
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
later burial
later burial
first burial
later burial
later burial
later burial
later burial
first burial
first burial
first burial
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
unidentified
bell
fitting
buckle
Grave
goods
charred
sickle
Burial
Other burials in
Position of
Barrow No. (arthe barrow
the burial in
No.
bitrary
(other remains in
the mound
No.)
a group burial)
whip handle
Barrow
cemetery
bridle bit
Form
of the
burial
stirrup
Grave-goods
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1?
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
?
1
Dovainonys I
Dovainonys
II
12? Dusinnai II
JainaiGelo
first burial
3
9
1
1
first burial
?
?
?
1
1
first burial?
32
3
1
3
5
1
1
1
1
1
first burial
?
first burial
first burial
first burial
?
?
?
?
?
3(A)
first burial
later burial
1
1
1
1
later burial
first burial?
later burial
first burial
?
?
?
?
1
1
1
1
1
later burial
1
1
1
?
first burial
later burial?
?
?
?
1
1
Baltadvaris I
31
first burial
contemporaneous
(?) cremation human
burial
virbliai
38
C, D
1
21(332)
1
1
10
20
first burial
37
first burial
6(13)
Kernav
Kretuonys
AtmainaiDarsnikis
JainaiGelo
3 contemporaneous
first burial and later cremation
human burials
later burial
human remains
later burial
human remains
later cremation
first burial
horse burial
later cremation
first burial
horse burial
Kernav
5
1
1
1
1
1
6
1
1
1
1
cremation burial
first burial
contemporaneous (?)
cremation burial
first burial
contemporaneous
cremation human
and horse burial
Kapitoniks
AtmainaiDarsnikis
3, 5?
Budriany
(Belarus)
contemporaneous
(?) cremation horse
burial
contemporaneous
(?) cremation horse
burial
2
1
1
1
1
1
Kapitoniks
42
Kurkli ilas 15(36)
2
PerauktisKasiukai III
7
Pilviny
12
(Belarus)
Rkuiai3(10)
Paversmys I
Rusi Ragas
D
Sudota II
9
veicarai
7
BALTICA 11
14
ARCHAEOLOGIA
AlinkaRaistin
AtmainaiDarsnikis
Auk tieji
Rusokai
Baltadvaris I
Dagilioniai
V
1
T he W orld
of H orse
S ymbolism
245
LAURYNAS
KURILA

in the Iron Age
of East Lithuania
man graves contained bridle bits. None of them had

been charred, thus the imitative funerary rite for the
horses excluded cremation. These graves are a symbolic variation of the custom of burying a human and
a horse in one grave pit. Other possible recorded cases
of such burials (although unconfirmed osteologically
as to whether they contain both horse and human remains) are the Kastkiks barrow 1 (excavations by
O. Kuncien), the Kretuonys barrow 32(341)s graves
2 and 3, Pabar barrow 1 (excavations by W. Szukiewicz), Rokantiks barrow 1, and Zasvir (Belarus) barrow 20 (excavations by F. Pokrovskii).
Other strategies also could have been employed to imitate the burial of a horse together with a human, like
the inclusion of a horse tooth within the grave (Kurganai barrow 4, grave 3; Pukalaukis barrow 1, grave 1;
Rimshany (Belarus) barrow 1).
Fig. 2. Alinka-Raistin barrow no. 8, symbolic horse burial

in situ (Bliujien 1984).
the artefacts is not always apparent, the form (imitative

inhumation or cremation) of a number of single horse
cenotaphs (at least 21 cases) remains unidentified.
The following forms of symbolic horse graves are various group burials:
3. Horse grave goods deposited in a barrow that contains human burials constitute a particular form of a
human and horse group burial, wherein the latter is entombed symbolically. In virbliai barrow 38, a sickle
and another iron artefact were found at the base of the
barrow along with three human graves. Planigraphically and stratigraphically, the horse cenotaph showed
a close association with a cremated female(?) burial I
(Iwanowska 2006, p.100ff and p.202ff). In Baltadvaris
I barrow 31, a bridle bit and human remains (identified
osteologically) without any grave goods were buried
in separate graves (Augustinaviius, Dakanis 2001,
p.79ff). No information is available regarding whether
the grave goods in these graves had been charred in
imitation of cremation.
246
4. A similar form of human and horse group burial differs only in the construction of the burial: cremated
human remains furnished with equestrian items. In
Kernav barrow 1 (Kulikauskas 1982, p.71) and Kretuonys barrow 21(332) (Butnien 1977, p.43), the hu-
5. Another form of group burial that involves imitative rituals consists of horse cenotaphs found in one
barrow with burials of cremated horses. Such burials
have been excavated in four barrows. The graves can
be interpreted in two different ways. Items buried in a
separate area of the mound might be regarded either as
additional grave goods of the horse grave or as a distinct symbolic burial. The latter interpretation is supported by chronological gaps between the horse burial
and horse cenotaph in some cases, or the absence of
evidence of burning on the interred artefacts (charring
of the grave goods would be expected if they were
associated with a horse buried during the cremation
process). The cenotaphs usually contain only a sickle.
Only one known case, that of Jainai-Gelo barrow
8, contained three artefacts: a sickle, a bridle bit, and a
buckle (imnas 2006, p.93 fig.29).
6. A complex form of group burial is recorded in one of
the barrows at Kernav: barrow 6(13). The cremated
remains of a human, horse, and another animal (verified by osteological analysis), without any grave goods,
were buried in a grave pit. Afterward, a pyre over the
grave pit was used to char a sickle, and the whole ritual
place was covered with a mound (Luchtanas 1986).
This idiosyncratic grave might be construed as a burial
of a human along with two horses (an actual body and
a cenotaph), although a range of other interpretations
is possible.
While representations of the latter four forms of horse
cenotaphs are rare, no framework for their spatial distribution can be estimated. Various forms of symbolic
horse burials alongside cremation interments were
practiced throughout the entire culture area, and not
one form appears to have been dominant.
The variability of symbolic horse burial customs
probably had been even higher. An interpretation of
Chronological evaluation
A chronological evaluation of the Late Iron Age East
Lithuanian barrows is challenging. The dates of the assemblages seldom fit frames narrower than two centuries or so due to the lack of precisely datable artefacts
and proper chronological schemes. A proposal of only
provisional dates of horse cenotaphs is attempted
here.
Most of the symbolic horse burials have been found
in barrows without stone circles, an attribute considered indicative of relatively late (Late Iron Age, ninthtwelfth century) mounds. Only Sudota IIs barrow 11
might have had remnants of a stone circle (Merkeviius
1990, p.54ff).
Not all grave goods of horse cenotaphs were available
for examination in this study due to poor preservation or other reasons. Those that were examined were
dated only approximately (Fig. 3). The stirrups from
Jakikis barrow 12 (Simnikyt 2007), Pabar barrow 6 (Kuncien 1969, p.61), and Sudota II barrow 11
(Merkeviius 1990, p.56) are typologically related to
types 6 and 7 according to Antanaviius (1976, p.74ff)
and dated to the tenth-twelfth centuries. The vast majority of bridle bits are of the plain or twisted threesectioned types. This form is assigned to Kirpichnikov
(1973, p.17) type 5 which is chiefly dated to the tenth
eleventh centuries. The artefacts from Alinka-Raistin
barrow 19 (Bliujien 1992, p.123) and Pabar barrow
3 (Kuncien 1969, p.62) belong to the broadly dated
1 and 4 types (Kirpichnikov 1973, p.13ff). Their most
likely chronology also is tentheleventh century. The
bridle bit from Perauktis-Kasiukai III barrow 7
common with type 1. A narrower chronological span

of the second half of the tenth century or the first half
of the eleventh century (Butnas 2001, p.231) can be
ascribed to the whip handles from Jakikis barrow 8
(Strimaitien 2006) and Perauktis-Kasiukai III barrow 7 (Pokrovskii 1897, p.162). All sickles found in
horse cenotaphs as well as in most inhumations and cremations belong to type 6 according to Minasian (1978,
p.82ff), although the forms of the individual artefacts
vary considerably. Their dates can only be as accurate
as the eighth/ninthtwelfth/thirteenth centuries (and
the typological differences of Medieval sickles are minor). A generally similar, broad chronology likewise
can be applied to buckles (Butnas 1999, p.48). Thus,
the overall chronology of the horse cenotaphs in the
East Lithuanian barrows is tentheleventh century. The
twelfth century probably covers only the final stage of
symbolic horse burial tradition as well as that of the
entire East Lithuanian Barrow Culture (Kurila 2003).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
horse cenotaphs also

has been proposed for
mounds without any
burials (Bliujien 1992,
p.119ff), are very frequent phenomenon in
East Lithuanian barrow
cemeteries.
Mounds
that contain no traces of
burials so far have been
excavated in about 50
locations. Some symbolic intention of such
barrows is hardly deniable. However, their inFig. 3. Grave goods from Pabar barrow no. 3 symbolic horse burial: 1 bridle bit; 2 sickle;
terpretation as symbols
3, 4 buckles (all iron) (excavations by O. Kuncien, drawing by A. Ruzien).
of namely horse burials,
while logical, is not sup(Pokrovskii 1897, p.161ff) falls off of the above tyported by any direct evidence.
pological scheme although it does have features in
V
T he W orld
of H orse
S ymbolism
Interpreting symbolic horse burials

While a horse might be buried in a number of different
ways, the main variable is the alteration between actual
and symbolic burial. The choice between the two options must have been closely related to ideology (views
concerning the afterlife, the notion of a link between
the symbol and the symbolized object, the amount of
wealth a society decided to grant the deceased2). In this
Osteological analyses of horse remains, while rare, have
shown that generally it was young horses that were buried
in the East Lithuanian barrows. This confirms the proposition that they had suffered a violent death and were interred as offerings or grave goods. Whether horses always
accompanied human burials, or were interred as sacrifices
under some other circumstances, might be a matter beyond
247

in the Iron Age
of East Lithuania
LAURYNAS
KURILA
248
article, an effort is made to compare the horse burials

and horse cenotaphs from two perspectives: chronological and social.
In stable societies, burial rites are expected to develop
toward plainer forms, with progressively fewer grave
good deposits through time (Childe 1945, p.17). This
rule could explain the gradual replacement of horse
cremations and inhumations by symbolic forms in funerary rites. Such a model has been applied to horse
burial customs in the East Lithuanian Barrow Culture
by A. Bliujien (1992, p.121). Still, the hypothesis of
change through time needs to be tested.
A chronological comparison of symbolic and actual horse burials is possible only in some cases. In
Jainai-Gelo barrow 8, the horse cremation was
interred later than the cenotaph. However, the grave
goods of both graves are identical and thus chronologically parallel to each other from a typological point of
view (imnas 2006). Atmainai-Darsnikis barrow 10
had analogous stratigraphy (Vlius 2007, p.138). The
horse cremation in Kretuonys barrow 54(5) contained a
sickle (Butnien 1982, p.67) characteristic of a period
no later than the ninth century (Minasian 1978, pp.79
and 83); it must therefore be earlier than the horse
cenotaph in barrow 21(332) (Butnien 1977, p.43).
In the comprehensively excavated Alinka-Raistin
(Bliujien 1992, p.112) and Kapitoniks (Tautaviius
1957, p.100ff) barrow cemeteries, no typological differences were observed between the furnishings of
horse cenotaphs and inhumations or cremations. Barrows 20 and 37 of Kapitoniks most likely contained
contemporaneous horse cremations and cenotaphs
(Tautaviius 1957, p.100ff). One theory based on the
spatial distribution of the mounds is that the barrows
that contain horse inhumations in the central part of
the Alinka-Raistin cemetery were somewhat earlier
than the ones with cenotaphs located mostly on the periphery (Bliujien 1992, p.106). In Kapitoniks, the
expansion of the cemetery might be reconstructed only
as horse cremations following the inhumations, or the
opposite. However, no spatial patterns are noticeable
between the barrows with actual horse burials and symbolic horse burials (Tautaviius 1957, p.97). In Rusi
Ragas barrow cemetery, no chronological relationship
can be deduced between the horse cenotaph and the
inhumations. Still, the whip handle that accompanied
a horse in barrow F (Zabiela 2005, p.134) is similar to
the ones of the cenotaphs in Perauktis-Kasiukai III
barrow 7 (Pokrovskii 1897, p.162) and Jakikis barrow 8 (Strimaitien 2006) which most certainly would
mean chronological proximity.
our knowledge. Still, funerals for horses that died naturally were not common.
The few comparative data make it difficult to trace any

significant chronological differences between the practices of symbolic and actual horse burials. In general,
the period of horse cremation and inhumation rites
probably was longer than that of the symbolic burials (which would be entirely logical, since a symbol
is not likely to emerge prior to the object it symbolizes). However, the practices of horse inhumations,
cremations, and imitative burials were coexistent in
roughly the same proportions, for a period that lasted
at least two centuries. East Lithuanian burial sites contain horse cenotaphs that preceded, followed, and occurred at the same time as graves that contained actual
horse remains. Imitative horse burials never replaced
cremations and inhumations. Given that the pattern of
horse burial practices was unique in every society, the
shift between actual and symbolic horse burials is most
likely to have occurred many times at any particular
burial site.
While rejecting the hypothesis of a chronologically
based difference between symbolic and actual horse
burials, the question still remains regarding the nature
of the differences between the two types of rituals. The
differences might be explained by a social implication model of funerary customs. The general idea of
the model is that the higher the status of the individual being buried, the more time, labour, and resource
consuming funerary treatment he or she is expected to
receive. Greater mortuary variability reflects greater
complexity in social organisation (Saxe 1970; Binford
1971; Tainter 1978). The relationship between social
status and burial is displayed through the particular
symbols of a society. A funeral might be employed by
the mourners themselves as a strategy for establishing,
maintaining, or claiming a certain social order or position in the society (Hodder 1982, p.195ff; Scarre 1994;
OShea 1995; Parker Pearson 2003, p.78ff; Oestigaard,
Goldhahn 2006). If the horse is considerd a grave good
or a funerary sacrifice, one hypothesis would be that a
deceased higher status individual might likely be accompanied in the funeral rite by a horse, while individuals of lower status would receive only horse symbols.
The willingness of a society to grant the deceased a
horse suggests an acknowledged social significance.
The value of horses has always been high (Hyland
2003, p.141ff). In the period in question it supposedly
was equal to a price of a female slave (Bertaius 2002,
p.197) or two swords (Lehtosalo-Hilander 1982, p.38).
While the common occurrence of horse burials in East
Lithuanian barrows even in relatively poorly furnished
cemeteries (a sword is found almost 40 times less often
than a horse burial) raises the question of a horses high
value in the societies, the decision of whether to inter
Historical background
A widespread and, it can be claimed,
rather rapid diffusion of a symbolic horse
burial tradition and its perceptible social
Fig. 4. Average number of artefacts (NA) and number of artefact types

(NAT) in actual and symbolic horse burials in East Lithuanian barrows.

(NAT) in actual and symbolic horse inhumations and cremations in East
Lithuanian barrows.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
The fact that horse inhumations, cremations, and symbolic burials commonly
occurred separately from human burials
makes it difficult to trace the relationship
between the form of horse burials and the
wealth of human interments. Thus, another
methodological approach must be found.
A comparison is made between the quantity and diversity of grave goods (number
of artefacts and number of artefact types)
of horse inhumations or cremations versus cenotaphs in some of the comprehensively excavated cemeteries as well
as in the entire East Lithuanian mortuary
record of that period (Fig. 4). The comparison suggests a pattern that the horse
cenotaphs contain fewer items. Thus, the
burial of an actual horse correlates with
greater wealth and, subsequenty, with a
higher status of the deceased or stronger
social objectives of the mourners. Conversely, imitative horse burial is an attribute of lower status. A correlation also
is observed between the number of grave
goods and the manner of symbolic burial
(inhumation versus cremation). Symbolic
cremations (form 2) have more than twice
as many grave goods as symbolic inhumations (form 1) (although in actual horse
burials this is not the case) (Fig. 5). Thus,
the imitation of cremation, from the point
of resource investment, could also be rated as an attribute of higher status (at least
in biritual cemeteries). Different trends
in horse burial customs doubtessly could
have existed in certain societies that possessed different quantities of horses or
overall wealth. A richer community is
likely to bury an actual horse. However,
no link is noticeable between the general
wealth of barrow cemeteries (expressed
through the grave goods in human burials) and the actual / symbolic horse burial
ratio (Fig. 6). A subtle order that linked
the form of horse burial with social status
probably existed in every society.
BALTICA 11
the actual animal or merely items that symbolized the animal, had to be essential.
V
T he W orld
of H orse
S ymbolism

(NAT) in human burials found at East Lithuanian barrow cemeteries containing different proportions of actual and symbolic horse burials
(1 Didiuliai; 2 Varliks; 3 Ziaziulka-Sidarishki (Belarus); 4 virbliai;
5 Kapitoniks; 6 Budriany (Belarus); 7 Kernav; 8 Pabar).
249

in the Iron Age
of East Lithuania
LAURYNAS
KURILA
implications could not be a self-emerging phenomenon. Its foundation lies in the political and social realia
of the time. The tentheleventh/twelfth centuries was
a time of pronounced change in East Lithuania, as it
was at the dawn of statehood. The region was involved
in struggles against Ruthenia, mainly the Duchy of
Polotsk. Growing military activity and an increasing tendency to attack promoted tribal consolidation
(Baranauskas 2000, pp.120-124 and 146-156). After
several centuries of what could be interpreted as social
stagnation, an intense concentration of power is perceptible at the turn of the millenium. Social organisation in
East Lithuania gradually developed toward a distinctly
ranked society. The evidence for this is visible in the
mortuary data (isolated and elaborate, richly furnished
graves of warriors Musianowicz 1968; Iwanowska
2006, p.108ff), the development of a hillfort structure
(Zabiela 1997; Baranauskas 2000, p.143ff), and written sources (Gudaviius 1996, p.120ff; Baranauskas
2000, p.139ff). The society became militarized. The
activities and capabilities of warfare apparently were
the principal agents that patterned the system of rank.
A marked mortuary variability and dominant military
aspect of the highest level signal a dynamic social system impacted by a competition for status and claims
for legitimizing achieved social roles (Wason 1994,
p.84ff). Such a system requires a set of strategies for
demonstrating status. In a society that develops a rank
system based on military agency as East Lithuania did
in the tentheleventh/twelfth centuries, horse burial
was likely to become an instrument for the display of
appropriate aspects of social status. The horse became
more important in warfare as warfare became more intensive and professional. The value of horses also had
to grow along with the demand for them. Their deposition in burials thus constituted an act that only some
within the society could afford. On the other hand, the
burial of a horse was an endeavour to implement social
claims. Symbolic horse burials thus served as a peculiar balance between the objectives of gaining the ritual
benefits of horse burials and saving the actual animal
for practical needs. Those who could not afford to bury
a horse employed the imitative forms of such rituals.
The various practices of horse burial might have been
regulated by certain norms that were uniform throughout the East Lithuanian Barrow Culture or acted out
differently within each particular community. Perhaps
horse inhumations, cremations, symbolic burials, or the
absence of any type of interment was associated with
particular elements of the rank system, like an acquired
funerary symbolism similar to that of weapons.
250
Conclusions
Our understanding of the meanings of symbols that
were used in bygone societies is limited. The most an
archaeologist can manage in this field of study is to
propose an interpretation based on his/her own cultural
environment. Only some of the statements of this article are proposed with varying degrees of certainty;
some interpretative issues are approached more tentatively.
The customs of symbolic horse burials were multiform.
The dominant forms of horse cenotaphs were single
imitations of inhumations or cremations, although a
variety of group burials also have been recorded. Overall, the arrangement of symbolic graves in the majority
of the cases corresponds to that of actual burials, the
presence or absence of horse remains being the only
common variable. This indicates a strong relationship
between the two types of ritual.
In general, the tradition of symbolic horse burials was
commonplace in the East Lithuanian Barrow Culture
in the tentheleventh centuries. A more accurate chronology is indeterminate. Symbolic and actual horse
burials had been coexistent both in particular areas of
interment as well as on the level of the entire archaeological culture.
An analysis of the grave goods suggests a correlation
of symbolic funerary rites for horses with lower status.
The resolution of the mourners to grant the deceased
a horse indicates his authority and prestige, whereas a
symbolic horse interment evidences the opposite.
The social implications of horse burial became increasingly substantial under the conditions of growing
military activity and social stratification. The symbolic
burial of a horse became a means of gaining ritual benefits without heavy material loss. On the other hand,
the symbolic horse burial might have been an attribute
of a concrete element in the system of rank.
Translated by author,
English language edited by Indr Antanaitis-Jacobs
Abbreviations
LA Lietuvos archeologija, Vilnius, from 1979.
MADA Lietuvos TSR Moksl akademijos darbai, A serija,
Vilnius, from 1955 till 1989.
BLIUJIEN, A., 1984. Alinkos (Raistins) pilkapyno, Trak

raj., tyrinjimai 1984 m. / unpublished excavations report.
In: Archive of Lithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius, F.1,
b.1159.
BUTNIEN, E., 1977. Kretuon pilkapyno venioni raj.
1977 m. tyrinjimai / unpublished excavations report. In:
Archive of Lithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius, F.1,
b.588.
SAXE, A.A., 1970. Social dimensions of mortuary practices
/ unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Michigan [Online] Available from: http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/cart?add=7104720 [Accessed: 10 May 2006].
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Received: 30 December 2008; Revised: 22 March 2009;
Laurynas Kurila
Lithuanian Institute of History
Krai g. 5
LT-01108 Vilnius
LITHUANIA
E-mail: kurila@istorija.lt
SIMBOLINIAI IRG
L A I D O J I M O PA P R O I A I
GELEIES AMIAUS
RY T L I E T U V O J E
Laurynas Kurila
Santrauka
irgas yra vienas i nedaugelio gyvn, kuriems mons kartais rengdavo laidojimo apeigas. Laidojant jis
galjo gauti vairi reikmi: kaps, aukos, galbt ir
paties laidojimo objekto. Turint omenyje ir iaip gili
simbolin laidojimo potekst, simbolinis irgo laidojimas yra savitas, vien praktiniais poreikiais nepaaikinamas reikinys. Kaupiantis duomenims apie tokio
paproio egzistavim Ryt Lietuvos pilkapi kultroje
vlyvajame geleies amiuje (1 pav.), ikyla jo reikms klausimas. is darbas skirtas simbolini irgo
kap tipologijai, chronologijai ir interpretacijai.
252
Straipsnyje simboliniu irgo kapu laikomos irgo kaps (slai, balnakilps, botkoiai, pjautuvai, sagtys,
vanguiai ir t. t.), rastos kape be irgo palaik (2, 3
pav.). Simbolini kap klasifikacija yra paremta dviem
pagrindiniais parametrais: degintinio ar griautinio ir
atskiro ar grupinio (mogaus ir irgo arba irgo ir irgo) kapo imitacija. Kap, kuriuos galima laikyti irgo
kenotafais, iki iol rasta 24-iuose pilkapynuose, isidsiusiuose visoje Ryt Lietuvos pilkapi kultros
teritorijoje. Iki 2007 m. buvo itirti maiausiai 62 tokie
kapai (1lent.). Iskiriamos 6 slygins j formos.
1. Atskiri irgo inhumacij imituojantys kapai yra viena pagrindini irgo kenotafo form. Toki kap ranga nesudtinga vir ant ems sudt kapi bdavo
supilamas pilkapis. Daugumoje kap rasta po vien
dirbin. Simbolini irgo inhumacij randama daugiausia vakarinje, iaurinje ir centrinje kultrinio arealo
dalyje, kur vyravo irg inhumacijos paprotys.
2. Kita dana forma yra simbolin irgo kremacija atskirame pilkapyje. Nuo pirmosios formos ji skiriasi tuo,
kad irgo kaps kapuose randamos apdegusios. Greiiausiai jos bdavo deginamos simboliniame laidotuvi laue. Tokiuose kapuose randama gerokai daugiau
ir vairesni kapi. Simbolin irgo kremacija praktikuota pietrytinje ir centrinje kultros teritorijos dalyje, kur vyravo irg deginimo paprotys.
Kitos irgo kenotafo formos yra vairs grupiniai kapai:
3. irgo kaps, ukastos viename pilkapyje su degintiniais moni kapais, yra simbolin grupinio mogaus
ir irgo laidojimo forma. Iki iol tyrinti tik du tokie
kapai.
4. Kita panai forma skiriasi tik kapo ranga. Tai irgo
kaps, rastos degintiniame mogaus kape (tokiems kapams identifikuoti btina osteologin palaik analiz,
todl tikslus j skaiius nra aikus).
5. irg kenotafai, rasti viename pilkapyje su degintiniais irg kapais, yra sunkiau identifikuojama grupins laidosenos forma. Atskirai palaidotus dirbinius
galima laikyti ir papildomomis irgo kapmis. Taiau
toki interpretacij paneigia chronologiniai skirtumai
tarp irgo kapo ir kenotafo bei deginimo ymi nebuvimas ant simbolinio kapo kapi.
6. Sudtinga laidojimo forma ufiksuota viename Kernavs pilkapi. Jame vir ukastos kapo duobs su
degintiniais mogaus, irgo ir kito gyvno palaikais
sukurtame laue buvo apdegintas pjautuvas antro irgo simbolis (?).
Simbolini irg kap datavimas yra nelengvas udavinys. Dauguma juose rast dirbini yra apytiksliai
datuojami XXI a., galbt XII a. pradia. Palyginus
simbolini ir griautini bei degintini irg kap
chronologij, patikrinta hipotez, kad simbolins laidojimo apeigos pamau pakeit irg laidojim (kas
bt logika, turint omenyje stabiliose visuomense
nuolat paprastjani laidojimo paproi model). Taiau negauss duomenys neleidia velgti reikming
chronologini skirtum tarp abiej laidojimo bd.
Atskiruose pilkapynuose irg kenotafai buvo ankstesni, vlesni ir vienalaikiai su tikrais irg kapais. Apskritai irg laidosenos praktikavimo laikotarpis buvo
Simbolins irg laidosenos iplitimas vlyvajame

geleies amiuje ir jos socialin potekst aikintini
to meto politine situacija. XXI/XII a. Ryt Lietuva
buvo traukta kovas su Rusia, jos karinis aktyvumas
augo ir vis labiau gavo puolamj pobd. Dinamikai
socialinei organizacijai, kurioje vyko kovos dl statuso ir gyt pozicij legitimavimo, buvo btini statuso
demonstravimo bdai. Militarizuotoje visuomenje
tam tiko irg, kuri svarba karyboje augo, laidojimas.
irgo laidojimo apeigas galjo sau leisti tik dalis visuomens. Taigi simbolinis laidojimas tapo savotika
pusiausvyra tarp ritualins irgo laidojimo btinybs ir
praktins naudos isaugant gyvn. Galbt Ryt Lietuvos bendruomense netgi egzistavo tam tikros normos,
siejanios irgo laidojim, simbolin laidojim ir jokio
ritualo nebuvim su konkreiais socialini rang sistemos elementais.
BALTICA 11
Atmetus chronologins irg laidosenos kaitos hipotez, simbolini ir tikr irg kap skirtumus bandoma
paaikinti laidojimo paproi socialinmis implikacijomis. ios koncepcijos esm sudtingesns laidojimo apeigos rodo auktesn mirusiojo status, o didesn
laidosenos vairov atskleidia didesn socialin stratifikacij. Laikant irg kape, galima kelti hipotez,
kad auktesnio statuso individai laidoti su irgais, tuo
tarpu emesnio statuso su irgo simboliais. Deja,
vyravusi irg ar irgo simboli laidosena atskiruose
pilkapiuose neleidia palyginti irgo laidojimo bdo
ir moni kap turtingumo. Taiau kapi turtingumo
analiz atskleidia, kad simbolini irg kap kapi
kompleksai yra skurdesni nei griautini ir degintini
kap (4 pav.). Taigi paties irgo laidojimas koreliuoja
su auktesniu, o irgo simbolio su emesniu statusu.
Be to, pastebta, kad simbolins irgo kremacijos buvo
gerokai turtingesns nei inhumacijos (5 pav.). Tuo tarpu ryio tarp bendro pilkapyno turtingumo (nustatyto
pagal moni kapus) ir tikr bei simbolini irg kap
santykio nepastebta (6 pav.).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
ilgesnis nei simbolins laidosenos, taiau abu laidojimo bdai koegzistavo maiausiai du imtmeius.
V
T he W orld
of H orse
S ymbolism
253
ANTONIJA
VILCNE
Findings of Harness Items

and the Cult of th Horse
in Latgallian and Selonian
Te r r i t o r i e s
FINDINGS OF HARNESS ITEMS AND

T H E C U LT O F h H O R S E I N L AT G A L L I A N
AND SELONIAN TERRITORIES
ANTONIJA VILCNE
Abstract
This article summarises the evidence of the military and agricultural significance of the horse, as well as of the Pagan beliefs
and ritual practices reLated to horses found in the archaeological excavations in the Latgallian and Selonian territories relating to the Iron Age. During the Iron Age, the role of horse is growing; the fact is reflected in diversity and quantity of harness
items and cavalrymans equipment found in the excavations. Although the existence of horse cult in all the peoples that lived
in territory of present Latvia and surrounding territories is indisputable, there are significant differences in the common beliefs
and ritual practices defined by the social development of the society, by mutual trade relations, interaction of cultures and,
probably, even by the migration of people.
Key words: harness, burials with horses, horse cult, Latgallians, Selonians, Iron Age.
Introduction
In the territory of Latvia evidence of horse can be
traced to as far as middle Mesolithic; teeth of wild
horse are found in burials of Zvejnieki burial ground,
in the Osa settlement (Zagorska 2001, pp.54, 60 and 68
with table 1). In early Bronze Age settlements (Brikui,
Mkukalns, Asote, Klaukalns etc.) the number of
horse bone findings is significantly grown, which attests the assumption on horse meat as an important food
source. For example, in the Brikui settlement horse
bones constitute for 18.6% of all local bone findings.
Bridle-bit fragments made of bone and horn (found in
Brikui and Mkukalns settlements) shows the usage
of horse as tractive force in the daily life of the inhabitants (Vasks 1994, pp.30 and 59 with table 8). Along
with the growth in significance of horses agricultural
role it gets more prominent place also in mythological
and ritualistic conceptions. In early Bronze Age settlements were found sacrifices of horse teeth and skulls,
as well as items with stylised depictions of horse (Kivutkalns), which attests the existence of a horse cult
(Graudonis 2001, pp.124 and 151 table 2).
The economical and symbolic significance of the horse
is described several times both in general-purpose
scientific works and in more detailed reports (Karnups 1936; Urtns 1974; Zemtis 2004). The newest
archaeological explorations confirm these assumptions
on role of the horse in daily life of ancient inhabitants
of the territory of Latvia; also that in their religious
conceptions and ritualistic practices.
254
Reflection of the economical

significance of horse in the Latgallian
and Selonian archaeological material
In the Iron Age, during the development of field cropgrowing, the tractive role of horse is indisputably
growing; archaeological findings of spurs, bridle-bits,
stirrup, horse-collars and other harness items shows
the usage of horse also for riding and driving.
The archaeological material from Latgallian and Selonian settlements shows and attests that horse is no
more purely livestock, but also a tractive force in the
field crop-growing practice, a mean of conveyance
and is acquiring ever more prominent place in military affairs. The growth in the role of horse in lives
of the inhabitants is signified by percentile changes of
the horse bone quantity in the occupation layer within
the boundaries of given age. In the first half of first
millennium CE osteological material acquired in the
excavated settlements shows evidence of horse as a
food source. In locations dated with early Iron Age
(Mkukalns, Kivti) horse bones contributed 21 to 22
per cent of total livestock bone findings, thus having
second place by quantity (Vasks 2001, p.200). In the
widely explored ente hillfort which was inhabited
in the fifth-ninth century, horse is at fourth (11.1%)
place, though in the settlement near the mound - second (30.2%) place by quantity among livestock bone
findings. In addition, the horse bones, similarly to other
livestock bones, were heavily fragmented and concentrated in the vicinity of dwellings and fireplaces. Most
of the bones are of young specimen less than three
years old, which is the age at which horse is not com-
cal prick riveted to an extension of it. The bridle-bits

found in the castle mound are bipartite, with toreutic
side-irons with profiled upper parts.
In the Late Iron Age number of harness and horsemans

equipment items found in Latgallian and Selonian locations is growing. Not counting the usual findings of
spurs, bridle bindings and bridle-bits, there are also
samples of stirrup and whip handles. Spurs are among
the most frequently found harness items; they are found
in almost every explored Latgallian and Selonian settlement of the Late Iron Age. Three iron spur fragments were found in the Pizii Kaupra mound hillfort
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
monly being used at work (Stubavs 1976, p.84). In

the beginning of second millennium, horse loses its
value as a food source, which is attested by percentile decrease of horse bone quantity among livestock
bone findings. In the Latgallian and Selonian locations dated with Late Iron Age, horse bones in the
osteological material fill fourth position by quantity,
being fewer in numbers than findings of pig, small
cattle and bovine bone (Tsalkin 1961, p.219 tables
17 and 18). For an example, in Asote, horse bone Fig. 1. Horse bone quantity among livestock bone findings in
the Late Iron Age Latvian habitation sites.
proportion among livestock bone findings contributes to 5.38%, in Jersika 3.6%, in Slpils 5.2%, in
(Urtns 1981), fragment of an iron spur was detected
Dignja 8.1%, in Olikalns 7.6%, in Lokstene
9.8% (fifth-eleventh century strata) and 10.45% (in in Goveii and Madalni hillfort (Rua 1998, fig.13.5),
14th-15th century strata) (Fig. 1). It is assumed that a bronze spur and bits were found in Stupei settlement
horse meat was used in emergency situations, such as (Stubavs 1977, fig.12.25). In the more large and significant hillfort of this period the number of spur findings
cases of a famine or siege.
is quite large. In the Koknese castle and castle-front
It has to be noted that the horse bones found in the in 11th-13th century strata 33 samples were found, 14
basin of river Daugava (Western Dvina), as state the re- more in the Asote hillfort (Shnore 1962, p.577). Most
searchers, shows similarities to these found in ancient of these findings could be dated with 12th century. In
Russian locations; the growth of the specimens found the beginning of the period spurs with bow that is recthere was approx. 120-130 cm (rarely 144 cm) and tangular or segmented in cross-section were used; with
could be counted to the thin-legged horse type, thus bent end-loops and short pyramidal prick (Koknese).
differing from the dwarf-horse detected in western In 11th century Latgallian settlements (Asote) spurs
Latvia (112-118 cm) which is similar to wild tarpan with bow segmented in cross-section, ending with bihorse (Tsalkin 1961, p.210).
partite plate for fastening straps and straight, round in
Iron spurs found in some of the early Iron Age buri- cross-section, middle-length pricks were found. In the
als in Selonian territory (Saukas Razbuki) attests that occupation layer of Late Iron Age in Asote and Kokhorse was used also for riding; bridle with iron bridle- nese spurs with V-shaped bow bent in profile, with
bits was used for directing the horse (nore 1993, p.69; bent loop-shaped or bipartite placoid ends were found.
Apals et al. 1974, p.110 with table 31.3). In the mid- These spurs have long, straight prick with thickened
dle Iron Age horsemans equipment and harness items middle part, sometimes profiled. It has to be noted, that
were found both in settlements and in burials. Mono- in Asote, Koknese and Jersika, there were also found
lithic iron spur with bent ends was found in Madalni spurs with ornate, inlaid bow, sometimes inlay was aphillfort in the Latgallian territory (Urtns 1978; 1979). plied also to the prick. Approximately one third from
In the ente hillfort (fifth- ninth centuries) along with the spurs found in Koknese were incrusted with silfour iron spurs three fragments of iron bridle-bit were ver or bronze granules. These ornate spurs are usually
also found (Stubavs 1976, table XI.4-6, 8-11); the mentioned in connection with horsemen from the casspurs are mutually different. Two of them are mono- tle guard. Ornate spurs are found also in Livic, but eslithic, with sloped or curved bow, bent ends and sharp pecially prominently in Couronian territories (Svarne
conical prick. Two more have sloped bow with a coni- 2008, p.79).
V
T he W orld
of H orse
S y mbolism
The horse was urged both with spurs and whip. In the
Latgallian archaeological material whip handles could
be found, also as a part of grave goods in several burials
(In the Jersika hillfort bone cap of a whip handle was
found; only one handle of a similar form was found in
the Trvete hillfort. Similar whip handles are found in
Russia, yet their origin is to be traced to the nomads
of southern steppes, from whom they gain their distribution in Russia. In the Latgallian territories more
frequent are so called sounding whip handles (hoard
of the Sauleskalns, raii lake castle). Whip usage is
originally connected to eastern mode of riding without
255
ANTONIJA
VILCNE

spurs, when the horseman rests his legs on stirrup and

directs horse using the whip. It has to be noted, that in
described territory, given the wide distribution of spurs
and stirrup, this mode of riding was apparently less
common (Vilcne 2007, pp.273, 276 and 277).
Stirrup is not common among settlement and burial
findings both in Latgallian and in Selonian territories.
They have rounded or oval upper bow and concave or
flat base. In Madalni castle mound, a stirrup with flat
upper bow, pointed top and convex base was found
(Urtns 1978); fragmented stirrup was found in the Jersika castle mound (Vilcne 2004, table 15.7). By form
it is closer to 12th century stirrup with oval or triangular
upper bow and oblong slit for fastening straps (Vilcne
2004, fig.15.7). Horsemen, by using saddle and stirrup,
ensured more stable sitting on the horseback; in addition, firm base for feet guarantied more stable stature in
military skirmishes. The small number of iron stirrup
lets to assume that in the eastern Latvian territories iron
stirrup was not gaining popularity yet.
From all the harness items most frequent among findings are bridle bindings or bridle-bits. Fragments of
bindings were found in Jersika, Asote and Madalni
hillfot, but in the Stupei settlement and also in the
Madalni hillfort parts of bridle-bits were detected
(Vilcne 2004, table 15.10,11; Shnore 1961, table
XIII.43-45; Urtns 1978; Stubavs 1977, p.58). This
harness item is the one most common in Latgallian
and Selonian burial inventories. In the end of the age
items such as ice spurs, horseshoes and horse-combs
which are found in settlements only and gain massive
popularity only since 13th century (Apals et al. 1974,
p.246).
Horses in chronicle
descriptions
The growth of significance in the role of horse is attested also by 13th century written sources. In the Chronicle of Henry evidence can be found that horses, along
with other livestock, were main war trophies; sometimes, the chronicler describes even several thousands
of such horses (IH XII.6; XIV.10; XV. 3 and etc.).
As horse gains more popularity in warfare practices,
number of horses deprived both from enemy and from
civilians becomes crucial for successful victory. Horse
is being used in military skirmishes and becomes
a companion of a warrior; evidence of this could be
found in the Chronicle of Rhymes: the Pagans are not
so mighty, before they rush at us on horses, we have
to break their lines (AH 542-544). It has to be noted,
that the Baltic peoples had large regiments of cavalrymen (IH XV.3; AH 11719), yet, as could be assumed
256
from the depictions of battles in the chronicles, the

core of the army in 13th century consisted of infantry
which goes on forays both on feet and on horseback or
with sled (ambushes were usually conducted in winter,
when the frozen earth allows more easy traversal of
rivers and swamps). Before the battle they dismounted
and participated in the skirmish as infantry, although in
the case of victory they frequently pursued the enemy
on horseback (IH XXII.2).
The overall significance of the horse is further underlined by the fact that horses are sometimes presented
as a precious and valuable gift, to gain someones trust
and favour. The Chronicle of Henry describes that the
bishop of Riga presented horses to the ruler of Koknese as a sign of honour and to recoup him for the loss
caused by his (bishops) men. In turn, the ruler of Koknese sent horses and weapons to kniaz of Polock, to
gain his support in the campaign against German crusaders (IH XI.8,9).
Speaking of horse as mean of conveyance, it cannot
be disputed that originally it was used for riding; the
fact is further attested by spur and stirrup findings. It is
interesting, though, that the Chronicle of Rhymes mentions that not only men but also Latgallian women was
able to ride the horse:
Their women blossom in the beauty
With splendid dress and fair posture
They ride their horses, as their fathers did...
(AH 345-347) or
[...] where women are apt at riding horseback
And standing by their men at every work [...]
(AH 9226-9230).
Growth in effectiveness of using the horses power is
attested by finding of half of an ornate horse-collar in
raii lake castles occupation layer (10th-12th century ), but well-preserved sled runner shows the usage
of horse as a tractive power for means of conveyance
that ensured transportation of larger groups of persons
(Apals, Mugurvis 2001, p.323 fig.225).
Evidence on means of conveyance in the Latvian
archaeological material is comparatively Late and
sparse. The Chronicle of Henry mentions usage of sled
(IH XI.7) and contains indirect references that wheel
was known. It is assumed that the cart also was a common mean of conveyance. Scientists have pointed to
the width of entry gates of the Koknese castle mound
that is suitable for using a cart (Apals, Mugurvis
2001, p.323). In the neighbour countries the cart was
commonly used, for example, in the Scandinavian territories. The growing role of horse in agricultural and
In the Selonian territory, harness and cavalrymans

equipment can be found chronologically since the beginnings of the Selonian culture, i.e., as soon as in the
Roman Iron Age. Iron spurs and bridle-bits are known
from the findings in Sauka and are dated with third
century. Singularly found iron spurs consist of three
sections and end with circular heads; one of the bronze
spurs has a short neck, the heel band is quadrangular in
cross-section, with bent ends. Another bronze spur was
found in a burial of an adult male, dated with fourth
century. It was found together with weaponry, namely,
one bronze narrow-blade axe and two iron socketed
spearheads, as well as with ornamentation - namely,
bracelets and a pin with wheel-shaped head. The spur
has button-shaped ends, the heel band is triangular
in cross-section, neck and prick is broken and missing. The named findings are from the Saukas Razbuki
mound with a stone circle in Sauka ( nore 1993, p.69
table VIII. 1 with fig.66.5).
Among the examined middle Iron Age burials, spurs
were found in one grave inventory in a burial of an adult
male in the Saukas Ratulni borrow (grave 27) in the
Selonian territory; among the findings were two bronze
spurs (nore 1993, p.69 table VIII.2,3). The spurs have
short, conical neck placed in the centre of the heel band
on a quadrangular base; the heel band has deep crossribbing and flattened ends. The spur was fastened to
the leather boot or spur straps with small rivets. Similar
spurs are known from Lithuanian archaeological material of fifth-sixth century (Tautaviius 1996, p.153).
The earliest designs of these spurs show strong Roman influence and are typical for territories inhabited
by Baltic tribes (Perhavko 1978, p.114). In the grave
goods, weapons also were found (2 spearheads, an axe,
and a single-edged sword), as well as ornamentation,
whose ornate design, together with the other findings,
creates an image of a rich warrior who owned a horse.
In the Late Iron Age, the number of harness items and
horsemans equipment items found in the Latgallian
and Selonian burials is growing, especially in the last
half of the period. In some of the male burial inventories, similarly to the previous periods, only horsemans
equipment (spurs, stirrup) or harness items (bridle-bits,
BALTICA 11
B u r i a l s w i t h h a r n e s s a n d c a v a l r y m a n s
equipment, and cavalryman burials
with horse
irons parts of bridle binding) are found. In the examined territory, in only one case there were found silverplated shield-shaped saddle chest strap dividers (in
Sviena) and saw-shaped strap bindings (LVM RDM
I 1926), similar to those found in 12th-13th century
Couronian burials (in Sraji, Vilkumuia and Pasilciems) (turms 1936, fig. 8; Asaris et al. 2008, p.82).
Of horsemans equipment, most frequent findings are
spurs; only one spur is frequently found in the grave,
such as the left spur in the grave 7 in the borrow of
Slpils Lejasdopeles (Lvis of Menar 1900, p.143ff,
nore 1997, p.65). Among the named graves goods
were found following items: a double-edged sword
with a bronze binding of the hilt end, a socketed spearhead and a broad-blade axe, as well as a horseshoe
fibula with club-shaped ends, two bronze spiral rings
and leather belt with bronze bindings. A right iron spur
was found in the grave 8 of the Betei cemetery (12th
century) (nore 1987, p.87) Among the grave goods of
that grave was leather belt with bronze bindings, two
rings, fragment of a shoe (decorated with a tinkler),
socketed spearhead and a broken bronze broad-blade
axe, placed at the right leg. In the rgu Jaunni cemetery damaged burials (grave 10), in the leg level was
found bronze-inlaid iron spur with a long awl-shaped
prick, as well as a small iron buckle, probably from
a leather strap used for fastening the spur to a shoe.
In the named grave was also found a bronze buckle
from a leather belt, a broad-blade axe and an iron
knife (Graudonis 1971). Singularly found iron spur
was detected also in the Aizkalnes Ludvigova cemetery (LVM A 12007:96). These iron spurs belong to
the rowelled spur type that is common in the territory
of Latvia since 13th century. In the mound 10 of the
Kaunatas Rikopole barrow cemetery (11th century),
there was found a bronze spur with a short, rounded
neck, straight U-shaped heel band with a ornamented
band for holding the spur strap riveted to it (LVM A
7761:6). Findings of an iron stirrup are rare - one of
them comes from Rznas Jusi cemetery singular findings (LVM A 8717:24). The stirrup has oval upper bow
and flat bottom.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
military practices is reflected also in Selonian and Latgallian burial traditions. In the Late Iron Age burial
grounds burials with a definite harness item set were
detected, as well as double burials of cavalryman and
his horse.
V
T he W orld
of H orse
S y mbolism
Iron bridle bindings and bridle-bits are found in several

chronologically Later burials of Iron Age men in the
cemeteries of middle part and upper reaches of river
Dubna. These cemeteries differ with a peculiar set of
harness items (bridle bindings and/or bridle-bits, bells,
whip handles) which is not detected in the Latgallian
and Selonian territories outside this area. It has to be
noted, that in none of these burials neither spurs nor
stirrups was found.
The harness items named above was detected in five
examined burial grounds in the surroundings of riv-
257
ANTONIJA
VILCNE

er Dubna - namely, Aglonas Kristapii, Aizkalnes

Maskevicii, Vii Maskava, eltovas Brveri
and Aizkalnes Ludvigova cemeteries (Vilcne 2007,
p.276). They were found in 16 graves in total, almost
half of which are damaged, yet some more of these
items were found singularly. In archaeological excavations in 1930 in the Aizkalnes Maskevicii cemetery,
in grave 5 (damaged) there was found an iron whip
handle (Rieksti 1931). In the excavations in 20th
century 70s-80s in Aglonas Kristapii cemetery, the
named items were found in nine burials of adult males.
In this ground, only one grave contained full set of
harness items (grave 211), three graves contained iron
bells and bridle bindings (graves 141, 174 and 284),
three more graves (graves 91, 130 and 280) - only bridle bindings, but in two graves only an iron bell was
found (graves 76 and 273) (Kuniga 2000, p.72ff).
In the excavations in 20042007 in eltovas Brveri
cemetery, harness items were found in six male burials, four from which were damaged (Vilcne A. 2006,
p.80). A full set of harness items (bridle bindings, an
iron bell, and a whip handle) was detected only in the
damaged grave 38. In the graves 11 and 40 there were
found bridle bindings and iron bells, but in graves 36
and 44 - iron bridle bindings only. Several iron whip
handles and iron bridle bindings were singularly found
in the cemetery of Aglonas Kristapii, Vii Maskava
and Aizkalnes Ludvigova (Vilcane 2007, p.276).
The harness items were usually placed in the foot level, with an exception of eltovas Brveri cemetery
grave 38, where whip handle, bell and bridle bindings were placed in the left side of the defunct in the
head level. In these burials where a full set of harness
items or a couple of them was detected, the items were
placed together.
The male burials from cemeteries with harness items
of surroundings of river Dubna are not different from
other male burials of the tenth-eleventh century in context of grave goods and their placement in the grave.
In the grave inventory usually an iron axe, iron tanged
or socketed spearheads, and a broad iron battle-knive
(scramasaxes) or a dagger can be found. In some cases,
an iron double-edged sword was found together with
the harness items (grave 280 at Kristapii, grave 40 at
Brveri). Integral item of these findings is the warriors
bracelet on the left hand of the defunct, together with
bronze-decorated arm-clothes or arm-windings made
from bronze spirals on leather lacing. In the grave inventory was also rich exposure of other goods: fibulae,
bracelets, rings, belts with bronze bindings, sometimes
also attire decorated with bronze rings and spirals.
258
From harness items in this group of burials the most

common are two- or three-sectioned bridle bindings
(14 samples), which consist of two or three rod-shaped

links (quadrangular or twisted in cross-section) that
end with ring-shaped heads. In the Aglonas Kristapii
cemetery, in one of the graves were found bridle-bits
with flat triangular side-bindings (grave 141). In the
territory of Latvia, bridle-bits and bridle bindings in
the Late Iron Age burials are usually found in the Couronian lands (Asaris et al. 2008, p.81).
The whip handles found in the grave inventories (5
samples in total) belongs to the sounding whips (type
I by the typology of A. Kirpichnikov (Kirpichnikov
1973, p.72 fig.41.1). These handles has a metal tip with
a ring, in which a binding of the tip of the whiplash is
placed, as well as several tinklers, which made sound
when the whip was flailed and thus urged the horse. In
the territory of Latvia, iron whip handles in late 10th
century - early 12th century burials are detected also in
the territories of Semigallians and in lower reaches of
river Daugava in territory populated by Livs, although
their shape is different (Atgzis, Bebre 1986, p.23
fig.4.1; Zaria 2006, p.197). Whip handles similar to
those found in basin of river Dubna are known from
findings of excavations in Lithuania and Russia.
On the other hand, the bells found in the grave inventories (10 samples) bear no similarity to Latvian archaeological material. They are cylinder-shaped with
narrowed top parts which has spherically pulvinate or
flats lids with a loop for attaching the clapper is drawn
through. Some of the bells were bronze-plated (graves
211 and 273 at Kristapii). Similarities to these bells
are found in territory of Lithuania - notably, bells are
found among grave goods in horse burials in central
and eastern Lithuanian borrows. In some of the Lithuanian cemeteries, bells among horse burial grave goods
are found also in 12th14th century graves (Varnas
1995, p.251 fig.9.). Bells are very popular items in the
ancient Prussian cemeteries, where iron, bronze and,
more rarely, silver bells were detected. Bells were
found in almost every 10th-12th century horse burial
of the Irzekapinis cemetery; they were attached to the
bridle under horses neck (Kulakov 1990, p.37).
As is widely known, findings of harness items in the
male burials were common burial peculiarity in the
territory of Lithuania, where they are found since first
centuries CE, but since the middle of first millennium, the horse was buried together with the horseman
(Kulikauskien 1953, p.212ff; Volkait-Kulikauskien
1999, p.310). Thus it is possible that the peculiar burial
traditions were spread across the basin of river Dubna
due to contacts with the Lithuanian territories; this
theory is favoured by several scientists, who include
also the possibility of migration of some extent to the
examined territory (Kuniga 2000, p.107). It has to be
If we notice that similar harness item sets and individual items draw similarities to the Lithuanian burials
with horses, we have to assume that also in the surroundings of river Dubna they have a certain symbolic
significance which doubtlessly points also to the social
status of the defunct.
If the harness items found in the surroundings of Dubna could be viewed as belonging to merely symbolical
horse burials, along the coasts of river Daugava both
in Latgallian and Selonian lands there are known several examples of burials of both horse and the horseman (Vilcne 2006a, pp.130 and 131). In the left bank
of Daugava a horse burial with bridle-bits among the
grave goods was found in the Slpils Lejasdopeles barrow burial field in the excavations of 1886 (Buchholtz
1896, p.116). In the A. Buchholtzs excavation report
it is mentioned that in one of the examined barrow a
preserved horse skull was found with bits between
its jaws; nearby it was found an iron spur and stirrup,
which could point out at the burial of a horseman.
Double-burial of a male adult and a horse was exposed
in the grave 14 of the Betei cemetery (11th century) in
excavations of year 1978 (nore 1987, p.71 figs. 8 and
9) (Fig. 2.1). The horseman and the horse were both
buried in the same grave pit. Horse was put on its abdomen, with declined head and bent legs. In both sides of
the horses head were bronze tinklers, iron bridle-bits
in the mouth, in the left side of its trunk was found an
iron stirrup. Next to the horse was damaged burial of
In the right bank of river Daugava, in the Latgallian

territory was found a horse burial without harness
items next to a cremation grave in the Jersika burial
ground. One more horse burial was unearthed in the
Lejasagari cemetery (Urtns 1972) (Fig. 2.2), where
in the grave 29 remains of a horse were found; it was
buried with its head pointing west, and a bronze buckle
was found next its neck. Under its legs, 7 cm deeper,
was unearthed a defunct lying on its back in east-west
direction in outstretched pose with its hands crossed
over its chest. Among the grave goods were detected
two bracelets with beast-shaped ends on defuncts left
hand, in the belts level - a horseshoe fibula with poppyhead ends and 4 spiral rings; at the left shin was found a
socketed spearhead with its point towards the bed-foot
and a broad-blade axe with its handle pointing towards
the head end. Part of the horses skeleton (a mandibula)
was found also in the Koknese cemetery (eiere 2002,
p.208). The mandibula was placed on a stone in the
middle of a stone semicircle. It seems to be possible
that this finding is connected with somewhat different
funeral rituals that are observed in findings in the lower
reaches of river Daugava in the Liv territory - e.g., in
the Salaspils Laukskola cemetery, where also were
found fragments of horse skulls and circular stone layings (Zaria 2006, pp.23 and 27). It has to be noted, that
full horse skeletons buried in circular pits were found
in excavations in the Daugmale and Ogresgals abas
cemetery in the territory of Livs. In excavations of year
2007, in the Liv burial ground of Ogresgals abas was
also found a well-preserved horse skeleton buried in a
circular pit covered with dolomite slabs, yet it is not to
be seen as a horse and horseman double burial, rather
as a ritual sacrifice, probably to ward off the evil forces
(Spiris 2008, pp.54 and 57). It is been thought that
the horse skeleton under a certain Latgallian building
BALTICA 11
a male adult, in which were detected only remains of

an ornate belt, bracelet with beast-head ends, a spiral
ring and a fragment of swords cross-guard (?). It is
possible that there were more horse burials in the burial
ground. During the excavations, both fragmented horse
skull and a whole horse skeleton was discovered in the
burial ground. The last was well-preserved, although
there was no human burial nearby it. As the locals stated that in the territory of the burial ground was buried
also the dead livestock, including a horse, and that in
the excavations was unearthed also bones of small cattle, these findings cannot be equivocally connected to
ancient damaged horse burials (nore 1978). There is
evidence of horse and human skeleton finding (together with a spearhead) during construction of a stable in
Rites Dvui house, in Augzeme (nore 1987, p.78).
The nature of these findings points at possible burial
ground, yet there were done no testing excavations.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
said, though, that, assuming the case of migration, we

have to count in several different items of ornamentation or weaponry that are unlike to those of Latgallian descent and are not detected in the excavations
unlike the findings in Later, Mediaeval burials in the
Augustinii and Slutii graveyards in surroundings
of Krslava, where in some graves (both male and female burials) harness items also were detected (Berga
2007, pp.66 and 122) Archaeologist T. Berga draws a
connection between these findings and influence from
Lithuanian burial traditions; this statement is strongly confirmed by significant number of artefacts with
Lithuanian descent in both burial grounds (and in both
male and female burials), as well as the craniological measurements of the defuncts. The craniological
analysis shows that in 14th-18th century, among the
inhabitants of Latgale prominent is gracile, narrowfaced morphological form, which shows similarities
to Lithuanian immigrants. The narrow-faced morphological form is not detected among chronologically
more early inhabitants of Latgale (Zaria 2007, p.195).
Lithuanian linguist K. Garva states that people with
Lithuanian origins live in the surroundings of Krslava
since 13th century (Garshva 1984, p.83ff)
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ANTONIJA
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Fig. 2. Horse and riders graves in situ: 1 Betei cemetery, grave 14; 2 Lejasagari cemetery, grave 29.
remains in the Dinaburga castle-settlement was placed

there for these ritualistic reasons (Mugurvis, Vilcne
1986, p.93). Similar building-sacrifices were detected in the Talsi castle mound (Karnups 1936, p.70ff)
and in Riga (Tsaune 1984, p.39).
E. nore states that the horse burials in Selonian territory had a certain role in the overall funeral ritual in
the second half of the Late Iron Age. However, the
small number of such burials and the limited area of
the findings (Selonian wall and the valley of Daugava)
purports that this particular funeral tradition has its
roots in the burial tradition practiced in the Lithuanian
territory. Lithuanian warriors and traders, as it seems,
sometimes used the Daugava waterway. It has to be
noted, that the Lithuanian burial rituals were quite diverse and the burial inventory is frequently very generous and rich. Also the ornate form of the bridle-bits
found in the Betei burial ground, the silver-pLated
stirrup and the nature of other grave goods displays the
prominent social status of the defunct (Fig. 3). Heavily ornate harness items were sometimes detected also
in the Lithuanian and Prussian archaeological material
(Kulikauskien, Rimantien 1966, figs.147 and 183).
260
It should be stressed that both the burials with harness

items in the basin of river Dubna and the horse and
horseman double burials in the banks of Daugava are
dated with second half of the tenth-eleventh century

when, judging from the grave inventories, the society undergoes notable changes. The rise in numbers
of the grave inventory items, the growth of variety
within these goods (e.g. scales and weights as grave
goods), as well as appearance of singular rare, ornate
and expensive items in the burial inventories all display emergence of notable social and professional differentiation among the members of the society. The
ornate swords found in the burials were not simply
battle weaponry, they also symbolised might, wealth
and honour (Kazakeviius 1996, p.93). Scientists see
these cases of plentiful grave goods as burials of the
economical and political leaders of the society (Radi
1999, p.134).
Ornaments with horse motif

archaeological material
In the Late Iron Age image of a horse becomes one
of the most popular ornamentation themes. In the archaeological material of eastern Latvia could be found
a significant number of zoomorphic pendants depicting
horse, although, as the pendants are highly stylised by
design, there are different opinions about the precise
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 3. Burial inventory of grave 14 at Betei cemetery. Raider: 1 bronze bracelet; 2,4 bronze spiral finger-rings; 3 bronze
bead; 5 fragment of iron swords cross-guard (?); 6 bronze belt bindings; 7 fragment of bronze item; 8 bronze belt bindings
9,10 weights; 11fragment of iron chain; 12 iron knife. Horse burial inventory: 13, 14 bronze tinklers; 15 iron bridle-bits,
16 iron stirrup with silver inlays.
nature of depicted animal. There exist several variations of these pendants, both of flat and of sculpturesque design.
Flat pendants are more typical to Latgallian and Selonian territories (Fig. 4.7,9); the depicted animal has
stylised ears, bent-up tail together with the bridle-rein
forms a loop with hole for hanging the pendant; the
legs are slightly bent. Body of the horse is frequently
decorated with tiny sun-shapes; tinklers sometimes are
placed in the leg-holes so that the pendants had sounding, not only visually decorative qualities. Pendants of
this type are sometimes also called dogs, lynxes,
calves etc. In the territory of Latvia they were found
about 50 samples in total. The described pendants are
common also in the territories of Livs, although in the
Couronian and Semigallian lands only a few samples
were found. In burial grounds these pendants are usual-
ly found placed at the chest level with chain adornments

as a part of a rich grave inventory of a female burial.
In the Paviu Radzes cemetery the horse pendant was
attached to a bow in the left side of chains and chainholder; it was found together with a round pendant
(Mugurvis 1977, table XLVI.13). Among the grave
goods there also was a chain-holder with tinklers and
comb-pendant, four neck-rings, three head ornaments
of different sizes, necklace made from cowries, glass
beads and crosses, six bracelets, several rings and other
jewellery items dated with 12th century. Horse pendant
attached to a bow-shaped chain-holder was found also
in Pildas Bradaii cemetery (LVM RDM I 91) (Fig.
4:8). In its turn, in Ludzas Odukalns cemetery a horse
pendant with tinklers in its legs was detected attached
to a necklace made from cowries and tinklers (grave
279 (III, 117), female burial, the 11th century) (Ciglis,
Radi 2002, p.114). It has to be noted that these pen-
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261
ANTONIJA
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dants in their whole area of distribution are only occasionally used in necklaces (Riabinin 1981, p.30). An
unconventional attachment of a pendant was detected
also in one more burial of the Odukalns burial ground
(grave 44 (II, 4)), dated with 12th century. In this burial
of a child the horse pendant with ring running through
its ears and two tinklers in its back was attached with a
woollen thread to spiral head ornament of a twist (Ciglis, Radi 2002, p.31).
Horse pendants of this particular type are common
also outside the territory of Latvia. For one example,
they are found in 84 locations in the territory of ancient
Russia (104 samples in total) (Riabinin 1981, p.29).
Their area of distribution extends to territories of Smolensk, Polock, Rostov-Suzdal, Novgorod, and the upper reaches of river Daugava. Significant number of
findings with these pendants comes from the territory
of Kriviches, in the lands of Smolensk-Polock. Due to
their especially prominent number in these areas, this
pendant in the works of Russian archaeologists has got
the name of horse pendant of the Smolensk type. In
several locations in the territory of Russia the horse
pendant is detected in the archaeological material of
10th century, yet most common it is in findings dated
with 11th-12th century.
Several Russian archaeologists had extended their research of these pendants. Arguments against the zoological comparison of these pendants with horse come
from B.A. Rybakov (Rybakov 1987, p.548); by showing some, in his opinion, disparities from the overall
image of a horse (the sharp, pointed ears, thick, upturned tail, prognathic forehead, convexity of feet),
the scientist identifies the depicted animal as a lynx,
white spots of whose hide the makers of these pendants
etched in as the sun-shaped markings. Lynx, as one of
the most strong and agile feline animals of temperate zone, living high up in the trees and hunting from
them, could bear some mythological connection with
the heavenly realm. On the other hand, lynx is absent
in the spoken folklore of ancient Russia, yet the horse
has a prominent place both in folklore and in the ethnographic reports; thus the opinion of Rybakov is not
widely accepted in works of other scientists. Archaeologist V.V. Sedov identifies these pendants with the
image of a horse and draws a connection between them
and the eastern Baltic horse cult which was preserved
in the Slavonic lands, where it is possible to identify
the substratum of ancient Baltic peoples (Sedov 1968,
p.156). Other archaeologists that conducted research of
these pendants have similar opinions (Golubeva 1979,
p.39; Riabinin 1981, p.29ff). The area of distribution of
these pendants extends to eastern Slavonic territories
with Baltic substrata and territories closely adjacent to
262
these lands (namely, the northeast and northern territories of ancient Russia).
The centre of this area of distribution is thought to be
the surroundings of the Smolensk territory, with inclusion of the possibility that in the lower part of river
Daugava there was one more centre of their production,
given that there are semi-finished samples among the
findings and the fact that pendants found in the territory of Latvia have slightly different construction. In the
Slavonic lands, these pendants were frequently worn
together with several other types of pendants - miniature spoons, keys, tinklers, decorated animal teeth etc.;
so multiform a selection of pendants is not common in
the Latgallian and Selonian territories, where they (the
pendants) were usually worn as amulets, hanging from
chains, usually in the left side of chest. In the process
of formation of Latgallian culture, there are signs of
strong eastern Baltic influence, which contributed also
to distribution of the horse pendants also in the territory of Livs.
Some samples of the horse pendant found in Latgallian and Selonian lands shows a second type of the
flat pendant - so called openwork horse pendants
(Fig.4:1,3). Two such pendants were found in the
Asote castle mound, one more among the grave goods
of rich female burial in the Slpils Lejasdopeles barrow
(grave 9, barrow 2), dated with 12th century (nore
1997, fig.2.9) and in the Smaudi burial ground (Loze
1974, p.44 fig.7.3). The horse is depicted in motion,
with craned neck and four legs with holes for hanging
tinklers, bells or other adornments. The side and neck
of the horse is marked with joggle decoration, bridlerein is hanging bow-like below the neck, the upturned
tail and part of the bridle forms the open-worked parts.
Pendants of this type are commonly found in women
chain adornments from end of 12th century till 14th
century, usually in locations in basin of river Daugava, especially in the lower reaches of the river (more
than 30 samples in total). The Finnish origin of these
pendants is signified both by the attached tinklers and
by their distribution in 12th century CE findings in the
northeast Russia (Zaria 1974, p.243). Given the fact
that the head of these pendants is slightly different in
shape, it is assumed that they were made locally, with
the imported samples as a reference.
Similar to the situation with the openwork horses is
that with the hollow pendants (Fig. 2); the number
of their findings is limited to a few samples (Vecgulbene (LVM A 564), Balvu Aizezeri (LVM A 7210:8),
Krustpils Trepe (LVM RDM I 3286), Balvu Dailovka
(nore 1952). The horse typically has craned neck
with massive snout that is round in cross-section, and
mane being marked with a wavy rib. The figurine is
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
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Fig. 4. Bronze pendants with horse figures: 1, 3 open-work horse pendants (Asote hillfort, Smaudi cemetery); 2 hollow
horse pendant (Krustpils Trepe); 4-6 horse pendants of sculpturesque design (Liepias cemetery, grave 24, Asote hillfort);
7, 9 flat horse pendants (Jersika hillfort, Triktas Lubumuia cemetery); 8 bow-shaped chain holder with flat horse pendant
(Pildas Bradaii cemetery).
263
ANTONIJA
VILCNE

decorated with a zig-zag line; tail consists of two rings

and legs of four rings with bronze tinklers or tiny bells
hanging from them. Two of the pendants found in the
territory of Latvia have two heads (Lielvrde (LVM A
9284), Grundzles Jaunbemberi (Cimermane 1972,
p.66)). The hollow pendants were used during 13th14th/15th century. Outside already named locations
in the northeast part of the Latgallian territories, they
were also found in larger numbers in the lower reaches of river Daugava, in the territories of Livs (Zaria
1974, p.247ff). These pendants, also, are widely distributed in the northeast and northwest regions of Russia (in the territories inhabited by Finnish peoples), as
well as in the Estonian territories inhabited by the Wots
(Golubeva 1979, p.38).
In some of the Latgallian territories bronze horse pendants of sculpturesque design were also detected; they
are small horse figurines used, similarly to the previous examples, for hanging from chain adornments.
The horse image in these figurines is quite primitive
and stylised; some of them bear more likeness to a
dog than to a horse. The sculpturesque pendants are
quite popular and common in the lands of Livs (Urtns
1974, p.212 fig.1.1). In the Latgallian territories only
few samples of this type are found, and these in locations near to trade roads (Asote, Drabeu Liepias)
(Shnore 1961, table V.13,18; LVM VI 155: 143). One
such finding comes from the Drabeu Liepias cemetery where in a female burial (grave 24) was found a
chain adornment with two mutually slightly different
sculpturesque horse pendants attached to it, together
with two bird-shaped pendants and two animal teeth
decorations.
264
Together with the described pendants horse motif is

used also in the decoration of metal bindings found in
small numbers in the Latgallian-Selonian, as well as
in the Livic territories (Fig. 5). Binding pLatelets with
depiction of a horse were found in Rites Stupei settlement (LVM VI 227 :778), in Jersika burial ground
(damaged burial of an adult male, grave 24) and in the
Jersika castle mound (12th century stratum) (Vilcne
2004, p.68) In Ludzas Odukalns cemetery (male burial, 12th century, grave 140 (II, 99), among findings
of broad-blade axe and an iron spearhead, one of the
two found belts had bindings with depictions of horse
(Ciglis, Radi 2002, p.60 fig. 69.12). Similar bindings
with depictions of horse are known from male graves
at Galgauskas Tceni (LVM RDM I 1314), Cesvaines
Kalnapauki (grave 1) and Lielstraupes Pricas (grave
11) cemeteries (Urtns 1974, fig.7,8). The bindings
were made of a quadrangular pLate of bronze tinfoil (size 28292223 mm) on which in middle of
chiselled frame was pressed out stylised image of a
standing horse with craned neck. Images of horse on
bindings are different, what shows that they making by

various masters. The author has no knowledge of other
similar findings from other territories.
Among these findings is a sample of a trapezoid chainholder with engraving of a trotting horse, found in the
Ludzas Odukalns cemetery (male burial, grave 196
(III, 34)) (Ciglis, Radi 2002, p.85 fig.61.3). The
chain-holder with four twisted chains and trapezoid
reeds in the ends was found on chest of the defunct,
fastened with a leather strap to the clothing; it was apparently used as a chest-decoration. Guessing from the
warriors bracelet and narrow-blade axe found in the
grave, it is dated with the tenth century.
In turn, in the castle-settlement of Dinaburga, in Latgallian inhabitation stratum was found a side-iron of
bronze bridle-bits, decorated with a stylised horse
head. The motif of a stylised horse is common also in
the harness items found in territory of Lithuania, such
as in side-irons and stirrup decoration (Kulikauskien,
Rimantien 1966, figs.182 and 183). An analogue to
the sample found in Dinaburga is known from 11th12th century horse burial in the Vervai burial ground
in surroundings of Kaunas in Lithuania (Kulikauskien,
Rimantien 1966, fig.112).
The distribution of the horse pendants and other decorations with the horse motif is connected to certain
mythological conceptions of the ancient people and
their shared nature (the horse cult is common among
Slavonic, Baltic and Finno-Ugric peoples) that contributes to a kind of internationality in that distribution.
By creating zoomorphic items, ancient people assigned
certain ideas to them, as well as belief in magical and
protecting qualities of the given animal. Horse symbolised fertility, which is reason for its popularity among
women jewellery items. Connection between the symbol of horse and the solar mythology is showing in the
sun-shaped ornamentation on the pendants. Among the
Finnish peoples the popularity of these pendants was
augmented by connection between the symbolic meanings of horse and Finnish semantically similar symbol
of bird. This could be the reason why horse pendants
are significantly more common in the Livic territories
than these of Semigallians, Selonians and other Baltic
peoples.
Conclusions
The archaeological material from Latgallian and Selonian territories shows us that since the beginning of development of these cultures horse riding and directing
using spurs was common practice parallel to its usage
for food; iron bridle-bits and bridle was used to tame
and restrain the horse. In the first half of the first mil-
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 5. Bronze belt bindings with horse motif: 1 Stupei settlement; 2 Jersika hillfort; 3 Jersika cemetery, grave 24;
4 Cesvaines Kalnapauki cemetery, grave 1; 5 Lielstraupes Pricas cemetery, grave 11; 6 Galgauskas Tcni cemetery.
lennium harness items are rarely found both in the territory of Latvia and in the whole Eastern Europe. More
extensive distribution of harness items in the eastern
Latvian territories begins in the last centuries of the first
millennium, which is attested by growth of number of
such findings both in settlements and burials, although
even in this period this number is significantly lower
in the Latgallian-Selonian and Semigallian-Livic territories than in these inhabited by the Couronians. For
example, in the Sraji ancient burial site harness items
were found in 62 percents of all the adult male burials
and in 89 percents of all the intact adult male burials
(Asaris 1994, p.17). Apparently in the Latgallian and
Selonian territories there were no strong traditions of
giving harness or cavalrymans items as a grave goods
for the defunct. This assumption is further attested by
the fact that in the ancient burial ground of Koknese,
there were no findings of spurs in any single burial, regardless of the significant number of spurs found in the
Koknese castle and castle-front (eiere 2002, p.222).
Although in the Latgallian and Selonian archaeological
material entire horsemans and horse riding equipment
can be found, singular items are not equally distributed in all historical periods and all territories. Of the
horsemans equipment, spurs are among the most fre-
quently found items both in Latgallian and Selonian

territories.
Broader distribution of spurs in the Latgallian-Selonian
territories begins with the first centuries of the second
millennium. They can be found both in settlements and
burials, although the distribution cannot yet be considered global. The form and design of these spurs are borrowed from Central and Western Europe; with delay of
one to two centuries it permeates into Eastern Europe.
Characteristic to this period is that spurs are usually
found in rich grave inventories, along with weaponry
that shows certain social status of the defunct. It has to
be noted that in the Western Europe parallel to purely
military utilisation spurs served also as a sign of certain social ranking; by symbolical significance spurs
are likened to sword. In the eastern Latvian territories,
ornate spurs are found in the largest population centres
of 11th-12th century - namely, in Koknese, Asote, and
Jersika; it could signify that these belonged to the local
ruler and his closest confreres. The wide spur distribution in ancient Russia is thought to be connected with
formation of cavalry as the main military force.
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How important was the horse in eastern Latvian military affairs? Although the Latgallian and Selonian
archaeological material contains almost every horse-
265
ANTONIJA
VILCNE

mans and harness item, the very number of these findings puts some necessary carefulness in hypothesizing
on strong cavalry and the use of its characteristic tactic patterns in battles during the first centuries of the
second millennium. These questions are only sparsely
mentioned in the archaeological literature; more so, the
material has not undergone sufficient research, looking
from the point of military practice analysis. Andris n
has stated that harness items found in Late prehistoric
burials of eastern Latvian territories signify the development of a new socially-professional stratum - the
warrior-guard that possesses already different military
equipment (n 2002, p.293).
The evidence from 13th century written sources allows
assuming that horse in the military practice was used
mainly as a mean of conveyance - both for riding and
driving with sled and cart (?). The warriors entered the
battle by the custom of their forefathers, dismounting [...] and rushing towards the lines of brothers [...]
(AH 11728-11735). The depiction of the battle shows
us that horseman departed his mount before the battle. This peculiarity could explain the small number of
iron stirrup findings in the described territory. If the
horse was used solely for transport, simple leather or
wooden stirrup could be sufficient, whereas for mounted close combat, firm foot support was required. As
shows the research, the stirrup was adjusted for shoes
with both hard and soft soles; also the form of the stirrup was a characterising factor of horsemans possible
manoeuvres and posture while mounted (Kirpichnikov
1973, p.46). At the same time, spurs found in the eastern Latvian territories has both rounded and flat base,
which allowed horseman to participate even in close
combat while mounted.
266
Naturally, along with the growth in the role of horse

in military affairs, it (the horse) gradually becomes a
symbol of a wealthy warrior. Beginning with the second half of 10th century, in parts of the described territory there appear burials whose grave inventories
contain a definite set of harness items. Judging from
these inventories, this signifies and correLates with
certain changes in the society. The grave inventories
containing harness items usually excel with greater
number of total grave goods; sometimes among them
are rare, precious and masterfully ornate items (e.g.,
swords) or the harness items themselves are decorated
(the stirrup from the Betei burial ground). Integral
parts of these grave inventories are items symbolising
the military prowess - weaponry, warriors bracelets. It
seems obvious that these are burials of the high-born
that possessed also the military power; thus these burials point out the formation of military elite. Probably
the harness items among other grave goods reflect only
one aspect of this power, namely, growth in the role of
cavalry in the military and political spheres. The different collections of these items in the grave inventories
seemingly points at certain status and military ranking
of the given defunct.
At the same time it is impossible to deny the consistency of collections of harness items in different grave
inventories, which, by analogy of Lithuanian burial
traditions, are usually linked with horse burials. The
practical life in the ancient past was governed not
only by experience and rational knowledge, but also
by mythological and religious conceptions. Thus these
burials could be looked upon as sites with symbolical
significance and connections to the horse cult. As the
horse gained more importance in both agricultural and
military practices, it also acquired a permanent place in
the ideological and mythological structures; this burial
tradition shows that horse had already gained the role
of warriors companion.
The status of a horse as a symbol of a wealthy warrior
is reflected also by findings of double burials of horse
and horseman found along river Daugava. According
to the ancient beliefs and conceptions about the afterlife that continues in the netherworld, the defunct
was equipped with everything necessary for comfortable living in that world. Although the appearance of
these traditions is linked with influence from Lithuanian culture, these burials allow more prominence in
the debate on horse cult in the Latgallian and Selonian
territories. The image of horse as a spiritual protector
appears also on belt bindings, which is considered by
some researchers to be a warriors attribute.
Alongside with the already mentioned, there is also evidence of ancient conceptions about horse as a general
benefactor and stimulant of fertility, which is attested
by findings of pendants and other jewellery with horse
depictions.
Overall it has to be agreed upon that horse had a prominent place in Latgallian-Selonian cultures both practical and spiritual aspects, although some disclosures of
the role of horse in agricultural and military practices,
as well as the full extension of the horse cult in the
given archaeological material remain only fragmentary
and hard to trace.
Translated by Agrita Lujne
Abbreviations
LVM AA
Latvian National History Museum, Archive, Riga

LVM A , LVI Latvian National History Museum, Collections, Riga
LU LVI AA LU Latvian Institute of History, Archive,
Riga
AH. Atskau hronika. 1998. V. Bisenieka atdzejojums no

vidusaugvcu valodas. . Mugurvia priekvrds.
. Mugurvia, K. Kavia komentri. Rga: Zintne.
IH. Indria hronika. 1993. . Feldhna tulkojums.
. Mugurvia priekvrds un komentri. Rga: Zintne.
Manuscripts
GRAUDONIS, J., 1971. Prskats par arheoloiskajiem izrakumiem Madonas rajona rgu pilstciemata kapulauk.
LVI AA 1:239.
RIEKSTI, H., 1931. Prskats par 1931. gada
arheoloiskajiem izrakumiem Maskeviciu kapulauk.
LVM AA 81.
NORE, E., 1952. Prskats par izrakumiem Balvu Dailovkas
I un II kapulauk 1951. un 1952. gad. LVI AA 1:12
NORE, E., 1978. Prskats par arheoloiskajiem izrakumiem Beteu kapulauk 1978. gad. LVI AA 1: 394
URTNS, J., 1981. Prskats par arheoloiskajiem izrakumiem Piziu Kaupra kaln 1981. gad. LU LVI AA 1:466.
URTNS, V., 1972. Prskats par izrakumiem Lejasagaru
kapulauk 1972. gad. LVM AA 1: 418.
URTNS, V., 1977. Prskats par arheoloiskajiem izrakumiem Madalnu pilskaln 1977. gad. LU LVI AA 1: 359.
URTNS, V., 1978. Prskats par arheoloiskajiem izrakumiem Madalnu pilskaln 1978. gad. LU LVI AA 1: 382.
URTNS, V., 1979. Prskats par arheoloiskajiem izrakumiem Madalnu pilskaln 1979.gad. LU LVI AA 1: 398.
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Received: 20 March 2009; Revised: 15 April 2009;
Antonija Vilcne
Institute of Latvian History at the University of Latvia
Department of Archeology
Akadmijas 1, LV-1050, Riga, Latvia
E-mail: vilcaneantonija@inbox.lv
I R G O AT R I B U T I K A I R K U LTA S
L AT G A L I I R S L I G E N T Y S E
Antonija Vilcne
Santrauka
Latgali ir sli geleies amiaus paminkl mediaga
aikiai rodo, kaip arklys pamau virto traukiamuoju
gyvuliu, kurio jga vis daniau buvo pritaikoma lauko
darbams, be to atskleidia vis didjani irgo svarb
kariniuose ygiuose. Kintantis arkli kaul kiekis io
laikotarpio kultriniuose sluoksniuose pabria ekonomins arklio funkcijos aktualjim. Remiantis osteologine mediaga matyti, kad arkli kaulai sudaro
tik ketvirtj vis tirt gyvuli kaul dal (4,59,1%)
(1pav.).
Pradjus formuotis latgali ir sli kultroms, arklys
ir toliau naudojamas maistui. alia ios paskirties atsiranda ir kita juo pradedama jodinti, arklys tampa
irgu. Tai patvirtina rasti pentinai ir slai. Ankstyviausi pentin formoms (Saukas Razbuki) stipri tak
dar romnikojo laikotarpio pentinai. Panai form
pentinai buvo paplit balt gentyse.
Viduriniame geleies amiuje pentin ir sl kiekis
didja (Kente piliakalnis, Ratulani kapinynas, kapas 27). Pentinai imituoja Vidurio ir Vakar Europai
bdingas formas.
raii eero pilies (IXX a.) kultriniame sluoksnyje buvo rasta dekoruot arklio pakinkt dali ir rogi
detali, liudijani, kad arklys buvo naudojamas kaip
traukiamoji jga.
Pirmaisiais II tkstantmeio imtmeiais aptariamajame regione daugja radini, susijusi su kinkymu ir
jodinjimu (slai, balnai, pentinai, botag rankenos).
Latgali ir sli emse vlyvajame geleies amiuje

rasta tiek vyr kap su raitelio atributais ir kaman dalimis, tiek irg kap, bet n vieni, n kiti Ryt Latvijoje nra plaiai paplit. Pentinai ir slai yra daniausiai
kapuose randami raitelio atributikos elementai (Slpils
Lejasdopeles, Betei, Jaunpiebalga, rgu Jauneni,
Rikopole, Viu Maskava). Tuo tarpu geleins balnakilps yra retos (Rznas Jusi, Ciblas Eversmuia).
Pentinai ir balnakilps Ryt Latvijoje daniausiai randamos gyvenvietse (Asote, Jersika, Koknese).
16 kap su irgo kaman dalimis inoma i keturi kapinyn, esani ties Dubnos baseino vidurupiu ir emupiu (Aglonas Kristapini, Viu Maskeviciki, Viu
Maskava, keltovas Brveri ir Aizkalnes Ludvigova).
iuose kapinynuose rasta sl, geleini vangui ir
geleini botag ranken. Visi jie priklauso specifinei
kapi grupei, kurioje alia irgo atributikos randama
prestiini daikt, pavyzdiui, kalavij.
Sli ir latgali emse rasti ei kapai, kuriuose kartu su raiteliais palaidoti ir j irgai. irgo kapas yra
inomas i 1886 m. kasinto Lejasdopeles kapinyno.
Pamintinas XI amiumi datuojamas dvigubas vyro ir
irgo kapas 14 i Betei kapinyno (2: 1; 3 pav.). irgas buvo paguldytas ant pilvo emyn galva, o kojos
suritos. alia guljo jo eimininkas. kaps rodo, kad
mirusysis priklaus aukt socialin status turiniai
visuomens grupei. Dar vienas mogaus ir irgo kapas
kartu su geleiniu ietigaliu yra inomas i Rites Divui
gyvenviets. Latgali emse, esaniose deiniajame
Dauguvos ups krante, Jersika kapinyne rastas alia
degintinio kapo gulintis, joki pakinkt neturintis irgo skeletas. Aizkraukles Lejasagari kapinyno kape 29
guljo irgas, kurio galva buvo pasukta vakarus, o kaklas papuotas alvariniu antkakliu. Po irgo kojomis,
giliau apie 7 cm, guljo mirusysis su rytus pasukta
galva. Jo rankas puo dvi apyranks ir keturi iedai,
seg, o drabuius seg. Taip pat kape rastas movinis
ietigalis ir plaiaamenis kirvis.
XXIII a. Ryt Latvijoje buvo paplit zoomorfiniai

arklius vaizduojantys kabuiai (4 pav.). Kai kuriuose
latgali paminkluose rasta arkli figrli, bet standartizuoti kabuiai vis dlto buvo daniau naudojami: i
viso rasta apie 50 kabui. Panaius kabuius neiojo
balt tak patiriantys ryt slavai.
irgo motyvais puot dir buvo rasta keliuose latgali kapinynuose (Ludzas Odukalns, Jersika, Cesvaines
Kalnapauki, Galgauskas Tcni) ir gyvenvietse (Stupei, Jersika). Ludzas Odukalns kapinyno kape 196
rasta ristele bgani irg atvaizd (5 pav.). Latgali Dinaburgo pilyje buvo rasta alvarini sl pus,
dekoruota stilizuota irgo galvute. Stilizuotas irgo
motyvas taip pat bdingas Lietuvoje randam sl
lautukams.
BALTICA 11
irgo vaidmens stiprjimas atskleidiamas XIII a.

raytiniuose altiniuose, tokiuose kaip Eiliuotoji Livonijos kronika. Faktas, kad irgai kartais bdavo dovanojami, siekiant gavjo pasitikjimo ir palankumo,
liudija galbt aukiausi irgo vertinim.
emutiniame Dauguvos ups baseine gyvenusi lyvi

laidojimo paproius. Panai irgo kulto apraik pastebta ir latgali archeologinje mediagoje Dinaburgo pilyje, pastato kampe, buvo rasta irgo kaukol,
datuojama XI a. pradia.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Pentin formoms ir toliau tak daro Vidurio ir Vakar

Europa.
Arklio (irgo) vaizdis ir pasireikimo formos yra

neatsiejama senovs moni mitologijos dalis. Vaizduodami gyvnus, mons knydavo juose tikjim
j maginmis ir globjikomis galiomis. Arklys (irgas) simbolizavo vaisingum, todl papuoalai su jo
atvaizdu buvo ypa mgstami moter. Suomijoje irgo pavidalo kabui populiarumui takos turjo jo ir
semantiniu poiriu panaaus paukio simbolini
reikmi ssajos. Tikriausiai dl ios prieasties irg
vaizduojantys kabuiai labiau buvo paplit lyvi nei
iemgali, sli ir kit balt emse.
Latgali ir sli archeologin mediaga iliustruoja irg kaip patyrusio kario palydov ir simbol, suteikiant
pasitikjimo ir reikiant gerov. irgo praktini funkcij svarbos didjimas atsispindi ir kultuose.
V
T he W orld
of H orse
S y mbolism
Vert Agn ivilyt
Geleies amiaus antrojoje pusje irg laidojimas sli ir latgali emse buvo svarbi laidojimo ritualo dalis. iam fenomenui takos turjo Lietuvoje gyvavusios
laidojimo tradicijos.
irgo skeleto (mandibula) dalis buvo rasta Koknese
kapinyne, kuriame buvo laidojami skirting geni
mons. is reikinys panaus maai tesiskirianius
269
T h e D i v i n e Tr i a l i n 1 2 t h
C e n t u r y Tu r a i d a i n
Historical Context
T H E D I V I N E T R I A L I N 1 2 T H C E N T U RY
TURAIDA IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
GUNTIS ZEMTIS
GUNTIS
ZEMTIS
Abstract
In The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia there is a description of divine trial in Turaida (Latvia), where the horse of destiny
was used to decide the fate of Christian preacher in the Turaida brother Theodoric. The overall depiction of the trial bears
strong likeness to Germanic traditions account of which comes from as early as the writings of Tacitus, in 98. However, the
historical context shows similar patterns of mythological thought both with the Livs, the Balts and Germanic tribes. Also
similar is the role of the horse in the mythology of these peoples.
Key words: Livs, Balts, Livonia, Turaida, horse of destiny, divine trial, mythology, the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia.
Divine trial is an ancient method by which it was

tried to ritually ascertain the judicial truth. Which were
used by every nation, including Baltic nations from the
beginnings till the 16th century. It was used as the final
argument, lest all other were used. Latvian historian
and historian of the Law Arveds vbe writes that all
peoples of Livonia in twelfth and thirteenth century
used this practice to consult deity in following matters:

Whether or not to wage war;

Whether or not to sign a truce;
Whether or not to accept a new religion;
Whether or not and how to punish offenders of
gods;
Whether or not to offer a sacrifice to the deity and
what that would be.
Overall, several types of tests are known:

Trial by fire;
Trial by water;
Trial by battle;
Trial by casting lots
(vbe 1932, p.32).

Divination was usually in form of ordeals, although we
cannot fully exclude those methods popular in Western
Europe; namely, judicial duelling and trial by heated
iron or water (Blzma, Lazdi 1998, p.24). In the
Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, prominent description
of such trial can be found. It contains description of trial
of a Cistercian monk Theodoric, Christian preacher in
the Turaida, later an abbot in Daugavgrva (Dunemunde), at last - a bishop in Estonian lands (12111219)
where he was killed in the year 1219 he was offended
in the raising the disaster (Mugurvis 1993, p.342),
270
whom around 1190 the Livs of Turaida, wanted to sacrifice to their gods (Fig. 1).
People were gathered and the will of gods regarding
sacrifice was made known by casting lots; a spear was
put on ground and a horse was led to step over it, by the
will of God firstly putting down the leg of life. Brother
prayed to the God with his mouth and gave blessing
with his hand. The prophesier insisted that Christian
god was sitting on horseback and guiding the horses
legs, so the horses back had to be swept clean, to make
the god fall off. So it was done, but as the horse, as previously, firstly put down the leg of life, Brother Theodorics life was spared. (The Chronicle of Henry of
Livonia I; 10) (Fig. 2).
Divine trial by using the horse of destiny could thus
be likened to the practice of casting lots.
The report in the Chronicle of Henry is one of the most
complete descriptions of the divine trial in medieval
Europe, yet there are some peculiarities, namely, the
reports of Roman historian Tacitus, where he assigns
similar traditions to different Germanic tribes. Germans believed that the horse has the ability to forecast
the future.
Auguries and Method of Divination

Augury and divination by lot no people practice more
diligently. The use of the lots is simple. A little bough
is lopped off a fruit-bearing tree, and cut into small
pieces; these are distinguished by certain marks, and
thrown carelessly and at random over a white garment.
In public questions the priest of the particular state,
in private the father of the family, invokes the gods,
and, with his eyes toward heaven, takes up each piece
three times, and finds in them a meaning according to
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 1. Latvia in the nine-twelve century
the mark previously impressed on them. If they prove

unfavourable, there is no further consultation that day
about the matter; if they sanction it, the confirmation
of augury is still required. For they are also familiar
with the practice of consulting the notes and flight of
birds. It is peculiar to this people to seek omens and
monitions from horses. Kept at the public expense, in
these same woods and groves, are white horses, pure
from the taint of earthly labour; these are yoked to a
sacred car, and accompanied by the priest and the king,
or chief of the tribe, who note their neighing and snorting. (Tacitus, Germania, $10)
Similar divine trial by divination with spears is also
described by Saxo Grammaticus (Hansen 1857, p.54).
Certainly, even in thirteenth century German crusaders
continued the practice of sacrificing horses in special
occasions, e.g., after a successful battle. Evidence of
such a practice could be found in the Chronicle of
Rhymes:
D nam man der heiden
pfert,
Helme, schilde unde
swert
Und telten daz, geliche.
Gote von himelriche
War bescheiden ouch sin
teil,
Der in gegeben hette
heil.
When horses, spears and

swords
And helmets, and also shields
Left after by the Pagans
The brothers gathered
together,
They orderly divided the loot,
Without forgetting to give a
share
As a sacrifice to the Father,
Who did give His help to
them.
(Chronicle of Rhymes 1998, 11 991. 11 999)
Also several findings of horse skull sacrifices in

buildings of Riga can be attributed to these German
traditions. Thus, horse as divine medium is known
also to Germanic peoples. It is possible that story of
Theodorics trial by horse of destiny is plaited in the
Chronicle to further underline the tenseness of the situation, the cruelty of pagan Livs and capability of God
to protect His children, and it is done in a way wellunderstood by Germans.
It should not be forgotten that Livs are Finno-Ugric
people living in Baltic, and that their language and
mythological perception could be significantly different from Indo-European tribes like Germans and Balts.
On the other hand, during the long period of coexistence, Baltic peoples could have developed similar judicial and religious traditions. In Latvian traditions,
horse has similar role and place than that of Germanic.
By beliefs of Latvian people, horses wisdom allows
to perceive glimpses of future, to see what remains
unseen for human beings (e.g., when starting a trip, if
the horse lifts in first place the right leg, the trip was
believed to be successful). Evidently, the leg of life
mentioned in the Chronicle refers to horses right leg
(Straubergs 1944, p.173).
V
T he W orld
of Horse
S ymbolism
In the burial ground of Salaspils Laukskola (Fig. 3.1)

and in the Daugmale hillfort (Fig. 3.2) there were
found two bronze figurines, both depicting an armed
horseman. In both of them, horses left leg was raised.
It is thought that, in this case, the horse in the figurines
signifies belonging to certain social stratum, and does
not contain references to cult of Sun or to divination
practices. (Zemtis 2004, p.64ff).
Answer to the questions whether the divine trial really
existed, is to be found in mythology. After all, judges
271
Historical Context
GUNTIS
ZEMTIS
Fig. 2. Painting by A. Baumanis (18671904) The Horse of Destiny Oil, canvas, 1887.
Fig. 3. The Livs bronze pedants: horsemen and horse figures: 1 Salaspils Laukskola, grave 480; 2, 3 Daugmale hillfort;
4 Daugmale settlement.
in the divine trial are priests with the power to contact

the realm of gods.
In the mythology of Finno-Ugric peoples, horse does
not occupy so prominent a place than in the Indo-European mythology, yet in the archological findings,
there could be found many references to the special
role of horse in the Livic society. Written evidence also
portrays possibility of human sacrifice during twelfth
and thirteenth century. The Chronicle of Henry tells us
about human sacrifice, describing the events of 1205:
Not a long time after that, the Livs, waiting in the
woods, slayed seventeen of the crusaders who went out
of Ikile to collect grain tribute; some of them they
[the Livs] did slaughter with a dreadful torture as a sacrifice to their gods (The Chronicel of Henry IX:12).
There is also archological evidence that confirms the
possibility of human sacrifice. In the ancient town adjacent to the Daugmale hill fort, there were found under a gate tower fragments of one or two human skulls,
lower jaw and a tooth (Urtns 1968).
272
In the settlement of Riga which existed before the giving rights of the city from bishop Albert in 1201, a
place of worship is found, with elements of horse cult.
Near to the Dome cathedral and the graveyard adjacent to it, in excavations guided by A. Caune and S.
Tilko it was stated that previously in that place there
was a twelfth century burial ground. Next to the burial
ground fireplaces, pits for ritual sacrifices and remains
of dug-in poles were found. One of the sacrifice pits
contained half of a horse lower jaw. Also was found a
fragment of an oak pole approximately 30cm in diameter, and five stakes driven in the ground west of it. Using the radioactive carbon tests, it was ascertained that
the poles were made around 1100 AD ( 40 years). As
oak was never used in the buildings of Riga settlement,
Caune assumes that the top of the pole probably was
shaped in form of figure depicting some deity. Next
to such idols were stakes on which different sacrifices
could be put (Caune 1992, p.31ff). The fact that such
wooden idols were widely known is confirmed by findings of five wooden sticks with depiction of a human
In the Talsi hillfort, horse skulls were discovered in the

foundation of buildings (Karnups 1937, p.109). Horse
leg bones, skull and other bones were found under the
fireplaces in Livic settlements in Doles Rau i ( nore
1987, p.79), yet the most prominent example of a horse
sacrifice is discovered in the excavations by my colleague Roberts Spiris in Liv settlement and its burial
ground in the Ogresgala abas (Spiris 2007, p.50ff;
cf. R. Brzis and R. Spiris article in this volume).
This particular sacrifice could be dated to the 12th century. In 1987 the burial of the horse also was found in
the ancient burial place near the hillfort of Daugmale.
Figurines of animals, including horses, are characteristic feature of the entire Finno-Ugric culture area. Of
Finno-Ugric origin evidently are also the plastic bronze
horses which are common during eleventh to fourteenth century. In some of these figurines could be seen
digressions from horse natural form, e.g., the snout is
shaped according to then-common style of beasts, and
nevertheless features characteristic to horses are accented, such as the mane (Fig. 3.3,4).
Divine trial with heated iron is mentioned in the most
early of Baltic and Livic judicial codices. The codification can be attributed to second half of thirteenth
century, it was done by Germans and it reflects legal
regulations of both local and Western European origin.
Resemblance of the divine trial in Turaida to ancient
Germanic tradition could signify strong linking between Livs and Northern Germanic tribes especially
peoples of Middle Sweden; the signs of that linking are
especially prominent along the lower Daugava in 10th
century and in the beginning of 11th century; also in
the surroundings of Gauja in first half of 12th century
(Tnisson 1992, p.168). It is certainly possible that the
judicial procedures were also similar and the divine
trial in Turaida can be easily perceived in the historical
context of that time.
Translated by Agrita Lujne
AA Archive of Archaeological Section of Latvian National

Museum of History
References
Published sources
Atskau hronika Atskau hronika. 1998. V. BISENIEKA
atdzejojums no vidusaugvcu valodas. Livlndische
Reimchronik. Rga: Zintne.
HANSEN 1857. Saxonis Gesta Danorum 1931
Indria hronika Indria hronika. 1999. . FELDHNS, ed.;
. Mugurvia priekvrds un komentri. Heinrici chronicon Livoniae. Rga: Zintne.
TACITUS, Germania [online] Available from: www.fordham/odn/halsoll/source/tacitus:
www.unrv.com/tacitus/
tacitusgermania.php [Accessed 12 December 2008].
BALTICA 11
Abbreviations
ARCHAEOLOGIA
head, found in Riga. Such idols are commonly associated with West Slavonic deity Sviatovit (Caune 1981,
p.56ff), but similar items are found also in Scandinavia
in Svenbork, Denmark such a figurine was found and
dated to approximately 1100 AD, and is considered to
be either of Slavonic origin, or to be created with Slavonic influence (Jansen 1992, p.380). These evidences
shows that among natives of Riga settlement predominantly Livs who integrate and accept of Indo-European, namely Slavonic and Baltic deities.
Manuscripts
URTNS V. 1968 Prskats par arheoloiskajiem izrakumiem Daugmal 1968. gad. Overview of archaeological
excavations in Daugmale, year 1968 AA 425
Literature
BLZMA, V., LAZDI, J., 1998. Parau tiesbas Latvijas
teritorij ldz XIII gs. In: Latvijas tiesbu avoti. Teksti un
komentri. Seno parau un Livonijas tiesbu avoti 10. gs.
16. gs. Rga.
CAUNE. A., 1981. Rgas 12. 13. gs. antropomorfie kokgriezumi. Latvijas Zintu Akadmijas Vstis, 6.
CAUNE, A. 1992. Arheoloisks liecbas par senko apdzvotbu Rgas Doma bazncas apkrtn. Latvijas Vstures
Institta urnls, 3.
JANSSEN, H.M., 1992. Stab mit Menschenkpfen Svantevit. In: Wikinger, Warger, Normannen. Die Skandinavier
und Europa 800 1200. Berlin.
KARNUPS, A., 1937. Dzvnieku galvas kausi Talsu pilskaln. Senatne un Mksla, 4, 98-109.
STRAUBERGS, K., 1944. Latvieu tautas paraas. Latvieu
folkloras krtuves materili, 11.
VBE, A., 1932. Latvijas tiesbu vsture. Pc 1931./32. m.
g. LU lastm lekcijm atreferjis stud Iur. A. rons /Referenced from LU lectures of 1931/32 by stud. Iur. A rons.
Rga: LU studentu padomes grmatnca.
TNISSON, E., 1992. Skandinavien und die Frhgeschichtliche ostseefinnische Kultur. In: A. Loit, E. MUGURVIS and A. CAUNE, eds. Die Kontakte zwischen
Ostbaltikum und Skandinavien im frhen Mittelalter. Acta
Universitatis Stockholmiensis, 9, Sockholm, 163-171.
SPIRIS, R., 2008. Arheoloiskie ptjumi Ogresgala abs
2007. gad. In: Arheologu ptjumi Latvij 2006. un 2007.
gad. Rga: Zintne, 50-58.
NORE, E. 1987. Beteu kapulauks Augzem. Arheoloija
un etnogrfija,15, 68-81.
ZEMTIS, G., 2004. Ornaments un simbols Latvijas aizvstur. Rga: Latvijas vstures institta apgds.
V
T he W orld
of Horse
S ymbolism

Accepted 12 June 2009
273
Historical Context
GUNTIS
ZEMTIS
Guntis Zemtis
Institute of Latvian History at the University of Latvia
Department of Archeology
Akadmijas 1, LV-1050, Riga, Latvia
E-mail: guntis.zemitis@gmail.com
DIEVIKAS IBANDYMAS
XII A. TURAIDOS ISTORINIAME
KONTEKSTE
Guntis Zemtis
Santrauka
Pranaavimai paprastai bdavo siejami su vairiais ibandymais. Henriko Latvio kronikoje galima aptikti
vaizd toki ibandym apraym. Tai ibandymas cisters vienuolio Teodoriko, kur Turaidos lyviai 1190m.
norjo paaukoti savo dievams (2 pav.). mons susirinko ir, nordami suinoti diev vali dl aukojimo,
met burtus: paguld iet ant ems ir ved per j irg;
Dievo valia irgas eng per iet deine koja, laikoma
skirta gyvybei. Brolis tuo metu meldsi ir itiesta ranka
laimino mones. ynys sak, kad krikioni Dievas
sdi ant irgo nugaros ir valdo jo kojas, todl reikia nuplauti irgo nugar ir tokiu bdu paalinti Diev. Kada
tai padar, irgas per iet vl eng gyvybei skirta koja,
brolis Teodorikas iliko gyvas (Henriko Latvio kronika, I, 10, vert Juozas Jurginis).
Henriko Latvio kronikos praneimas primena romn
istoriko Tacito pamintas vairi german geni panaias tradicijas I amiuje. Tok dievik ibandym
ietimi taip pat apra Saksas Gramatikas.
Reikt nepamirti, kad lyviai Pabaltijo finougrai, ir
j kalba bei mitologin samprata galjo gerokai skirtis nuo indoeuropiei geni, toki kaip germanai ir
baltai. Kita vertus, ilgalaikis koegzistavimas galjo suformuoti panaias teisines ir religines Pabaltijo moni
tradicijas. Finougr mitologijoje irgas neuima ypa
svarbios vietos (1; 3 pav.), taiau archeologin mediaga byloja apie reikming irgo vaidmen lyvi visuomenje. Raytiniai altiniai taip pat leidia manyti, kad
XIIXIII a. egzistavo moni aukojimas.
274
NINA
LAU
The Harnesses from the

Thorsberg Bog: New Evidence
Regarding Cavalry Equipment
of the Roman Iron Age
THE HARNESSES FROM THE THORSBERG BOG:

N E W E V I D E N C E regarding C AVA L RY
EQUIPMENT OF THE ROMAN IRON AGE
NINA LAU
Abstract
The harnesses of the north European war booty bog finds comprise the only source of information about the mounted warriors
in military context. Their equipment suggests that the Germanic military riders probably had the same fighting and riding style
as the Roman cavalrymen. Nevertheless, qualitative analyses indicate that the mounted warriors belonged more to a military
and social elite, than to a uniformly equipped cavalry.
Key words: harnesses Thorsberg, bog finds, cavalry equipment, Roman Iron Age, riding style, military organisation.
The Thorsberg Bog Find

There is no other archaeological site in the barbaricum that has such a great number of Roman Iron Age
horse equipment than the Thorsberg bog find in northern Germany near Schleswig. The altogether 27 sets
of harnesses which could be identified belong to two
chronologically different deposits: the main offering in
the C1b in the first half of the third century and a later
offering in C2/C3 about AD 300 (Lau 2007; 2008).
Germanic Harnesses of the Roman

Iron Age
The harnesses consist of numerous objects, among
which are characteristic fittings like bridles, bridle
chains and nose fittings but also very unspecific mountings like buckles and strap-ends, which also could belong to belts and shoulder-belt. The only way to allot
them to elements of bridles and saddles and assemble
them to sets of harness is due to criterions like form
and types as well as material, decoration and measures. Likewise, we get information about the find situation, bequeathed by the excavation diary of Conrad
Engelhardt of the year 1860 and the catalogues of the
royal collection of antiquities Flensburg of the years
18561861. All in all 15 bridles with bridle chains of
so-called Vimose and Illerup type as well as 3 different
bridles with propeller shaped fittings and leather reins
belong to the main offering in the first half of the third
century (Phase C1b) (Plate II.1-2). These sets of bridles
and saddle gear consist particularly of rich fittings like
nose fittings, strap distributions and decoration fittings.
The bridles show a grand range of variation of used
278
fittings related to material and decoration as well as

forms. While the elements of roman harness have been
produced in mass productions the different elements
of harness sets of barbarian horse equipment are coordinated and show considerable qualitative differences.
They are individually designed and above average covered with silver and gold. As well, the harnesses of the
C1b deposit of Illerup dal in western Jutland show
a huge amount of precious metal as well as rich decorations. They are furthermore concerning the find
situation connected with noble garnitures of swords,
shields and personal equipment. It can be assumed that
in these cases the equipment of warriors of the military
elite was sacrificed (von Carnap-Bornheim and Ilkjr
1996, p.473).
Horse Equipment of the Military Elite

Qualitative analysis of the retrieved military equipment of Illerup dal show different levels of used
material which can be implicate in different military
and perhaps social ranges of the Germanic army. Claus
von Carnap-Bornheim and Jrn Ilkjr (von CarnapBornheim and Ilkjr 1996, p.263 table 7) differ three
military ranges: the military leaders with silver plated
equipment, partially furnished with golden sheets,
the so called officers, the second rank, with mainly
bronze equipment, including bridles with bronze and
iron bridle chains of the Vimose and Illerup type, and
simple warriors with equipment of iron. There have
to be done some critical remarks: in Thorsberg iron
is achieved only exceptionally, so the simple bridles
as well as the bridles with bridle chains of the Illerup
type are considerably comparatively low. The compa-
Mode of Action and Functionality

of the Germanic Bridles
The main constructive elements of bridles and saddle
gear are next to the ornamental mouldings due to
their functionality. Therefore, a special style of riding
and fighting as well as the need to achieve a specific
behaviour of the horses at important military situations account for specific constructive elements of harness. As well its possible to draw conclusions from
the available elements of harness on the riding and
fighting style of mounted warriors, which is not know
from other sources. The constructive most significant
element of the bridles is the curb in conjunction with
nose fittings and so called Kehlbergen (throat guards),
typical for bridles with bridle chains of the C1b deposits (Fig. 1). When pulling the reins a leverage results
(Junkelmann 1992, p.15ff). On the one hand, the bar
under the horses chin was depressed against the chin;
the angle of the bit was depressed into the palate/roof
of the mouth. This effect is foremost intense in conjunction with nose fittings and so called Kehlbergen
(throat guards), which were fixed around the jaw of the
horses. So the horse is not able to open the mouth to
avoid the pressure. We find the same principle at roman curb bits in conjunction with noseband and chin
frame (Junkelmann 1992, p.20 ff fig.9). Both kinds of
bridles are well thought-out constructions, which can
be applied, flexible but in important situations make
for an immediate obeying of the horses. The bit is not
moved by riding with only one hand, when the reins
lie at the horses neck but when pulling the reins the
horse will feel pain. The characteristic Germanic curbs
are probably endpoint of a development of different
bridles. Curb bits appear since the third century BC in
Italy and in the region of lower Danube. Related to the
Italian examples are finds from Normandy like Lry
(Frey 1984, p.125 fig.4; Kull 1996, p.425ff, fig.6.7)
and La Mailleraye-sur-Seine (together with simple
bits) (Lequoy 1993, p.130 fig.12; Kull 1996, p.425ff
fig.6.6), dated in middle and late La Tne. The development of the Germanic curb bits came probably
BALTICA 11
bronze, needed for the production of harness, suggests

that only the social elite could order such objects. In
addition, harnesses consist to a large part of decorative
non-functional elements without any importance for a
victorious ending of a military conflict. As well roman
harness are characterised by numerous decorative elements. In this regard a citation of Hadrian (117138
AD about the riders of the VIth cohort Commagenorum (Mauretanien) might be interesting: the decoration of the horses and the decoration of the weapons
equates to their pay....
ARCHAEOLOGIA
rability between Thorsberg and Illerup has to be handled with care because only 60% of the archaeological
site of Illerup was excavated until now. Furthermore,
it is difficult to assign the composition of equipment
of mounted warriors and foot soldiers as well as the
proportion between the equipment of military leaders
and warriors of lower grades to the real circumstances.
Mounted warriors had a better chance to escape, so it
is possible that their equipment is underrepresented at
the place of finding. Also the intention and selection
of the sacrificed objects are unknown, so it cannot be
excluded that rich equipment has sacrificed rarely because of the value of the raw material or in contrast
numerously because of a special ritual focus on the
equipment of the military elite. These questions are
unable to resolve from todays view. The sets of bridles of the C1b deposit of Thorsberg exhibit the following average measures: twelve harnesses consist mainly
of bronze (67%), while five harnesses show bronze
with silverplating (22%) and further two bronze with
silver plating and additional goldsheets (11%). So the
proportion between bronze and bronze with precious
metal is about 67%: 33%. Five sets of bridles feature
silver plating all over the surface; these are the richest harnesses from Thorsberg bog. Two of these outstanding harnesses with gold sheets adverting to two
mounted warriors of the highest military elite could be
identified (Plate II.2). The bridles of Illerup dal show
a proportion of 60% mainly bronze and 40% bronze
bridles with silver plating. They dont feature any gold
sheets, so the proportion of bronze to silver plated harness of Illerup and Thorsberg correspond, if the mainly
silver plated bridles from Thorsberg and those, additional furnished with gold sheets, were add together. It
is remarkable that the saddle gear from Illerup is more
often plated with silver and additional gold sheets than
the bridles, as well in Thorsberg the lateral strap ends
consist more often of silver. So mainly bronze headgear
appear together with silver plated saddle gear. The usage of precious metal at bridles was obviously reserved
to a smaller circle of mounted warriors. Comparisons
between the Thorsberg harness and other finding categories show relatively less application of precious
metal at personal and military equipment. Reasons
for it could also be practicability or different state indicating relevance of the different finding categories.
It seems to be the equipment of bronze and precious
metal of 33 warriors, a considerably major number
then the 17 identifiable harnesses, but the harness has
been furnished proportional more often with precious
metal. It is arguable to what extent the equipment of
harness furnished with precious metal is an evidence
of a high military and furthermore social rank. The
used precious metal as well as the enormous amount of
VI
H orse and
E questrian
E quipment
O fferings
279
NINA
LAU

about the transmission of bit and chin pole from the

balcanic-Italian curb bridle to the local Gallic bits like
a mixed bridle from Alesia makes clear (Krogh 1966,
p.65 fig.7.2; Lawson 1978, p.155 and 157 fig.10, 6;
ann. 65; 65a; Deyber 1994, p.291 fig.239; Kull 1996,
p.426 fig.6, 4; 428 ann. 51).
Fig. 1. Reconstruction of a bridle with bridle chains of the

so-called Vimose type.
Fig. 2. Bracteates of Sundsvall, Sweden (after Imer 2007,

p.381).
280
Fig. 3. Tombstone of T. Flavius Bassus, the late first century AD (Rmisch-Germanisches Museum Kln) (drawing
after Bishop 1988, p.69 fig.1).
As well, the function of the characteristic Germanic

bridle chains has been discussed frequently in context
with analysis of the Roman Iron Age harness. In most
cases, it was assumed that they have decorative function or were made for protecting the horses neck (La
Baume 1944, p.9; Baranowski 1973, p.477). Furthermore, the bridle chains have a specific function concerning the style of riding and fighting of Germanic
warriors. Concerning the matter there are no direct
sources for the Germanic mounted warriors, therefore
we have to resort to secondary sources like illustrations
from early migration period bracteates (Mackeprang
1952, tabl.2,2.10; Vierck 1978, p.279 fig.20.8; Axboe
2004, table 11) (Fig. 2). The illustrated riders carry a
lance in one hand whereas the two reins lay loosely in
the other hand. Instead of leather reins, we see chains
of large loops, in all probability bridle chains. Such
a riding style is well known from roman tombstones
(Fig. 3). Mounted warriors of the roman army fought
typically with lances (Junkelmann 1991, p.71; Adler
1993, p.240ff.; Schleiermacher 1999, p.61; Kemkes
2007, p.111). Due to the fact that the reins, hold just in
one hand, could only be applied with reservations the
usage of extra hard bridles was essential. The riders
guide by using their weight and legs but also by laying the reins at the respective side of the horses neck
(so-called neck-reining) (Junkelmann 1992, p.11ff.).
The riding style with the usage of just one hand can
be compared with modern western riding style where
the reins were hold loose high at the horses neck and
not tightly like when classical riding. By a loose keeping of light leather reins vibrations result, which could
be misunderstood by the horses as demand of changing the direction. These vibrations can be avoided by
higher weight of the reins. Modern Western riders use
rein weights as well as rein-chains. Only in conjunction
with a westerncurb, similar to the Germanic curbs of
the roman Iron Age, riding with only one hand is practised. While riding with both hands a so-called Snaffle
Bit is used, comparable with a simple bit with two bit
loops. A similar phenomenon could be found with the
different usage of curbs and simple bits of the harness
from the North-European war booty offerings. Bridle
chains are together with curbs (e. g. rsnes 1988, tables 168-169) as well as leather reins are together with
simple bits (ibid. tables 182.2; 183.2). This means that
military riding and fighting with one-hand demands
bridles with bridle chains and curbs as well riding with
Conclusion
Surely, the duties and riding as well as fighting styles
of roman and Germanic mounted warriors cannot be
directly assigned. As for Roman riders for Germanic
riders different duties can be assumed like the functional different bridles show. The hard bridles with
curb and bridle chains were used in military coherences by fighting riders. The simple bits with leather reins
could be used with horses for carrying messages as
well as drafting wagons for example. The high quality,
the frequent usage of precious metal and the individual
decoration as well as the huge amount of needed material for the production of the bridles with bridle chains
indicate mounted warriors of the Germanic military
and social elite, officers and military leaders, less
members of an uniformly equipped cavalry.
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BALTICA 11
The usage of bridle chains is obviously functional,

so why arent they known from roman find contexts?
Chains with eight-shaped, mostly iron links are well
known, but they can belong to many other finding categories like foot chains, chains of vessels or for wagons.
But some of them could be connected with harness like
for example the chain from a horse grave, dated into
the second half of the second century AD of Krefeld
Gellep (Pirling 1986, p.244ff fig.2; 1989, no. 138 3569
plate 94) or an iron chain with a bridle from Kalkriese
(Franzius 1995, p.159 fig.10).
von CARNAP-BORNHEIM, C. and ILKJR, J., 1996. Illerup dal 5. Die Prachtausrstungen. Textband. rhus.
Jutland Arch. Soc. Publ., 25, 5.
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IMER, L.M., 2007. Runer og runeindskrifter. Kronologi,
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Schlo Gottorf, Schleswig. Neumnster, 25-54.
LAWSON, A.K., 1978. Studien zum rmischen Pferdegeschirr. Jarbuch des Rmisch Germanischen Zentralmuzeums Mainz, 25, 131-172.
LEQUOY, M.-C., 1993. Le dpt funraire de La Mailleraye-sur-Seine (Seine-Maritime). In: D. CLIQUET, M.
RMY-WATT, V. GUICHARD and M. VAGINAY, eds.,
Les Celtes en Normandie. Les rites funraires en Gaule
(Illme-Ier sicles avant J.C.). Paris. Actes 14me Coll.
Assoc. Fran. Etudes Age du Fer vreux 1990. Revue
Arch. Ouest Suppl. 6, 121-133.
MACKEPRANG, B. M., 1952. De nordiske guldbrakteater. brakteatstudiets historie. Brakteattypernes udvikling,
geografiske fordeling, kronologi, motiver og praegningsteknik. Aarhus.
RSNES, M., 1988. Ejsbl. Waffenopferfunde des 4. 5.
Jahrh. n. Chr. Nordiske Fortidsminder Serie B, Bind 11.
Kbenhavn.
PIRLING, R., 1986. Ein Mithrum als Kriegergrab. Neue
Untersuchungen im Vorgelnde des Kastells Gelduba.
In: Studien zu den Militrgrenzen Roms III. 13. Internat.
Limeskongre Aalen 1983. Stuttgart. Forsch. u. Ber. Vorund Frhgesch. Baden-Wrttemberg, 20, 244246.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
both hands without fighting demands only simple bits

with leather reins.
VI
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E questrian
E quipment
O fferings
281
NINA
LAU

SCHLEIERMACHER, M., 1999. Ausrstung und Bewaffnung rmischer Reiter auf rheinischen Grabstelen. In: M.
KEMKES and J. SCHEUERBRANDT, eds. Fragen zur
rmischen Reiterei. Kolloquium zur Ausstellung Reiter wie Statuen aus Erz. Die rmische Reiterei am Limes
zwischen Patrouille und Parade. im Limesmuseum Aalen
am 25./26.02.1998. Stuttgart, 5563.
VIERCK, H., 1987. Religion, Rang und Herrschaft im Spiegel
der Tracht. In: Sachsen und Angelsachsen. Ausstellungskat. Hamburg, 271283.
Received: 14 January 2009; Revised 10 March 2009;
Accepted 12 May 2009
Nina Lau
Zentrum fr Baltische und Skandinavische Archologie
Schloss Gottorf
24837 Schleswig
E-mail: lau@schloss-gottorf.de
PA K I N K TA I I T H O R S B E R G O
PELKS RADIMVIETS
NAUJAS JOJIMO REIKMEN
ROMNIKAJAME GELEIES
AMIUJE TYRIMAS
Nina Lau
Santrauka
282
Nra kito tokio archeologinio paminklo barbaricum

kaip Thorsbergo pelks radimviet, kurioje rasta toks
didelis skaiius romnikojo geleies amiaus irgo aprangos reikmen. I viso nustatyti 27 pakinkt
rinkiniai, kurie priklauso dviem chronologikai skirtingiems depozitams: pagrindiniam aukojimui C1b
periode III amiaus pirmojoje pusje ir vlesniam
aukojimui C2/C3 periode, apie 300 m. po Kr. Kamanos liudija plat naudot apkal pasirinkim tiek aliavos, tiek puoybos, tiek ir formos atvilgiu (1 pav.,
II.12 iliustr.). Romnik pakinkt elementai buvo
masins gamybos rezultatas, o vairios barbarik irg aprangos pakinkt dalys rodo didelius kokybinius
skirtumus. Jos yra sukurtos individualia maniera ir
paprastai bna padengtos sidabru ir auksu. Thorsbergo kaman rinkiniai i C1b periodo depozito rodo tokius skaiius: dvylika pakinkt susideda daugiausia i
alvario (67%), kiti penki pakinktai yra alvariniai su
sidabro danga (22%), o dar dveji yra alvariniai su sidabro danga ir auksinmis ploktelmis (11%). Taigi proporcija tarp alvarini ir alvarini su tauriuoju metalu
detali yra apie 67% : 33%. Penki kaman rinkini
vis detali paviriai padengti sidabru tai turtingiausi
pakinktai i Thorsbergo pelks. Dveji i pastarj i-
skirtini pakinkt su aukso ploktelmis gali bti siejami su dviem raitais aukiausio karinio elito kariais.
Thorsbergo pakinkt ir kit radini kategorij palyginimas rodo santykinai reiau naudojus tauriuosius
metalus asmeninei ir karinei aprangai. Aukta kokyb,
danai naudojami taurieji metalai ir individuali puoyba, taip pat didelis reikaling aliav kiekis kaman
su grandinmis gamybai liudija german karinio ir
socialinio elito karius, karininkus ir karo vadus, ir
maiau vienoda apranga aprpint kavalerij. Ypatingas jojimo ir kovos stilius, taip pat poreikis igauti tam
tikr irg elgsen svarbiose karinse situacijose vert
naudoti tam tikros konstrukcijos pakinkt elementus.
Germanikosios kamanos yra gerai sumanytos konstrukcijos, jos galjo bti naudojamos paslankiai, taiau
svarbiose situacijose vert irg staigiai paklusti. Ir
kaman grandins turjo ypating paskirt, susijusi
su german kari jojimo ir kovos stiliumi. Tiesiogini
altini apie german raituosius karius neturime, taigi
kaip iliustracij panaudojame antrinius altinius pagal
ankstyvj taut kraustymosi laik brakteatus ar romn antkapinius akmenis. Jie rodo, kad karinis jojimas
ir kova viena ranka laikant ietigal reikalavo kaman
su grandinmis ir apynasrio, tuo tarpu jojant laikantis
abiem rankomis ir nekovojant pakanka paprast sl su odinmis vadelmis. Romn ir german rait
kari kovos bdai negali bti nustatomi tiesiogiai (2,
3 pav.). Tiek romn, tiek german raiteli skirtingos
prievols galjo versti naudoti funkcikai skirtingas
kamanas. Sunkios kamanos su apynasriu ir grandinmis buvo naudojamos myje besikaunani raiteli.
Paprastos kamanos su odinmis vadelmis galjo bti
skirtos karins valgybos irgams, ini nejams,
taip pat arkliams, traukiantiems veimus.
Abstract
Briefly presented in this paper are the results of the 2007 and 2008 excavations at the complex of ancient sites at Ogresgala
abas. Particularly significant discoveries were made in the Liv cemetery site, which presented a surprising diversity of grave
practices, among which particularly significant are the stone circles surrounding the graves, the offerings of artefacts, the sacrifice of a horse and possible sacrifice of a woman. Considering the horse graves at Ogresgala abas, in the cemetery adjacent
to Daugmale Hillfort and the offerings of horse body parts at cemeteries in the Lower Daugava area, it seems that the horse
played a greater role in Liv mythological belief and ritual than has been assumed hitherto.
BALTICA 11
RDOLFS BRZIS AND ROBERTS SPIRIS
ARCHAEOLOGIA
T H E O gresgala a b A S C E M E T E RY
A ND H O R S E S A C R I F I C E
Key words: Livs, cemetery, grave inventory, sacrifice, horse grave, rituals.
Written sources and archaeological material both provide important evidence concerning the horse cult
among the ancient Livs. The Liv horse cult is discussed
more extensively in the contribution to this volume by
PhD Guntis Zemtis. This paper focuses on one find of
a horse sacrifice, discovered at the cemetery of Ogresgala abas in 2007. It is necessary to begin, however,
with a general description of the site and the excavation results.
The complex of ancient sites at

Ogresgala abas. Location and
history of research
Nowadays, most of the ancient sites along the lower
course of the River Daugava/ Western Dvina have been
flooded. One of the locations not submerged includes
the settlement and pre-Christian cemetery of Ogresgala
abas (Plate VI.1). These sites lie on the flat right bank
of the Daugava by the farmstead of abas, 37.5 km
from Riga. Located on the opposite bank of the river
is the cemetery of Tomes Narii. The settlement site
at Ogresgala abas occupies a belt about 600800 m
long and 50100 m wide along the right bank of the
Daugava. Right next to the western and eastern limits of the settlement there are two corresponding grave
sites. The site is being damaged by erosion of the Daugava riverbank: since the creation of the reservoir for
the Riga Hydro-Electric Power Station in the 1970s, a
510 m wide belt of the riverbank has been lost.
In 1984, archaeologist Anna Zaria of the Institute of
Latvian History undertook a rescue excavation here.
Two areas, measuring 4550 m and 440 m with
extensions, were excavated along the eroding bank of
the Daugava, with a third area measuring 424 m at
a distance of 68 m from the bank. The total area uncovered at that time was 440 m. However, most of
the excavated area was taken up by a First World War
trench, so that the undisturbed area was actually much
smaller: about 190 m2.
The oldest finds from the settlement site, namely flint
tools, indicate that this location was inhabited already
in the Final Palaeolithic or Early Mesolithic. However, the artefacts and pottery making up the largest
part of the collection are of 11th13th century date and
are characteristic of the Livs. The material recovered
shows that this site was a centre for the Daugava Liv
territory between Ikile and Lielvrde (Zaria 1986).
In connection with planned construction work in the
central part of the site, excavation was undertaken in
2007 and 2008 by the Institute of Latvian History. Altogether during these two seasons, an area of 7000 m2
was excavated. The excavated area was on the gentle
western slope of the highest point in the area, between
A. Zarias excavation Areas 1 and 2 of 1984. It should
be added that in the course of Zarias excavation a
high concentration of settlement features was discovered in Area 1, located at the highest point in the vicinity, right on the bank of the Daugava, and graves were
uncovered in Area 2, located at a lower point on the
bank. Likewise, in the eastern part of the area excavated in 2007, features relating to a Liv settlement were
found. The central part was poorer in finds, while in the
western part, over an area of 800 m2, the east margin of
a cemetery was revealed.
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Within the settlement, the cultural layer had been disturbed by ploughing, so that it survived only in the
hollows and deep features. The southern part, along
the bank of the Daugava, had been disturbed with the
digging of a trench during the First World War. The
283
The Ogresgala abas

Cemetery and Horse Sacrifice
RDOLFS
BRZIS
AND ROBERTS
SPIRIS
Fig. 1. Area of the cemetery excavated in 2007 surrounding graves 11 and 24 (plan prepared by author).
majority of the features uncovered in the settlement are

stone-lined hearths. Two forms can be distinguished:
above-ground and sunken hearths. The above-ground
hearths were circular or oval, sometimes with a small
depression at the centre. The diameter varied between
0.8 m and 2 m. The sunken hearths were similar in size,
with sloping sides, and reached a depth of 0.5 m, not
including the topsoil. Horizontal layers observed in
the cross-sections of some of the hearths indicated that
they had been in use for a long period.
284
A total of 1072 artefacts were found in the course of

the settlement and cemetery excavation. The earliest
finds, the flint blades and scrapers, date from the Final
Palaeolithic or beginning of the Mesolithic. The finds
of stone axes and chisels, flint tools, as well as Comb
Ceramics, Corded Ware and Striated Pottery, indicate
that the settlement site was in use in the Neolithic and
Early Metal Age. On the settlement site, only a few

features produced 10th14th century Liv artefacts.
A richer corpus of artefacts was recovered from the
cemetery (Fig. 1), where in 2007 and 2008 a total of 35
graves were unearthed (making a total of 38 together
with those excavated by Zaria). These include ten
adult females, eight adult males, six children aged 1.5
6, three juvenile females aged 1519, two boys aged
45 and 1213, one young male aged 1722 and one
girl aged 1113. Mean adult male stature was 171.6
cm, and mean adult female stature 158.5 cm.1
The deceased had been placed in an extended supine
position, with the exception of one unfurnished grave
that had been placed on the left side. The graves were
mostly oriented with heads to the north or north-west,
1
Osteological material analysed by PhD Gunita Zaria.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 2. Peristalith around grave 11 (photograph by Spirgis).
as is characteristic of the Livs. In two cases only were

they oriented with heads to the north-east, and in single
cases with the head to the south and to West-NorthWest. The arm position could be securely determined
only for five graves, showing a variety of positions:
bent at the elbows with hands over the pelvis, or with
one arm placed over the middle and the other hand
over the chest or by the shoulder.
The excavation showed that there had been a barrow
cemetery on this site. The barrows were no longer visible in the relief, having been ploughed out, but their
presence was indicated by the sparse distribution of
graves and by the presence of ditches and stone circles from the barrows. Ten barrows could be securely
identified, five of them with two graves each. The barrows reached a diameter of 59 m. One barrow, enclosing a double grave of children, could have been about
3 m in diameter. The deceased were buried in nailed
plank coffins, in graves dug to a depth of 2040 cm,
after which the barrow was thrown up on top. Over the
course of time, the barrows have become levelled out,
raising the level of the ground surface, so that now the
graves are at a depth of 0.71.1 m.
Stone settings and circles

in the cemetery
Particularly important are the stone settings surrounding the former barrows. Four almost completely preserved circles could be identified among the excavated
stone settings. Possibly, some of the other barrows also
had stone circles, but these have been disturbed and
are only partially preserved (Fig. 1). For the most part,
light-coloured, almost white dolomite stone has been
used for the circles. In terms of form and size, three
kinds of stones can be distinguished. First, there are
irregular, angular blocks measuring some 302015
cm; secondly, up to 30353 cm slabs with irregular
margins; and thirdly, there are less irregular dolomite
blocks and fragments of large slabs. The stones were
usually found at the base of the barrow ditches, and in
some cases it was observed that the stones lying closer
to the centre of the barrow were at a higher level than
those on the outside (Fig. 2). In other words, the stones
had been placed on the rim of the barrow, following the
sloping surface of the barrow.
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It should be noted that only two barrow cemeteries

have been preserved up to the present day in the Lower
Daugava area: Ogresgala Lielpi, with 16 barrows,
285
The Ogresgala abas

RDOLFS
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AND ROBERTS
SPIRIS
and Ikiles Kbeles, with approximately 80 barrows.

In these cases, stone structures are not visible above
the ground. At several flat cemeteries too, namely
Salaspils Laukskola, Salaspils Vjstri, Salaspils Lipi,
Aizkraukle, Lielvrdes crossing, etc., indications of
formerly existing barrows have been found in connection with certain 12th13th century graves: the sparse
distribution of the graves themselves, as well as barrow
ditches and hearth features (Zaria 1996, p.124; Zaria
2006, p.24). stone circles are much less common.
These were first uncovered in the first half of the 19th
century following the spring floods of the Daugava at
Aizkraukle (Kruse 1842, p.9 plate 59.11, 60: 4; Bhr
1850, p.2 plate 1.1) and at the farmstead of Bajards
on the left bank of the river (Bhr 1850, p.2 plate 1.3).
One more stone circle has been excavated under the
direction of Valdemrs inters at Salaspils Laukskola
in 1936 (inters 1938). This structure was revealed at
a depth of 0.70.8 m beneath the present ground surface. The stone circle, 10 m in diameter, consisted of
medium-sized stones placed above a shallow hollow
resembling a ditch that had been filled with black earth
showing traces of burning. However, no graves were
found within the area delimited by the stone circle. Instead, only a few irregular burned areas were found,
and some potsherds between the stones, as well as an
iron sword pommel.
In later years, no more stone circles were found, even
though large-scale excavation of Liv sites was undertaken in the 1960s and 70s in connection with the
building of the Riga Hydro-Electric Power Station. At
some cemeteries, stone kerbs and packed stones have
been identified. In some cases, separate medium-sized
stones had been placed in a more or less regular row
supporting the head of the deceased, or by the feet
or the side. Secondly, in some cases several layers of
densely packed stones were found covering the body.
Since neither kind of stone structure resembles a circle, in the research literature the opinion has become
established that the regular stone settings seen in 19th
century publications should be regarded as inept and
careless reconstructions, which were not substantiated
later, when more precise recording methods had come
into use (Latvijas 1974, p.195).
286
A stone circles around a still-existing Liv barrow was

discovered for the first time in the course of the excavation directed by Roberts Spiris at Ikiles Kbeles
in 2000 (Spiris 2002a; Spiris 2002b). Stones had
been placed all along the margin of one of the two excavated barrows, which was 1.43 m high and 12 m in
diameter, forming a fairly regular stone circle with a
diameter of 910 m. The grave in the barrow had been
very seriously disturbed: only the leg bones of an adult
male remained at the base of the disturbed area. The
grave goods included a small broad-bladed iron axe, a

tanged iron spearhead with two barbs, an amber pendant, an unworked piece of amber, four rosette-shaped
bronze belt fittings and a delicate plaited silver fingerring with soldered ends. The remains of a dog sacrifice
were also recovered. Considering that the artefacts and
bones had been placed at different levels, it is possible
that this was a double grave. The discovery of a stone
circle at Ikiles Kbeles in 2000, and likewise the
evidence found in the 2007 excavation at Ogresgala
abas, provide definite proof that stone circles in the
flat Liv cemeteries are the remains of former barrows.
Returning to the results of excavation at Ogresgala
abas, it should be mentioned that there were flat
graves between the barrows and along the northern
margin of the excavated area. The flat graves are generally shallower than the barrow graves, lying at a depth
of 0.350.75 m below the present ground surface. Several of these flat graves lack indications of a plank coffin. Stone kerbs have been found in association with
flat graves and barrow graves. Particularly interesting
is the grave structure of an adult male barrow grave 32.
In this case, pairs of stone slabs, measuring on average 20156 cm were found at the head and foot of
the grave. Three of these had fallen inwards, while the
fourth had retained its original vertical position. Hitherto, no parallels have been found at Liv cemeteries for
this kind of grave, reinforced at the corners with vertical dolomite slabs.
Three graves had packed stones above them, forming
two to six layers of stones over the chest area. However, considering that the grave goods beneath the stones
had been plundered and the bones disturbed, it might
be though that the stone packings are not connected
with the burial rites, but instead constitute the backfill
of pits dug by grave robbers in antiquity. Similar stone
packings above disturbed graves are known from the
cemetery of Ikiles Rumui (Graudonis 1987, p.91).
The packing of stones in the fill can be explained in
terms of the grave robbers wish to prevent the souls of
the dead from rising up and avenging the desecration
of the graves.
Grave inventory and offerings

Already in antiquity, the richly furnished Liv burials
attracted grave robbers. As a result, the majority of
graves had been plundered long ago, and only 12 completely undisturbed graves were revealed. The presence
of the barrows, clearly marking the grave locations,
simplified grave-robbing. It can be ascertained, that
grave-robbers knew the placement of artefacts in the
graves hence usually only the upper part of graves was
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 3. Artefacts from Ogresgala abas: 1-4 circular bronze pendants with a bulls head image from grave 34; 5 group of
artefacts given as an offering at the foot of grave 12: a bronze-plated iron weight; b bronze-plated iron weight; c fragment
of bronze penannular brooch with poppy-head end; d silver coin corroded to the fragment of an iron artefact; e fragment of
a cup to hold bronze weights; f a group of iron and bronze objects stuck together; g iron chisel; h bronze belt buckle; i iron
fish-hook (photograph by Spirgis).
dug over - there was concentrated great amount of the

artefacts, but the bed-foot remained untouched. Apparently, grave-robbers expected just for one grave in
each barrow. For that reason, among all investigated
double graves, only one had been disturbed, but the
other remained untouched.
The deceased had been buried in festive dress, and
female graves contain ornaments: tortoise brooches
with attached chain ornaments, finger-rings, and necklaces of glass beads with coin pendants, tinklers and
crosses. Particularly interesting is a necklace found on
the grave of a 12-year-old girl (grave 34), which had
four round pendants with a bulls head representation
(Fig. 3. 1-4). Male graves generally produced weap-
ons: iron axes and spears. The most popular ornaments

were penannular brooches with rolled-back or polyhedral terminals and leather belts decorated with bronze.
Apart from weapons, various household utensils also
occurred: an iron knife, a striking iron and flint. Two
graves of merchants had coins and weights for scales.
Tools were less common in female graves. They include iron shears, spindle whorls and needles in needle-cases. An item frequently occurring in Liv graves,
irrespective of gender and age, is a pottery vessel with
food. The grave goods are dated to the 12th13th century.
One male grave had an unusual set of grave goods:
three iron knives, as well as three iron staples arranged
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RDOLFS
BRZIS
AND ROBERTS
SPIRIS
in a compact group by the left knee. In addition, it has

been observed that in male graves such small objects
as a striking iron, flints, amber, a slate whetstone and
damaged bronze ornaments had been placed in purses.
The purses were closed by means of large beads of amber, bronze or pink slate.
Offerings of artefacts constitute a special category of
grave furnishing. Thus, grave 12, a 1213-year-old
boy, had at the foot of the grave a group of objects arranged in a compact pile: (Fig. 3.5.ai) two iron knives,
a fragmentary bronze cup, three scales weights, a silver coin, an iron padlock, an iron key, an iron chisel,
an iron fish-hook, two bronze belt buckles, bronze belt
fittings and a belt divider, a socket for an iron object,
three pieces of flint, an iron ring and several other fragmentary artefacts. Grave 38, a 1722-year-old youth,
presents a similar situation: placed in a purse at the
foot of the grave were two damaged bronze penannular brooches, one of them with rolled-back tubular terminals and a bow of T-shaped cross-section, the other
with a twisted bow, along with two pieces of flint and
two bronze spirals.
Found at the edge of the barrow ditch of a male grave
32, was an offering of womens jewellery, (Fig. 4)
consisting of two pairs of tortoise brooches and chainholders, one chain-divider, broken double-link bronze
chains, two hollow bronze armbands, six bronze spiral
finger-rings and one silver finger-ring. At the edge of
this same barrow, beneath three dolomite stones, only
two metres from the find of womens jewellery, another offering was discovered, consisting of 22 unworked
pieces of flint (the largest measuring 75 cm) and 24
pieces of amber.
Similar examples of the deposition of more or less
complete sets of womens jewellery are known from
Latgallian and Selonian sites, although here the artefacts had been placed directly in the graves. A total
of nine cases are known of womens jewellery placed
in male graves. The practice is generally explained in
terms of offerings and presents. In the view of Arnis
Radi, these may be graves of people from the top
stratum of society (Radi 1996, p.102).
288
It should be added that in the Liv area finds of womens

jewellery with male graves are extremely rare. The author is aware of only one similar case: in the cemetery
of Salaspils Laukskola, two tortoise brooches with an
iron chain of S-shaped links were found in the barrow
ditch associated with male graves nos. 558 and 559
(Zaria 2006, p.145). At the edge of another barrow,
an offering was found consisting of a finger-ring along
with tools that occur in female graves, namely an awl
and a billhook (Zaria 2006, p.24). Likewise, male
graves in some of the barrows of the Gauja Livs con-
Fig. 4. Offering of female ornaments found at the edge of

the barrow ditch of male grave 32 (photograph by Spirgis).
tained separate finds of tortoise brooches, chain-holder

or chain fragments (Tnisson 1974, p.120).
Offering pits
In the eastern part of the cemetery, between the graves
and the settlement, several steep-sided circular pits
were discovered (Fig. 1; Plate VI.3), between 0.8 and
1.0 m in diameter and up to 1.8 m deep. Some of the
pits had been filled with erratic stones of various sizes,
while one had a fill of dark earth from an occupation
layer, covered with dolomite blocks. Only some of the
pits contained separate artefacts: a glass bead, a bronze
ring, a bronze spiral ring, a fragmentary silver armband,
an iron spearhead, potsherds, etc. One of the pits was
rich in finds: a crushed pottery vessel, iron shears and
a decorated antler axe. These pits might have been excavated in order to provide more earth for the barrows,
after which they could have been used for ritual offerings. The largest concentration of ritual pits was found
in the north-eastern corner of the cemetery, where a
large number of such features were concentrated within an area of 300 m2 on a small rise. Here, 41 features
of different kinds were uncovered, for the most part
circular pits, measuring 12 m in diameter and 0.61.3
m in depth, not including the topsoil. Some of the pits
touched at the edges or else cut earlier filled-in pits.
Usually, one or more layers of brown earth were found
in the lower parts of the pits, covered with mixed lightcoloured sandy loam corresponding to the subsoil, and
with a dark cultural layer at the top.
Parallels for such ritual pits are known from the cult
site of Strazdes Baznckalns in the northern part of the
Kurzeme region, excavated by Eduards turms in 1937
(turms 1938). On this cult hill, 10 pits of this kind
were excavated, between 0.9 and 1.75 m deep. These
pits, funnel-shaped or trough-shaped, were filled with
charcoal-rich dark brown gravel. In the lower parts of
The horse sacrifice

At the base of one such pit at Ogresgala abas, measuring 1.7m in diameter and 1.6 m in depth, a horse
skeleton was discovered, covered by 0.60.5 m dolomite slabs (Plate VI.4). It had been placed compactly
into the circular pit, laid on the left side, with legs to
the south-west. The horse skeleton was preserved in its
entirety, except for the bones of the tail. The length of
the skeleton was 1.8 m, its height 1.4 m.
The horse grave was uncovered 1.5 m south-east of female grave 7, at the foot of a former barrow. The horses
head had been turned back to the north-west, facing the
female grave. Unfortunately, grave 7, at a depth of 0.60
m, was disturbed. Judging from the presence of iron
nails, the woman had been buried in a plank coffin.
The preserved grave goods in the disturbed part of the
grave include fragments of a double-link bronze chain,
a fragmentary iron knife, a fragment of a small bronze
armband, and pendants of amber and animal tooth.
Found in situ at the foot of the grave was a small pottery vessel with the top broken off. That the grave had
once been covered by a barrow is indicated by the presence of a semicircular ditch and stones belonging to a
circle. Including the ditch and stone circle, the barrow
would have measured 7 m in diameter. On the northwestern side, the circle stones adjoin the circle of the
barrow over grave 32.
The horse sacrifice unearthed in the 2007 excavation
at the abas cemetery is not the only example of ritual
sacrifice of animals. Thus, a dog skeleton was found
at the edge of grave 32, a male grave. Separate finds
of horse teeth have also been made in the cemetery.
Animal bones have also been found in the ditch fills of
some of the barrows. It should be added that in 1984
one half of a horse mandibula was discovered under
one of the stone settings (perhaps part of a barrow
stone circle).
T h e Va l k y r i e o f O g r e s g a l a a b a s
Particularly significant are the ritual offerings inside
the stone circle of the barrow of grave 11 (Fig. 2). The
symbolic grave 11 itself consisted of a nailed plank
coffin placed in a grave oriented to north-east. The arrangement of the artefacts in the coffin was as it nor-
Symbolic graves, or cenotaphs, are usually interpreted

as the symbolic graves of people who had died in foreign lands or had disappeared without trace. Evidently,
in this case a man could not be buried in the appropriate manner, and this was the reason for the complicated
grave ritual, involving the offering of animal parts and
sacrifice of a woman. It is accepted that the stone circle
of grave monuments symbolises the boundary between
the living world and the world beyond, so the woman
buried under the stone circle would have had the role
of an intermediary between this world and the world of
the dead. Thus, at this unusual funeral, where the body
of the deceased was absent, her task in the sacrificial
rite was to ensure that the soul of the dead man reached
the world beyond. The sacrificed, or self-sacrificed,
woman, as the guardian of the fallen hero, corresponds
to the functions of a valkyrie. The valkyries of Scandinavian mythology (literally, choosers of the dead)
accompanied the souls of warriors fallen in battle to
Valhalla, where they also appear as participants in the
feasting.
BALTICA 11
mally would have been for an inhumation: a pottery

vessel at the foot of the grave, two iron spears at the
head of the grave and in the middle an iron axe and
painted wooden fragments, which could be the remains
of a shield. Above this symbolic grave a barrow had
been thrown up, as indicated by the presence of a stone
circle, which had a diameter of up to 9.5 m. On the
south side of the circle between the stones, bones of
sheep or goat and cattle were found, and on the eastern
side half of a horses mandibula. On the north-eastern
side beneath the stones of the circle, the undisturbed
grave of a 4050 year old woman was discovered, oriented with the head to West-North-West. This grave
24, was the only completely unfurnished grave among
those excavated in 20072008 (Plate VI.2). Since the
symbolic male grave, the stone circle, the offerings of
animal parts and the female grave in the stone circle all
present the impression of being a synchronous complex, it is possible that the woman was sacrificed in the
course of a funeral ceremony.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
the pit cross-sections, several dark layers were visible:

in the view of E. turms, these could have come about
from repeated extinguishing of a fire. In the pits were
burnt bones of humans and various animals, including horses, as well as broken 11th14th century ornaments.
VI
H or s e a n d
E q u e s tria n
Equipment
O f f eri n g s
Interpretation of horse sacrifice

The excavation at Ogresgala abas has provided much
new and important evidence concerning Daugava Liv
grave practices during the Late Iron Age. The diversity
of the grave practices observed here is surprising, especially considering that only a fairly small peripheral
area of the cemetery has been excavated, with relatively late graves of the 12th13th century.
The evidence of animal sacrifice is an indication of
complicated rituals, and the horse sacrifice is an im-
289
The Ogresgala abas

RDOLFS
BRZIS
AND ROBERTS
SPIRIS
portant discovery. Graves of whole horses are very

rare in Latvia. Single horse graves have been found
at the cemeteries of Aizkraukles Lejasagari, Slpils
Lejasdopeles, Betei and Jersika. In addition, the archive of the National History Museum of Latvia contains information about a grave of a horse and rider at
the farmstead of Rites Dvui in the Aug zeme region.
These are generally examples of horses in rider graves,
located within the area populated by the Selonians or
at the border of the Selonian area, and the practice is
interpreted in the literature as reflecting the influence
of Lithuanian customs (nore 1987, p.78).
The find at Aizkraukles Lejasagari deserves special
mention: in this case, a whole horse skeleton was
found above a male grave 29, oriented EW, as is
characteristic of Latgallian graves, and with Latgallian
style bronze armbands with animal head terminals. By
the horses head was a bronze buckle (Urtns 1972,
p.28ff).
The general view expressed in the literature is that in
the Late Iron Age the area around Aizkraukle Hillfort
had a mixed Liv and Latgallian population (Zaria
1996, p.121), but there is also evidence of Selonian
presence here. It should be added that in the Late Iron
Age Latgallian and Selonian material culture was very
similar and is difficult to separate. The presence of Selonians on the right bank of the Daugava is documented
in the historical sources. Thus, the Chronicle of Henry
of Livonia tells that Latgallians lived together with
Selonians at Koknese (IH 1993, Chapter XI.9), while
the Rhymed Chronicle states that the Selonians were
the neighbours of the Livs, with the Latgallians living
beyond the Selonians (AH 1998, Lines 143, 144, 341
and 342). Evidence that Selonians were living on the
right bank of the Daugava comes from the archaeological finds at the cemeteries of Aizelki, Aizkraukles
Lejasbitni, Olikalns, Lokstene and Paviu Radzes
(Mugurvis 1977, p.105). Apart from this, certain features of the graves at Aizkraukles Lejasagari, namely
the finds of hollow armbands with broadened, hollow
terminals and a plait design, and the frequent occurrence of awls and billhooks with female graves, as well
as the presence of certain forms of neck-rings and other
ornaments, show a similarity with the material from the
barrows at Slpils Lejasdopeles (Vilcne 2006, pp.127
and 133), which suggests that Selonians were also living at this location on the right bank of the Daugava.
This means that the possibility cannot be excluded that
the grave of a horseman here is a Selonian grave.
Horse graves occur widely in Western and Central Europe, and appear sporadically from the Danube right
up to Scandinavia. In the Baltic Sea region in the Late
Iron Age they are widespread in the area of present-day
290
Lithuania, from where they then spread to Selonia up to

the right bank of the Daugava. However, horse sacrifices and horse graves are also known among the FinnoUgric peoples. Thus, for example, at the cemetery of
Bezvodninskij in the Western Volga area in Mordovia,
dated to the sixtheighth century AD, a Volga FinnoUgrian grave site, six complete horse graves have been
discovered and 15 graves of horse body parts (Krasnov
1980, p.33). The legends of the Finno-Ugric Muromians also tell of the sacrifice of horses in memory of
deceased relatives (Krasnov 1980, p.34).
In contrast to all previously discovered horse graves,
the find from Ogresgala abas is distinguished by
the good preservation of the horse skeleton, its placement in a circular sacrificial pit, the covering of dolomite slabs and its location at the foot of the barrow of
a female grave. An undisturbed horse grave was also
discovered in the course of excavation by Radi and
Zemtis in the cemetery adjacent to Daugmale Hillfort
in 1987 (Fig. 5). It was situated about 5 m from the
nearest graves, in a rounded pit filled with charcoalrich earth, 1.75 in diameter. The original depth of grave
cannot be determined, since in this part of the cemetery the topsoil had been removed in the course of
land improvement work, as a result of which, at the
time of excavation, the horse skeleton extended only
0.25 m into the subsoil. The skeleton was oriented N-S,
and the bones were fragile. The horse had been laid on
its left side, the neck extended upwards and the head
turned back, while the legs were bent and tucked under
the stomach (Radi, Zemtis 1987, p.17).
The horse grave was devoid of grave furniture, and in
the absence of any precedent, the excavators regarded
it as chronologically recent, on account of which it has
not previously been mentioned in the archaeological
literature. However, its location, in a cemetery among
human graves, and the similar placement in a round pit
indicates a strong parallel between the horse graves at
Daugmale and at the cemetery of Ogresgala abas.
It should also be mentioned that offerings of horse
body parts are quite common in Liv cemeteries. Thus,
grave 17 in a barrow at Turaidas Ptei in the Gauja
Basin, a male inhumation with a fragmentary iron
sword and iron coffin nails, had a horse scapula (Tnisson 1974, p.76). A horse tooth has been found in
a ritual pit in the Vendic cemetery of Csis Railway
Station (Spiris 2004, p.37). A horse mandibula came
to light 50 cm from the northern end of Grave 133 at
Doles Raui (nore 1973, p.10). At Doles Vampeniei
I, part of a horses spine was recovered from a pit 1 m
in diameter and 15 cm in depth, at the foot of a double
grave (graves 161 and 162) of a boy and an adult female (nore 1972, p.10). Another horse bone was also
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 5. The horse sacrifice from cemetery of Daugmale hillfort.
found, possibly also in a pit, which measured 1 m in

diameter and 0.8 m in depth, located 0.5 m from Grave
5, the grave of a child; a horse tooth was found in another similar pit ( nore 1966, 5); another ritual pit contained a whole horse skull ( nore 1996, p.127). A single
horse tooth, suspended from a chain ornament attached
to tortoise brooches, was recovered from Grave 24 at
Salaspils Vjstri (Zaria 1987, p.27).
At Salaspils Laukskola fragments of horse body parts
have been found in or near eight graves. Thus, Grave
186, a male grave, had fragments of a horse skeleton
and dog teeth in the surface layer. Fragmentary lower
leg bones of horse were found by male cremation grave
392, and a mandibula was recovered from a fire pit
measuring 0.50.5 m in area and 0.2 m in depth, lying
0.6 m south-east of male cremation grave 437. A horse
VI
skull fragment and some pieces of plaster were found a
the southern end of a pit measuring 13 m with a depth
of 0.3 m, 1 m south-west of the disturbed inhumation
563, possibly a female grave. A horse mandibula was
found 1 m north of inhumation No. 222, the grave of a
girl, and another in a fire pit measuring 1.32 m with
a depth of 0.2 m, located 1 m south-east of inhumation
227, the grave of a boy. Horse teeth have been found
together with a bronze belt fitting in a fire pit measuring 22 m with a depth of 0.4 m, the nearest grave being 230, the inhumation grave of a girl aged 89, 6 m
further north-east. A burnt horse tooth was discovered
by the right elbow of inhumation grave 519, the grave
of a boy (Zaria 2006, pp. 66, 78, 74, 76, 114, 122, 139
and 146).
H or s e a n d
E q u e s tria n
Equipment
O f f eri n g s
291
The Ogresgala abas

RDOLFS
BRZIS
AND ROBERTS
SPIRIS
Fig. 6. Liv pendants showing horse images, and pendants of the Kama and Ladoga Finno-Ugrians showing a woman riding
a snake. 1 three-dimensional horse pendant from cemetery of Salaspils Laukskola, grave 570; 2 bronze rider figure from
cemetery of Salaspils Laukskola, grave 480; 3 flat bronze horse pendant from the cemetery of Salaspils Laukskola, grave
480; 4 knife sheath holder from the cemetery of Ikiles Tni; 5 comb-shaped pendant from cemetery by crossing in
Lielvrde; 6 pendant woman riding a snake from the district Glazovskii in Russia; 7 pendant woman riding a snake
from the district Glazovskii in Russia; 8 pendant woman riding a snake from Dondy-Kar in Russia (after Golubeva 1979,
tab. 16.1,2,4).
As mentioned above, there are also several finds of

horse teeth and mandibula fragments from the cemetery of Ogresgala abas. Thus, horse mandibula fragments were found in the stone circle and packing of
grave 11, and possibly in the remaining section of the
stone circle associated with grave 1. Six horse teeth
have been recovered from the barrow ditch of graves
4/5, one in the ditch associated with grave 32, two in
a barrow ditch with stone circle that extended beyond
the excavated area and two more in a stone packing
that had possibly been created at the western margin
of the barrow of graves 13/17. About 150 more horse
teeth have been found in various pits or in the mixed
earth under the topsoil very near to the eastern limit of
the cemetery.
In the Lower Daugava area, we have a parallel for the
large number of horse tooth finds from cemetery of
Ogresgala abas at the Bronze Age barrow cemetery
of Salaspils Reznas. Here, back in 1936, when barrow
1 and three quarters of barrow 2 was excavated, horse
teeth were found in 128 locations, for the most part
outside of the graves, and horse manibulae were also
recovered ( turms 1936, p.82). It has been suggested on
the basis of these finds that the barrow cemeteries also
served as shrines (Moora 1952, p.50).
292
As is known, a variety of horse pendants (Fig. 6.1-5)

were very widespread in the Late Iron Age the material
culture of the Finno-Ugric peoples, including the Livs.

A connection between the horse cult and the woman in
Finno-Ugric mythology is very clearly illustrated by
one perhaps less well known pendant type, occurring at
9th11th century sites of the Kama and Ladoga FinnoUgrians. These are known as woman riding a snake
pendants (Fig. 6.6-8). The snake in this depiction can
be identified with an evil chthonic deity, fought by a
woman on a winged sun horse. A total of 28 such pendants are known, most of them found in female graves,
having served as protective amulets (Golubeva 1979,
p.41ff).
It seems that both the possible female sacrifice and
the horse sacrifice at Ogresgala abas reflect the Liv
beliefs relating to the journey of the soul after death
from this world to the world beyond. This is well illustrated by the tradition commonly practiced by the
Livs of placing a pottery vessel in the grave (Zemtis
2004, p.117). Evidently, in particular cases a special
companion was required on this journey. The finds of
horse body parts and the offerings of female ornaments
symbolically represented a whole horse or woman.
In ancient belief, the horse was credited with fertilityenhancing power, as well as being a solar symbol and
a chthonic means of transport for the soul to the world
beyond. The discovery in 2007 of a horse sacrifice at
the foot of the barrow of a female grave at Ogresgala
Abbreviations
AE Arheoloija un etnogrfija, Rga
APL Arheologu ptjumi Latvij, Rga: Latvijas vstures
institta apgds.
LNVM Latvian National Museum of History
LVI Institute of Latvian History
References
Manuscripts
RADI, A., ZEMTIS, G., 1987. Prskats par arheoloiskajiem izrakumiem Daugmales senvietu kompleks 1987.
gad Rgas rajona Daugmales ciem. LNVM AA 585.
nore, E., 1966. Vampeniei I. Tumu zemes plankumu
protokoli. LVI AA Pd: 124-8
nore, E., 1972. Prskats par arheoloiskiem izrakumiem
Doles Vampenieu I kapulauk 1972. gad. LVI AA 858.
nore, E., 1973. Prskats par arheoloiskiem izrakumiem
Doles Rauu kapulauk 1973. gad. LVI AA 861.
URTNS, V., 1972. Prskats par arheoloiskajiem izrakumiem Lejasagaru kapulauk 1973. gad. LVI AA 269.
Published sources
AH 1998. Livlndiche Reimchronik. Atskau hronika. Rga:
Zintne.
IH 1993. Heinrici chronicon. Indria hronika. Rga:
Zintne.
Literature
Bhr, J.K., 1850. Die Grben der Liven. Ein Beitrag zur
nordischen Alterthumskunde und Geschichte. Dresden:
Rudolf Kuntze.
Golubeva, L.A., 1979. Zoomorfnye ukrasheniia finnougrov. In: B.A. RYBAKOV, ed. Arheologiia SSSR. Svod
Arheologichskikh istochnikov, E1-59. Moskva.
Graudonis, J., 1987. Ikiles Rumuu kapulauks.
Arheoloija un etnogrfija, 15, 82-93.
inters, V., 1938. Rituelle Steinkreise auf livischen
Grberfelder der jngeren Eisenzeit. Sitzungsberichte der
gelehrten estnischen Gesellschaft 1938. petatud Eesti
Seltsi Aastaraamat 1938, 30 (1), 118-125.
Krasnov, Iu.A., 1980. BezvodinskiI mogilnik. Moskva:
Nauka.
Kruse, F., 1842. Necrolivonica oder Alterthmer Liv-,
Esth- und Curlands bis zur Einfhrung der Christlichen
Religion in den Kaiserlich Russischen Ostsee-Gouvernements. Dorpat Leipzig: Leopold Voss.
Latvijas, 1974. Latvijas PSR arheoloija. Rga: Zintne.
Mugurvis, ., 1977. Olikalna un Lokstenes pilsnovadi. 3.15. gs. arheoloiskie piemineki. Rga: Zintne.
Received: 28 January 2009; Revised: 22 February;

Accepted: 12 June 2009.
Rdolfs Brzis
Latvijas vstures institts
Akadmijas laukums 1
Rga; LV-1050
Latvia
E-mail: semigall@hotmail.com
BALTICA 11
Translated by Valdis Brzi
MOORA, H., 1952. Pirmatnj kopienas iekrta un agr

feodl sabiedrba Latvijas PSR teritorij. Rga: Latvijas
valsts izdevniecba.
Radi, A., 1996. Apbedjumi ar sievietes rotu kompleksa
ziedojumiem latgau apdzvotaj teritorij 11.13. gs.
AE, 18, 98-103.
Spiris, R., 2002a. Ptjumi Ikiles Kbeu kapulauk un
Ogres Sermuu kapulauka atklana. In: APL 2000/2001,
131-142.
Spiris, R., 2002b. Jaunas atzias par uzkalniiem
ar akmens rii Daugavas lbieu kapulaukos. In: .
MUGURVIS, I. OSE, eds. Civitas et castrum ad Mare
Balticum. Rga: Latvijas vstures institta apgds, 567577.
Spiris, R., 2004. Prbaudes izrakumi Csu dzelzcea stacijas senkapos. In: I. OSE, ed. APL 2002/2003, 36-37.
nore, E., 1987. Beteu kapulauks Augzem. AE, 15, 6881.
nore, E., 1996. Daugavas lbiei Doles sal. AE, 18, 111130.
turms, E., 1936. Pirms bronzas laikmeta kapenes
Latvij. Senatne un mksla, 1, 70-84.
turms, E., 1938. Baltische Alkhgel. In: Conventus
primus historicorum Balticorum Rigae, 16.-20. VIII 1937.
Acta et relata. Riga: Latvijas Vstures institts, 116-132.
Tnisson, E., 1974. Die Gauja-Liven und ihre materielle
Kultur (11. Jh.Anfang 13. Jhs). Ein Beitrag zur der ostbaltischen Frhgeschichte. Tallinn: Eesti Ramat.
Vilcne, A., 2006. Latgau un su kultru mijiedarbba
vlaj dzelzs laikmet (9.-12. gs.). Ptjumi su senatn.
Latvijas Vstures muzeja raksti, 11, 121.-138.
Zaria, A., 1986. Aizsardzbas izrakumi pie Ciemupes.
In: . MUGURVIS, ed. Zintnisks atskaites sesijas
materili par arheologu, antropologu un etnogrfu 1984.
un 1985. gada ptjumu rezulttiem. Rga: Zintne, 148150.
Zaria, A., 1987. Salaspils Vjstru kapulauki. AE, 15,
19-44.
Zaria, A., 1996. Lbiei Daugavas lejtec. Ieskats
arheoloiskaj materil. Latvijas Zintu Akadmijas
Vstis, 4/5, 121-128.
Zaria, A., 2006. Salaspils Laukskolas kapulauks. 10.-13.
gadsimts. Rga: Latvijas vstures institta apgds.
Zemtis, G., 2004. Ornaments un simbols Latvijas
ARCHAEOLOGIA
abas suggests that the horse played a considerably

more important role in Liv mythological belief and
ritual than has hitherto been assumed.
VI
H or s e a n d
E q u e s tria n
Equipment
O f f eri n g s
Roberts Spiris
Latvijas vstures institts
Akadmijas laukums 1
Rga; LV-1050
Latvia
E-mail: spirgis@inbox.lv
293
The Ogresgala abas

RDOLFS
BRZIS
AND ROBERTS
SPIRIS
OGRESGALA ABAS
KAPINYNAS
IR IRG AUKOJIMAS
Rdolfs Brzis, Roberts Spiris
Santrauka
Ogresgala abas archeologinis kompleksas yra
37,5 km nuo Rygos, Dauguvos kairiajame krante,
alia abas sodybos. Kompleks sudaro gyvenviet
ir du kapinynai (VI: 1 iliustr.). Pirmuosius kasinjimus jame 1984m. vykd Ana Zarinia (Anna Zaria).
2007 ir 2008 m. Latvijos istorijos institutas ia vykd
didels apimties kasinjimus, kuri metu buvo itirtas
7000 m2 plotas.
Kasinjim metu paaikjo, kad gyvenviets kultrinis
sluoksnis iliko tik dubose ir kitose gilesnse vietose.
Ankstyviausi radiniai titnago nuoskalos ir gremtukai, datuojami finaliniu paleolitu ankstyvuoju mezolitu. Yra duomen, rodani gyvenviets egzistavim
neolito ir ankstyvuoju metal laikotarpiu. Didioji
dauguma radini siejami su lyvi kultra ir datuojami
XXIV amiais.
Gausiai archeologins mediagos aptikta pilkapyne,
kuriame kartu su A. Zarinios tyrinjimais atidengti
38 kapai. Pilkapiai buvo nuarti sulyginti su ems
paviriumi, taiau identifikuoti pagal kap pasiskirstym ir pilkapius juosusius griovius bei akmen konstrukcijas (1; 3 pav.). Pilkapiai buvo 59 m skersmens.
Tyrinto ploto iauriniame pakratyje ir tarpuose tarp
pilkapi aptikta ploktini kap.
Ypatingo dmesio nusipelno aptiktos keturios gerai
ilikusios pilkapius juosusios akmen konstrukcijos.
Joms daugiausia naudoti viess, beveik balti dolomito
luitai. Panaios konstrukcijos ufiksuotos Aizkraukle ir
Salaspils Laukskola ploktiniuose lyvi kapinynuose
bei Ikiles Kbeles pilkapyne.
Mirusieji buvo palaidoti puoniais drabuiais, su ginklais ir vairiais rankiais. Ypating grup sudaro kaps-aukos. Vieno i pilkapi griovio pakratyje aptikta
auka moterik papuoal rinkinys (3; 4; 6 pav.).
294
Rytinje pilkapyno dalyje, tarp kap ir gyvenviets,

rasta keletas apskrit apeigini duobi. Didiausia j
koncentracija (41) ufiksuota iaurrytiniame kampe,
neauktoje 300 m2 pakilumoje. Panai duobi aptikta Strazdes Baznckalns apeiginje vietoje, tyrintoje
1937 m. E. turmo (E. turms) (iaurin Kurem).
Ogresgala abas kapinyne tokios duobs dugne rastas
irgo skeletas (VI: 3; 4 iliustr.). irg kap Latvijoje
aptikta labai nedaug sistemingai vykdyt kasinjim

Aizkraukles Lejasagari, Slpils Lejasdopeles ir Betei
bei Jersika vietovse metu. Dauguma i irg palaidota raiteli kapuose ir sietina su sli apgyvendinta
teritorija bei su ja besiribojaniais regionais. Toks reikinys aikinamas Lietuvoje paplitusi paproi taka.
Ogresgala abas atvejis iskirtinis: gerai iliks irgo
skeletas aptiktas apeiginje duobje, udengtas dolomito luitais, duob ikasta alia pilkapio, kuriame palaidota moteris. Lyvi apgyvendintoje teritorijoje dar
vienas nesuardytas irgo kapas aptiktas 1987 m. kapinyne greta Daugmale piliakalnio, kur taip pat buvo
rasta paaukot irgo kno dali (5 pav.).
Ogresgala abas kapinyne irgo auka nra vienintelis apeiginio aukojimo pavyzdys. Pilkapio-kenotafo
akmenins konstrukcijos iaurs rytinje dalyje po
akmenimis aptiktas 4050 m. amiaus moters kapas
be kapi (VI: 2 iliustr.). Tiktina, kad is kapas liudija moters paaukojim ir, kaip ir anksiau minta irgo
auka, atspindi lyvi tikjim vli kelione pomirtin
pasaul. Greiiausiai tokiai kelionei buvo btinas ypatingas palydovas. Ogresgala abas irgo auka rodo,
kad irgas lyvi mitologijoje vaidino kur kas svarbesn
vaidmen, nei buvo manoma iki iol.
Abstract
Authors present problems connected with horse sacrifices in Early Middle Ages in Prussia. Discoveries nearby Poganowo site
IV hill-fort, create new possibilities to discuss about Prussian religion in Early Middle Ages. Stone statue, cairns, hearths and
remains of sacrificed horses have similarities to numerous cult places in Europe and in Asia.
BALTICA 11
MARIUSZ WYCZKOWSKI AND DANIEL MAKOWIECKI
ARCHAEOLOGIA
H O R S E S A C R I F I C E S I N P R USS I A I N T H E E A R LY
M I DD L E A G E S . R I T U A L A R E A I N P O G A N O W O
S I T E I V, O L S Z T Y N P R O V I N C E ( P O L A N D )
Key words: horse sacrifice, sacrificial place, Prussia, archaeozoology.
Introduction
Cultural situation on terrain inhabited by Prussians in
Early Middle Ages was investigated for a long time.
In previous research on Prussian history, the questions
about Prussian religion in period before the Teutonic
Order conquest, were dedicated little place. In comparison to Slavs, the our vision of Prussian religion in
Early Middle Ages looks poorly. Despite the fact, that
the first written source of information comes from the
ninth century, our knowledge about the system of beliefs, and the religious practice of early-medieval Prussians remains fragmentary.
In numerous publications, authors using written sources, tried to reconstruct Prussian system of mythology,
beliefs and to identify the cult places (e.g. Bertuleit
1924; Biauski 1993; 2004, pp.9-10 and 15; Suchocki
1991; Vaitkeviius 2003; 2004). The problem of identification of material relics connected with beliefs and
cult looks worse. In studies, summing up the status of
archaeological research, it is difficult to find any references to beliefs and cult (Pawowski 1992; Iwanowska 1991; Wrblewski 2006). This results primarily
from the condition of archaeological investigations.
Typically, with system of beliefs were connected the
burial objects. Those are burials with traces of cult
practice, as well as the ritual objects, discovered within the burial-grounds (Gronau 1938; Kulakov 1980;
Smirnova 2006). Many authors wrote about primitive stone statues called Baba, and about stones to
which cult functions were attributed (e.g. La Baume
1927; Baejewska 2007; Gaerte 1926; Gronau 1938;
Hoffmann 2000; 2007; apo 2007). Unfortunately, no
cult stone, or stone structure interpreted as a cult
place, have not been archaeological investigated in
Prussia. Until 2007 none of the well-known stone statues was not found in situ. Only statue found in 2007
in sacrificial site in Poganowo confirmed dating this

type of monuments for Early Medieval Period (Fig. 1).
Remains of sacred animals, mostly of horses, found
nearby statue, confirmed a connection between Prussian anthropomorphic statues and cult practices with
animal sacrifices.
Many authors writing about the great importance of
horses in Prussian funeral ceremonies (e.g. Grzak
2007; Hoffmann 2006; Jaskanis 1966; PitkowskaMaecka 1999; Toporov 1990; Vaitkunskien 1990).
The two oldest horse graves in Masuria, in terrain in
Early Middle Ages occupied by the Prussians, are dated to the Later Pre-Roman-Early Roman Period (Phase
A3-B1, Wyszembork, site II, grave 120; Muntowo,
grave 45) (Szymaski 2005, p.126; Grzak 2007,
p.359). However, most of the graves with burials of
horses from Masuria, comes from the Late Roman and
Migration Periods, and assumed to be connected with
the influences from the north, from the Samland Peninsula (Jaskanis 1974, p.197ff; Szymaski 2005, p.96ff).
House deposits with horse skulls, discovered in pit 27
in Osinki and in goldsmiths workshop (pit 3/1973) in
Tumiany (Baranowski et al. 1973, p.213 fig. 2; Okulicz 1963, p.199 fig.27) are estimated to come from late
Roman Period and the Migration Period.
End of the ninth century, Wulfstan, a traveller and trader, wrote about the importance of horses in the Viking
Age Prussian funeral (Wulfstan, p.734). It was reiterated in the first half of the 14th century, by Petrus de
Dusburg (Dusburg, III, cap. 5, p.54). Horse inhumation
during funeral ceremonies, was described in 1249 in
the text of peace treaty from Dzierzgo (Christburg)
(Urkundenbuch, no. 218, p.161). These information
was confirmed by cremation burials with fragments of
burned horse bones, dated to the tenth-eleventh century, discovered in Cerkiewnik (Ziemliska-Odoj 1992,
pp.131, 136 and 138).
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Horse Sacrifices in Prussia in

the Early Middle Ages. Ritual
A r e a i n P o g a n o w o S i t e I v,
Olsztyn Province (Poland)
MARIUSZ WYCZKOWSKI
AND DANIEL
MAKOWIECKI
Fig. 1. Poganowo IV, hill-fort (on hill in south part of map), and sacrificial place (north) with excavated area. Excavation
area no. IX with bank 19 place of finding stone statue (compiled by Wyczkowski).
The results of archaeological research

in Poganowo site IV
New discussion, about horse sacrifice in the Prussian
religion in the early Middle Ages, allowed the investigations conducted in settlement complex Poganowo
IV, in north border of Mrgowo Lakeland, in northeastern Poland.
Settlement complex Poganowo IV was discovered 2004
accidentally by ornithologists. It is situated on terrain
of forest well-known from Teutonic Order documents,
from the beginning of the fourteenth century. In 1326
it was a border forest between tribal territories Bartia
(Barten) and Galindia (Weber 1876, p.225).
296
Settlement complex consists of a hill-fort and open settlement. It is situated entirely in the forest and occupies
the surface of over 5 hectares. It was founded with use
of natural environment conditions the bend of stream,

flood waters, swamp (Fig. 1). Several hundreds of meters to the north and south of central hill-fort there are
two little hill-forts, Poganowo V and Wlka IX. Remains, discovered during archaeological excavations
in northern part of complex Poganowo IV, were identified as a sacrificial place. This is the first well-known
and archaeologically discovered settlement complex,
with a cult place in Prussian land.
The parts of the monuments are destroyed by wild
boars every year. In the moment of the discovery, we
found numerous animal bones and fragments of early-mediaeval pottery lying on the surface. In the first
season, during rescue excavation, was discovered a pit
hearth (No. 1). In the layer over the hearth, with a lot
of charcoal, in 3 square meter, we found over 300 fragments of animal bones, and fragments early-medieval
pottery from tenth - eleventh century.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 2. Poganowo IV, excavation area no. X with concentrations of animal bones (drawing by Wyczkowski).
Then and in the next two seasons we explored over

180 square meters. Near hearth 1, we discovered the
heap of stones, like a cairn (No. 7), and next two small
hearths (No. 14 and 15). Besides, we found fragments
from two dishes, digging into subsoil under the hearth
14, and line of the 3 post holes, diameter circa 20 cm
(No. 16, 17, and 18). Near pile of stones 7, we found
the whetstone and fragments of the iron hoops from
the little stave bucket, 5 spindle whorl and one glass
bead. Several meters to the south, we found numerous stones. In humus layer and directly under it, depth
2030 cm, we found a large quantity of animal bones.
They formed visible concentrations (Figs. 2, 3; Plate
VII.2).
In the excavations area in south part of cult place, were
discovered next similar concentrations of stones and
bones. In excavation area IX, we found a rectangular
stone hearth lined with clay (no. 20). Near the hearth,
there was a small oval earthen bank with stone layer,
dimensions circa 1.5 x 2.0 m, surrounded by the shallow groove with stone filling (no. 19 and 19a). Nearby,
we found the remains of two next oval ditches, probably smaller diameter (no. 22 and 25).
By the ditch in the south side of the bank 19, we discovered a longitudinal stone. This was the first stone
statue discovered during archaeological excavations.
The sculpture lays on its facial part so, we walked
upon it almost four weeks of investigations (Plate
VII.1; also see: iliustration for chapter VI). The figure
was executed in a more primitive way, than those well-
known until then (Plate VII.1). During the conservation of the sculpture we did not find any remains of
organic or mineral substances on its surface. On the
surface of the monument there are several large stones.
Especially interesting is the partly worked stone with
two hollows lying in northern part of the cult place.
Technological and morphological characteristics of the
pottery from the cult place in Poganowo, are very similar to the characteristics of pottery from other earlymedieval sites in Prussia. Important is the observation,
related to the presence of pottery with technological
characteristics similar to the pottery from the Migration Period. It confirms previous hypotheses about a
long continuation of an older ceramics tradition, and
coexistence of two different trends in the early-medieval Prussian pottery (Antoniewicz, Okulicz 1958, p.61;
Wrblewski, Nowakiewicz 2003, p.168ff and p.174;
Nowakiewicz 2006, p.165).
In the excavations area we observed undisturbed stratigraphical sequences, we found only one phase of use of
the complex in Early Middle Ages. We should assume,
that the majority of the parts of the complex came into
being simultaneously. On the basis of discovered fragments of pottery, the usage of the cult place can be dated from tentheleventh century to the beginning of the
twelfth century. In this context, unusually important
seems the solution of connections between researched
complex Poganowo IV and functioning nearby (about
56 km), in the same period, micro-region round Salt
Lake (Nowakiewicz 2006, p.163ff).
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MARIUSZ WYCZKOWSKI
AND DANIEL
MAKOWIECKI
Fig. 3. Poganowo IV, excavation area X, animal bones (photograph by Wyczkowski).
Horse sacrifices archaeozoological

research
During investigations of the cult place, we found over
4,500 fragments of bones. Archaeozoological analysis was carried out by Prof. Daniel Makowiecki from
Toru University. In places not worn out by forest animals, bones found by excavations formed visible concentrations (Figs. 24; Plate VII.2). Most often, a part
of such concentrations are skulls (maxilla and mandible with teeth) and the fragments of long bones of
legs. Investigated bones and teeth, characterized with
differential status of preservation. The short bones (the
phalanx, tarsal and carpal bones) are most often kept
as whole, but only few long bones were found whole.
Morphological details of numerous long bones were
damaged, as a result of weathering and the post-deposit
processes. Besides one example (sic!), on bones were
not observed the effects of the mans activity: traces of
slaughter of animals, the partition of carcass and the
meat processing.
298
During laboratory investigation, were used methods

recommended by archeozoological analysis (LasotaMoskalewska 1997; Makowiecki 2001; Reitz, Wing
1999). There was established the list of zoological
taxa and anatomical composition of bones. Affinity to
topographical groups of skeleton compared by recommendation of Makowiecki (1998). Belongings to zoological and anatomical taxa was proved for over half of
pieces. In relation to number of recognised anatomical
elements, deciding predominate horse bones, almost
90%, about 10% was cattle remnants.
In the case horses, bones come from all elements of
model skeleton, however their participation is differential. The similar anatomical schedule was got for bones
of cattle, he differs only in the value of percentages of
separate anatomical individuals. It was established for
both species, that the most of discovered bones, come
from the parts of head and front and hind legs (bones
of hand, foot as well as shoulder, forearm and pelvis,
thigh with gaskin) (Figs. 2, 3; Plate VII.2).
In case of bones of horses, was estimated the minimal
number of individuals, with designate side of bones, in
case of even elements, and counting odd bones (first
cervical vertebra atlas). We chose elements represented in great number. In the analysis we took into
account the status of bones preservation, to limit possibility of multiple calculation pieces from the same
individual. The analysis of the smallest number individuals, depending on the individual elements of skeleton, permitted on obtaining of differential estimates.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 4. Poganowo IV, concentration of horse bones in pit no. 9 (photograph by Wyczkowski).
From axial skeleton bones, most numerous individuals was showed by humerus, the smallest number by
calcaneus and tarsus. In the area excavated within the
sacrificial place Poganowo IV, we found the remnants
of at least 3040 individuals. We suppose, that the
bones we found, come from about 60 horses.
The age of death was established on basis of dentition.
In case of horses, based on criteria characterised teeth
development: eruption of deciduous teeth, pushing out
later by the permanent teeth, and wearing down of incisors (Lutnicki 1972; Habermehl 1975; Levine 1982).
In connection with a large number of cheek teeth, in order to established horses age of death, were measured
crown heights of teeth (Levine 1982; Matsui 2007).
Analysis of development of horses dentition from
Poganowo, permitted to obtain detailed data, on the basis of which, were distinguished age classes and were
subordinated to them, individual indication of age. It
allowed to establish an unimodal distribution of population. The most numerous group included individuals in age of about 1014 years. Youngest individuals
(foals) were the least represented. The oldest individuals had 20 years and more (Fig. 5).
Participation of the horses individuals in the view of
their sex, was estimated on the basis of presence or lack
of canines, as well as on basis of ischium morphology.
Sexual dimorphism can observed only in case of 22
fragments (each probably comes from a different individual). Researched bones belonged both to stallions,
as and mares in equal proportions, because the same
number of bones was subordinated to every of sex.
Dimensions of bones were researched according to
Drieschs (1976) recommendations. In case of long
bones, they were the basis to calculation of height of
cattle and horses, with use of Calkins (1960) and Vitts
(1952) coefficients. The horses from Poganowo were
VI
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299

seous elements from several individuals (sometimes

both horses and cattle) in one concentration.
MARIUSZ WYCZKOWSKI
AND DANIEL
MAKOWIECKI
Discussion
Fig. 5. Poganowo IV, sacrificial place: age of death horses

established on basis of dentition (n=359).
Fig. 6. Poganowo IV, sacrificial place: height of horses.
characterised by differential height, from about 121 cm

to 150 cm, with average height about 132 cm (Fig. 6).
Distance among indicated extreme values amounts to
almost 30 cm, but standard deviation is small 5.83.
This second parameter, and graphic schedule of the
horses height classes, permit to advance thesis, about
their morphological homogeneousness.
Except horses, height was estimated for cattle. The
smallest individuals did not exceed 100 cm, and the
highest achieved about 117 cm, and even 125 cm. On
the basis of archaeozoological analysis, we suppose,
that the age and the height of animals, were not the
criteria for selection of sacrificed horses.
300
In the present stage of investigations we can affirm,

that the archeozoological analyses can confirm cult
(ritual) character of the monument. This hypothesis is
confirmed by: exceptionally high (in scale of Poland)
proportion of horse bones (90%); very low part of the
cattle remains; the similar character of collections for
both species; the lack of visible signs, showed a postconsumer character of horses and cattle bones, also the
lack of data to indication larger parties of skeletons as
singular individuals; occurrence at most several os-
Previous investigations permitted to find numerous

parallels to bones of sacrificed horses found in Poganowo. Bones found in pits 9 (Fig. 2) and 10, and few
concentrations of bones, which have been largely preserved, could be interpreted as remains of sacrificed,
and then skinned horses. Hide with head and legs in
a single piece, was placed on a pole, or tree, and later
buried into the ground. This ritual was discovered on
sacrificial places in whole Eurasia. Matthus Prtorius,
end of seventeenth century, wrote about open air sacrificial place in Samogitia, with big stone and hanging
on high pole hide of sacrificed animal, in that case of
a goat (Bertuleit 1924, p.27). Skulls with legs of sacrificed animals were found in Poland in Bronze Age
dated settlement in Inowrocaw, and in a Roman Period
cult place in Otalka (Makiewicz 1993, pp.70, 73 and
75). This practice was observed in La Tne and Roman
Period cult place in Oberdorla (Behm-Blancke 1971,
p.946). Similar bones deposits, dated from Roman Iron
Age and Migration Period, were discovered on Jutland
Peninsula and on sites in south Scandinavia (MllerWille 1971, pp.132, 182 and 184 with figs. 44 and 45),
as well as on, dated to eighth century ritual place in
Vozniesenka (present Zaporozhe in Ukraina) (Ambroz
1982, p.209), and in a cult place nearby fort Eketorp
(land), dating to tenth-eleventh century (Backe et al.
1993). Parallel rituals were practised in Roman and
Migration Periods, on cemeteries in Sambian Peninsula (Kulakov 1990, p.186), as well as later in Lithuania (Vaitkunskien 1990, p.202 with fig.9.3.), and by
steppe nomads, Avars and Magyars (Steuer 2003, pp.
61, 62, 64 and 66). Half tenth century, Ahmed ibn
Fadlan, Arab writer and member of an embassy of the
Caliph of Baghdad to the king of the Volga Bulgars, described similar ritual, practised during Turkish Oghuz
funeral (Mller-Wille 1970-1971, p.182).
Similar autumn sacrifice, called keremet by the FinnoUgric Udmurts, was described end eighteenth century
(Minniakhmetova 2001, p.112ff). Late nineteenth and
early twentieth century travellers and political exiles,
as well as ethnographers and anthropologists recently
working in South Siberia and Central Asia, recorded
parallel Turkish people cult practices, called in Altai
tailga, and in Siberia krch (Curtin 1909, p.44ff;
abcka-Koecherowa 1998, pp.124 and 126; Sieroszewski 1961, vol.2, p.332ff).
The lack of visible signs, which are typical for postconsumer character of bones, is indeed striking. Parallel
Conclusions
All these parallels, create good basis for comparative
studies in zoological, historical and cultural (symbolic
culture) aspects. Unusually interesting are the similarities to Turkish nomads cult ceremonies connected with
horse sacrifices, particularly in the context of occurrence in both cultural groups stone statues, and in context of information, about widespread among Prussian
noblemen custom of drinking kumis, characteristic
for nomads (Wulfstan, p.733). It open up new interpretative possibilities in research of ancient Prussians
religion, as well as investigations of possible cultural
influences on Baltic terrains, in Early Middle Ages.
Translated by M.Wyczkowski
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Preussisches Urkundenbuch. Politische Abteilung, vol. 1, R.
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11. PoznaWrocaw; Warszawa: Volumen, 55-69.

Daniel Makowiecki
Laboratory for Natural Environment Reconstruction,
Institute of Archaeology, Nicolaus Copernicus University
in Torun, Szosa Bydgoska 44/48, PL 87-100 Torun
E-mail: makdan@umk.pl
ARKLI AUKOS PRSIJOJE

A N K S T Y VA I S I A I S
VIDURAMIAIS. RITUALIN
V I E TA P O G A N O V O I V,
O L T Y N O VA I VA D I J O J E
(LENKIJA)
BALTICA 11
Mariusz Wyczkowski
Muzeum im. Wojciecha Ktrzyskiego,
Plac Zamkowy 1, PL 11-400 Ketrzyn
E-mail: wyczolkowski@muzeum.ketrzyn.pl
ARCHAEOLOGIA

na obszarze Polski pnocno - wschodniej w I tysicleciu
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Naukowych im. Stanisawa Herbsta, 47, Warszawa.
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Kopernika. Wrocaw; Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii i
Etnologii PAN, 285-289.
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we wczesnym redniowieczu. Lublin: Uniwersytet Marii
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wczesnoredniowiecznego ze stanowiska XI w Cerkiewniku gm. Dobre Miasto. Zeszyty Muzeum Warmii i Mazur,
1 archeologia. Olsztyn, 111-149.
Mariusz Wyczkowski,
Daniel Makowiecki
Santrauka
Tyrinjimai gyvenviei komplekse Poganovo (Poganowo) 4, kuris yra iauriniame Mrangovo (Mrgowo)
eeryno pakratyje (iaurrytin Lenkija), leidia pradti nauj diskusij apie arkli aukojim Prsijos religijoje ankstyvaisiais viduramiais.
Straipsnyje nagrinjamas gyvenviei kompleksas susideda i piliakalnio ir atvirj gyvenviei (1 pav.).
Visas kompleksas yra mike ir uima didesn kaip 5 ha
plot. iaurinje gyvenviei komplekso Poganovo 4
dalyje archeologini tyrinjim metu aptikta liekan,
kurios interpretuotos kaip aukojimo vieta. Tai pirmasis
gerai inomas ir archeologikai tyrintas gyvenviei
kompleksas su kulto vieta Prs emse (24 pav.;
VII: 12 iliustr.). Poganovo aukojimo vietoje nerasta
idini, akmen krsni ir kit akmen konstrukcij.
Panai radini aptikta plaiai inomose kulto vietose
Europoje ir Azijoje. domiausias radinys akmenin
skulptra, vadinama boba, yra pirmoji skulptra, aptikta archeologini kasinjim metu. Poganovo komplekse rasta keramika datuojama XXI amiais.
VI
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Tyrinjant kulto viet rasta daugiau kaip 4500 kaul

fragment. Iskyrus vien atvej, gyvuli skerdimo,
skerdienos dalinimo ar msos ruoimo pdsak ant
kaul nepastebta. Tarp atpaint gyvuli kaul vyravo arkli kaulai beveik 90% ir tik 10% sudar galvij
303

MARIUSZ WYCZKOWSKI
AND DANIEL
MAKOWIECKI
liekanos. Tyrintoje Poganovo 4 aukojimo vietoje rasta maiausiai 3040 individ liekan. Galima manyti,
kad rasti kaulai priklaus madaug 60 arkli. Lyties
dimorfizmas nustatytas tik 22 fragment atvejais. Po
lygiai buvo rasta eril ir kumeli kaul. Arklius i
Poganovo galima apibdinti kaip vairaus gio, nuo
121 iki 150 cm, vidutinis gis buvo apie 132 cm
(6 pav.). Didiausi grup sudar madaug 10
14 met amiaus individai, jaunesni gyvuli rasta
maiau. Vyriausi individai turjo 20 ar daugiau met
(5 pav.). Remdamiesi zooarcheologine analize manome, kad gyvuli amius ir gis nebuvo svarbs kriterijai, atrenkant arklius aukoti (6 pav.).
Ankstesni tyrinjimai leidia aptikti daug paraleli
Poganovo 4 rastiems paaukot arkli kaulams Lenkijos ir Lietuvos teritorijose ir ritualuose, inomuose i
Jutlandijos pusiasalio ir Skandinavijos. Panaius ritualus praktikavo tiurk nomad gentys Ryt Europoje,
Piet Sibire, Altajuje ir Centrinje Azijoje. Kaulai,
rasti duobse Nr. 9 ir 10, bei keletas kaul sankaup
gali bti interpretuojami kaip paaukot arkli, kuriems
buvo nudirta oda, liekanos. Oda kartu su galva ir kojomis buvo pakabinama ant kuolo ar medio ir vliau
ukasama emje. Toks ritualas aptinkamas aukojimo
vietose visoje Eurazijoje. Gyvuli kaul be mogaus
veiklos pdsak sankaup rasta greta Jeziorko piliakalnio, kuris yra u keli kilometr nuo Poganovo, taip
pat Orymovo (Orszymowo) piliakalnyje Mozr regione, Mili (Milicz, Silezija) piliakalnyje ir, ko gero,
rensko (Szresk) piliakalnyje. Tai buvo atskiras aukojimo paprotys, gerai inomas tarp kit aukojimo ritual. Draudimas paeisti aukojamo gyvulio kaulus yra
inomas nuo mediotoj visuomeni laik. Paraleli
galima rasti, pavyzdiui, tiurk geni ritualuose.
Poganovo kulto vieta atveria naujas interpretacij galimybes tyrinjant galimas kultrines takas balt kratams ankstyvaisiais viduramiais.
304
Abstract
Abundance of horse graves and very expressive horse-offering rituals are well known in the Central region of Lithuania. But
principally the new material has been obtained after the investigations of burial ground in Marvel. Horse graves are usually
found separate from human graves, composing special parts of horse graveyards in the cemeteries. Arrangement of these
parts with horse graves are related to local micro-landscape. The natural and cultural elements with memory signs embody
the environmental cosmology and are involved into the mythology. The horse burial places suggest the ceremonies of public
displays. The horse becomes a contributor which helps to cross the border between mythological spaces.
BALTICA 11
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ARCHAEOLOGIA
H O R S E G R AV E S , S A C R I F I C E , A N D
the P E R F O R M E R S o f PU B L I C R I T U A L S
Key words: micro-landscape, horse graves, memory signs, ritual, performance.
Preface
Public space in the graveyard
A big amount of horse bones that are found in burial

grounds is quite characteristic for the Baltic territories.
Horse burials in this area have been known since the
Roman period (first-fourth century: e.g. PitkowskaMaecka 2000, p.188; Nowakowski 2003, p.53;
Banyt-Rowell 2007, p.138f). In the Viking Age they
were most characteristic for Prussians and population
of central Lithuania. Some burial grounds were investigated during the few last decades. But principally new
material was obtained through the investigations of the
newly discovered burial ground of Marvel in Kaunas. During 1991-2007 there were investigated about
250 horse graves with ca. 300 individuals (Bertaius
2009). Horse burials dated back to the eight-eleventh
century characterize the Central Lithuanian region most
significantly. Horse graves are usually found separate
from human graves making thus the special parts in the
burial ground. It seems they are composing separate
horse graveyards in the definite area. Usually there
is quite difficult to reconstruct the original layout of
the graveyard. However we can rebuilt three separate
local horse graveyards in the Marvel. Unfortunately
we do not have the similar material from the other Central Lithuanian burial grounds with horse graves, as a
result of different circumstances the original layout of
the graveyard mostly is not reproducible. The location
of these horse grave yards varies in respect to human
graves and they are arranged in different ways related
to micro-landscape. This micro-landscape is the main
area where the cultural events and rituals took place. It
is the subject of public space.
Prehistoric cemetery could be considered as a special

ritual place for socially important events. The social
practicing burial rituals, performances and funeral
services could be interpreted as carrier of special
meanings, which might form a basis of collective
memory (Bertaius 2006, p.69).
Prehistoric society was closely connected with the
world of death. Sometimes sparse historical sources tell us about social events near or in an extent of
graveyard. Information concerning social practicing
mostly starts up from the late Iron Age or Early Medieval times. Lets take for illustration the example from
eight century about the place for meetings of Saxon local council (goding, gogericht) on the hilltop, on
the sandy mound or near the graveyard and the like
(Modzelewski 2004, p.328). It seems, that the similar
local dealings were conducting in Lithuania, too. The
local communal court kuopos teismas, derives from
prehistoric times and quite familiar to 16th century
historical sources in Lithuanian juridical relations (Jurginis 1978, p.51). The meeting place for these events
depends very much on peculiarities of cultural landscape, it could be the sanctuary near the oak-wood
grove or the sanctuary near the burial ground (outside barrow, etc: e.g. Modzelewski 2004, p.332). Some
ideas we have been finding in the chronicle of Tietmar,
when he is relating about offering place of Scandinavians (Kronika Thietmara 2005, p.12): they were
used to gather together every nine year in January and
sacrifice 99 people and the same number of horses.
The situation is difficult for research, because of quite
sparse archaeological material closely connected with
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Horse Graves, Sacrifice,

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306
graveyards findings outside

the graves. In this situation a
more extensively investigated area gives more suitable
information. The situation
becomes more evident if we
are operating with the object
of long time-span.
Developed societies like
ancient Egypt or Near Eastern civilizations usually had
structured public space defined by monumental architecture. In this case every
member of society in every
day life was deeply engaged
in this monumental space.
Meanwhile we have almost
no experimental data about Fig. 1. Territory of the graveyard covers circa 6-7 hectares area. Altogether graves are
dated to second-twelfth centuries. Situation of horse graves: 1 horse graves; 2 human
deliberately shaped public inhumations; 3 human cremations (after Bertaius 2002, p.78 fig.26).
space in the Barbarian society of Central and North Europe. Some interesting to it and to other people based on their daily experiinterpretations were made investigating cosmology enced environment.
of North Europe by Ch.Westerdahl. The native cosmology was based on illiterate ideology expressed
by oral tradition, language and the application of all M i c r o - l a n d s c a p e a n d m e m o r y s i g n s
senses (Westerdahl 2009; cf. Westerdahl article in this
Marvel in Central Lithuania, as the biggest archaeovolume). The background of the cosmology is a conlogically investigated Lithuanian prehistoric object is
trast between different landmarks like the sea and the
going to be discussed here. The object provides the
coastal elements. We can transform or adapt this cosabundance of different types of graves (inhumations,
mology including the local natural or cultural elements
cremations and a big variety of horse graves) as well
what are making contrasts or dividing lines in the landas suggests some plausible interpretations for social
scape. It could be the big river or lake (great water),
events too. The cemetery consists of several parts
the river-valley and natural hills (oppositions like low
that are joined by natural micro-landscape (Fig.1).
versus high, water land, plane hilly, light shady
The graves cover the area round 3 hectares (about 7.5
as the main factor), or hill-forts, slopes with forests and
acres). But the whole territory of graveyard which inwater pounds or bogs1, conspicuous trees and likewise.
cludes the empty spaces between the grave groups,
In this case the perception is based on a human ecology
covers the area circa 67 hectares with quite unequal
and partly preserved or archaeologically reconstructed
micro-landscape. Only a part of it could be restored
topographical environment. And this daily experienced
archaeologically, sometimes it is completely imposenvironment was an important factor in a cognitive
sible to trace the natural historical landscape in the
system which must incorporate all senses, seeing, heardetails. Shortly we can distinguish at least four sepaing, feeling and smelling (Westerdahl 2009). Another
rate groups some kind of fields with historical signs
important factor of the environmental cosmology (the
(memory signs). Two of them include the separate
term borrowed from Ch.Westerdahl) was the sun. It is
groups of horse graves (B and D). It seems that varied
clear that an important part in this cosmology is devotdetails of micro-landscape were used to delineate the
ed to the sun (e.g. Jovaia 1989, about mortuary praclocal public space (barrows with stone setting, ravines,
tice depending on the sun movement during the year).
rivulets and ponds, trees, relief of surface, paths and
The sun was observed every day and night rising out
likewise). Each field of graves has definite area in the
of and descending into this ambivalent world. People
micro-landscape with special memory signs, thus crewere influenced by their environment, their adaptation
ating the cognitive micro-environment. Of course, only
few of them could be recognized during the archaeo1

Compare entirely the bog finds well known sacral offer- logical research. Whereas, in the ancient times, during
the funeral much more small local memory signs could
ings throughout the North Europe.
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ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 2. Location of Marvel graveyard near the confluence of two biggest regional rivers (photograph by Bertaius).
be used in the landscape. They were like memory storage signs and generated the particular story of a family, kin, village or tribe. During the long span of using
this graveyard the memory field generates particular
social practices with the rituals and ceremonies, understandable for everybody in the society. This long
story, told by our ancestors using the graves and close
surroundings around the graves is nearly the only witness of our ancestors imaginative past. In this microlandscape we are recognizing the special burial rituals,
processions and performances at the grave, different
funeral services and individual or group expression.
Memory signs located in the graveyard time after
time reminded about the story. The prevailing rituals
like cremations, universal horse offering in the located
area, handling of material culture and local memory
signs created a repository of accumulated memory.
Discussing the public space and public ritual with special performances worth of referencing is the role of the
sun. The sun could be best observed while rising out
or descending into the water (a lake, a river, the sea).
Marvels situation in the lower part of river-valley
shows quite relevant location between the confluence
of two biggest regional rivers in the East and lower
watery river part in the West (Fig. 2). The next biggest
Central Lithuanian graveyard Vervai with abundance

of horse graves is situated across the river, opposite to
Marvel, in the same position. In this connection the
data of archaeological investigations is especially noteworthy these two cemeteries revealed a big number
of buried horses, nearly 500 horse skeletons generally were identified during archaeological excavations
(Bertaius 2009; unpublished material from Vervai:
Puzinas 1941, p.28; Navickait 1958, p.83). In the
Baltic and Northern mythology the horse is often depicted as the sun-carrier. Thus we are recognizing the
special place for the graveyard, the place closely connected with the sun-rise and the sunset, equally with
big water and strong stream. It could be the reliable explanation why the same place was used for the graveyard so long time, even 12 centuries! Considering the
subject of horse graves, the horse offering ritual was
practiced since sixth to 12th century (Bertaius 2002,
p.169ff). We can associate it with ritual activity and
archaeological excavations revealed information about
the long and expressive ceremony of which burial was
a part. This ceremony was apparently intended to be
seen by participants at the funerary or commemoration
events. Here we can recognize not the individual but
communal mortuary practice. Particular shift in emphasis from identity of the individual to identity of the
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Fig. 3. Horse grave with complete horse skeleton. The horses head is located in a deeper part of a pit, the croup has
been noted higher that the head, quite close to the former burial surface (photograph by A.Astrauskas).
Fig. 4. Horse graves (lined ovals) in two or three rows situated between inhumation and cremation burials
(after Bertaius 2002, p.198 fig.93).
308
The horse offering ritual

The western orientation of the horse burials confirms
the belief that the world of the dead is in the West, where
the sun sets and a horse escorts the dead to Eternity. In
the burial the croup (hind quarter) of many horses has
been noticed to be higher than the head. It was predetermined by the irregular (oblique) shape of the pit its
bottom gradually slants in the western direction and the
western slope is absolutely steep. The shape of the pit
is directly associated with the funeral process. When
burying a horse its head is always located in a deeper
part of a pit and a horse skeleton is nearly always westnorthwest oriented, with the croup 0.05-0.6 m higher
that the head, quite close to the former burial surface
(Fig. 3). By means of reins and bridle bits it is possible
to place a live horse in a position that prevents it from
climbing out. Horse skeletons were found on their
stomachs, with their legs tightly pressed, the head under the breastbone (sternum) indicating that they were
probably buried alive. The described situation suggests
the idea of performing some kind of ritual, as only an
exhausted horse could be forced into the pit. Moreover,
the standardized, precise and wide spread burial ritual
argues in presence of the specially trained partners in
this ritual, - those, who are proficient in controlling the
whole performance. In the central part of the graveyard
(Fig. 4) there are two three rows of horse graves situated between inhumations. They are set up towards the
top of elevation, in the highest part of the graveyard.
Thus a kind of scene for the ritual is made.
Next group of the horse graves is situated on the plane
downhill, it seems they are situated in a small valley
with the horse graves on the border, in a shape of a
half-bow, making some sort of amphitheatre, with
the supposed beholders on the upper part of the slope
(Fig.5). Moreover, lonely stone pavement measuring
ca. 2x3 m (Fig. 6) in the lower part of this small valley
were found as well. It looks like a special place for a
ritual, maybe a public killing place as one of the possible interpretations could be suggested, or something
else, anyhow it is closely related to the horse graves.
Amongst many societies there is a rather common attitude to Eternity: the world of dead is separated from
the living world by the sea which the deceased must
sail across (Anuczin 1890, p.179). Herewith, a horse
was one of the substantial sacred animals which escorts the dead to Eternity and was coherent more with
mythological World than with every day life. In the
ancient Lithuanian world-view the mythological lord
of the Underworld Velnias (= the devil) is most often
acting with different parts of the horse skeleton, like
the horse shank, horse hoof or rib (e.g. Vlius 1983,
p.105). It seems that the other burial group which is
distinguished by ritual offering of separate horse parts
relates with this idea. Such graves are distinguished by
isolated area with scattered horse remains (Fig. 7). The
burials with scattered horse remains usually contain
a skull, a neck, leg bones and fragments, sometimes
with the signs of chopping evident on the bone surface
(Bertaius 2009). The areas where this type of grave
is concentrated in separate sections of cemetery testify
to simultaneity and distinctly original tradition. Such a
manner of burial testifies to the presence of funeral rituals, maybe a long complicated ritual by the grave, with
protagonists (main actor) and supernumerarys. We will
never be able to reveal the details of this bloody ritual,
but relying on the historical sources we could try to reconstruct a few glimpses. The famous Arabian traveler
and envoy, Ibn Fadhlan, who attended a Viking funeral
on his travel, describes a ritual of horse offering in the
report of his travels along the river Volga. Osteoarchaeological investigations of Marvels graves correspond
to this report, where remains of two individuals have
been found. It is interesting to note that the graves containing the remains of two horses included the bones
of dogs as well. Therefore, it is possible to drawn an
important comparison with Fadlans impressions from
a Viking funeral: a dog was brought, chopped into
two (parts) and thrown Two horses were taken,
then chopped with swords2, all of that was left as
food for a buried individual (Kovalevskij 1956). Eating horse meat was part of the sacrificial meal that
took place near the grave. It is unknown whether the
Free translation from Russian made by author.
BALTICA 11
The data of archaeological investigations and scarce

historical references testifies to a complicated bloody
burying ritual at the grave, and a sacrificial meal (feast)
as well. Evidently the sacrifices were linked to important occasions that helped to emphasize the cultural
identity of the local society. These horse graves could
be interpreted as deposits of special value. The open,
exposed horse burial places as well as the big quantity
of buried animals suggest that the ceremonies of which
these deposits were part were public displays rather
than private offerings (e.g. Wells 2001, p.93).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
community gave new ways to establish and communicate their corporate identities (Wells 2001, p.84). Only
deeply penetrated historical and social memory with
straight memory sticks like micro-landscape (hills,
rivulets and ponds), sacral fireplaces, repeatable performances and other events could preserve this place
from generation to generation. But that are mostly the
steady signs in the landscape. Much more of different
signs were used by every generation, family, group,
village society they changed slowly from generation
to generation.
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Fig. 5. The horse graves seem are making some sort of amphitheatre, with the supposed beholders on the upper part
of the slope.
310
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Fig. 6. Stone pavement in the lower part of the small valley (photograph by A.Astrauskas).
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Fig. 7. Horse grave with scattered horse skeleton (photograph by Bertaius).
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sacrifice was personally offered for recollection of the

deceased, or if it was an institutionalized offering that
happened methodically. Herewith there could be traced
one more aspect of public event, as ritual of temporal dying which happens during the shift of two states,
for example during the initiation (e.g. Lotman 2004,
p.276ff). It is used to associate the temporal dying with
flesh laceration, body chopping or flesh eating.
These symbols helped to create cultural boundaries between different groups.
Thus quite close semantic relations could be traced between the horse and the Sun among many of prehistoric
tribes, cf. by Celts, Greeks, Germans, Balts both the
Sun and the horse are getting to the Underworld. One
old Lithuanian song tells about the Sun which travels
mounted on the horseback in the boat (Golan 1993,
p.51). Hence the association of the horse the sun, the
boat, the World of Eternity is quite expressive. These
examples are quite indicative for a horse as a main instrument constructing the public space. The horse becomes a contributor which helps to cross the border
between two different mythological spaces.
Published sources
Conclusions
One important aspect of public space and public performance was a phenomenon of competition, usually
among leading families or competing groups. They
are manifested in family attitude, or group attitude,
when either of them was seeking to display its status.
The substantial social structures like warriors retinue
manifested according to a certain ritual, the form of
graves to develop some specific burial features and the
graves becomes more formalized, the ritual itself are
performed in the special places. Ritualized behavior is
an important criterion distinguishing the group.
Community has used special small area for arrangement of different events. It could be the plane downhill
(slope) in the river valley making some type of amphitheatre, where the graveyard (or a part of it) was
arranged. It could be a smooth elevation in the main
part of graveyard, where the site for social events with
particular equipment (like pits, fireplaces, ditches and
other) and performance with horse offering ritual were
arranged.
All these arrangements are archaeologically identifiable, but who knows if the wooden constructions were
made on the surface of the graveyard, or if the natural
trees were growing in the area.
The objects in the micro-landscape and the objects used
by partners in the social event, steadily repeated rituals
provided communities with a common set of symbols.
312
Authors English revised by Vilmant Liubinien

References
KRONIKA THIETMARA, 2005. M.Z. Jedlicki (transl.)

Kronika Thietmara. Krakw: TAiWPN universitas.
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ANUCZIN, D., 1890. Sani,
ladja i koni, kak prinadlezhnosti pokhoronnago obriada. In: V.K.TRUTOVSKI, ed.

Drevnosti. Trudy imperatorskago Moskovskago Arkheologicheskago Obshchestva, vol. XIV. Moskva, 81-226.
BANYT-ROWELL, R., 2007. Romn takos ir balt
kultr klestjimo laikotarpis. In: G.ZABIELA, ed. Lietuvos istorija, geleies amius, II tomas. Vilnius: baltos
lankos, 25-172.
BERTAIUS, M., 2002. Vidurio Lietuva VIII-XII amiais.
Kaunas: VDU.
BERTAIUS, M., 2006. From Social Expression to Institutionalized Religion. In: M.BERTAIUS, ed. Transformatio mundi. The Transition from the Late Migration Period
to the Early Viking Age in the East Baltic. Kaunas: University of Technology, 65-72.
BERTAIUS, M., 2009 (forthcoming). Marvel. Ein Bestattungsplatz mit Pferdegrbern. Marvels irg kapinynas,
II Band. Kaunas: Technologija
GOLAN, A., 1993. Mif i simvol. Moskva: Russlit.
JURGINIS, J., 1978. Lietuvos valstiei istorija (nuo seniausi laik iki baudiavos panaikinimo). Vilnius: Mokslas.
JOVAIA, E., 1989. Mirovozrenije baltov po dannym prostranstvennogo orientyrovanija i vnutrennego ustrojstva
pogrebenii Centralnoj Litvy I-IV v. In: V.ULKUS, ed.
Vakar balt archeologija ir istorija. Klaipda, 92-107.
KOVALEVSKIJ, D.A., 1956. Kniga Achmeda Ibn-Fadlana I
jego puteszestvii na Volgu v 921-922 g.g. Charkov.
LOTMAN, J., 2004. Kultros semiotika, straipsni rinktin.
Vilnius: Baltos lankos.
MODZELEWSKI, K., 2004. Barbarzyska Europa. Warszawa: Iskry.
NAVICKAIT, O., 1958. irgo apranga Verv kapinyne.
In: I lietuvi kultros istorijos, vol. I, Vilnius: Valstybin
politins ir mokslins literatros leidykla, 83-93.
NOWAKOWSKI, W., 2003. Das Grberfeld Muntowo / Alt
-Muntowen in Masuren ein fast einhunde
rt Jahre verspteter Ausgrabungsbericht. Archaeologia Lituana, 4,
49-62.
na obszare polski pnocno-wschodniej w I tysicleciu n.e.
wiatowit, II (XLIII). Archeologia pradziejowa i redniowieczna. Archeologia Polski, 186-201.
PUZINAS, J., 1941. Dvigubas IV am. Kapas, surastas
Vervuose. In: P. KARAZIJA, ed. Vytauto Didiojo
Received: 9 February 2009; Revised: 27 February 2009;

Mindaugas Bertaius
Kaunas University of Technology
Department of Philosophy and Cultural Science
Gedimino street 43, LT-44309, Kaunas
E-mail: mbertas@takas.lt
.
BALTICA 11
Gauss Marvels kapinyno irg kapai ir labai skirtingas j idstymas kapinyno mikrolandafte (4, 5 pav.)
teikia galimyb iekoti irg aukojimo ritualo prasmi
ir perteikia subtil paviriaus reljefo inaudojim tas
prasmes kuriant. Tam padeda ir aukojamo gyvulio
kno padtis (3, 7 pav.), kapo duobs forma ir tarpusavio idstymas, kap grupi vietos parinkimas ir
santykis su aplinka, taip pat vairiausios smulkios tyrim metu atskleidiamos detals (duobs, ugniaviets,
akmenys, takai ir kt.). Ritualas remiasi aplinkoje (erdvje) ir laiko tkmje pasikartojaniomis detalmis.
Toks gausiomis aplinkos ir sudtingo veiksmo detalmis paremtas ritualas, kurdamas specifinius atminties enklus mikrolandafte ir ritualo atlikimo metu,
stiprino kolektyvin atmint, padjusi bendruomenei
ilaikyti istorin tradicij. Nagrindami atskiras kapo
rangos detales mes galime atpainti balt mitologini
btybi iraikos elementus (7 pav.).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
kultros muziejaus metratis, vol. I. Kaunas: Vytauto

Didiojo kultros muziejus, 28-42.
VLIUS, N., 1983. Senovs balt pasaulira. Vilnius:
Moklso ir enciklopedij leidykla.
WELLS, P.S., 2001. Beyond Celts, Germans and Scythians.
Archaeology and Identity in Iron Age Europe. London:
Duckworth.
WESTERDAHL, Ch., 2009 (forthcoming). A Twin Human
World. Sea and land.
I R G K A PA I
A U K O S I R AT L I K J A I
VIEAJAME RITUALE
Mindaugas Bertaius
Santrauka
Balt kratams bdingi gauss irg kapai. Dauguma
i kap tyrinta paskutiniais XX a. deimtmeiais.
Vien Marvels kapinyne itirta apie 250 toki kap
(1 pav.). Jie charakteringiausi Vidurio Lietuvos regione.
Prieistorinje bendruomenje laidojimo vietos pasiymjo ypatinga ritualine svarba, nes j aplinkoje
vyk ritualai gydavo daugialypi socialini prasmi.
ia realizuota ir simbolin jungtis tarp gyvj bei
mirusij pasauli. Labai kukls istoriniai duomenys
apie kuopin teism Lietuvoje ar senj saks bendruomens tarybos susirinkim vietos ypatybes patvirtina
i viet, kaip vieosios erdvs, svarb. Vis dlto ilik labai maai duomen apie tam tikru bdu organizuot ir aktualizuot viej erdv, kurioje kiekvienas
mikrolandafto elementas gyja svarb bendruomens
mitologinje srangoje. ia reikmingais atminties
enklais ir pajungiant dalyvi jausmus vieojo ritualo dalyviais gali tapti mediai, pilkapiai ir kapai,
laukai, kalvos, laitai, pelks, akmenys ir kt. aplinkos
objektai (2pav.). Labai svarbus vaidmuo ioje erdvje skiriamas Saulei, kaip reikmingai mitini prasmi
perteikjai.
VI
H or s e a n d
E q u e s tria n
Equipment
O f f eri n g s
313
The Horse as Liminal Agent

CHRISTER
WESTERDAHL
THE HORSE AS A LIMINAL AGENT

CHRISTER WESTERDAHL
Abstract
Apart from being a status marker with strong ritual connotations it is suggested that the horse in prehistory is a liminal agent
between sea and land. As gender he represents land. The ship is as female as the sea. But the gender is contextual and culturespecific. The connections of the horse with the ship are attributed to the opposition between the two elements. Since this
opposition belongs to maritime cultures in the North the structural cosmology in question may have filtered over also to
inland agrarian conditions. Symbols are polysemic and may even have represented different things to different social classes,
like in recent times.
Key words:horse, ship, liminal agents, cosmology,ethnoarchaeology.
This text is about the Horse and the Ship in pagan prehistory. Not the real horse, nor the real ship. It is going
to introduce an new aspect of a dual relationship between sea and land. In earlier hunting and fishing cultures their places would be taken rather by the whales
and seals and the elks and stags, respectively. The
structure of that relationship is reflected by a binary
opposition, and as well of a combination of the opposites. In this structure the sea is female, represented by
the ship, and the land is male, and represented by the
horse. In early arctic (and subarctic) fishing and hunting cultures the same binary relationship would rather
be incarnated by the whale and the elk. Several other
oppositions are reasonable to assume as structural parallels, above all between life and death. According to
my views the horse/ male/ land stands for life, the ship/
sea/ female for death. At least this seems reasonable,
although I am referring to very different strands of various cosmologies. I am aware that this hypothesis is of
course not possible to prove conclusively. It remains a
reasonable conjecture, relying as it does on cross- disciplinary insights.
It is in fact a new aspect, so far only treated from an
oblique lighting as a partly subconscious cosmology
bound to a maritime culture (Westerdahl 2005; 2006).
On the other hand, it would be a cosmology that has
left significant traces in any common culture. The sea
appears to be a category perceived as such far inland,
as a structural reference and a sounding-board.
The Horse at Sea
314
An old man, aged about 85, in August 1964 told me a

number of interesting things. We were sitting outside
his small cottage on the Dalsland coast of Lake Vnern
in Sweden. Suddenly he said: Horses are good at sea
(or possibly The Horse is strong etc.).
The examples that he took up were rather far-fetched,

i.e. not obvious, only associations in some way with the
horse in a boat. But more tangible was the fact that old
skippers and fishermen on Vnern always had put
horse-hair in their tackle. Later, I would see the claim
of my fisherman on the horse-hair ropes well substantiated in museums and collections around the lake
and indeed elsewhere (recent information by the experienced Danish rope-maker Ole Magnus). Some ropes
exclusively consisted of horse-hair, but generally these
were only parts of the rigging, parts of rope-lengths, or
otherwise mixed with hemp or other materials. Root
fibres were the only material seldom used in actual
rigging- that was not mixed with horse-hair.
I did not see any further implications in this until much
later, despite the fact that I came to possess a large material. My Bothnian (Northern Swedish) material comprised interviews with literally thousands of coastal
people. But I must admit that the main interest never
shifted during the surveys. Information of this type
only was permitted to be elaborated insofar it did not
interfere with the physical remains of the landscape, on
land or under water.
My collection of place names at first only concerned
such names which were immediately connected with
the sea-side of maritime life, such as the names of the
sea route, harbour names, foundering, wreck and cargo
names. Fishing was only interesting insofar as it could
bring more knowledge on the former. The general exploitation of the islands and the sea for other purposes,
such as hunting, fowling, grazing or the taking of wood
was not implied, although I realized that this would ultimately be utterly important in a holistic picture of the
maritime cultural landscape. But this complex (and the
term itself) was rather for the future.
This exclusively functionalist approach was anyway

patently wrong, as I found out later, albeit the works in
the 1940s of the Norwegian folklorist / linguists Solheim (1940) and Hovda (1941a; 1941b; cf also Henningsen 1960) were very much in my mind also at this
early stage. There was indeed a ritual landscape at sea
(Westerdahl 2002a; 2002b; 2005; 2006 forthcoming &
manuscript). We have already found the view of the
horse as strong at sea. On the other hand, according
to the folklorists, anything pertaining to the horse was
also taboo at sea; it was taboo to mention its species
name. Instead were noa names used. In Shetland, the
horse had at least 13 variants of noa names (Jakobsen
1921). How could these seemingly contradictory conditions be reconciled?
The Horse had other connotations at sea. Horace Beck
gives some of them (1973, p.119ff): Moreover, a
number of items aboard ship bore names that included
horse or had something to do with horses: a frame
to test a broom on; harness casks, barrels in which
the weeks supply of meat was kept, and deriving their
name by the fact that they were usually secured to the
break in the poop or focsle by horseshoes. A Martingale sometimes called a dolphin striker, referred
to a chain that went from the end of the bowsprit to
the stem. Salt horse was the name invariably given to
the wretched meat the sailor ate, and horse pieces
referred to chunks of part-meat, part-blubber from a
whale that were allowed to putrefy in a barrel. There
is even a bit of doggerel, sometimes called the sailors
litany or sailors grace, which goes:
Old horse, old horse, what do you here?
Youve carried my bags for many a year
And now worn out with sore abuse
They salt you down for sailors use
They gaze on you with sad surprise
They roll you over and bugger your eyes
They eat your meat and pick your bones
And send the rest to Davey Jones.
There used to be a ceremony to commemorate this

event aboard ship after a month at sea. A mock horse
would be constructed out of a donkeys breakfast
(straw) and canvas, and it would be drawn around the
deck while sailors kicked and struck it. After everyone
had had a chance to abuse the effigy, it was thrown
overboard, symbolizing the freeing of the sailor from
his debt and in a strange way his freedom from the
land.
BALTICA 11
In the old sailing ships there was a tradition that sailors

could draw on their advance wages- usually up to a
months salary. During Word War II it was still done
in the United States Navy, and a man received such
money was drawing a dead horse. When he paid it
back, he was paying off a dead horse.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
This means that I did not conduct a thorough survey of

the missing groups of names. In particular this would
pertain to the cognitive aspects of naming. In this field
no place names or place name groups could be ignored.
For example I noticed the variety of animal names,
and like most people applied a strictly functionalist
view: they were either a sign of the use of the coasts
by human beings for hunting, grazing etc or pointed
to a similarity with the current animal species, be it
domestic or wild.
It seemed that the strange way might be closely related

to the words of my old informant in 1964, that horses
were strong at sea.
This is somewhat the starting point of this text.
The Horse on Land

There are indeed hundreds of maritime Horse
(Hest/en, Hst/en) place names to be taken account of.
And in several cases, especially those localities with
prominent and dramatic features, there are not to be
found any references there to grazing of horses or other
animals, nor any similarity in form. Another possibility
would be that horses had been killed there. According
to the ancient (and Christian) prejudice towards the
killing of horses this was only carried out by special
(feared and detested) socio-cultural groups in society,
e.g. certain Saamis in Middle Sweden, the hangmen in
the South (Egardt 1962; Svanberg 1999). This might
entail the rush of old horses down a precipitous rock.
If the killing itself only followed from the rush, the act
might even be done by the horse-owner himself (Lid
1924). Such an explanation of the name-type might
be considered, but the sheer quantity of names demonstrated that it could not account for more than a trifle of them, and in fact only in inland milieux. On the
other hand it was clear for most maritime occurrences
of Horse- and many other animal names that they were
important, sometimes exceedingly important, sighting
points or constituted dangerous localities in navigation,
particularly in exposed and/or narrow zones of water.
VI
H orse and
E q u estrian
E q u i p ment
O fferings
Among the Hesten names in the North there is quite

a number that do not connote the normal skerries, but
quite conspicuous mountainous features at the classical passages exposed to the fury of the North Atlantic,
like Stemshesten at Hustadvika, Mre and Romsdal,
Norway (Fig. 1). This has been a well-known sighting
315

CHRISTER
WESTERDAHL
any reasonable similarity with a horse or a horses

head.
Requirements of an illiterate society
Fig. 1. The mountain Stemshesten, the Horse of Stem,

Norway (photograph by author).
point from times immemorial. Hesten is the alternative

name of Stlet of Stad, at the border in the north of
Sogn and Fjordane, Norway. At the entrance of Sognefjord is a well-known and important sighting point,
the mountain Lihesten. There are indeed lots of such
names. Place name specialists have therefore tried to
explain the recurring name as a simple superlative of
hr, high (e.g. Stemshaug 1973, p.85). The sighting
point would then only be the highest in a group of
mountains or hills.
But the Horse names do not, as indicated, only connote
the normal high places. As an example of small, very
low, skerries at significant points, Hesten is outside
Selja, the legendary island landing place of St. Sunniva can be mentioned. This locality is found immediately south of the dangerous promontory of Stad, with
the elevated Hesten locality mentioned above. In Lake
Vnern three small skerries are called Gr Hst, Gray
Horse. This name contains yet another special feature.
Gray is, according to fairly recent folklore, a magic
and liminal colour, between black (the land) and white
(the sea). This function is demonstrated even stronger
in place name forms like Holmen Gr, Island Gray,
where the position of the adjective is inverted. This
name connotes quite a number of islands and skerries
in Norway and in West Sweden, possibly elsewhere as
well. A thorough survey would reveal a whole complex
of such names, where the possibility of a background
in grazing could never be considered, nor of any physical similarity (well, how do you prove that?).
Apart from this, and even more decisively, this is an international phenomen, not bound to superlative forms
of the adjectives of Scandinavian languages. Horace
Beck writes also about the Anglo-Saxon forms (Beck
1973, p.119f): For some reason, horses have been
prominent in the minds of seamen for a long time. All
along the coasts of the British Isles, Ireland and North
America we find White Horse, Horse, Black Horse and
Colt Island as well as many bluffs or headlands incorporating the word.
There are more of them as well in other languages than
English. Besides, many of these localities do not show
316
In Nordic literature on folklore there are thus numerous

references to the social demand for another ritual behaviour at sea than on land. The reversal takes place on
board a boat, which thus acquires the quality of a liminal space. This space of the boat- is full of dangers,
but these dangers could be averted by ritual magic.
Even the path on land to the boat acquires a transitional
status of liminality. This folkloristic material has so far
not been studied by archaeologists to obtain alternative
interpretations of prehistoric phenomena. However, to
maritime archaeologists this sphere would reasonably
belong to the self-evident array of maritime culture that
should be mobilized in order to understand la longue
dure of maritime cognition. The possibility that the
dicotomy of sea and land is fundamental and possibly
has got far-reaching consequences has also been noted
by prominent scientists of religion. ke Hultkrantz,
who formulated the direction which could called the
school of ecology within this discipline points out quite
succinctly in connection with the taboos of fishermen
(Hultkrantz 1992b; 1992a):
The opposition between sea and land within fishing
and hunting culture undoubtedly contributed to the
emergence of taboos in fishing. It is here the question
of more than just categorization into a dichotomy between land and sea, motivated by the structural order. It is a question of a deeply felt division between
two worlds within surrounding reality.
The ancient fishing culture ancient in structure and
general patterns, not in details modified over time has
survived up to our own times in marginal zones, where
it has existed since antiquity. Isolated but populous
fishing settlements have best withstood modernizations following in the steps of agriculture, high culture
and industrialization. In particular the fishing villages
of the sea have preserved their continuity.
The rules for another behaviour at sea than on land is
part of socialisation in maritime societies. They include the taboos which are supposed to be broken or
transgressed in order to start initiation, it includes the
entire cognitive world that has to be mastered by a novice. This means the use of transit lines in fishing, the
repetition of formulas together with the naming process, everything appearing meant to bring cosmos into
chaos, in the light of an urge for an illiterate taxonomy
of the everyday world. From the fishermen / farmers of
the coast the formulas, place names and other regulated
In an illiterate society, which we may have enormous

difficulties to understand, and whose peculiar difficulties are perhaps mentally too little taken account of,
the learning process of navigation is to a large degree
a matter of memorizing by way of a combination of
names, words, formulas. The formulas applied by heart
to remember the transit lines and their crossing points,
called me or med in all Scandinavia (cf for Norway
Hovda 1961), this word at the same time used as well
to denote the formula itself. In the normal absence of
rhyme in the stanzas the dangerous names gave the necessary thrill to remember them. It is, according to my
firm belief, in this socializing process that we find the
ultimate meaning and function of the Horse names and
other animal names at the coasts. The young novice is
brought to pronounce the tabooed names of the important features of the sea routes and forced by custom to
compensate to his followers by an offer of some kindto them or to the sea. After this ritual was completed
these tabooed names, not only in their noa disguise,
are used in formulas fairly freely and supposedly to
good advantage. But I fail to see why sometimes only
the taboo name is preserved and sometimes only the
noa name. This is, anyway, according to my view, the
ultimate background in coastal maritime culture for the
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Place names like the Horse names were taboo at sea.

Instead were noa names used. But the curious thing
happens all too often that pronouncing even the taboo
names are brought to give good luck. At first, however, work noa names, ingratiating and secure, for
loaded points in the landscape. Some classical examples are the Jomfru (Jungfru), Virgin, names, like
in Bl Jungfrun which is the noa name of Blkulla,
home of the witches, in Kalmarsund, Sweden, Jomfruland in Telemark, Norway, which was replaced by the
noa name Landet Gode, accordingly inverted as Land
Good (and reappearing at several other navigationally
important places in the west). Both were recorded in
sailor folklore in the 16th century. The same goes for
the Bonden, The Farmer, names, which have a more
eastern main distribution (Fries 1989; Falck-Kjllquist
2006), referring e.g. to the noa name for Kullen, the
most well-recorded site of sailors baptism in the
North. Kullen is the best documented example of the
combination of a site of baptism and the name taboo,
with further implications for a generalized interpretation. Its name-giving alternatives also demonstrate
the gender quality of the relationship between sea and
land. Even the Hesten names, although theoretically
an abstract species word, denote a stallion rather than
a mare. However, in this opposition there is no fixed
place for either gender or sex.
BALTICA 11
behaviour were transmitted to the sailors, in the way

maritime societies work.
Fig. 2. Hydroliminality in different periods.
ritual baptism of sailors on the High Seas (Westerdahl

2004; cf van Gennep 1960 on passage rites, Henningsen 1948; 1960; 1961 for the latter rite).
It seems rather obvious that this principle could have
been applied in various kinds of (what I call) hydroliminality, thought to bring luck, security and success in
prehistoric societies (Fig. 2). The strongest magic possible seems to be applied by transgressing the border
between the two elements, land & water. I have called
the agents of such transgression liminal agents, active as well as passive. One of these is the horse,
maybe the most important.
The liminal zone along the coasts

Since we have now proposed that it is possible to perceive a link between the sea-land dichotomy of recent
folklore and prehistoric cognition, it is crucial to establish whether the border between these two elements
has been marked in any special way by archaeological
remains. Any place where both elements could be implicated, seen or felt at the same time is liminal.
VI
H orse and
E q u estrian
E q u i p ment
O fferings
For the Atlantic coast of Europe, Brian Cunliffe points

out that the cliff castles or promontory forts, as they
are known in British Isles, seem to be less defensive
than liminal in function, the main imperative being to
create a defined enclave at the interface between land
and sea. He conjectures: If, then, the domains of land
and sea were conceived of as separate systems subject
to their own very different supernatural powers, the interface between them was a liminal place, and as such
was dangerous (Cunliffe 2000, p.9).
317

CHRISTER
WESTERDAHL
Fig. 3. Two elks carved at nn Lake in Jmtland, Sweden. The elks are depicted in large size and belong to the Stone Age
(photograph by author).
In the north, the liminal zone at the waters edge is thus

well illustrated by rock carvings (Fig. 3). This is particularly true of the arctic variety, that of the hunting
and fishing cultures. With regard to Norway, this location at the ancient shorelines has been pointed out by
Kalle Sognnes (1994) and Knut Helskog (1999). The
contents of the carvings as well as their fusion of marine and terrestrial elements, referring to animals, have
been emphasized by Christian Lindqvist (1994). There
are exceptions to the role of the beach rocks, but they
do not negate the general tendency. Besides, even the
exceptions seem to exhibit a close relationship to other
waters not least in the later, Bronze Age, tradition (cf
horse-headed ship on Fig. 4).
Unlike the coastal cairns and other fixed monuments
on the shore (below), presumably in this case due to
their contents (the burial, which would naturally require physical proximity to the liminal area), rock
carvings may have been considered more independent.
The liminal area was presumably re-created by the imposition of figures on rocks.
318
It is assumed here that the liminal content of the rock

carving was the border between sea and land. Thus a
physical closeness to the actual sea-front may not have
been of crucial importance in some cases of rock carving panels far from the sea. In this sense one could perhaps compare them to the re-creations of boat forms
on land, the ship settings, possibly the ship burials
and who knows? the alleged boat or boat model

processions indicated by certain rock carving images.
The sites farthest from the shore would then express
the practical aspect of the distance to which the maritime dichotomy would have been thought to extend on
land. Or perhaps the possibility that the strength of the
mana would increase further inland?
The hunting culture of the north certainly depended on
marine resources and maritime culture, with fishing
and hunting sea mammals as the main themes. But the
elk and other land animals were also hunted inland, at
least seasonally, presumably by the same people.
During the Neolithic, the maritime connection remained generally speaking but inland hunting was
partially replaced by agrarian pursuits. Even today,
Bronze Age rock art often has a liminal location, but
not always at the very seaboard. To a considerable extent, this is a result of land uplift over 3,000 years. As
already observed, it should not be denied, however, that
there are a couple of carvings and, above all paintings,
which do not conform to this pattern of relative proximity to larger bodies of water. However, it has long
since been observed that rock carving panels often lie
in vannsigen, a Norwegian term for precisely that part
of the rock which is trickled over by any ground excess
water, at many places shown clearly by brown manganese sediments. As pointed out above, perhaps this was
seen as a re-creation of the liminal status of the water-
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 4. The Horse (or elk?) ship of Brandskog, Uppland, Sweden (drawing by author).
line. On the other hand it must be pointed out that in

prehistory this dark colouring, if it existed, must have
been a good place to knock down pictures since they
would presumably stand out white against this background, at least when the rock was dry.
The contemporary Bronze Age location of the many
coastal burial cairns, as well as the location of those
certain to have been erected during the Iron Age, indicates that this liminal position is fundamental to
cosmology. A striking fact in some parts of the north,
especially Swedish Norrland, is that the cairns were indeed erected precisely at the shore, although the land
upheaval may have lifted them up to 2545 metres
above sea level today. What is more, there are no signs
of settlement in the vicinity, a condition only to be expected since this is quite a barren zone, unsuitable for
any kind of agrarian activity or permanent settlement.
Although the material for building cairns is found in
rounded stones and boulders typical of the shore, soil
for building mounds is available inland. But there seem
to be no mounds at all of the period in the area of concern. Even if this regional picture is most striking there
is also general tendency in many traditional societies to
see the contact zone between the sea and the land
as a liminal zone, resource-rich but also appropriate for
the disposal of the dead (Cooney 2003, p.326).
The Iron Age mounds, on the other hand, were often
erected on the very doorstep of the farm, i.e. the grave
field was an integrated part of the inmark (Baudou
1989). Nevertheless, the shore was still used for individual burials in cairns. My own experience concerns
the province ngermanland of northern Middle Sweden, the very core area being investigated in-depth by
Evert Baudou (Baudou 1968). These cairns have often
been plundered. Since there is a strict rule in ancient

times to respect and actively protect graves, even between enemies, I have suggested that this grave robbery indicates that the cairns had lost their liminality,
or maritimity as I put it once, when the plunderers
dug their holes, desecrating the burial. The land upheaval then lifted them beyond the sacral line (Westerdahl 1999).
If this is correct, it would be reasonable to assume that
the liminal zone is quite limited, whereas I have proposed elsewhere that it extends all the way up to the
point where the cairn is not visible from the sea, or
rather the sea is not visible from the cairn. Of course,
both ideas are equally speculative. The interpretations
of these coastal cairns range basically from territorial
markers in an economic landscape to primary or secondary use as sailing marks in a transport landscape.
None of the proposed functions would be excluded a
priori as an additional function to this cosmographic
scheme, especially when it comes to the precise location of individual cairns along the shores.
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The cognitive location of the border between the liminal and the non-liminal states is thus still enigmatic.
But an answer to the question is suggested by the
analyses of the Finnish archaeologist Tapani Tuovinen.
His material is the cairns of the boland archipelago
of southwestern Finland. There are two main periods,
the Late Bronze Age, ca. 1000 BC, and the Iron Age,
in this case approx. 5001000 AD. Tuovinens point of
departure is the issue as to whether the main view from
the cairns is directed towards the sea or inland. There is
a tendency for a direction inland during the older period, the (Late) Bronze Age, and for a direction towards
319

CHRISTER
WESTERDAHL
the sea during the later period, the Iron Age (Tuovinen
2002). I think that the border between the liminal state
and the non-liminal would be in this cognitive orbit,
either with the cairn visible from the water or with a
possible view of the sea from the cairn.
If a cognitive borderline is to be drawn, there is little
more to refer to than to the senses. An example of a situation where the border to forbidden behaviour was the
sighting distance to the sea is what Vestergaard (1972)
retells about the Faroese woman who has recently given birth to a child but not yet been received into the
bosom of the church. She then was preferably not even
supposed to leave her house, but if she had to, it was
possible only if she could still see either the church or
the sea. Evidently this is also a suitable reminder of the
overall dualism, either the land or the sea, since in this
juncture the woman was in a liminal state.
In historical times, starting in the Middle Ages, stone
labyrinths or mazes were laid out in the same liminal
zone, especially along the Baltic coasts of Sweden and
Finland, but also in other archipelagos, although more
sporadically. There are at least three hundred along the
Swedish coasts and more than two hundred along the
Finnish. They appear in smaller numbers in Norway,
Estonia and North Atlantic Russia. John Kraft has
characterized the function of the stone labyrinths as a
universal medium of magic (Kraft 1982). I think this is
basically correct, not only for mazes but for all kinds of
magic spaces or magic charms.
T h e l i m i n a l s t a t e a l o n g a n y w a t e r- l i n e
In ancient lore the border between any body of water,
including rivers, and the earth is loaded with magical
meaning. It is here that wisdom can be procured, and
where supernatural duels are settled in Celtic (Irish)
cosmology (Rees & Rees 1973). At sea it is called
flomlet in Norwegian, with reference precisely to the
tidal area at the seaboard (with very little tide, however), the area where corpses of anonymous outsiders
or dangerous evil-doers were buried so they would
not walk the earth inland. Ghosts cannot cross water
anyway, according to tradition (Haavio 1947), and
drowned sailors are therefore also buried on islands as
a special precaution. The burial grounds in consecrated
graveyards of the archipelagos comprise several ritual
dimensions, not only the official, Christian one.
320
As can easily be imagined, the liminal state is found

also in wetlands, again situated between water and
land. One of the obvious cases is the ships or boats or
parts of such to some extent raw material found in
bogs and marshes (Shetelig & Johannessen 1929). The
water vessels are strong on land, as we have indicat-
ed, but their elements probably become even stronger

when they lie immersed for whatever polysemic purpose intended for a grave, for universal intentions of
magic, or for actual use in a planned construction according to the wet wooden technology practised by
the Scandinavians. Function is indeed parallel to symbol. An obvious case of liminal significance would be
human constructions for ritual purposes, on the sides
of lakes or in bogs and marshes, such as pile dwellings
of a less everyday type, if this can be established. A
Neolithic structure at Alvastra, stergtland, Sweden
appears to have been just such a large, seasonally used
construction (Browall 1986; Malmer 1991).
Pit dwellings, crannogs on islands in lakes and other
sites at the waters edges may as well have had something to do with similar beliefs on the properties of a
liminal state. The perspectives of recent wetland archaeology are opening up somewhat in this direction
(Van de Noort & Sullivan 2006).
On the other hand some studies indicate that fresh water and salty sea water appear to have different cosmological and other properties. However, I doubt that this
meaning could be generalized.
The liminal state is also found in several other maritime (and other) dimensions. As an example, colours
are implied. Black is the colour of the land and is therefore taboo on a boat. The prohibition on wearing black
clothes on boats may be primary to the taboos of the
priest onboard -as e.g. the counter-magicians of the
land. White is of course to some extent permitted at
sea. But the only truly liminal, and accordingly safe,
colour is grey, the colour between black and white.
This is apparently the reason for naming magically
charged islands Holmen Gr, the Gray Island, Gr
Hst, Gray Horse, and similar names with the element gr, grey. In the case of Holmen Gr and Landet
Gode, also mentioned above, the special character of
their name is accordingly clearly indicated by the inverted position of the adjective (cf Weise 1969).
Land animals on boats

Why do the ships of the rock carvings almost invariably bear heads of land animals on their stem-pieces? In
the North, the heads are without a doubt those of elks.
In this arctic hunting and fishing tradition, the majority of figurative motifs probably depict elks, to some
extent other wild animals, including reindeer in the far
north. Whales are widespread. Seals and land animals
like the bear are graphically much more difficult to
identify. Presumably this is part of the reason why they
are nor depicted so often. The elk is the predominant
motif also in rock paintings. Already from 5700 BC we
This is not a phenomenon, at least not superficially, restricted to the north. Hippos, plur. hippoi, Greek for
horse, was the term for a well-known ship type, apparently of Phoenician origin in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Iron Age, probably emerging somewhat
later than 1000 BC, but contemporary with the later
part of the Nordic Bronze Age. Its stem had a horses
head. Such boats were still sailing the Mediterranean in
the beginning of the second century AD, according to
Strabo. The fishermen of Cadiz in south Spain used to
carve wooden horse heads and put them at the stems of
their boats in the first part of the 20th century AD (e.g.
Braudel 2002, p.101).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
During the Bronze Age in the south, ca. 1800-500 BC,

it appears that horses heads adorned the stems of the
ships on the rocks (cf fig. 4). It seems as if a wild animal, the elk, in a context of hunting and fishing is replaced as the prototype animal species by a domestic
animal in an agricultural context. Thus, land animals
were taboo, like in historical times (below) as liminal
agents at sea during the Bronze Age, and they may
have had an apotropaeic function, i.e. protective and
averting, at sea. Besides I assume that they conferred
particular magic power by passing the border between
sea and land.
A mighty stag with impressive antlers is attached to the

stem in the navicelli, the Sardinian bronze ship models,
probably lamps, of the Early Iron Age (Late Iron Age,
ca. 700400 BC; Calcagno 1998; 2006). The cranium
of an ox was the figurehead of a large Irish curragh depicted in the late seventeenth century (e.g. in Johnstone
1980, p.130 fig.10.13).
But the ship itself must also have been significant on
land. As to the figures in rock carvings of the arctic tradition, the large number of whales depicted may have
borne a related significance to land.
Fig. 5. The wooden elk-head of Lehtojrvi, Rovaniemi,

Finland, dated to c. 5700 BC (after Er-Esko 1958).
have a unique dated wooden sculpture of an elk head

with this potential, that of Lehtojrvi in Rovaniemi,
northern Finland (Er-Esko 1958) (Fig. 5). This find is
contemporary with some of the oldest dated rock carvings in Northern Norway, ca. 6000 BC.
From a far later time we do in fact possess an illustrative record of the use of a real horses head in strong
magic directly associated with the relationship between sea and land. It is a famous passage in the Saga
of Egil Skallagrimsson. The Prototype Sea Viking Egil
is certainly a historical personality living in the tenth
century although his saga was written during the 13th.
Egil, coming from the sea to the island of Herdla, challenges his adversary Eirik Blood-Axe, the King of Norway, by the following magic means. He sets up a horse
head on a hazel pole and turns it towards the mainland,
with the declared intention to scare the landvttir, the
gnomes of the land. It is pointed out that the pole is
carved with magic runes. This was called a nidstng,
a libel pole, and even though this act is unique in
the sense that it is the only recorded, the process was
clearly not unknown to the Northerners. It is obviously
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321

CHRISTER
WESTERDAHL
the audacity of challenging a king that makes it worth

recording in detail.
Unfortunately we do not know- or rather we will never
know- the full significance of this act and the cosmology behind it. But it is abundantly clear that the binary
relationship sea to land is implied, although in this case
personified, by reference to Egil and his king. Apart
from this the magic involved is considered extremely
strong- and I would suggest- potentially extremely
dangerous to both parties. Another overriding consideration concerns the lack of other records of the same
act. During a period when this belonged to the common
heritage of the Norse the knowledge of the praxis of
magic was not only restricted, it was jealously guarded
as such. As in later times magic was supposed to be
powerless if commonly known.
Hengist & Horsa

There is some personal names in Anglo-Saxon tradition which may be relevant. We meet two legendary
brothers which lead the first invasions of south England, purportedly in AD 449. They are called Hengist
and Horsa, literally `(the) stallion and `(the) horse
(a generic name for horse). Hengist was the most important chieftain of these first invaders. Horsa is more
anonymous, and was killed fairly early in the fighting
against the British (e.g. Ward 1949).
These names have not been much discussed, except that
it is commonly held that they are not personal names.
Perhaps they are rather nick-names. More specifically,
it has been proposed that they refer to horses on the
crests of their helmets, rather in the vein of the boar of
Nordic Migration Age helmets (and later).
It is interesting that Hengist reappears in a number of
place names in England, also along the coast. But the
most interesting of us, Hengistbury Head, with obvious archaeological references (by the excavator, e.g.
Cunliffe 2001 etc.) has not been recorded very early.
Another word for horse is Hst or Hest. Haestingas is
the old form of the place name Hastings, and it appears
in plural, as a name of a group of people, almost like
that of a dynastic line in the North.
322
However it seems a considerable possibility that these

are names of ships, symbolizing, perhaps, in the sense
of an original social unit, the crew of the first ships to
land on the English shores. A strong indication of this
might be the fact that Hengists son was called Aesc,
literally ash (tree), but also in later Anglo-Saxon
a type name of a longship. The Viking invaders four
hundred years later could be called aescmenn by the
Anglo-Saxons. Adam of Bremen still uses a Latinization, Ascomanni, in the 1080s. However, even if the
Fig. 6. The horse of Odin, the eight-footed Sleipnir,

on a Gotlandic picture stone, Tjngvide of Alskog parish,
the ninth century AD (after Nyln & Lamm 1988, p.69).
ash was used as ships wood it has only been found in

the upper strakes, but only in much later ships. In the
present state of knowledge such a name would presumably be a pars-pro-toto nickname. The same goes for
ash as a normal wood for spears. Personal names, derived from spears seem, however, at least in Scandinavia, mainly to refer to the (iron) point, not to the shaft
(Odd, Geir etc.). Maybe, as an alternative, ash could be
seen as well as a generic name for wood?
I would guess that these ships carried horse-heads
on their stems, like the hippoi or for that matter,
even Roman ships. It seems that ships in the Southern Baltic may have carried such heads as well. The
12th century bronze doors of the cathedral at Gniezno
in Poland depict the martyrdom of St. Adalbert. The
ships are adorned with animal heads. Tree-nailed ship
wrecks were found in 1800 during the canal works of
Sdertlje, which carried human faces on their stems,
according to a report by the chief engineer Eric Nordewall. Birka, which was presumably the goal of these
ships, received ships from Sembia or Samland according to Rimberts Vita Anskari. The remains were very
brittle and fell apart almost instantaneously after being
dug out. Nothing remains today.
Ship and horse in graves

The most salient example of an liminal object returning to land would be the all-embracing prehistoric use
of boats and ships as symbols and markings in burials/
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 7. The horse sacrifices at the ship grave of Ladby, Funen, Denmark, the tenth century AD. After Thorvildsen 1957
(cf Srensen 2001).
VI
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O fferings
Fig. 8. Depictions of a horse-fight and a ship prow on one of the planks of the Oseberg ship grave (dendro-dated AD 834)
(after Brgger, Falk and Schetelig 1917, p.317).
graves, pictures, votive ships, boat pageants and processions, presumably all occasions for socially important rituals.
But the liminal state works in several cognitive dimensions. Life and death is another, especially in connection with the ship as the carrier of the sun, from light
to darkness and back again (Kaul 1998). These seem to
be some of the combined reasons for the significance
of the ship in burials.
Here I pass by the ship settings (e.g. Capelle 1986;

1995; Artelius 1996) and other ship-related symbols
and stick only to the actual material ship in ship graves
as well as the material horse. There are few works
dealing with both the ship-settings and the ship in the
grave, notably Ohlmarks (1946) and Mller-Wille
(1970; 1995).
The sepulchral role of the horse has been a characteristic feature of the Balts, not least belonging to the
Lithuanian heritage (e.g. Bertaius & Daugnora 2001).
323
CHRISTER
WESTERDAHL
If I am correct in this, the duality of sea and land has

indeed a significance expressed in various societal contexts. Perhaps one would wonder in this context at what
kind of maritime experience e.g. the Balts would possess during the Iron Age and Early Medieval Times?
Certainly there was such experience. But this is not
relevant at all to the question. The sea is a reference
point in most cultures, even those centred inland. The
cognitive duality of sea and land, in each element the
other, would be natural in any case (Fig. 9).
Conclusions
It is suggested that the ethnohistorical material of maritime culture illustrates a structural opposition between
sea and land. This dual relationship is marked by the
transition, the shore, which appears as a liminal area.
The border between different behaviour is drawn here.
This area is the main location in the North for a number
of prehistoric ritual activities, including rock carvings,
burial cairns and in later times by stone mazes. A probable inference would be that this dual cognitive set, sea
to land, was present also in prehistory.
Fig. 9. Liminality at the shore.
It is in fact a fairly common trait in the northern Europan cultures. The liminal role of the horse in the sepulchral sphere can be pointed out also in connection with
its quality of psychopomp in Nordic mythology. Sleipnir, the horse of Odin has got eight feet and it is lent out
to a person of high status to take him to Valhall. The
arrival is depicted on Gotlandic picture stones from the
Viking Age (Fig. 6).
In Scandinavia, the horse(s) occurs also in rider graves,
and great status burials. Some of the most lavishly
equipped burials contain both ship/ boat and horse(s).
Vendel, Valsgrde, Ladby (Fig. 7), Oseberg. But the
boat is also common in fairly ordinary graves, also including women (Mller-Wille 1970; 1995). The importance of the horse has been pointed out, and certainly
given sufficient attention as a perhaps divine- status
marker (Gjessing 1943). Lately, more many-sided and
versatile ideas have been introduced (Oma 2000).
It should be noted that the appearance of sacrificial
horses in ship burials would make the representation
of land- and sea-based liminal agents complete. Not
mainly because they do occur together in graves. It is
far more rewarding, I believe, to consider the notion
that both were needed, materially nor not, to make up
the balance of the world view. The representation of
a horse-fight together with ships has been depicted in
several epochs (Fig. 8; Plate VIII.1-2).
324
The cognitive equivalents to the abstract division between sea and land appear mainly to be horse and ship
in agrarian cultures. Both are represented strongly as
symbols in depictions on rock carvings and standing
stones. The predecessors in hunting and gathering
groups would have applied the sea mammals, seals and
whales, and above all the elk, in the same cognitive
roles. Fragments of other ethnohistorical material reflect related conceptions.
This cosmology is not the only one. Symbols are notoriously polysemic, i.e. they represent different cognitive factors to different people. In this case e.g. the
solar cosmology (Kaul 1998) certainly belongs to the
ruling class, coloured as it is by foreign prestige-loaded
elements, but the underlying magic and ritual modelled
on the liminal shore and its two elements is presumably native, with deep roots in conditions of the past.
A basic example of a specialised and highly sophisticated prehistoric hunting culture is that of the Inuit,
the Thule culture in particular. Social life is regulated
by strict taboos. It has been shown in archaeological
analyses by Robert McGhee (1977) that only material
from the sea, `ivory for the sea woman, could be used
for sea hunting and vice versa in land. However, the
dualism between sea and land expressed here is rather
the opposite. The land-produced elk antler harpoon
was certainly used in the prehistoric Baltic for sealing
in the sea. The gender opposition in other cultures may
or may not be the reverse to the Inuit version. What is
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BALTICA 11
The dual structure unfolds in two-sided representations

of fundamental opposites in human culture, between
which interaction strengthens their application: such
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even colours as black to white. It is to be observed that
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transfer is most obviously made in the case of life
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ARCHAEOLOGIA
important is the basic idea of profound difference, of

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Hultkrantz, ., 1992b. Tabueringsfrestllningar kring
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uppsatser om folkliga tabueringsfrestllningar och taxonomier. Stockholm, 35-53.
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WESTERDAHL, C., (forthcoming, 2009). Gra Hstar,
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Received: 25 September 2008; Revised: 21 March 2009;
Christer Westerdahl
Santrauka
Darbe teigiama, kad etnoistorin mediaga jrinje
kultroje iliustruoja struktrin prieprie tarp jros ir emyno. iame dualistiniame ryyje isiskiria
pereinamoji zona pakrant, kuri jame tampa ribine
vieta. j nukreipta skirting veikl sandra. iaurje tai pagrindin vieta, kurioje aptinkama daug ritualins veiklos pasireikim, taip pat ir uol raiini,
palaidojim akmen krsnyse, vlesniais laikais i
akmen sukraut labirint. Tiktina, kad i dualistinio
kognityvumo (painumo) sfera ryys tarp ems ir
jros egzistavo taip pat ir prieistorje (19 pav.;
VIIIiliustr.).
BALTICA 11
IRGAS KAIP RIBINIS VEIKJAS
ceremonialiniam laivo ar jo formos perklimui krant

kol kas nra tiesiogini atitikmen perkeliant arkl
jr, iskyrus tai, kad laivo pirmagaliai buvo puoiami
arklio galvos atvaizdais. Taiau folklore ems form
vardijimas jros vardais yra stiprus veiksnys, ymintis iki iol neinom ir neitirt srit. Tiktina, kad ribin vandens, t. y. jros, reikm buvo suteikta kitoms
vandens formoms, ir tai yra intriguojantis klausimas
ateities diskusijoms. Taip pat analizuotinos interpretacijos problemos, susijusios, pavyzdiui, su arklio kovos kognityviomis funkcijomis. Ko gero, iame tyrim
etape geriausia ikelti prielaid, kad kosmologinis pasaulis buvo daugiasluoksnis, ir dualistiniai elementai
galiausiai buvo daugiau ar maiau individualizuoti
kaip dievybs su jas lydiniu ritual kompleksu, ireikianiu mitus ir ireiktu mituose. mons, atrodo,
taip pat buvo tuo paiu bdu terpiami prieprieas ir
gali bti laikomi ribiniais veikjais. Paprastai tokiais
veikjais mes laikome amanus ir burtininkus, taiau
iame kontekste galima svarstyti ir apie kitas moni
kategorijas.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Christer Westerdahl
Institute of Archaeology and Religious Studies
Erling Skakkes gate 47B
N-7012 Trondheim
Norway
E-mail: christer.westerdahl@vm.ntnu.no
Abstraktaus jros ir ems atskyrimo kognityvumo

(painumo) atitikmenimis agrarinse kultrose daniausiai tampa arklys ir laivas. Abu jie kaip simboliai
danai aptinkami raiiniuose ant uol ir akmenini
stel (3; 4; 8 pav.). Prie tai gyven vej ir mediotoj bendruomeni mons ioje kognityvumo sferoje
naudodavo jros induoli ruoni ir bangini, o vis
pirma briedio simbolius. Pana poir atskleidia ir
kiti etnoistorins mediagos fragmentai.
i kosmologija nra vienintel. Gerai inoma, kad
simboliai yra polisemantiniai (daugiareikmiai), t. y.
enklina kognityvumo veiksnius, vairiems monms
skirtingus. iuo atveju valdaniajai klasei neabejotinai priklauso sauls kosmologija, kuri yra nuspalvinta
vetiniais prestio kupinais elementais, taiau uslpta magija ir ritualai, sumodeliuoti ribin pakrant ir
du jos elementus, turbt yra vietiniai, turintys gilias
aknis praeityje.
Dualistin struktra atsiskleidia pagrindinse dvilypse monijos kultros prieprieose, sveika tarp
kuri tik sustiprina j pritaikym: lyties nuo vyro
iki moters, bties nuo gyvenimo iki mirties ir netgi
spalv nuo baltos iki juodos. Pastebta, kad net gana
nesenas folkloras aikiai iskiria ias prieprieas, taip
pat ir tarp jros ir ems. Tarp j rykiausias yra perjimo i gyvenimo mirt atvejis, kur atlieka pagrindiniai ribiniai veikjai laivas ir arklys. Ritualiniam ar
VI
H orse and
E q u estrian
E q u i p ment
O fferings
327
Merovingian Period
Equestrians in Figural Art
MEROVINGIAN PERIOD EQUESTRIANS

I N F I G U R A L A RT
Dieter Quast
Dieter
Quast
Abstract
Naturalistic figural art is rare in the Merovingian period. However, during the period of Christianisation (late sixth/seventh
century AD) one can observe a considerable increase. One of the motifs a victorious equestrian arrived north of the Alps
in the late sixth century, most probably with Frankish warrior groups who took part in the wars in northern Italy. Image carriers were part of prestigious horse equipment. However, north of the Alps the motif was transformed completely from that of
the warriors world into the female world.
Key words: Warrior saints; sixth/seventh century AD; Phalerae; Italy; South-West-Germany; France.
Introduction
In July 2008 Gerhard Fingerlin, the former chief of the
archaeological heritage in Freiburg in Southwest Germany was able to celebrate a large success. After years
of effort he won a famous object back from a private
collection for the public. It is a phalera from Hfingen
(Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis; Germany) (Fig. 3.2) which
came via confidential agents from an anonymous person to the archaeological heritage (Fingerlin 2008). It
is part of set of three phalerae (Fig.3) the others were
found during a chaotic excavation in the year 1966 in
a wooden chamber grave which had exceptional conditions for the conservation of organic material. The
report of the accidental discovery looks like an archaeological nightmare (Fingerlin 1974, p.591ff). The
preserved chamber was destroyed with a large digger!
When the archaeologists arrived, not a single object
was found in situ, some other objects has been collected by private persons. The third phalera was one
of those. It is of high interest, because of its figural
decoration which is very rare in Merovingian period.
Tens of thousands of graves are known from present
day France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg and
Germany but only a handful of figural designs have
been noted.
Images of Horses and Horsemen in the

fifth until mid sixth century AD
330
The horse as an important symbol in the migration period is clearly demonstrated by many of the articles in
this volume (additionally cf. Wagner 2005). Especially
in the fifth century AD a pair of horse heads is next
to birds of prey - a widely distributed decoration in
central Europe. These can be found e.g. on strap ends
combs and purse-mounts, all elements of the world of
the male. To females belong small brooches used in

pairs to close a cloak on the shoulders. They derive
from circum-Mediterranean examples (Martin 1995,
pp.646-652). A few of them are in form of horses and
horsemen. Particularly these seem to be forms from regions with a continuity in population and culture from
the Roman period, the so called Romani (Marti 1990,
p.57ff). The meaning of these horsemen is not clear.
Under discussion is an example from Xanten in the
lower Rhine region. For a long time it was accepted as
an equestrian from around AD 600, but as Kurt Bhner
(1997) has shown it could be also Samson killing the
lion.
Also rare are hunting scenes, even though they were
common in the Mediterranean world, many mosaics
demonstrate such (e.g. Daltrop 1969; Catalogue Arles
2003, p.134 Nr.55 and 185). The very few examples
could be diffused as ornaments of imported weapons.
Especially the helmets of the so called Baldenheim type
shown in two cases hunting scenes (Ament 2003). The
specimen from Chalon-sur-Sane (dp. Sane et Loire;
France) has a headband made on a die (Sperber 2006,
p.133 with fig.49). Stylistically it is from a Mediterranean early Byzantine workshop and shows hunting
scenes with horsemen. The second helmet with a chase
is from Montepagano (Prov. Teramo; Italy) (Sperber
2006, p.127 fig.47), but here the scenes are embossed
in the parts of the calotte. In the Merovingian world
only the bronze pressing plates from a wooden bucket
from Giberville (dp Calvados; France) are ornamented with a hunt (Pilet et al. 1990, p.23ff with plates 1011). However, the exact contents as well as the exact
meaning of the illustration is unclear, and every interpretation will always be uncertain. The same is true for
a stamp which was used on pottery found in Banthelu
(dp. Val-dOise; France) (Prin, Feffer 1997, p.272).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 1. Reconstruction of a tack with phalerae and set of phalerae from Ittenheim in Alsace (France). 2-4 scale 1:2 (1 after
Werner 1943, p.12 fig.4; 2-4 after Schnitzler 1997, p.54).
As far as I know, these are the only hunting scenes in

the Merovingian world.
More common than figural art is the animal style. In
sixth century AD animal style I was widely distributed,
not only in Scandinavia, but also in the Rhineland and
in south western Germany. It is obvious that this style
seems to be used mostly on females dress accessories
like brooches.
Prestigious goods with figural art

f r o m M e d i t e r r a n e a n Wo r l d
In the last quarter of the sixth century AD an enormous
amount of objects from Italy has been noted especially
in south West Germany, the Alamannia. Even military
equipment like spearheads, body armour, helmets of
the lamellae type, belts, stirrups and horse gear arrived
in larger amounts, and additionally female dress accessories (Oexle 1992, p.99ff; Koch 1997; Graenert 2000;
at least and summing up Keim 2007). But also kinds
of religious believe demonstrated by the use of foil
crosses connected Italy and the Alamannia (at least
Riemer 1999). They were made of thin sheath of gold
and used for funerary purposes only. In addition the
documented features show that these crosses were attached on a piece of cloth and deposited on the faces
of the dead. The impact of the influences is so great,
that scholars are talking about the Lombard horizon
(Werner 1935, p.23 [without using this item]; Oexle
1992, p.102 used the term Kontaminationshorizont;
Graenert 2000, p.417ff with further reading in footnote3).
To the most interesting aspect of this horizon belongs
the phalerae. They were use in sets of three one cen-
VII
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of the H orse
in A ncient
A rt
331
Merovingian Period
Dieter
Quast
Fig. 2. Phalerae from Lombard period Italy: 1 Cividale (province Udine); 2-3 Reggio Emilia (province Reggi Emilia):
4-5 Italy, without exact provenance. Scale 1:2 (1 after Menis 1990, 382 no. X.38; 2-3 after Werner 1952, plate 9.1-2;
4-5 after Greifenhagen 1975, p.102 Taf. 71.1-2).
332
tral and two laterals on the chest strap of the saddle

(Fig. 1.1). Their diameter is around 9 to 12 cm. The base
plates were of copper alloy but on the front is normally
a sheath of silver attached with an image. Even though
these illustrations were made with a die, no identical sets
are known until now. The phalerae from Ittenheim in
Alsace (Fig. 1.2-4) (Werner 1943, plates 4-5; Schnitzler
1997, p.53ff Nr.10), and from an unknown find place
in Italy (Fig. 3.4-5) (Werner 1943, plates 6-7; Greifenhagen 1975, p.102 Taf. 71.1-2), seem to have the same
programme, maybe a hunt for boars, which are on
the lateral plates but orientated to the warrior (personifying force and courage?) on the centre plate (from the
Italian set the central plate is missing). The origin of
these phalerae in the Mediterranean, especially in Italy,

is significant by specimens from Lombard period Italy
(Fig. 2) (Werner 1943, plates 6-7; 1952, plate 9.1-2;
Brozzi 1971, plate B.5; Greifenhagen 1975, p.102 Taf.
71.1-2; Menis 1990, p.381ff Nr.X.38), and by stylistic
arguments, in one case additionally by an inscription
(Fingerlin 1974, p.617). Furthermore in Italy naturalistic figural art with equestrians was common, e.g. on
ivories (Volbach 1976, plates 26.48 and 39.67), coins,
finger rings (Quast, forthcoming), and silver dishes
like in Isola Rizza (Prov. Verona; Italy), with a combat
scene (at least Catalogue Bonn 2008, p.362), or in the
Vatikan with a hunting scene (Werner 1943, plate 9).
The motive survived also on Lombardic period shield
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 3. Phalerae with images of equestrians: 1-3 Hfingen (Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis; Germany); 4 Seengen (Kt. Aargau;
Switzerland); 5 Nendingen (city of Tuttlingen; Kr. Tuttlingen; Germany) grave 36. Phalera: a bronze sheath with lateral
decoration (impressed corded wire), b the same sheath in the iron frame; 6 Pliezhausen (Kr. Reutlingen; Germany) grave 1.
Scale: 1:2 (1 and 3 after Fingerlin 1974, plate 40; 2 after Fingerlin 2008, p.69; 4 after Mossbrugger-Leu 1971, plate 20.4; 5
after Fingerlin 1993, 224 fig.158; 6 after Bhner, Quast 1994, 389 fig. 4c).
appliqus, for example (at least Giostra 2007, p.328ff

and Catalogue Bonn 2008, p.366 no.176).
Regarding the Merovingian period equestrians in
figural art, most of the known sets of phalerae are of
interest1. Significant is the Christian programme in Hfingen now completed with the third plate (Fig. 3)
(Fingerlin 1974; 2008). In the centre is Mary, with the
child, on a throne; next to her on the lateral plates are
Cf. amongst others Bhner, 1995; Quast 1993, p.457
(List1).
equestrian saints. Noticeably both the lateral phalerae

are not made with the same die. The left one shows the
horseman in battle with a snake or worm with human
head, which demonstrates the evil. The equestrian kills
it with his lance. On the right phalerae (the new discovered one) the cavalier lifts his right hand as a sign
for victory. This ties in clearly with the late antique
gesture of the imperial adventus (Stutzinger 1983). An
incomplete inscription in Latin on the left phalera may
VII
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of the H orse
in A ncient
A rt
333
Merovingian Period
Dieter
Quast
refer to the former owner, probably an officer of the

Italian-Byzantine army (Fingerlin 1974, p.617).
Next to other imported objects from Italy of the so
called Lombard horizon the phalerae must have
been highly prestigious objects north of the Alps. Adjacent to Ittenheim and Hfingen a single find from
Seengen (Kt. Aargau; Switzerland) (Fig. 3.4) must be
mentioned here, because it shows a warrior in body armour (Moosbrugger-Leu 1971 Taf. 20.4) in battle with
a dragon or large snake (Hauck 1957, pp.10-11). All of
them occur in a short period around 600 AD. Hfingen
is dated by dendrochronology to AD 606 (Billamboz,
Becker 2001, p.846 tab.2 no.8 and p.858 no.8). The
Italian phalerae initiate North of the Alps, in the Alamannic region, local imitations. In 1992 in Nendingen,
city of Tuttlingen, such a set was discovered in a male
grave (Fig. 3.5) (Fingerlin 1993, p.224 Abb. 158; Koch
1997, p.413 fig.470). Only one of the three ornamented
bronze-sheath plates is published with an illustration,
but following the description in the preliminary report
all three are identical. This is the first difference to the
Mediterranean sets which consist always of one central and two antithetical lateral plates. The second advice for a local imitation is the style of the illustration.
Fingerlin (1993), who analysed the Nendingen grave,
thinks that it is obvious that the ornamented sheath had
already been in use, because a lateral ornament an
impressed corded wire and lateral parts of the horseman were hidden by the iron frame of the phalerae
(Fig. 3.5b). So it seems to be very probable that the
sheaths were manufactured tens of years prior to burial
with the equestrian. The snaffle enables to put the date
of the burial in the third quarter of the sevent century
AD (Oexle 1992, p.76ff; Fingerlin 1993, p.225).
The transformation of the motif into

the female world
The most prominent imitation of a Mediterranean
phalerae is the golden specimen of Pliezhausen (Kr.
Reutlingen; D) (Fig. 3.6). It is in two ways a key find,
because it demonstrates not only a local imitation, but
also shows the transformation of a late antique image
into a Germanic one, even if it is still a victorious
equestrian2. What is, in my opinion, much more fascinating is the transformation of the equestrian motif
from warriors horse equipment into the female world3.

The golden sheath of Pliezhausen was found in a female grave of the first half of the seventh century AD.
Even if brooches with pressing plate (pressblech- or
bracteat brooches) are not exceptional during this
time (Klein-Pfeuffer 1993), the Pliezhausen sheath is
singular, because it is much larger than the usual ones.
Analyses in the Rmisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz have shown that the sheath must have
been larger, because it was cut at the outer edge. Hence,
Kurt Bhner (Bhner, Quast 1994, p.388ff) points out,
that the sheath of Pliezhausen primarily was the ornament of a phalera and later reused on a brooch.
At any rate the Mediterranean motif of the equestrian
saint became popular in seventh century AD in female
dress4. An original import is known from Strasbourg
unfortunately, without context and therefore not precise as regards to date. From the late sixth century AD
an interesting original was discovered in a wealthy
ladys grave in Gttingen (Community of Radolfzell;
Kr. Konstanz), grave 38. The requirement for the image of an equestrian saint was large enough to cut the
central part of a Mediterranean silver bowl and add a
fastening on the backside (Fingerlin 2006).
The popularity of the motive and the steps of imitation can be demonstrated by different brooches from
the seventh century AD. While the specimens of Oronle-Chtel La Copelenaz (Kt. Vaud; Switzerland) (Fig.
4.1) (Baum 1937, plate 17.46) and Rouen (dp. SeineMaritime; F) grave 15 (Fig. 4.2) (Prin 1989, p.34 fig.13)
are naturalistic, the next step - Pramay (Kt. Vaud; Switzerland) (Fig. 4.3) (Laur-Belart 1943) and Hilterfingen
(Kt. Bern; Switzerland) (Fig. 4.4) (Moosbrugger-Leu
1971, plate 48.27) is a little bit in solution. Finally in
grave 12 from Saint-Jean-de-Gonville (dp. Ain; France)
(Fig. 4.5), the equestrian is only schematically imaged in
the centre of the plate (Baud, Hublin 1999, p.354 fig.
4). Particularly in the Burgundian part of the Merovingian Empire, Christian scenes often illustrate buckle
plates. Equestrians are shown on the specimens from La
Balme (dp. Ain; France) (Fig. 5.1) and Ladoix-Serrigny
(dp. Cte dOr; France) (Fig. 5.2). In the first case the
entrance of Christ into Jerusalem is pictured (BarrireFlavy 1901 plate 40.1; Cartier 1911); in the second case
Christ as a armed horseman of the Apocalypse (Gaillard
de Smainville 2003). In Burgundy buckles with rec A similar observation was made for the motif of men wearing a helmet with a pair of up-curved horns which was
transformed from Vendel to Viking period also from the
male to female world (Helmbrecht 2007, p.166ff).
4
Cf. in this context also the brooches with equestrian saints
from Avarian period Hungary: Garam 1993, pp.99-101,
125 and 127-129; Daim 2002, p.117; Glaser 2002, p.147ff;
Tth 2005, p.184ff. Cf. additionally for the motif in the
Mediterranean area Quast, forthcoming.
3
The iconography is not part of my article. It always will be

a little bit uncertain, because we have no Merovingian period written sources for the interpretation. To use sources
hundreds of years later written after the religious change
to Christianity contains problems. For possible interpretations of the Pliezhausen motif cf. Hauck 1957 and at least
Bhner 1995, pp.707-717 (with further reading).
334
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 4. Brooches with images of equestrians: 1 Oron-le-Chtel La Copelenaz (Kt. Vaud; Switzerland); 2 Rouen (dp. SeineMaritime; France); 3 Pramay (Kt. Vaud; Switzerland); 4 Hilterfingen (Kt. Bern; Switzerland); 5 Saint-Jean-de-Gonville (dp.
Ain; France). 1 without scale, others scale 1:1. (1 after Baum 1937, plate 17.46; 2 after Prin 1989, p.34 fig.13; 3 after LaurBelart 1943; 4 after Moosbrugger-Leu 1971, plate 48.27; 5 after Baud, Hublin 1999, p.354 fig.4).
VII
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of the H orse
in A ncient
A rt
Fig. 5. Buckles from Burgundy with equestrians: 1 La Balme (dp. Ain; France); 2 Ladoix-Serrigny (dp. Cte dOr;
France); 3 Noiret-Cruseilles (dp. Haute-Savoie; France); 4 Prahins (Kt. Vaud; Switzerland); 5 Saint-Jean-de-Losne (dp.
Cte-dOr; France); 6 Dietersheim (city of Bingen; Kr. Mainz-Bingen; Germany). Scale 1:2 (1 and 5 after Barrire-Flavy
1901, p.394 fig.118 and plate 40.1; 2 after Gaillard de Smainville 2003, p.303 fig.2; 3-4,6 after Frey 2006, p.69 fig.49).
335
Merovingian Period
Dieter
Quast
Fig. 6. 1. Disc of gold sheath from Cividale (province Udine; Italy) and 2a. Vendel (Uppland; Sweden) grave 1, fitting of a
bridle, with an equestrian lost in animal style; 2b. Suggestion of an equestrian dissolved out of the netting of animal style.
Scale 1:1 (after Roth 1973,p.239 fig. 142; 2 after Stolpe, Arne 1927, plate 9.8; 2b modified after 2a).
tangular plates (D-Schnallen) seemed to be used usually by women (Treffort 2002, p.39ff; Frey 2006 p.131
with footnote 552. cf. contrary Gallard de Smainville
2003, p.319).
Just as a short excursus, two examples from the South
and the North should be included. In Cividale (Prov.
Udine, Italy) (Fig. 6.1) (Brozzi 1971, plate D; Roth
1973, fig.142 and plate 31.5; Catalogue Bonn 2008,
p.356ff) a small disc of gold sheath shows a horseman,
comparable, for example; to the one from the Nendingen phalerae (Fig. 3.5a-b). The lateral zone is ornamented with animal style II. But also some elements
of the equestrian are performed in that style: the head
of the horse and of the cavalier. In Vendel (Uppland;
Sweden) grave 1 (Fig. 6.2a) clearly on the fitting of
a bridle (Stolpe, Arne 1927, plate IX.8) the horseman
seemed to be completely lost in animal style, which is
of course one of the characteristics of animal style. A
suggestion for the last step of the motive transformation is shown in Fig. 6.2b.
336
But let us go back to the Merovingian female dress

accessories. Not only on brooches was the equestrian
saint a popular image. On the so-called open worked
ornamental discs exist a group with horses (Renner

1970, p.38ff Type XII with map 21). The type C on
the distribution map is out of interest for our context,
because it shows only a horse (Fig. 7). On the contrary
types A and B show horsemen5. One of them with uplifted arms is distributed mostly in North-eastern Gaul,
the other one with a lance in Switzerland and SouthWestern Germany (Fig. 7). All of them are dated to the
seventh century AD. Comparable motifs can be found
on some buckle plates from the Burgundian region
which are also open worked, e.g. Noiret-Cruseilles
(dp. Haute-Savoie; France) (Fig. 5.3), Prahins (Kt.
Vaud; Switzerland) (Fig. 5.4) and as western import
in Dietersheim (city of Bingen; Kr. Mainz-Bingen;
Germany) (Fig. 5.6) (Frey 2006, p.68ff with fig.49;
Barrire-Flavy 1901, p.394 fig.118) or on a tongue
shaped specimen with nine rivets from Saint-Jean-deLosne (dp. Cte-dor; France) (Fig. 5.5).
The motif of the horseman with uplifted arms seems to be

also adopted from the Mediterranean area like some check
pieces from Visigothic period Spain suggest (at least Aurrecoechea, Ager 2000, pp.281-286 with fig. 3.2).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 7. Distribution of open-worked ornamental discs of the type XII (Group A = horseman with uplifted arms. Group B =
horseman with lance. Group C = horse only (after Renner 1970, map 21 and plate 30 no. 616 and plate 31 no. 639; 640).
Images of Merovingian period

equestrians in ecclesiastic contexts
Even if the equestrian saint disappeared from the male
world after a very short time, he was not only part of
the female world. As part of Christian iconography he
expanded, of course, also in Merovingian ecclesiastic art. On a small reliquary from Ennabeuren (AlbDonau-Kr.; Germany) he dominates the right side (Fig.
8.1). It is the oldest reliquary from Merovingian region
and dates to the mid of the seventh century AD. The
small casket was made most probably in the region of
Burgundy, and the different stamps used on it demonstrate a Christian programme, in which the victorious
horseman plays the central part (Quast, forthcoming).
Another example of an equestrian in an ecclesiastic context is the carved stone from Hornhausen (Brdekreis;
Germany) (Fig. 8.2). It did not show the classical
Mediterranean saint but a north-alpine transformation like, for example, the Nendingen phalerae or the
open worked ornamental discs. Though he is also riding over a snake carved in animal style and has two
heads. As Kurt Bhner pointed out, the stone from
Hornhausen was - together with other fragments from
the same place - part of a choir screen of a church (Fig.

8.3) (Bhner 1976/77).
The Christian meaning of the motive of the equestrian saint is underlined by some golden finger rings.
The grave 164 of a child buried in Chelles (dp. Oise;
France) (Fig. 9.1) (Vallet 2008, p.192 with fig.100
and p.412 with plate 37.4) contains one of them. The
golden plate was decorated with a horseman with uplifted arms, but additionally with alpha, omega and a
cross. From Lauchheim (Ostalbkreis; Germany) grave
38 (Fig. 9.2) (Stork 1995, p.23 fig.20) exists a ring
with a horse and a cross. Just as excursus two related
golden rings should be added. The first with unknown
provenance shows a fish under a cross with alpha and
omega (Fig. 9.3)6. The second is from Boppard (RheinHunsrck-Kr.; Germany) (Fig. 9.4) from a late seventh
century AD grave and is decorated with a bird under a
cross (von Berg, Wegner 2001, p.198 fig.199).
VII
I mages
of the H orse
in A ncient
A rt
It is obvious that on the Merovingian coinage the motif of the horseman was with one exception (Depreyot
1998 vol. 2, pl. 17,1) never used to image the reverse;
The knowledge of the object, and the photograph of it, I
owe to Dafydd Kidd.
337
Merovingian Period
Dieter
Quast
Fig. 8. (1) Equestrian saint from a small reliquary from Ennabeuren (Alb-Donau-Kreis; Germany); (2) Hornhausen
(Brdekreis; Germany); (3) Reconstruction of the fragments of Hornhausen as a choir screen of a church. 1 scale 1:1;
2 scale 1:15; 3 without scale (1 after Quast, forthcoming; 2-3 after Bhner 1976/77, 124 fig.7 and plate 14).
Fig. 9. Golden fingerings with Christian motives: 1 Chelles (dp. Oise; France); 2 Lauchheim (Ostalbkreis; Germany);
3 Unknown provenance; 4 Boppard (Rhein-Hunsrck-Kr., Germany) without exact scale (circa 1:1) (1 after Vallet 2008,
192 fig.100; 412 plate 37.4; 2 after Stork 1995, p.23 fig. 20; 3 photograph Dafydd Kidd; 4 after von Berg, Wegner 2001,
p.198 fig.199).
338
As mentioned the image of the equestrian the meaning is a warrior saint was for only a very short time
part of the male world in the Merovingian Empire, especially in the Alamannic region. Just for one generation it was in use, because it was a part of prestigious
objects, of imports from Italy. Maybe it had quite the
character of a sign for warrior groups who acted in the
South in the Frankish Lombardic wars. However,
north of the Alps it lost this function. It is possible, that
the Christian meaning was not applicable for Alamannic warriors. Maybe there was no understanding of the
contents of the images or just for the naturalistic images as a modus of communication. In any case there
was an alternative form to demonstrate warriors group
identity and maybe religion. It was animal style II,
which was very popular especially in South West Germany and the Rhine region. It appears in most cases on
fittings of male dress, armament and horse equipment.
Karen Hilund Nielsen (1997; 1998) has pointed out
ten years ago, that this style was a political badge.
It is obvious that even or particularly on the fittings of
horses harness made north of the Alps Flechtband
was used in silver on iron. There were some objects
used in the same function as the phalerae to underline
this (Quast 1993, p.446ff and p.458ff [List 1b and c]).
It was absolutely not because craftsmen in this region
were unable to produce naturalistic figural art. Above
mentioned local imitations of phalerae, and of course
the brooches, illustrate that. Additionally a completely
conserved wooden lyre with figural scene from Trossingen (Kr.Tuttlingen; Germany) clarifies that Mediterranean motives were adopted (and maybe as regards
content transformed) north of the Alps (TheuneGrosskopf 2005; 2006). To be honest there are very
few naturalistic images in the male world, which were
distributed from Northern Italy to Uppland in Sweden,
e.g dancer with weapons and horned helmets (at least
Helmbrecht 2007; cf. now additionally Mller 2008,
p.235 fig.2.2.) and so called Ulfhednar warriors
wearing a wolfs skin. These images illustrate the networking of Merovingian period warrior elites (Quast
2002 with figs. 3b and c).
Why was the equestrian saint popular

in the female world? A conclusion
The distribution of the motif of the victorious equestrian continued in the regions north of the Alps in the late
The equestrian saint must have been known as Christian content because it was used in ecclesiastic contexts. Firstly, it arrived north of the Alps with the
Mediterranean warriors equipment, but there may be
other mediums e.g. like textiles (c.f. Fingerlin 1974,
p.620 with footnote 100). Nevertheless, the motif was
very quickly transformed into the female world. This
does not mean that women prefer Christianity7 while
men remain with their pre-Christian beliefs. If we are
looking at grave furniture, e.g. to other objects of the
Lombardic horizon, the foil-crosses, we get different
information: they were used more often in male graves
(Christlein 1975, esp. p.79 with fig. 5). However, this
was an act of showing wealth during the funeral. The
demonstration in daily life seems to exemplify a difference in mentality between men in women in Merovingian period.
BALTICA 11
I m a g e s f o r w a r r i o r g r o u p s i d e n t i t y
sixth and seventh century AD. This was the time, when
in the territories of the Franks and the Alamanns the
process of Christianisation happened. Of course this
was a long process which was even in the eight century AD not completed in all rural regions. It was not
only a religious change but also (or more) connected
with political organisations. The emergence of Christian symbols in daily life of higher social groups was
opposed by non-Christian symbols of other but also
higher social groups (Quast 2002, p.273ff).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
there the cross itself was the most usual Christian icon
(Depreyot 1998; 2001).
Far away in Scandinavia the motif of the horseman

with a lance was only used in the male world, namely
on the helmets of Vendel (Stolpe, Arne 1927, plate 5.2
and 6.1; Bhner 1995, 715 fig. 28) and Valsgrde (Bhner 1995, pp.712-714 figs. 23-27), both in Uppland
(Sweden), and centuries before already in the art of the
bracteates (Axboe 2007; Pesch 2007; Quast 2002). It
seem to be very probable that the illustration had another (no Christian) meaning and was a badge of elite
warriors identity.
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to Prof Dr Gerhard Fingerlin for the
knowledge and information about the new Hfingen
phalera. He was so kind as to allow me to present this
marvellous object in my lecture in Klaipeda. Many
thanks also to Monika Weber, from the Rmisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz, for the graphics
of this article and Andrew Brown for the corrections of
my English text.
VII
I mages
of the H orse
in A ncient
A rt
Authors English revised by Andrew Brown

Grslund (1997) had shown that in the Viking period Birka
Christianity was preferred by women because of different
reasons.
339
Dieter
Quast
Merovingian Period
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340
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Received: 5 January 2009; Revised: 26 March;

Dieter Quast
Rmisches-Germanisches Zentral Museum
Ernst-Ludwig-Platz 2,
55116 Mainz
E-mail: quast@rgzm.de
M E R O V I N G L A I K O TA R P I O
R A I T E L I AT VA I Z D A I
Dieter Quast
VII
I mages
of the H orse
in A ncient
A rt
Santrauka
Meroving laikotarpio (apie 450750 m.) figrin puoyba yra labai reta. i dien Pranczijos, Belgijos,
Nyderland, Liuksemburgo ir Vokietijos teritorijoje
inoma deimtys tkstani kap, bet rasta labai maai
figrins puoybos pavyzdi. Bet per paskutin VI a.
ketvirt kakas pasikeit: didiulis kiekis daikt net
ginkluots: ietigali, arv, alm, sudaryt i siaur
pailg plokteli, dir, balnakilpi ir irgo aprangos
341
Merovingian Period
Dieter
Quast
342
reikmen i Italijos pasklido ypa pietinje Vakar

Vokietijoje, Alemanijoje. Labai gali bti, kad iuos
daiktus atsigabeno kari grups, grtanios i Italijos
po frank kar su lombardais. Kartu su iais daiktais
atkeliavo gana daug figrini kompozicij, ypa krikionikais motyvais (1; 35 pav.). Ypatinga i motyv
vaizdavimo vieta buvo faleros (phalera). J komplekt
sudar trys vienetai viena per vidur ir dvi i on
ant krtininio balno diro (1.1; 3 pav.). J skersmuo
apytikriai nuo 9 iki 12 cm. Pagrindas buvo gaminamas
i vario lydinio, o virus paprastai dengiamas sidabro
ploktele su atvaizdu. Nors tie atvaizdai gaminti kalant spaudais, iki iol nra inoma vienod komplekt. Dauguma faler puota krikionikais simboliais,
vienas daniausi yra ventasis raitelis (3:13 pav.).
iaur nuo Alpi faleros turjo bti prestiiniai daiktai,
aleman regione paskatin atsirasti imitacijas, kurios
buvo populiarios tik labai trump laik. Faleros buvo
naudojamos vos vienos kartos. Galbt tai buvo tik iskirtinis frank kare su lombardais pietuose kariavusi
karini dalini enklas. Taiau iaur nuo Alpi jos
neteko ios paskirties. Gali bti, kad j krikionikas
pobdis buvo nepriimtinas aleman kariams. Galbt
ia nebuvo suvoktas paties vaizdio turinys arba pats
realistinis vaizdis kaip komunikacijos bdas. Kad ir
kaip bt, ia turta alternatyvi karini grupi identiteto ir galbt religijos demonstravimo form. Tai
gyvninis stilius II, buvs labai populiarus, ypa Pietvakari Vokietijoje ir Reino regione (6 pav.). Tai ypa
pastebima ant vyr drabui, ginkluots ir irgo aprangos reikmen. Prie deimt met K. H. Nilsen (Karen
Hilund Nielsen) taikliai apibdino stili kaip politin simbol.
Taiau domiausia yra ventojo raitelio motyvo transformacija nuo kario irgo aprangos detals moter pasaul: papuoalus ir amuletus. iaip ar taip, Viduremio
jros regiono ventojo raitelio motyvas tapo populiaria
VII a. moter drabui detale (7 pav.). Motyvo populiarum ir pritaikymo pakopas puikiai rodo vairios
VII a. segs (4 pav.). Bet ne tik ant segi ventasis raitelis tapo populiariu atvaizdu, dar jis iplito ant vadinamj kiaurarai ornamentini disk (7 pav.).
Net jei ventasis raitelis labai greitai inyksta i vyr
pasaulio, jis netampa tik moter pasaulio dalimi. Kaip
krikionikosios ikonografijos dalis jis, inoma, iplinta meroving banytiniame mene (pvz., Ennabeureno relikvijorius; Homhauseno banyios presbiterijos baliustrada).
Labai toli, Skandinavijoje, raitelio su ietimi motyvas
buvo naudojamas tik vyr pasaulyje, btent ant Vendel
ir Valsgrde alm, abu i Upplando regiono (vedija),
o imtmeius prie tai dar brakteat puoybai. Labai tiktina, kad vaizdis turjo kit (ne krikionik)
prasm ir buvo visuomens elito iskirtinis simbolis.
KONSTANTIN SKVORTSOV AND ALEKSANDER KHOKHLOV

Abstract
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fi n d i n g s o f s a d d le s f ro m
A rchaeological E x cavatio n s
i n P ru s s ia n ce m etery A leika - 3 i n Sa m la n d .
( P reli m i n ary P ublicatio n )
Burials of riders accompanied by horses are of special significance for the Prussian antiquities. This mass tradition roots back
to the early Roman time and existed, slightly modified, in this area till Prussia was conquered by the Teutonic Order in the
13th century. In other words, this tradition existed in the Baltic region for over 1000 years. A horse takes an outstanding position in the Baltic mythology similarly to that of other Indo-European peoples. Numerous documents prove the important role
that a horse played in Ancient Prussians life.
Wooden saddles were found in three horse graves in Aleika-3 cemetery. Two saddles were preserved in the form of wooden
fragments with carved images, which were covered with polychromatic pictures (yellow, red, brown, and black colours were
used in the painting). Rear saddle arch found in the grave 521 is painted with solar rosettes, but the main accent of the saddle
arch is two horses galloping to symbol of the World Tree or anthropomorphic figure in the centre of the composition. The
unique artefacts found in Aleika-3 burial ground provide principally new information for understanding the details of burial
ceremony and daily life of the medieval Prussians.
Key words: saddles, horses, figural art, Prussians riders, Aleika-3 in Samland, Baltic region.
Over a hundred-year long history of archaeological research at the Prussian territory provides materials from
over 100 cemeteries. A total of more then 400 equine
burial grounds dated the sixth thirteen centuries was
found at these sites. Probably the quantity of equine
burials corresponds to biggest part of all male burials
in the archaeological records of this period.
For instance, some metal artefacts (plates and binding) can be interpreted as saddle details. Finds from
the following sites are examples of such artefacts: Povarovka (former Grebitten) burial ground, digs under
G.N. Pronins supervision (Pronin et al. 2006), Kovrovo (former Dollkeim) burial ground, digs under V.I.
Kulakovs supervision (2007), and at some other sites.
As a rule, this period burials consist of two levels: the

upper level contains cremated human with various artefacts (ceramic vessels, ornaments and armament),
while the lower level holds burial of one or several
(one to three) non-cremated horses with details of bridle, various type bit, stirrup, bells and etc. The finds
are almost completely represented by metal things and
seldom by leather belt fragments saturated with metal
salts. Besides there are finds of cheek-pieces made of
horn and bone.
Such finds provide for discussions of saddle presence

and its decorations but give no information about saddle construction and size. Until now not a single saddle
or large fragments of a saddle have been found in the
Prussian area. Thus, no information has been available
in regards to design or types of saddles, which ancient
Prussians had in the early Middle Ages and through the
Teutonic Orders arrival in the 13th century. To make
the situation even worse, no details iconographic materials (pictures of Prussians saddle) were available from
that time.
As known local soils are especially aggressive and

highly acid, and therefore bones are often not preserved
in many burial grounds. Artefacts of organic materials
and even metals are poorly preserved.
As a rule we can conclude that horses were placed in
the grave with full gear. Position of various details (e.g.
pendants, plates, buckles, stirrups, bridle bits, etc.)
proves this. This leads us to the conclusion that when
buried a horse also had a saddle on, which was usually
made of organic materials.
Aleika-3 cemetery (former Jaugehnen in Sm1nd) is

located in the northern part of Kaliningrad peninsular,
about 2 km to the east of Romanovo settlement (former
Pobetten, in Smlnd), now it is Zelenogradsky district
of Kaliningrad region.
Aleika-3 burial ground is located at the gentle slope of
the height, the left bank of the Aleika River. This site
was unfamiliar to the German archaeologists in the prewar period. Archaeological digs commenced in 2005
at this site. In 20052008 the Sambian archaeological
VII
I m age s
o f the H or s e
i n A n cie n t
A rt
343
Findings of saddles from

Archaeological Excavations
in Prussian cemetery
Aleika-3 in Samland.
KONSTANTIN
SKVORTSOV
AND
ALEKSANDER
KHOKHLOV
Fig. 1. Burial -521, saddle details in situ, Aleika-3 cemetery (photograph by Skvortsov).
expedition of the Institute of Archaeology (the Russian

Academy of Science) researched 4600 m2 where 554
burials were located. 517 burials are from the second
to early fifth centuries and 37 complexes were dated as
of the11TH12th centuries.
The graves dated to the 11-12th centuries are located
60 meters to the north of the part of the cemetery dated
to the Roman Period at the bottom of the hill. In 2006
when this area was examined during ploughing of the
field located to the north of the height where the burial
ground is, an area of more modern cremations was revealed; its size is from 40 to 50 meters. When examining this area various items were collected (fragments
of penannular fibulae of various types, iron spear and
javelins) which were dated end of the 11th12th centuries. In 2006 a pad of 100 square meters was excavated
where 34 burials of late the 11th early 12th centuries
were researched.
All burials were made in round or oval pits; the upper
level has remnants of cremated bones of one or several people while the lower level of the pit contains
equine burials. The materials found in these burials are
typical for burial grounds of the early medieval Prussians. The inventory from the upper levels of the burials had traces of thermal exposure from burial fire and
is represented by ceramic vessels made at the potters
wheel; iron spear and javelins; iron knives and spurs;
numerous weights for scales made of bronze and iron;
iron and bronze buckles for belts; iron plates, bronze
344
fibulae, bronze finger-rings, iron fragments of combs

made of horn.
In the lower level, in horse
burials various iron stirrups, ring bits and bits with falcate cheek-pieces, iron
belly-band buckles, numerous plates and horse bridle
pendants made of tin, jingles made of bronze, tin and
iron were found. The lower levels of the burial places
in these sites were covered with clay and located at
the level of natural ground water table; in other words
horse burial was covered with clay built up when digging a grave; due to this fact items of organic materials
(wood and leather) were preserved.
These unique environmental conditions provided for
organic artefacts preservation. In three burials the following was found: vessels (wooden and made of bast
(bark), wooden tools (perhaps for weaving), and fragments of leathern belts including those with numerous
tin plates.
Wooden saddles were found in three burials (Fig. 1).
One complete wooden saddle covered with leather was
also found. Two saddles were preserved in the form
of wooden fragments with carved images, which were
covered with polychromatic composition (Plate VIII.3).
Yellow, red, brown, and black colours were used in the
paint saddle arch. The picture at the rear arch (rear vertical detail of a saddle) was well preserved. We can see
three circles (perhaps solar rosettes / solar signs) at the
front side of this detail. The rear portion of this detail shows a complex composition: a master depicted
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Fig. 2. Saddle from burial
-521 and saddles dated the first third of the second millennium AC from the archeological excavations cemeteries and settlements in Europe (A schematic drawing by Khokhlov).
a symbol of the World Tree or anthropomorphic figure

in the centre of this composition; two horses galloping from two sides to the central figure (Plate VII.3).
Analogous compositions can be found in folk art of
various European peoples in 1-2 millennium AC.
The finds of the Prussian saddles from Aleika-3 burials
described above can be viewed as a separate link in
the evolutionary chain of saddles typical of the European agricultural peoples and saddles typical of nomad
tribes (Fig. 2). Probably the Aleika-3 items got straight
high pommels from the former and figured intricatelyshaped saddle-trees from the latter.
The significance of these finds pertains to the fact that
these wooden saddles and vessels are the first ones
found in burial grounds of the medieval Prussians.
The unique artefacts found in Aleika-3 burial ground
in 2007 provide principally new information for understanding the details of burial ceremony and daily life of
the medieval Prussians and present unique examples of
folk painting art and wooden utensils.
Brief catalogue of Aleika-3 graves

with saddles
Burial -502. One saddle was found in the two-level burial of a rider and a horse -502. In the lower
level fragments of a wooden saddle were identified on

the fragments of horse bones. Saddle-tree details and
leather fragments which covered those wooden details
are preserved. In addition remains of wooden front and
rear pommels (front and rear vertical wooden parts)
not covered with leather were revealed. The preserved
parts of wooden pommels have remainders of polychromic (multicoloured) geometric ornament in red
and black colours against white (yellow?) background
(Accurate dimensions of the artefacts can be provided
only after the restoration is complete). Fragments of a
leather belt with an iron buckle were found under the
saddle, and the following was found near the saddle:
two iron stirrups, numerous bronze rivets, bronze and
tin jingles, bridle plates, an iron bell. The horse skull
was in the bucket made of tree bark, a wooden knife for
weaving was nearby.
Burial -520. In the two-level burial -520 the lower
level (horse burial) contained saddle fragments including wooden saddle-tree fragments covered with leather,
fragments of a wooden front pommel and almost complete wooden rear pommel covered with polychromic
subject paintings. The front portion of this detail depicts three circles (probably solar rosettes). The rear
portion of this detail shows a complex composition: a
symbol of the World Tree or anthropomorphic figure
is depicted in the centre of this composition with two
VII
I m age s
o f the H or s e
i n A n cie n t
A rt
345
Findings of saddles from

Archaeological Excavations
in Prussian cemetery
Aleika-3 in Samland.
KONSTANTIN
SKVORTSOV
AND
ALEKSANDER
KHOKHLOV
BALNAI I ALEIKOS 3-IOJO

(BUVS JAUGEHNEN)
KAPINYNO SAMBIJOS
The following was found near the saddle: felt (wool- P U S I A S A LY J E
len) horsecloth remains, an iron buckle, fragments of ( P R E L I M I N A R S R E Z U LTATA I )
horses galloping to the figure from two sides. Yellow,
red, brown and black colours were used in the painting.
iron stirrup, fragments of leathern bridle belts with tin

plates, iron bit with falcate cheek-pieces, bronze jingles, fragments of other bronze items and a wooden
flask made at lathe.
Burial -521. In the two-level burial ground -521

at the lower level (horse burial) a wooden saddle with
figured intricately shaped saddle-trees (with fragments
of leathern upholster preserved) and wooden pommel
fragments were found near horse bones fragments.
Fragments of felt (woollen) horse-cloth or sweat-cloth
were found under the saddle. Fragments of iron stirrup,
fragments of ceramic vessel, tin plates for harness belts
and bronze bells were found nearby.
Currently these artefacts are in restoration in the Moscow Kremlin museum and museum of Gottorf castle
in Schleswig (Germany). Upon restoration completion
more detailed information will be available regarding
these items.
Translated by Maria Khokhlova
References
PRONIN, G.N., SMIRNOVA, M.E., MISHINA, T.N., NOVIKOV, V.V., 2006. Mogilnik Povarovka X XIII vv. In:
Materialy ohrannyh arheologicheskikh issledovanii, vol.
8. Moskva.
KULAKOV, V.I., 2007.
Dollkeim-Kovrovo Issledovaniia 19922002 gg.. In: Prussia Antiqua, 4. Monumenta,
insk.
Received: 12 June 2009; Revised: 18 June 2009
Aleksander Khokhlov
Institut of Archeology
Dm.Ulianova street 19 Moscow, Russia
E-mail: anhbalt@mail.ru
Kaliningrad Museum of History and Art
21 street Klinicheskaia RU-236000, Kaliningrad Russia
E-mail: sn_arch_exp@mail.ru
346
Konstantin Skvortsov,
Aleksander Khokhlov
Santrauka
Raiteli kapai su irgais yra bdingi Prsijos senovei.
i tradicija ateina i ankstyvojo romnikojo laikotarpio ir kiek modifikuota gyvuoja iki Ordinas XIII a.
ukariauja Prsij. Kitaip tariant, Baltijos regione i
tradicija gyvavo daugiau kaip 1000 met. irgas um labai svarbi viet balt, beje, ir kit indoeuropiei, mitologijoje.
Prsai irgus laidojo su visa apranga. Tyrinjant Aleikos 3-iojo (buvs Jaugehnen) kapinyn, griautiniuose
irg kapuose 502, 520 ir 521 rasta medini baln dali,
pjaustyt ir itapyt naudojant polichromijos technik
(1 pav.; VIII: 3 iliustr.). Kape 520 iliko upakalinis
balno lankas (polichromin tapyba ant lentos; naudotos
geltona, raudona, ruda ir juoda spalvos). Pagrindinis
motyvas, pavaizduotas ant io balno lanko, yra du vienas prieais kit uoliuojantys irgai, Pasaulio medis
ar antropomorfin figra centre. Figrinio meno, beje,
kaip ir to laikotarpio tapybos ant lentos pavyzdi, visam Baltijos jros regione pasitaiko iimtinai retai.
SONJA
HUKANTAIVAL
Horse Skulls and Alder

Horse: the Horse
as a Depositional
Sacrifice in Buildings
HORSE SKULLS AND ALDER HORSE:

T H E H O R S E A S A D e p ositional
S a c rifi c e in B uildin g s
SONJA HUKANTAIVAL
Abstract
The article discusses the horses role as a building deposit in historical times. The focus is on Finland but a short overlook
on the custom elsewhere in Europe (mainly Southern Scandinavia and the British Isles) is also given. The possible meanings
attached to the horse in deposits are also presented.
Key words: building deposit, horse skull, folklore, magic, witchcraft.
Introduction
This article discusses a part of my research subject,
which is building deposits in Finland. I specialize on
historical times; a period that in southwestern Finland
begins in the latter part of the 12th century and continues all the way to modern times. Thus this article will
also focus on historical times. The horse seems to have
had a special position in magic and folk beliefs at least
in some parts of Europe and it has been used as a building deposit in some regions up to modern times.
First, I will give a short definition of the word building deposit and then move on to briefly look into how
the horse has been used as one in Northern Europe and
especially in Finland. As research material I will not
only use the archaeological finds, but also Finnish folklore. The alder-horse is presented as a specific example of this folklore and, as one might say, as a curiosity.
I will then move on to discuss the possible meanings of
building deposits and especially the horses role as one.
At this point, this means only to scratch the surface of
this potentially very complex subject.
What is a building deposit?
350
A building deposit is an object (or several objects together) deliberately concealed in or under a building.
It is important to try to determine whether the objects
are deliberately concealed, since many objects may
also be accidentally lost in the constructs of a building
(Fingerlin 2005). This is naturally the case with small
objects such as coins, but it is obviously not so easy to
accidentally loose a horse in your house. Building deposits have been called foundation offerings / sacrifices
/ deposits, because archaeologists encounter deposits
made in the foundation more often than elsewhere in
the building (naturally). There has also been much
discussion about the use of the words offering or

sacrifice when talking about building deposits (e.g.
Beilke-Voigt 2007, p.18ff; Carlie 2005, p.24ff). Most
researchers, including myself, have decided to abandon these problematic terms and use something more
neutral. For example Ines Beilke-Voigt (2007, p.30ff)
has chosen the term intentional deposition. I will keep
the word building in the term for now (as many other
researchers have done), just to distinguish this form of
intentional deposit from others not made in buildings.
The custom of concealing something in a building appeared already in Neolithic times, as soon as buildings
were made more permanent (for discussion on Neolithic building deposits in Southern Scandinavia, see
Karsten 1994, p.147ff). But the meanings of the deposits have probably changed many times during the
long history of this custom. The tradition has not been
fixed; it is very dynamic both in the sense of meanings
and practice (Falk 2006, p.203ff).
The concealed object may be almost anything, but
some types of objects have been favored in different
times and regions. A deposit may contain for example
animal bones (often skulls, jaws, leg bones or complete
skeletons), coins, Stone Age tools, everyday household objects (knives, ceramics, needles, sickles, etc.)
and personal objects (such as shoes). Sometimes one
deposit contains several different objects (Merrifield
1987, pp.50-57 and 116-136). Naturally, the interest
of this article is aimed at the horses role.
A building deposit is an object and its context, meaning it can only be identified as such when accurate information on the finds context is available. Otherwise
it is only an object. Deposits seem to be made at the
borders of a building, and especially at the openings,
such as the door, windows and chimney and in corners.
Other contexts are in walls, under floors, in the roof
The horse as a building deposit is especially well

known in the British Isles and in Southern Scandinavia
(Denmark and Southern Sweden). In both of these regions archaeologists and other researchers (folklorists
and ethnologists) have written about horses as building deposits (Merrifield 1987, p.123ff; Hoggard 2004,
p.177ff; Sandklef 1949; Carlie 2004, p.124ff). And it
can be seen that in these parts horse-deposits in buildings have been repeatedly encountered. I do have some
information about finds from Germany (Klusemann
1919, p.14) and Latvia (Caune 1993, p.495ff) (and of
course Finland), and now I have been informed that
there are finds here in Lithuania as well (Bliujien,
personal communication: e-mail 17.01.2008), and I am
sure that the custom may be very widespread.
The horse first appears as a building deposit in Northern Europe in the Bronze Age, but it becomes more
common in the beginning of the Iron Age. During the
Iron Age there is seen a trend towards depositing only
specific parts of the horse, namely the skull together
with leg bones and perhaps the tail (Beilke-Voigt 2007,
p.237). It seems that later, in historic times, the skull
alone is preferred as a deposit (see e.g. Merrifield 1987,
p.123ff). In some parts, for example in Southern Scandinavia, it has been common to place a horse skull in
the foundation of a building up to modern times (Carlie 2004, p.124). Sometimes there are several skulls
deposited together, for example 3040 horses skulls
were regularly arranged under the floor in an old house
in Suffolk, England (Merrifield 1987, p.124).
The horse as a building deposit in

Finland
In Finland the horse as a building deposit is better
known from folklore than actual finds (since finds
have been poorly documented). Folklore about building deposits has been collected from the 19th century
and the beginning of the 20th century and some of it
has been published in the early 1900s by the Finnish
Literature Society (Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura,
SKS) in a compilation series called Suomen kansan
muinaisia taikoja (Ancient magic of the Finnish people). Also some ethnologists of the early 20th century
According to the folklore a horse skull (sometimes with

some quicksilver in a quill inside it) was deposited under the floor of a building or under the hearth. Sometimes three rib bones of the horse were deposited with
the skull, and one example from Eastern Finland mentions that it is the lady of the house who should secretly
conceal a horse skull under the floor of a new building
(Rantasalo 1933b, p.1212; Paulaharju 2003, pp.87 and
262). Deposited horse-skulls and even whole skeletons
of horses are sometimes found in the hearth-constructs
of old houses until recently in the geographical area
known as Ostrobothnia (Helamaa 2004, p.144; Siltala
2006). But, since they have not been reported when
found, these have apparently not been properly documented.
BALTICA 11
The horse as a building deposit in

Northern Europe
have described building deposits when writing about

building traditions (Paulaharju 2003, the manuscript is
from 1907).
ARCHAEOLOGIA
constructs and the hearth. Prehistoric and early historic

building deposits are often in postholes (Merrifield
1987, pp.50-57 and 116-136).
I know of two cases where a whole deposited horse

has been found. Both are from Ostrobothnia (Jurva and
Halsua), and both were deposited in the hearth-foundation. These finds have both been discovered in the
1950s when an old house has been renovated (Helamaa
2004, p.144; Siltala 2006). Naturally, it seems that deposited skulls have been far more common than whole
horses.
The only deposited horse skull in Finland that has
come to my attention which has been found during
archaeological excavation is from Helsinki Old Town.
The excavation took place in 1993 and the skull was
under the northern wall of the16th17th century outbuilding with a wooden plank floor and no hearth. The
building had been partially destroyed, so there is some
uncertainty of the skulls interpretation (Heikkinen
1994, p.130; Heikkinen, personal communication: email 24.11.2008).
When put on a map, the known folklore and actual
horse-deposits form a pattern shown in Fig 1. They
most likely show the area where the custom survived
the longest. The white areas in the southern part of
the country are probably only because of the poor
documentation. In the northern part of the country the
horses importance both economically and in beliefs
diminish, since the area is better suited for keeping
reindeer than horses. Fig 1 also shows whether the deposition contained a skull or a whole horse, marked
with different symbols. It also shows where folklore
about the alder-horse has been collected. Next we
will look more closely at the alder-horse, with an example from Kiiminki.
VIII
H orses
in E thnoar c haeolo g y
and F olklore
351
SONJA
HUKANTAIVAL

Horse: the Horse
as a Depositional
Fig. 1. A map of Finland with the examples from folklore and known finds of horse as building deposits marked
(drawn by author).
352
The alder-horse is an example of imitative or so-called

homeopathic magic (Frazer 1922, pp.14-43). The actual
horse-deposit is replaced by the image of a horse. One
might say that this is definitely a more economic way
to make a horse-deposit than if a real horse was used.
The example is full of magic elements: firstly alder is
the preferred wood in Finnish magic, and the use of the
skirt and blood of a woman who have recently given
birth is also very typical. Both barley and mercury (or
quicksilver) have also been repeatedly used in household magic in Finland (e.g. Sirelius 1921, p.554ff). So,
the alder-horse is in its place and the horses luck is
ensured Or is it? The folklore example continues:
If the alder-horse is stolen and put under the thiefs
stable, the horse-luck will follow with it. If the alderhorse is knocked upside-down, the horses in that stable
will die. If the alder-horse is stolen and the pastures
are circled with it and then the alder-horse is buried
upside-down close to an ant-hill on the north-side of
the pastures, the horses (of the stable where the alderhorse was stolen from) die at those pastures and the
horse-luck will not return unless a new stable is built
in another place.
This gives an idea of the ill-willing magic or witchcraft that people were afraid of. Envy was a really dangerous thing and every neighbor was a possible witch
(Nenonen & Kervinen 1994, p.39ff). It also shows the
believed link between alder-horse and the real horses in
the stable. This kind of magic is perhaps more familiar
to us today as Haitian voodoo-dolls, because they have
been introduced to us by pop-culture (such as films and
comics). This kind of magic has been known in various
Why were building deposits made in

historical times?
Many of the folklore examples I have encountered
include a small explanation of the described deposit.
This gives an idea of why deposits were made in the
19th century. In Finland the fear of witchcraft is the
main reason given for the deposits in the collected
folklore. There seem to have been a need for protective
magic, especially protecting the borders of a building
from outside threats.
BALTICA 11
The alder-horse (in Finnish lepphevonen) is known

in folklore both in the eastern and the northern part of
the country. This example is from Kiiminki, and it has
been written down in the 19th century and published
in the above-mentioned compilation of Finnish magic
practices in 1933 When a new stable is built a horse
is made of alder-wood and for it a small stable. A blanket for the horse is made from a piece of the skirt of a
woman who has recently given birth, and the eyes are
painted on the horse with the womans blood. Barley
and quicksilver are placed in a basket and put in front
of the horse. This alder-horse and its stable are put under the floor of the new stable to give the horses good
health and luck. (translated by the author) (Rantasalo
1933a, p.9).
parts of the world, though. The alder-horse -deposit

differs from the other horse-deposits since (according
to the folklore) it is always placed under a stable, never
under other buildings. This is easily explained with the
notion that the alder-horse is a building deposit which
meaning is essentially linked with ensuring the wellbeing of horses.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
The alder horse: a folklore example

from the 19th century
The feared weakness of the households borders has

been noted by both Jari Eilola (2003, p.314), in his
studies of witchcraft and magic in the latter half of the
17th century, and Touko Issakainen (2005, p.272), in
his studies of 19th century magic. The weakest points
in a building were the openings, doors, windows, and
chimneys. It is important to remember that in its context magic is not opposed to rational behavior (see e.g.
Kieckhefer 1994; Brck 1999). To a person who believes that witchcraft is a real threat, it is very rational
to protect oneself from it.
Closely related to the fear of witchcraft is the endeavor
to ensure good luck. A lucky building is protected from
evil such as sickness, death, misfortune, fire and lightning, things that were believed caused by witchcraft.
Luck is for example fertility, health and a good crop,
and those were things threatened by envious neighbors. The reason for a deposit may also sometimes
have been ensuring for example fertility, without the
fear of witchcraft as the underlying motive. As a matter of fact, some researchers, for example Bob Wilson
(1999), have stressed fertility-magic when discussing
the meaning of deposits.
The fear of witchcraft has probably not always been
as strong. Maybe it has surfaced only when misfortune such as crop failure and many bad years in a row
threatened the society. One interesting reason for depositing is not protection of witchcraft but actually a
malicious act of witchery. When a deposit is secretly
made in another persons building one is thought to be
able to curse the building or even steal the luck from it.
This fits with Eilolas (2003, pp.187 and 226) notion
VIII
H orses
and F olklore
353
SONJA
HUKANTAIVAL

Horse: the Horse
as a Depositional
that witchcraft was the act of breaking the borders of a

household for example by introducing an alien object
to it.
The meaning of the building deposits as offerings for
supernatural beings has sometimes been suggested as
the oldest reason for the custom (Carlie 2004, p.217ff).
This may be true, but even the Finnish folklore from
the 19th century recognizes this meaning. So, it seems
that layers of meanings of different ages have co-existed. This is one example of the dynamic nature of this
custom. Naturally various other reasons for the depositions than the above-discussed are possible as well.
The role of the horse as building

deposit
Where horses special animals in deposits? It seems that
all domestic animals and some wild animals (for example bear in Finland) have been used in deposits (see
Wilson 1999 for examples of other animal bones used
for various ritual means). The horse seems to have
required a special meaning among domestic animals
though. This is seen for example in iconography beginning in the Bronze Age and in Iron Age horse sacrifices
(Beilke-Voigt 2007, p.238ff). There are some written
documents about the horses meaning in ancient religion as well: For example the oldest Nordic law texts
give the idea of the horse as the most important sacrificial animal in the official cult (Carlie 2004, p.124).
When discussing the role of horses skulls as building deposits, some earlier researchers (Sandklef 1949)
have argued whether the skull-deposits have had a
ritual or practical reason. Even though this distinction
is criticized and perhaps even outdated today (Brck
1999; Bradley 2005), I have chosen to first present the
suggested meanings as if they were separate.
Magic and symbolism

Firstly, the horses head is said to be a symbol of power (Merrifield 1987, p.126). The horse in general has
symbolized power and vitality and it has been a symbol of the sun (Biedermann 1993, p.73ff). This aspect
may have something to do with its magic properties as
well. The magic power of a horses skull is also widely
known: it brings luck and expels evil (Caune 1993,
p.496). Brian Hoggard (2004, p.178) remarks that
much of the folklore of the British Isles associated with
the horse concerns luck and it has been said that the
horse skull brought luck to the house. How this association began is not clear though, he continues. Bring-
354
ing luck and expelling evil are also the main reasons
for horse deposits that Finnish folklore recognizes. As
seen above it is the meaning of the alder-horse as well.
The answer to the question how this association began
may lie with the special meaning of the horse in ancient religion as a sacrificial animal.
Iron Age horse sacrifice in wetlands and pits is well
known in Scandinavia. Bogs and wetlands are often
borderlands between different inhabited areas and are
also thought to be passages to the Otherworld and, as
such, borders to the unknown and uncontrollable. This
is one reason why Anne Monikander (2006) suggests
that the horses sacrificed in wetlands became liminal
creatures keeping guard against the uncontrollable (the
realm of the dead, of chaos and of anything unknown).
In this way they helped maintain the social order and
protected people from chaotic powers from across the
border of the unknown.
It is not such a long leap from being liminal creatures
keeping guard on the borders between this world and
the Otherworld to guarding the assumed weak borders
of a building. Perhaps the role of the horse as building deposit begun as a guardian against evil outside
powers; a property inherited from the horses meaning
in the perhaps more official cult involving horse sacrifice in wetlands. This meaning may later have faded
from the memory of the depositing people. As seem to
have happened with the horse shoe, which has earlier
been considered a powerful talisman against witchcraft
(Merrifield 1987, p.161ff) only the luck-bringing property of the horse deposit is remembered more widely.
Acoustic skulls
The practical, non-ritual, reason given for horses
skulls concealed in buildings is that they are placed
under floors to create an echo. This has been suggested
both in the British Isles and in Southern Scandinavia
(Merrifield 1987, p.123ff; Sandklef 1949, p.26ff). The
earlier mentioned 30-40 skulls from the house in Suffolk were probably laid there for this purpose. Ceramic
pots have also been concealed in buildings for acoustic
reasons. The acoustic skulls were placed in churches,
in houses and in Scandinavia especially in threshingbarns (Merrifield 1987, p.121ff).
In churches the acoustics were very important, of
course. And in houses were people danced and music
was played, but why in threshing barns? It was considered important that the sound of threshing carried far
(Sandklef 1949, p.47ff). Could this have some magic
purpose? It is well known that in many cultures loud
Concluding remarks
There are still many unanswered questions about the
horse as a building deposit. For example the study of
how widely this custom has been known in Europe and
the rest of the world is still waiting to be made. On
Finlands part the picture will hopefully get clearer as
my study continues. It is possible that the custom of
concealing a horse skull in a building which in some
parts survived up to the 20th century is an extension of
the horse-cult known in the Iron Age. The more private
act of building deposits has without doubt been able
to co-exist with Christendom for a long time. And in a
way the custom continues today as both public and private buildings often get a deposit of for example coins
and newspapers. The meanings have just changed once
more.
References
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Befund. Studien zu den sog. Bauopfern, kultischen Niederlegungen und Bestattungen in ur- und frhgeschichtlichen
Siedlungen Norddeutschlands und Dnemarks. BAF 4.
Berlin.
BIEDERMANN, H., 1993. Suuri symbolikirja. (Original title
1989: Knaurs Lexicon der Symbole). Helsinki.
BRADLEY, R., 2005. Ritual and Domestic Life in Prehistoric Europe. London & New York: Routledge.
BRCK, J., 1999. Ritual and Rationality. Some Problems of
Interpretation in European Archaeology. European Journal of Archaeology, 2:3, 313-344.
CARLIE, A., 2004. Forntida byggnadskult: Tradition och
regionalitet i sdra Skandinavien. Riksantikvariembetet;
arkeologiska underskningar, Skrifter, 57. Malm.
CAUNE, A., 1993. Archologische Zeugnisse ber die lteste Siedlung am Ort der heutigen Domkirche zu Riga.
Zeitschrift fr Ostforschung, 4/1993, 481-506.
EILOLA, J., 2003. Rajapinnoilla. Sallitun ja kielletyn mritteleminen 1600-luvun jlkipuoliskon noituus- ja taikuustapauksissa. Helsinki.
FALK, A.B., 2006. My Home is My Castle. Protection
against Evil in Medieval Times. In: A. ANDRN, K. JENNBERT. & C. RAUDVERE, eds. Old Norse Religion in
Long-Term Perspectives: Origins, Changes, and Interactions. Vgar till Midgrd, 8. Lund: Nordic Academic
Press, 200-205.
FINGERLIN, I., 2005. Gebudefunde unter Dchern und
zwischen Bden. In: I. ERICSSON & R. ATZBACH, eds.

Sonja Hukantaival
Elinantie 2 B 26
FI-20540 Turku
Finland
E-mail: somaal@utu.fi
BALTICA 11
Depotfunde aus Gebuden in Zentraleuropa Concealed

Finds from Buildings in Central Europe. Archologische
Quellen zum Mittelalter, 2, Berlin, 14-20.
FRAZER, J.G., 1922. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic
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HEIKKINEN, M., 1994. Arkeologiset tutkimukset. Narinkka, 113-152.
HELAMAA, E., 2004. Vanhan rakentajan sanakirja. Rakentamisesta, rakennuksista ja rakenteista. SKS, Helsinki.
HOGGARD, B., 2004. The Archaeology of Counter-Witchcraft and Popular Magic. In: O. DAVIES & W. de BLCOURT, eds. Beyond the Witch-Trials: Witchcraft and
Magic in Enlightenment Europe. Manchester: University
Press, 167-186.
ISSAKAINEN, T., 2005. Warokeino ja muita temppuja talon
turvaksi: Taikoja 1800-luvulta. In: V. HEIKKINEN, ed.
Tekstien arki: Tutkimusmatkoja jokapivisiin merkityksiimme. Helsinki: Gaudeamus, 261-275.
KARSTEN, P., 1994. Att kasta yxan i sjn. En studie ver
rituell tradition och frndring utifrn sknska neolitiska
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23.
KIECKHEFER, R., 1994. The Specific Rationality of Medieval Magic. The American Historical Review, 99/3, 813836.
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MERRIFIELD, R., 1987. The Archaeology of Ritual and
Magic. London: Batsford.
MONIKANDER, A. 2006. Borderland-stalkers and Stalking-horses. Horse sacrifice as Liminal Activity in the Early
Iron Age. Current Swedish Archaeology,14, 143-158.
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kuolema. Suomalaiset noidat ja noitavainot 15001700-luvulla. Helsinki.
PAULAHARJU, S., 2003. Karjalaista rakennustaitoa. Kuvaus Pohjois- ja It-Karjalan rakennuksista. SKS, Helsinki.
RANTASALO, A.V. (ed.) 1933a: Karjataikoja. Suomen kansan muinaisia taikoja IV: 1. SKS, Helsinki.
RANTASALO, A.V. (ed.) 1933b: Karjataikoja. Suomen kansan muinaisia taikoja IV:3. SKS, Helsinki.
SANDKLEF, A., 1949. Singing Flails. A Study in ThreshingFloor Constructions, Flail-Threshing Traditions and the
Magic Guarding of the House. FF Communications, no.
136.
SILTALA, H., 2006. Reinikan pohjoissein on paanun mallista prett. Pohjalainen, 24.3.
SIRELIUS, U.T., 1921. Suomen kansanomaista kulttuuria.
Esineellisen kansatieteen tuloksia II. Helsinki.
WILSON, B., 1999. Displayed or Concealed? Cross Cultural
Evidence for Symbolic and Ritual Activity Depositing
Iron Age Animal Bones. Oxford Journal of Archaeology,
18 (3), 297-305.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
noises are considered to expel evil forces. So this practical custom of acoustic skulls may not be contradictory to magical and symbolic acts at all. One question
to consider is also why horses skulls were preferred.
One would presume that the skulls of cattle would be
available more often than those of horses, and possibly
just as suitable for acoustics.
VIII
H orses
and F olklore
355
SONJA
HUKANTAIVAL

Horse: the Horse
as a Depositional
IRG KAUKOLS IR ALKSNIO

A R K LY S : I R G O S L P I M A S
PA S TAT U O S E
Sonja Hukantaival
Santrauka
Straipsnyje aptariamas reikinys istorini laik irgo
(kaukols, viso skeleto ar statulls) slpimas pastatuose. Pastat depozitas yra objektas (ar keletas objekt),
smoningai paslptas pastato viduje ar po juo. Depozitai daniausiai dedami pastato kampuose ar prie jimo, taiau j esama ir po grindimis, sienose, stogo
ir idini konstrukcijose. Paslptas gali bti praktikai
bet koks objektas. Taiau pavieni skirting objekt
paslpimo atvej daniau pasitaiko tam tikruose regionuose tam tikrais laikotarpiais. iuo atveju nagrinjamas depozitas irgo kaukol, irgo skeletas ar irgo
figrl (alksnio arklys).
Brit salyne ir Piet Skandinavijoje irgo slpimas
pastate yra gana gerai inomas, tyrintoj apraytas
reikinys. io straipsnio autors dmesio centre Suomijos teritorija, taiau paymima, kad toki atvej inoma ir Vokietijoje, Latvijoje bei Lietuvoje. Tiktina,
kad i tradicija buvo plaiai paplitusi. iaurs Europoje
arklys anksiausiai naudotas bronzos amiuje, daniau
pasitaikydavo geleies amiaus pradioje. Kai kuriuose
regionuose is paprotys gyvavo ir naujausiais laikais.
Suomijoje inoma keletas XIX amiaus tautosakos
pavyzdi, susijusi su irgo slpimu pastatuose; jie
i dalies paaikina aptariamj reikin. Pagrindin folklore aptinkama tokio slpimo prieastis raganysts
baim. Panau, kad bta apsaugins magijos poreikio,
ypa siekta apsaugoti pastat nuo iors grsmi.
Suomijos tautosakoje minima, kad pastate paslpta arklio kaukol turjo atneti laim ar ivaryti piktsias
jgas. Panai pasakojim inoma ir i kit vietovi.
io reikinio itakos gali bti siejamos su geleies amiaus aukojimais pelkse ir arklio vaidmeniu tame rituale. Manoma, kad paaukotas irgas virsdavo paribio
btybe, saugania rib tarp io ir ano pasaulio (Anapilio). Autors nuomone, irgas, bdamas namo depozitu, saugojo pastat nuo toki iors grsmi kaip
raganavimas (burtai, kerai).
356
Abstract
The paper analyses a horses behaviour in Lithuanian narrative folklore texts: a horses reaction towards unusual environment,
a horse as a predictor and a horse as a sign of wealth. Horses connection with burial and wealth keeping beliefs as well as
relationship with the beyond is emphasized too.
BALTICA 11
Giedr ukyt
ARCHAEOLOGIA
T H E B E H AV I O U R O F H O R S E S
I N L I T H U A N I A N N A R R AT I V E F O L K L O R E
Key words: horse, belief, burial, predictor, interdiction, wealth.
A horse, one of the first animals domesticated by humans, has various functions: it is used for working, riding, carring and pulling loads. In traditional culture, the
importance of a horse is prominent considering both
material and spiritual world. As a result, the object of
this article is a horse mentioned in Lithuanian narrative
folklore.
In this paper, several types of depiction of a horse in
the genres of Lithuanian narrative folklore will be analysed: a horses reaction towards unusual environment,
a horse as a predictor and a horse as a sign of wealth.
Methods of text analysis, comparison, systematizing
and description were used in this research.
The sourses for article were archive of Institute of
Lithuanian folklore and literature and various printed
reservoirs. The most important of them are books of
Jonas Basanaviius Folklore Library.
A h o r s e s r e a c t i o n t o w a r d s u n u s u a l
environment
In the ancient worldview, there was a belief that certain animals can see more than a human eye. It is said
that horses can see ghosts and other beings of spiritual
world that cannot be seen by humans. In most cases,
such conclusions are made due to some extraordinary horses behavior. This capacity is confirmed in
mythological legends. One says that, according to
Lithuaniansopinion, ghosts can be seen by horses, dogs,
cocks, and in rare cases, by humans (Basanaviius
1998, p.161). Another legend emphasizes that horses
can see ghosts (Basanaviius 1998, p.162). The ability
to see the spiritual world is expressed by some special
behaviour: when a horse is intimidated and snorts,
even though nothing unusual can be seen, ir means that
the horse sees ghosts (Basanaviius 1998, p.162).
In mythological legends, horses reaction is expressed

by some anxiousness and squirming, in other words, by
strange behavior, even thouh a human can see no reason
for it: the horses permanently snorted (Basanaviius
1998, p.164), at once, all the four horses raised their
ears, started snorting and shying (Basanaviius 1998,
p.215), the horse started snorting and boggling
(Basanaviius 1998, p.278), the horses started shying,
snorting (Basanaviius 1998, p.278). Horses seem to
be trying to avoid collision with the objects they see:
if you cannot hold the horse, it runs back home like a
bullet (Basanaviius 2001, p.81), the horses jumped
back, snorting (Basanaviius 1998, p.164), the horses stopped and, as if being afraid of something, raised
their ears and snorted, (Basanaviius 1998, p.165),
stares, snorts, kicks and by no means goes forward
<> and trembles so much, with its ears raised! Well,
I saw nothing there. But the mare saw something
(LTR4545 300).
The horses shy near the places where ghosts are believed to dwell. Cemeteries: the horses stopped at
once, raised their ears and started snorting, and instead
of running forward, tried to step back(Basanaviius
1998, p.163), soldiers graveyards: by he graveyard,
the horses raised their ears and jumped back, snorting
(Basanaviius 1998, p.163), bridges: We came near
the house, and by the river bridge, the horses started
disobeying and were repeatedly trying to turn back
(Balys 2003, p.164), on the road, the horses snorted,
jumped aside and knocked down a hump (Basanaviius
1998, p.165), a house where someone hanged oneself:
everytime the horses were scared <> near that
house <> I could hardly hold them(Basanaviius
1998, p.163). Such horses behaviour testifies their
close relationship with the world of the dead and with
burial beliefs.
VIII
H or s e s
i n E th n oar chaeolog y
a n d F ol k lore
It seems that the horses and the dead have always been
closely related. The tradition to burn a horse together
357
The Behaviour of Horses

in Lithuanian Narrative
Folklore
Giedr
ukyt
with its dead master remained for a long time. In the

written sources of the fourteenth century describing
the funeral of Lithuanian dukes, this custom is still
mentioned (BRM 1996, p.469). Ancient Lithuanians
believed that the dead travel to the beyond on a horseback, followed by a numorous escort (Beresneviius
1990, p.127). The belief that horses are closely related
to death, chtonic divinities or even the devil, existed
in the whole Europe (Golan 1993, p.49). In Latvia,
corpses were washed in a trough where horses drink
(Basanaviius 1998, p.108). Considering this, there is
no wonder that many legends exist about horses reaction towards the ghosts from the beyond.
Various means to see ghosts with the help of horses are
mentioned in mythological legends. There was a belief
that one can see ghosts while looking through a horses
ears holded (Basanaviius 1998, p.175), through a
bridle of a tackled and curbed horse (Girininkien
2001, p.45), through a hole of a bridles side buckle
(Basanaviius 1998, p.162). The possibility to see
ghosts with the help of horses is also described in one
legend. It tells about a soldier, who, scared in the battlefield, climbed into a horses skeleton: many dead
horses lay on the battlefield, so the soldier hid himself in the skeleton of a horse and lay (LMD III 271
39). While lying, the soldier sees how angels treat and
honour the soldiers who perished in battle; as a result,
he gains courage and fights with the rivals again. Such
descriptions also support the belief of ancient communities that horses can see the dead, and at the same
time highlight the importance of horses in traditional
culture.
358
In several mythological legends, special attention is

paid towards the horse rode by a dead man while being alive. These legends tell that the horse of the dead
master is leaded after the coffin or the horse even follows by itself: his horse was leaded after by a servant
(Basanaviius 2001, p.8), the horse he used to ride
on quietly followed the coffin (Basanaviius 1998,
p.163). When the funeral approaches the cemetery,
both legends mention changes in horses behavior: for
some reason, they get restless, start squirming and run
back: his horse, that was lead after by a servant, turned
loose and ran back (Basanaviius 2001a, p.125), the
horse, that went after the coffin on its own will, turned
back and, as if scared, ran away (Basanaviius 1998,
p.163). On the one hand, such horses behaviour mentioned in mythological legends could be treated as a
relic of old customs, where a horse and its master were
believed to be connected by a very close relationship;
as a horse was considered to be an essential helper in
the spiritual world, so it had to leave this world with
its master. On the other hand, when this custom died
out, a symbolic escort of the dead master till the gate
of a cemetery might have remained in the mythological

legends. It seems as if a horse is not allowed to cross
the sacred boundary of a graveyard. This assumption
might explain why horses avoid going into a cemetery.
Another genre of folklore that mentions unusual horses reaction is called local/historical legends. These
legends also note strange horses reaction towards extraordinary phenomena or just towards the objects that
human eyes cannot see. It is important to note that in
local/historical legends, more attention is paid to the
places where unusual horses behaviour was noticed.
These legends tell that there are places where horses become scared: in the evenings, when the horses would
be brought on the hill, they would snort and would not
stay in that place. When one ploughs and horses get
near this place, they also snort and shy (Kerbelyt
1983, p.51), especially at midday and about nightfall,
the horses would shy, snort and run away from the hill,
and, as if seriuosly scared, would gather in one place
and would look at the hill (Basanaviius 1998, p.261),
suddenly he heard the horses snorting (Vlius 1995,
p.151) Passing through Pailis ant night, the horses
stopped for no reason. He tried to urge them, but they
would not walk, and that is it (Buraas 1996, p.254),
in the evenings, when brought by the mound, the horses snort and do not stay there at any means. They run
into the field at once, even if hoppled. If you plough, the
closer you get to the mound, the more the horse moves
its ears, snorts and shies (Kerbelyt 1999, p.263).
Consequently, it may be noticed that in local legends,
horses show unusual reaction when they get near various mounds. In most cases, their reaction is described
as snorting, shyness or, on the contrary, freezing in
other words, as strange behaviour. Sometimes historical legends mention whom a horse was afraid of: a man
with a sheepskin coat (riding with the horses to the
meadows in the evening, the horses started snorting
loudely, and he saw a man
with a s
heepskin coat standing by the hill. Scared horses were pushing the rider
near the hill. <> Snorting, the horses started trotting
about and pulled both strings out of his hands. When
the man was passing through, the horses could not be
stopped and ran away into the meadows (Basanaviius
1998, p.278) on the hill, a man with a sheepskin coat
appeared and frightened away the horses (Remeikis
1990, p.95) or a ghost (he felt that a man climbed on
a horse, sat behind his back and embraced him. At that
time, the horse kept snorting (Basanaviius 1998,
p.278), the horse was frightened by him, shied and
started running as fast as it could. While running, the
rider was bucked off the horse (Buraas 1996, p.117).
However, there are some legends that do not explain
the reasons why horses shy. Despite this, the fact that
A sign of a similar belief might be found in other genre

of folklore also; there is a proverb Snorts like a horse
seeing a ghost (Grigas et al. 2000, p.672). Similar
belief that horses can see supernatural beings existed
in Slavic countries, too (Slavianskie drevnosti 1999,
p.592).
A horse as a predictor
In various genres of folklore, a horse as a special character is given the ability to predict the future. Either
predictions are made according to a horses behaviour,
or, as in magic tales, a horse foretells the future itself.
In mythological legends, most of the predictions are
related to death. We already noticed that horses are
closely related to the dead and can even see ghosts.
Yet in some mythological legends, a horses behaviour
seemingly predicted approaching death. Legends are
not the only ones where this can be noticed.
A horse as a predictor of death is more prominent in
the burial customs. For example, one legend tells that
participants of the funeral look at the horses which
carry the coffin; they believe that the nearest death
will come from the side the horse looks at first of
all (Basanaviius 1998, p.104). When someone was
sick, Lithuanians observed the horse which carried the
priest; according to its behaviour, guesses were made
if the patient will live or die. However, all these beliefs
remained mainly in the form of superstitions, as a relic
of a probably former belief that a horse, as a representative of the spiritual world or a messenger, can predict
approaching death. In Slavic countries, there was a belief that if a lover thinks about horses, he is going to
die; if a horse sniffs at a soldier, he is going to perish
in battle; if someone dreams of a white horse, it brings
. In our coundeath (Slavianskie drevnosti 1999, p.592)
try, white horse was also valued negatively and associated with death (Racnait 2006. p.196).
Some mythological legends tell about horses reaction
to some supernatural beings; this is a sign to a hero
Horses prediction of death is even more obvious in

mythological legends where animals talking on the
Christmas Eve are portrayed. These legends tell about
a person who listens to the talking animals on the
Christmas Eve and hears a conversion among horses:
a man climbed on the stable and listened when the
horses would start talking. And they started. One says:
Tommorrow, in the early morning, I will carry a flock
of people to the church. The second horse says: I will
carry the corpse of that man who listens, to the graveyard (Slaniauskas 1975, p.284), a man wanted to
know what his horses talk about, so he went to the
door of the stable and listened. He heard that one horse
said: - This night, at dawn, I will go to carry the priest,
the others will bring the coffin to the cemetery, while
the rest will carry the guests (Katkus 1965, p.17),
one older horse sighed as if a human being, while
the younger horse asked him: - Why are you sighing?
He answered: - What shall we work tomorrow? The
third horse said: - One pair will bring the guests to the
church, the other one will carry the corpse away from
home (Davainis-Silvestraitis 1973, p.85), one horse
says: - Tomorrow I will have no rest at all, as I will
carry the doctor for our master. <...> The second horse
says: - For me, it will be no better: as soon as you leave,
I will have to go for the priest <...> The third horse
says: Its me who will have the most difficult day: I
will bring the message to the relatives, will go to the
church, and finally will carry the very master to the
graveyard(Vlius 1979, p.293). In all these legends, a
man who listened to the horses died. These stories are
about a broken interdiction: it was prohibited to listen
to the animals talk on the Christmas Eve, while a man
disobeys and is consequently punished. In this case,
horses are portrayed as aware of the customs and punishments for the breach of traditions.
In mythological legends, horses can predict the death
of a human not only by their behaviour but also speech.
In the ancient worldview, a horse might have been one
BALTICA 11
The motif of local legends, as of mythological ones, is

related to the archaic belief that a horse can see supernatural objects most often, the souls of the dead. In
most cases, mythological legends mention the reaction
of a horse, while local legends attach high importance
to the place where an event happens.
about a quick death of his family member. In one legend, a horse reacts to a visible white silhouette of an
infant; when the hero comes home, he finds out that his
daughter is dead: the horse raised his ears and snorted.
<...> When he came home, found his daughter already
dead (Basanaviius 1998, p.162). In another legend, a
servant leads horses home and they start squirming near
the cemetery. When back at home, the servant learns
of his mistress death. Near the graveyard, the horses
did not want to go forward at any means, only stepped
back and aside, snorting. <...> At home, he found his
mistress was dead (Basanaviius 1998, p.162). In
both legends, horses
anxiousness and snorting are understood not only as a sign of seeing something supernatural, but also as a suspicion of approaching death.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
the horses behave in unusual way when they get near

the mounds allows to make a presumption that it is related to an already mentioned archaic belief that horses
can see the dead. In traditional culture, a mound and a
hill in general is understood as the space of the dead,
their dwelling place.
VIII
H or s e s
a n d F ol k lore
359

Folklore
Giedr
ukyt
of the animals, which were believed to have supernatural abilities. Our folklore testifies that certain horses
behaviour was considered to be a sign of approaching
death.
In magic tales, a horse takes a role of a helper which
most often foretells a hero
s
future or foresees approaching misfortunes: Dont do this. This forest
was decorated by witchies. When you fall asleep, the
witchies will attack and you will die (Aleksynas 1985,
p.109), Trakimas, do not take this feather: it will bring
you a huge trouble (Daukantas 1985, p.496), Dont
take it bad things will happen (Aleksynas 1985,
p.94), Little Ben, you better dont take this horseshoe
you will have hardships! (Slaniauskas 1974, p.89).
Horses often warn a hero about approaching troubles
or danger for life. Nevertheless, heroes almost never
listen to horses and get into troubles: So he took his
brother together. [...] - Didnt I tell you: do not to take
your brother otherwise you wont survive! (Daukantas 1985, p.512). There is also some kind of formula
quite popular in magic tales: Now you only have blossoms, but you will see what happens when the fruits
come! (Daukantas 1985, p.496). The gift to foresee
the future and misfortunes can only be possessed by
extraordinary beings: in magic tales, these are witches,
dragons and, as we can see, horses-helpers. The prediction of the future is understood as a special and sacred ability. It could only be performed by exclusive
individuals who belonged to the class of soothsayers.
Still, as it was mentioned earlier, in some countries the
future was also predicted using horses (mostly white
ones). There is a belief, which remained even nowadays, that a horses snort, especially when climbing a
hill, predicts misfortune (Beresneviius 2004, p.68).
In Russia, during the furtune-telling on festivals, there
was a custom to blindfold a horse, to put a young lady
on the horse backwards and to see where it goes the
ladys future husband lives on that side (Slavianskaia
mifologiia 1995, p.228).
Summarizing horses role as a predictor of the future,
it may be noticed that in mythological legends, a horse
is related to prophecies of death: prediction are either
made according to a horses behaviour or a horse itself
tells a hero about approaching death, that is an outcome of a breach of a custom. In magic tales, a horse
is a helper of a hero and his fortune-teller, which warns
about approaching threats. It is interesting to note that
in both cases a horse is depicted as a predictor of unlucky future. In the recorded Lithuanian narrative
folklore, there are no cases when horses would be predictors of fortune.
360
A horse as a sign of welfare

In traditional culture, a horse was not only a useful animal but also had a high price: only rich farmers could
afford to have more than one. Number of horses possessed was clearly related with a mans wealth and his
social position. During various festivals, farmers used
to show their best horses and were proud of them;
horses were also often used in agrarian rituals. In some
genres of Lithuanian folklore, there are mentions of a
horse as a symbol of treasure (gold or money). Narrative folklore texts tell about haunting horses, which are
considered to signify a place where a treasure is hidden.
Local/historical legends tell about emerging horses or
sounds of horses neighing, their hooves clip-clopping;
these signs are understood as symbols of treasure: I
saw a horse coming to me. Then I saw five horses
around the ship. <...> when I ran to the window, I saw
a horse which, as if scared of me, started kicking and
ran around the house three times (Basanaviius 1998,
p.479ff), on the very top of the hill, a horse neighs!
The man whistled and the horse replied again. Then he
climbed on a mountain and, instead of a lake, found a
golden armchair and golden bells ringing! (Kerbelyt
1983, p.35). Horses also show up where a treasure is
believed to be hidden: Sometimes people see some
fire burning there. Sometimes horses run on this hill or
someone drives on it (Kerbelyt 1999, p.268).
Local legends also mention the colour of such horses.
The most popular ones are white and red: There is a
stone near Krokul. Once my relative Ona Labeikien
sat on it and saw a white horse running at her, its
horseshoes glittering. <...> People say that this white
horse could be turned into silver money, but she did
not know how to do it (Buienkien 1996, p.265),
horseshoes clank and thunder, a horse neighs <...>.
In the dark night, a red golden horse appears on a hill.
<...> (Buraas 1996, p.250ff). These colours could be
understood according to the explanations given in the
legends: white colour was understood as symbolizing
silver, red colour as meaning gold.
There are some mythological legends also which depict a horse as a symbol of money. For example: a
horse is hanged on a fir. A white horse hanged (Vlius
1979, p.133), a horse, red like a hot coal, ran out of a
small lake(Vlius 1979, p.144). Later it becomes clear
that this horse was a treasure: if I had hit it with some
stick, that horse would have fallen into pieces. I would
have a heap of money (Vlius 1979, p.144).
It is still hard to answer why exactly a horse body were
chosen as a substitute for a treasure. Perhaps it is related to the perception of a horse as a sign of plenty,
wealth and fertility. For example, there is a tradition
There are some mythological legends also which tell

about the devil giving to a man a present some part
of a horse body. In most cases, a useless and seemingly worthless thing is given: a belly, a skin, a peeled
body: from his shoulders, he threw a peeled mare
into a boat (Basanaviius 1998, p.290), A German
[devil] appeared and threw a belly of a mare into his
boat <> what remained of that belly turned into 10
ducats, so the man happily rowed to the place where
it happened, believing he would find golden money
instead of a thrown away muck (Basanaviius 1998,
p.289), from his shoulders, he threw a peeled mare
into a boat. The fisherman got scared and thrusted the
mare into the water at once. Then the one who threw
it exclaimed before disappearing: You shouldn have
thrown it away, it was a sack of money! (Kerbelyt
1999, p.435), Soon the servant took the whole basket
of horse muck and dumped it into the boat as a payment. The fisherman thought it was a joke, so he threw
them away. Crumbs that remained in a boat turned
into golden money, that dissappeared when taken into
hands (Kerbelyt 1999, p.436). A hero usually tries to
get rid of this present as soon as possible. Only later it
Why do not the devil give the money in its natural

form, but pack it into some digusting shape? It probably had to be a certain test: a man is forced not to judge
from the outside. There is a possibility that this depiction is related to the conception in traditional mindset
that things existing in the spiritual world or sent from it
have different outward; things that look nasty here, are
tottally changed in the spiritual world (Beresneviius
1990, p.166). However, why exactly the body parts of
a horse or, in most cases, of a mare are chosen, it is
hard to explain.
BALTICA 11
becomes clear that the money is hidden inside the body

of a horse.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
to drive horses on the Shrovetide, believing that it

increases future harvest or guarantess the welfare of
the very horses (Vaicekauskas 2005, p.148ff). There
are some mythological legends recorded which tell
about aitvarai (mythical beings) which materialize
into horse related things (a horse-lock, a swingletree,
a piece of a carriage shaft) or even take care of the
horses. Therefore, they can be associated with IndoEuropean twins Avinai, who possibly were divinities
of fertility and plenty (Vlius 1977, p.173ff). In this
case, a horse could probably also be understood as a
sign of plenty and wealth. On the other hand, these
legends also show close relationship between a horse
and the devil. Mythological legends depict the devil
who gives to a hero a certain object, that later turns
into horse legs or muck. The local legends analyzed
are also very similar. It is interesting to mention that
one legend tells how to take the money: In the dark
night, a red golden horse appears on a hill. <...> when
the golden horse appears on a hill, some brave man has
to be not afraid to hit this horse with a stick of rowan;
then the golden horse would turn into a heap of golden
money (Buraas 1996, p.250ff). A rowan is one of the
trees considered to be sacred, having a special protective power; branches of rowan were hanged around the
houses that witches would not get inside (Basanaviius
2001, p.75). Importance of a rowan and its magic powers are also known in other European countries: people
used to pass under his branches, expecting some special effect (Dundulien 1979, p.27).
Present depictions of horse or, rather say, horse ghost

seeing in some special places (hills, water. stone) and
explaining it as a place of hidden treasure shows horse
and welfare connections in traditional culture. Important place is given to such horses colour usually white
or red. Part of a horse body given by some person from
the beyond also often happens being money or other
wealth.
Conclusion
There are certain genres of Lithuanian narrative folklore (mythological and local/historical legends) which
claim that horses can see objects invisible for human
beings. Sometimes horses are used for seeing the souls
of the dead.
The texts analysed are related to an archaic belief that
horses can see supernatural objects and souls of the
dead.
In both mythological legends and magic tales, a horse
as a predictor warns about misfortunes; it tells about
death or troubles approaching.
In several genres of narrative folklore, a horse is associated with wealth and material welfare. In mythological and local legends, a horse is often understood as a
sign of wealth.
Translated by Egl Napryt and Giedr ukyt
References
Manuscripts
Lietuvi literatros ir tautosakos instituto Lietuvi tautosakos rankratynas (LTR, LMD).
VIII
H or s e s
a n d F ol k lore
Literature
ALEKSYNAS, K., 1985. Stebuklingas odis: Lietuvi liaudies pasakos. Kaunas: viesa.
361

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ukyt
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BASANAVIIUS, J., 1998. I gyvenimo vli bei velni.
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BASANAVIIUS, J., 2001a. Okabali pasakos ir sakms.
BRM, 1996. Balt religijos ir mitologijos altiniai. T. 1
Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedij l-kla.
BERESNEVIIUS, G., 1990. Dausos: Pomirtinio gyvenimo samprata senojoje lietuvi pasauliroje. Klaipda:
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BERESNEVIIUS, G., 2004. Lietuvi religija ir mitologija:
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BUIENKIEN, L., 1996. Utenos krato padavimai. Kaunas: Spindulys.
BURAAS, B., 1996. Pasakojimai ir padavimai. Vilnius:
Mintis.
DAUKANTAS, S., 1985. emaii pasakos. Vilnius: Vaga.
DAVAINIS-SILVESTRAITIS, M., 1973. Pasakos. Sakms.
Oracijos. Vilnius: Vaga.
DUNDULIEN, P., 1979. Mediai senovs lietuvi
tikjimuose. Vilnius: Mintis.
GIRININKIEN, V., 2001. Veliuona. Vilnius: Versm.
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2000. Lietuvi patarls ir prieodiai. T. 1. Vilnius:
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KATKUS, M., 1965. Ratai. Vilnius: Vaga.
KERBELYT, B., 1983. Kai milinai gyveno: padavimai
apie miestus, eerus, kalnus, akmenis.Vilnius: Vaga.
KERBELYT, B., 1999. ems atmintis: lietuvi liaudies
padavimai. Vilnius: Lietuvi literatros ir tautosakos institutas.
RACNAIT, R., 2006. Gyvnai mirties pranaai senojoje
kultroje. In: Senovs balt kultra: Gamta ir religija. Vilnius: Academia.
REMEIKIS, J., 1990. Kai dar amina ugnis ruseno: Maosios
Lietuvos padavimai. Vilnius: LINK.
SLANIAUSKAS, M., 1974. iaurs Lietuvos pasakos. Vilnius: Vaga.
SLANIAUSKAS, M., 1975. iaurs Lietuvos sakms ir
anektodai. Vilnius: Vaga.
VAICEKAUSKAS, A., 2005. Lietuvi iemos vents:
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Received 1 February 2009; Revised: 11 April;
Giedr ukyt
Taikos pr. 6742
LT-50436, Kaunas
E-mail: ziemgale@yahoo.com
362
ARKLI ELGESIO STEBJIMAS

L I E T U V I PA S A K O J A M O J O J E
TA U T O S A K O J E
Giedr ukyt
Santrauka
Arklys vienas populiariausi gyvn, vaizduojam
lietuvi folklore. Arklio svarba tradicinje kultroje aikiai pastebima ir kalbant apie material, ir apie
dvasin pasaul. Senojoje pasauliroje buvo tikima,
kad kai kurie gyvnai gali matyti daugiau nei mogaus
akis. Buvo manoma, kad jie mato anapusinio pasaulio
btybes. Vienas toki gyvn buvo arklys. I arkli
elgesio taip pat buvo spjama ateitis, numatomos gresianios nelaims. Puiks, geri arkliai buvo pasididiavimo objektas, brangus ir saugomas gyvulys, rodantis
jo eiminink gerov. vairiose ventse kininkai rodydavo savo graiuosius arklius, jais puikuodavosi, arkliai neretai bdavo naudojami agrariniuose ritualuose.
iame straipsnyje aptariama pasakojamosios tautosakos anruose vaizduojamo arklio reakcija nepaprast
aplink, arklio kaip pranao funkcija bei arklio turto
enklo atvejai.
Tikjimas, jog arkliai gali matyti dvasias, fiksuojami
mitologinse sakmse ir padavimuose. I tekst matyti, kad arkliai danai baidosi alia t vietovi, kur, kaip
tikima, esanios dvasios kapini, kareivi kap, tilt,
pakaruokli nam. Toks arklio elgesys rodo jo artim
ry su mirusij pasauliu ir laidotuvi apeigomis. Arkliai kartais pasitelkiami tuomet, kai norima pamatyti
dvasias. Padavimuose didesn reikm skiriama vietovms, kur pastebimas neprastas arklio elgesys. Kai
kuriose mitologinse sakmse ypatingas dmesys skiriamas mirusio mogaus arkliui. iuose tekstuose pastebimas ypatingas ryys tarp arklio ir jo eimininko.
Skirtinguose pasakojamosios tautosakos anruose
arklys neretai vaizduojamas pasiuntiniu ar pranau.
Mitologinse sakmse arkli reakcija antgamtines
btybes pranea apie greit artimojo mirt. Arkliai taip
pat pranea apie gresiani bausm, kai mogus sulauo draudim klausosi Ki nakt kalbani gyvuli.
Herojaus laukiani bd ipranaavimas pastebimas
ir stebuklinse pasakose: herojaus pagalbininkas arklys perspja apie nelaimes, kurios itiks, jei herojus
nesielgs tinkamai. inoma, jog arklys kaip pranaas
ateities brimams buvo naudojamas ir kitose tautose.
Arklio ssajos su turtu, materialine gerove juntamos
ne viename tautosakos anre. Padavimuose ir mitologinse sakmse arklys neretai suvokiamas kaip turto
Ufiksuoti tekstai turi ry su archajiniais tikjimais,

kuriuose arklys vaidina gana svarb vaidmen.
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
iraika. Buvo tikima, kad matyti arkl, girdti kanop

kaukjim ar vengim tam tikrose vietose (ant kalvos, prie vandens) reikia toje vietoje esant paslpt
lob. Anapusinio pasaulio atstov dovanojamos i pairos atgrasios dovanos arklio kno dalys taip pat
pasirodo esantys pinigai ar kitas turtas. Tokie tikjimai, egzistav tradicinje kultroje, sieja arkl su turtu,
skme. Svarbi vieta iuose tekstuose skiriama arkli
spalvai danai besivaidenantys arkliai vaizduojami
baltos arba raudonos spalvos. Tuo galbt parodomas j
ryys su ukastomis grybmis auksu, sidabru.
VIII
H or s e s
a n d F ol k lore
363
The Image of the Horse

i n P o e t i c Te x t s o f L i t h u a n i a n
Folk Songs
RIMANTAS
SLIUINSKAS
THE IMAGE OF THE HORSE IN POETIC TEXTS

OF LITHUANIAN FOLK SONGS
RIMANTAS SLIUINSKAS
Abstract
The article is devoted to examine the importance of horse image in the poetic texts of various genre Lithuanian folk songs
from different local ethnic regions. We find different meanings of the biological horse here, such as riding-horse, working
horse, mare and jade here as the representatives in the special social context here. The general conclusion is made about horse
as very important symbolic object with wide and deep its meanings in the poetic texts of Lithuanian folk songs.
Key words: horse, image, Lithuanian folk songs, poetic texts.
Horse image in Lithuanian folklore:

general points
The importance of horse and its power is well known
in history of all European nations and worldwide.
There are a lot of historical studies about horse use in
war actions, agriculture, transport, even sport, etc. The
same way it is possible to examine the horse role in
cultural life historically. One of such cultural aspects
might be material folk culture, as well as immaterial
(verbal) culture evidences. Hereby wed like to realize
the main goal of the article, investigating the horse image, as the subject of the research studies in Lithuanian
folklore, particularly in the poetic texts of Lithuanian
folk songs. The actualities of such studies might be
emphasized showing very wide area of horse image in
Lithuanian history and culture life. The main problem
of such scientific tasks is the absence of interdisciplinary studies on such wide object as a horse in regional
history, archaeology, sociology, art studies, traditional
culture, etc., including musical folklore.
The horse image in the poetic texts of Lithuanian folk
songs is very wide presented in all our ethnic regions,
and in all the main genres of musical folk poetry.
Having the idea to show and to prove it we have to
note the following general statements on Lithuanian
folklore:
1. Lithuanian folk songs represent historical countryside (not urban) traditions.
2. They reflect female everyday life and world of view
(just some exceptions: male hay-making, war-historic,
and some feast songs).
364
3. There are very clear poetic symbols here, wellknown as key-words to understand the sense of living
events here. For example: (a) young ladies will take
care for their rue gardens, and they use to wear the rue
wreaths on their heads (symbol of female virginity);

(b) young men (as a rule) use to take care for their own
riding horses, and in case their cap would fell down to
the ground (water) it also means symbolic loosing the
male virginity.
4. Young people never speak about love feelings in our
ancient folk songs. Just mentioned above poetic symbols show us the real their sense (iurlionyt 1969).
It is also important to emphasize the different social
functions of the biological horse. We can find the following positions here:

Riding-horse (Lith. irgas)
Working horse (Lith. arklys)
Mare (Lith. kumel)
Jade [= nag, rip, screw, hack, knacker, weed, plug]

(Lith. kuinas)
R i d i n g h o r s e ( i rg a s ) i m a g e s
The main attention is given for the riding horse (irgas)
in our folk songs. The everyday family life is very often reflected with taking care of riding horses for the
young men:
1. Kai mes buvom du
broliukai
1. We were two young

brothers1
Jaunimo ir meils
(vaikin) daina,
inoma Auktaitijoje.
Youth and love song (male),

Auktaitija region.
Kai mes buvom du

broliukai,
Abu neenoti, abu
neenot(i).
We were two young brothers

Both of us unmarried.
All free English translations from the poetic texts of

Lithuanian folk songs are made by the author.
- Kur mes josim, broli mano, - Where will we ride, my

irgeli girdyti, irgeli
young brother?
plukdyt(i)?
Where will we water our
horses?
- Josme, josme, broli mano, - Oh, my dear brother, we
Gilian eerlin, altan
will ride
vandenl(in).
To the direction of the deep
lakes, cold waters.
Ten irgelius mes girdysme, Here we will water our
Ten ir iplukdysme, ten ir
strong riding-horses
iplukdys(me).
And here we will wash them
carefully.
K 142
The riding horse is always and absolutely important for

the young man, looking for his young girlfriend:
2. U alios girels
2. Next to the green forest
Jaunimo ir meils daina,

Youth and love song, Dzkija
inoma Dzkijos apylinkse. region.
And riding horse always helps to the young man to

bring some presents to the young lady:
3. Tykus vakars,
3. Silent evening, moonshine
mnesiena
Jaunimo ir meils daina, Youth and love song, Dzkija
inoma Dzkijoje ir
and Auktaitija region.
Auktaitijoje.
Tykus vakars, mnesiena, Silent evening, moonshine,
Grai joti, vandravoti.
Nice time to ride [on my
riding horse]
- Oi, irgeli juodbrli,
Taisyk kojas kelionln.
- Oh, my horse, my sorrel

(bay)
Lets be ready to our riding
trip.
Taisyk kojas kelionln,

Lets be ready to our riding
Reiks tau bgti viekelliu. trip,
You will ride this public road.
Reiks tau bgti viekelliu, You will ride this public road,
Reiks tau neti dovanles. And you will carry my
presents.
Reiks tau neti dovanles
Dl mergels lelijls.
You will bring my presents

To my girl-friend (my lilyflower)
U alios girels ten stovi

dvarelis,
Tenai auga mergel balta
lelijl.
Nice farmstead is next to the

green forest,
And pretty young lady [as
white lily] lives here.
Dl mergels lelijls
alias rt vainiklis.
It will fit the green rue wreath

[symbol of virginity]
to my girl-friend (my lilyflower).
Nor(s) a neinojau, bet a

ten nujojau,
Prisiriau irgel prie rt
darelio.
I didnt know about that, but I

rode here
And left my riding-horse at her
rue garden.
Kai nubgsi dvarel,

Sutrypk kojom emel.
Stamp down with your shanks

When you will reach her
farmstead.
Prisiriau irgel prie rt

darelio,
A pats, jaunas bernelis,
u balto stalelio.
I left my riding-horse at her rue

garden,
And took my seat at the white
table inside.
- Oi, berneli raituli,

Prastos tavo dovanls.
- Oh you, my young boyfriend

[my rider],
Your presents are so poor!
- Oi kaip a atjosiu pirmj

kartel,
Tai a tave, mergule,
jaun pralinksminsiu.
- Oh you, my beloved, I will

make you laughing,
When I will ride to you the first
time.
Prastos tavo dovanls,

Tai dl biednos siratls.
Your presents are so cheap,

They will fit just for a poor
orphan girl.
Oi kaip a atjosiu antrj

kartel,
Tai a tave, mergule,
jaun pravirkdinsiu.
I will make you crying,

When I will ride to you the
second time.
Oi kaip a atjosiu treij

kartel,
Tai a tavs, mergule,
jaunos nepaliksiu.
And I will not leave you

unmarried,
When I will ride to you the
third time.
K 4
All examples of poetic texts hereby and later are taken

from the printed sources, indicated in Abbreviations below. The number indicates the folk song number in appropriate publication.
BALTICA 11
We have got a strong ridinghorses

Both of us with bright
saddles.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Mes turjom po irgel,

Abu pabalnoti, abu
pabalnot(i).
SV 14
Young lady is also concerned where is her young beloved, young rider:
4. Jojau dienel
4. I was riding all the day
VIII
Jaunimo ir meils
daina, inoma
Dzkijoje.
Jojau dienel, tamsi
naktel.
Nebranda irgelis vieo
kelelio.

region.
H orses
in E thnoar chaeology
an d F olklore
I was riding all the day and the

dark night,
My riding horse lost the right
way.
365

Folk Songs
RIMANTAS
SLIUINSKAS
O kai surado vie kelel - And when he found the right

way,
Po manim irgelis
nebnustovjo.
He was very tired to stay gently
on his feet.
Nebnustovjo, vis
okinjo,
O mano mergel miego
norjo.
- Umik, mergele, nors
valandlei,
I varg, i bd, i
rpestli.
He was just jumping anxiously,

But my young girlfriend was
very sleepy.
- Have your sleep, my darling
for a while,
Because of your troubles and
your grief.
- Nors atsigulsiu, bet

neumigsiu,
Mislysiu, dmosiu - kur
bernulis?
- Id like to have a rest, but I

will not sleep.
I will feel concern where is
my boyfriend?
Ar Vilniaus mieste, ar
Varuvlj,
Ar slaunam kaimely pas
motinl?
Is he in Vilnius city, or in
Warsaw?
Or he still is in his mothers
farmstead?
Nei Vilniaus mieste, nei

Varuvlj,
Tik slaunam kaimely pas
motinl.
He isnt in Vilnius city, neither

in Warsaw.
He still is in his mothers
farmstead, together
with his mother.
SV 16
It happens for some young man (some riders) to make

some fatal mistakes in such love stories. The following song will illustrate the unexpected event loosing
male virginity (what means with another lady...) the
very well hidden way of symbolic meanings in poetry
riders cap felling down into the water:
5. aliam berynly
Jaunimo ir meils daina,
inoma Dzkijoje.
366
5. In the green birch forest

region.
aliam berynly
paukteliai iulbjo,
A, jaunas bernelis, ant
irgelio sdau.
Birds sang their songs in the

green birch forest,
And I, young man, started to
ride on my horse.
Jojau, a jojau, jodamas

dmojau:
O kur a paliksiu savo
mergul?
I tried to solve the problem

during my riding trip:
Where I have to leave my young
girlfriend?
Palikau mergel rteli

darely,
O pats nukeliavau
svetim al.
I left my beloved in the green

rue garden
And went out riding to the
foreign lands myself.
Per laukel jojau, emel The ground rumbled in the fields

And sparks jumped out from my
dundjo,
Nuo irgo kojeli
riding-horse legs.
kibirktls jo.
Per tilt jojau - tiltelis

pakrypo,
Mano kepurl nuo
irgelio krito.
I broke a bridge riding this way,

And my cap [symbol of men
virginity] fell down
to the river water.
K3
It also happens for the young boy to harm the young

lady. It is symbolically shown as a riding horse treads
or bites off some rue leaves (flowers) from the young
ladys garden:
6. Why did you feed your
riding-horse?
Jaunimo ir meils daina, Youth and love song, Dzkija
inoma Dzkijoje.
region.
6. Kam rei irgel
- Kam rei irgel, kur

josi,
Kam myli mergel, ar
imsi?
- Why did you feed your ridinghorse?

Where will you ride on him?
Why are you in love with your
girl-friend?
Will you take her to get married?
- Kad riau irgel, tai

josiu,
Kad myliu mergel, tai
imsiu.
- If I feed my riding-horse,
I will ride on him,
If I am in love with my girlfriend,
I will take her to get married.
Per laukel jojau,

dmojau,
Prie vart prijojau
sustojau.
Pririau irgel prie
tvoros,
Prie lelijls geltonos.
I have had such my dreams

riding the fields
And I stopped near the green
gates.
I left my riding-horse near the
ring-fence,
Nearby the green flowers in the
garden.
irgelis galvel palenk, My riding-horse stretched his

alij rtel nukando. neck
And bit off the green rue leaves
Ijo mergel verkdama, here.
Bernelio irgel bardama.
Young lady came off from this
- Cit, neverk, mergele, tu her garden
mano,
Reproving my riding-horse for
Tai a tau utversiu
such an accident.
darel.
- Dont cry, please, my beloved
young lady,
Tai a tau utversiu
I will repair the ring-fence of
darel,
your garden.
Tai tu prisissi rteli.
I will repair the ring-fence of
your garden,
And you will seed new rue
flowers here.
K 1
- Ko tu vengi, irgeli,
Ko vengi, juodbrli,
Ko nedi alio ieno,
Nei balt dobilli?
- Why do you neigh (heehaw),

my riding-horse?
Why do you neigh (heehaw), my
dear?
Why you didnt touch any green
hey
Or white clovers?
8. Oi, broliai broliai
8. Oh, my dear brothers
Nalaits vestuvin daina, Female orphan wedding song,

inoma Dzkijoje.
Dzkija region.
- Oi, broliai broliai,
broliukai mano,
Pakinkykit irgelius,
vaiuosim banyln.
- Oh, my dear brothers,

Put the horses to my church
(wedding) trip.
Kai privaiuosim aukt

kalnel,
Pristabdykit irgelius - a
ueisiu kalnelin.
Stop, please, the horses near the

high hill [cemetery],
I have to visit this high hill
myself.
Tai a ueisiu auktan

kalnelin,
Tai a atsisveikinsiu savo
radn motul.
I have to visit this high hill

myself,
I have to say goodbye to my
dear mummy here.
- Nei man rpi ienelis,

Nei balti dobilliai,
Tik man rpi tie takeliai
Pas jaunsias mergeles.
- I dont take care for the green

hay,
Neither any white clovers,
I just feel concern for the clear
tracks
To visit your young girlfriends.
Ir atjojo bernelis,
Per lygiuosius laukelius,
Ir pririo br irg
Prie rteli darelio.
So, young man had his riding trip

Across the green fields,
And left his grey riding-horse
Nearby rue garden [farmstead,
where young lady lives]
- Motule mano, irdele

mano,
Tai jau atsisveikinu
paskutin rozel.
- My dear mummy! Its me

your young daughter,
Id like to say goodbye to you
the last time!
(before get married)
Ir ijo mergel
I rteli darelio,
Klausinjo juodbrlio
Koks natras bernelio?
Young lady went off from the rue

garden
And she asked the riding-horse
About the habits of the young
man.
- Dukrele mano, jaunoji

mano,
Tai tu atsisveikinai, kai
kalnelin lydjai.
- My dear daughter, my dear

young one!
You did it, when you followed
me into this high hill.
Kelaliu jei, ir gailiai

verkei,
Klupo tavo kojels, lauei
baltas rankeles.
You cried tearfully on your way

here,
You stumbled along with your
feet, you broke your
arms [mourning me at that
time] ...
- Kad galiau kalbti,

Daug gal pasakyti Kai ueina kariamln,
Per naktel ulioja.
Jis pragr namelius

Ir nuo lauko rugelius,
Pragers tavo jaunas
dienas
Ir nuo rank iedelius.
- In case I would be able to talk,

Id like to say many important
things to you:
He use to spend all the nights in
the pubs,
And he becomes as very drunk
man for all the time.
He lost all his farmstead this way
And all the ryes from the ryefields
He will drink away all your
young days
And all the golden rings from
your fingers.
UJM 11
As we see, there are a lot of very warm attentions (even

dialogs) with riding horse usually, so I decided in all
the following translations of such texts to use he (not
it) for the horse image.
BALTICA 11
7. Ko tu vengi, irgeli? 7. Why do you neigh, my

riding-horse?
Jaunimo ir meils daina, Youth and love song, Auktaitija
inoma Auktaitijoje.
region.
to talk with her mummy here in such important turn

of her life:
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Young lady is interested to get some knowledge about

the young man. This way she talks with his riding
horse:
SV 24
The same way riding horse is very important in the

farewell moment before brides travel to the church for
the get married ceremony. The horses are put on festivity way, and they are waiting for the bride near the
farmstead gates to bring her to the church. The bride
still needs more and more time to say many thanks for
nice young days to her old father, later on to her old
mother, young sister, brother, etc. Horses have to wait
for this emotional ceremony patiently, and each time
they are mentioned in the poetic text of such songs as
very important objects in this long and touching picture:
VIII
H orses
an d F olklore
Some new riding horse function we can find in female

orphan wedding songs. The orphan bride is preparing
to get married, but it is also important for her to stop
all the wedding escort horses near the cemetery, and
367

Folk Songs
RIMANTAS
SLIUINSKAS
368
9. Ruokis, mergele,
ruokis, jaunoji
9. Prepare to your travel, our

young lady
Vestuvin jaunosios
atsisveikinimo daina,
inoma Auktaitijoje.
Female wedding song at the

brides farewell moment,
Auktaitija region.
- Ruokis, mergele, ruokis, jaunoji,

Jau irgeliai sukinkyti,
Ties gonkeliais sustatyti,
Ruokis, mergela.
- Prepare to your travel, our

young lady!
The horses are put on already,
Waiting for you at the farmstead
gates,
Prepare to your travel, please!
- Dar nesiruoiu, dar ne

laikelis,
Dar nedkojau savo tveliui:
Dkui senam tvuliui,
K man skyrei dalul,
Daugiau neskirsi.
- Oh no! I will not prepare! Its

not the right time for it!
I need a time to say many thanks
to my old father:
Thank you, my dear old father
For giving me my young days.
You will not do it any more
time

Ruokis, mergela.

young lady!
gates,

laikelis,
Dar nedkojau savo motutei:
Dkui, sena motinla,
K sukrovei kraitul,
Daugiau nekrausi.

to my old mother:
Thank you, my dear old mother
For setting me my dowry.
time

Ruokis, mergela.

young lady!
gates,

laikelis,
Dar nedkojau savo seselei:
Dkui, miela sesutle,
K nupynei vainikl,
Daugiau nepinsi.

to my young sister:
Thank you, my dear young sister
For making me my wedding
(green rue) wreath.
time

Ruokis, mergela.

young lady!
gates,

laikelis,
Dar nedkojau savo brolaliui:
Dkui mielam broluliui,
K lydjai laukuliu,
Daugiau nelyds(i).

to my young brother:
Thank you, my dear young
brother
For coming a way with me in
the fields.
time
LLDS 155;
KTR 117 (134)
Riding horse images are very important in Lithuanian

war-historic songs. It is very important for all young
men to have the strong riding horses and the suitable
war equipment:
10. Augin tvas du
sneliu
10. The father had two

handsome sons
Karin - istorin daina, War and history song, Auktaitija

inoma Auktaitijoje. region.
Augin tvas du sneliu, The father had two handsome
sons
du sneliu.
And he was very happy for it.
Augindamas labai
diaugs, labai
diau(gs).
Tars paaugs artojliu, He had a hope they will
become as ploughman,
artojliu,
But they became young soldiers.
O paauga kareivliu,
kareivl(iu).
Sidin tvas jiem
batelius, jiem batelius,
Prie bateli
pentinlius, pentinl(ius).
Father sewed nice high (riding)

shoes,
And nice spurs to those shoes for
both of them.
Pirko tvas po irgel, po

irgel,
Ant irgelio po balnel,
po balnel().
Father bought two strong ridinghorses

And nice saddles to those horses
in addition.
Dav strielb, karabin, Father gave long guns to both of

them
karabin,
And bright swords in addition.
Ir oblel prikabino,
prikabin(o).
UJM 29
As a rule our young men, young riders are not famous

heroes. It is the great disaster for them to be taken from
the peaceful family life and to be brought into the battle field somewhere abroad, in the foreign lands (lets
remember the historical times, when a great part of
Lithuanian lands belonged to Russian Tsar Empire, and
young men were taken by force to stay as recruits there
for all the rest of their life:
War and history song, Dzkija

and Auktaitija regions.
- Oh you, our riding horse,

Where did you lose our brother?
- I left your brother near Vilnius

- Js brolelis Vilniaus city,
miestelyje,
Near Vilnius city, on the high
Vilniaus mieste, auktam hill.
kalne.
On sun rising time your brother
Saul tekjo, brol
was shot,
uumu,
On sun down time your brother
Saul leidos - pakavojo. was buried.
Ant tvulio dvarelio

stov nauja stainel,
Toje naujoje stainelj
sakalai ulbjo.
The new horse-stable is built at

my fathers farmstead.
The falcon-birds sang gently here
to him.
Tai ne sakal balsas, ne

girios paukteli,
Tai tik tvulio snelis su
irgeliu kalba.
There were not falcon-birds

songs to my father.
Just his young son talked with his
riding-horse here.
- Oi tu irge, irgeli,
irge juodbrli,
Nuo ios slaunos
subatls daugiau
nejodysiu.
- Oh you, my dear riding-horse!

I will not ride with you since this
Saturday weekend.
Vea tvas snel

svetimon aleln Krenta byra aarls per
skaistus veidelius.
Father carries his son to the alien

lands [war lands],
And the sorrow tears drop
continuously from his white
face and bright eyes ...
13. Anoj pusj Dunojlio 13. Next side of the Danube

river
SV 28
Anoj pusj Dunojlio

Pievel aliavo,
Grb pulkas
merguli,
Grbdamos dainavo.
Next side of the Danube river

Is the green grass field,
Some young ladies raked the hay
And sang nice songs.
- Nedainuokit, js,
mergels,
T graudi daineli,
Negraudinkit man
irdels,
Jaunam kareivliui.
- Oh you, young ladies,

Please, dont sing those touching
songs,
Dont make me sad in my hearth,
Me, young soldier.
A, ijodams karu,
Laims neturjau,
Ir sutikau pirm kulpk
- irdel pervr.
I wasnt lucky at the battle field

myself,
The very first bullet speared my
hearth at once.
Guli, guli kareivlis

Ant kars paautas,
Stovi juodbras irgelis
Kamanom pamautas.
Young soldier lies low In the war

field,
And his riding-horse stays with
him.
- Eik ion, irge

juodbrli,
K a tau sakysiu.
A ant tavo kamanli
Laikel raysiu.
- Come hear, my riding-horse,

What I will tell you:
I will write a letter on your curb
(bridle).
Paraysiu a laikel
Aukso litarlm
Ir udsiu antspaudl
Kruvinu kardeliu.
I will write a letter with the

golden letters
And I will stamp it with my
bloody sword.
Especially deep emotions we are able to feel in tragic

fate of such our young man, what means also as young
rider, and young soldier. Poetical symbols are connected even with the Sun sorrow: our young brother
was shot at the Sun rising time, and on Sun down time
your brother was buried. The Sun says: Nine times I
will not rise from my sorrow, and the tenth time I will
appear just as mist...
And the riding horse is a person who comes back alone.
And he tells us the story:
12. Stovi irgelis kieme 12. The riding-horse is in the
pabalnotas
yard
Karin - istorin
daina, inoma Ryt
Auktaitijoje.
War and history song, East

Auktaitija region.
Stovi irgelis kieme

pabalnotas,
Kamanlm paabotas.
The riding-horse is in the yard,

With curbed bridle.
- Ieik, sesele, i rt
darelio,
Lauk parjojanio
brolelio.
- Come here, our sister, from the

rue garden,
And wait for your brother
[coming back from the war].
Parbga irgas ir
ataprunktuoja
Aukso kilpom
parvytruoja.
The riding horse comes back

alone
With golden harness.
UJM 27
We have folk songs on war themes with widely developed poetic texts, putting such songs close to the ballad
genre examples. And dialogs of wounded soldier with
his riding horse in the battle field are very important
here:
Karin - istorin daina,

inoma Auktaitijoje.
BALTICA 11
Karin - istorin daina,

inoma Dzkijoje ir
Auktaitijoje.
- Oi, irge irge, irge

juodbrli,
Kur padjai brolul?
ARCHAEOLOGIA
11. Ant tvulio dvarelio 11. At my fathers farmstead
War and history song,

Auktaitija region.
VIII
H orses
an d F olklore
369

Folk Songs
RIMANTAS
SLIUINSKAS
Neki, irge juodbrli,

mano laikel
Ir nunes tu sustoki
Prie ali varteli.
My dear riding-horse,
Please, bring this my letter
To my parents farmstead,
And stop just near the green gates
here.
Paers tave sesutl

aliosiom rtelm
Ir pagirdys motinl
Graudiom aarlm.
My young sister will feed you

With her green rue leaves,
And my old mother will water
you
With her sorrowful tear drops.
Neuteks tau seserls

alij rteli,
Tik uteks tau motinls
Graudi aarli.
It will be not enough green rue

leaves
From my young sister rue wreath,
But it will be enough sorrowful
tear drops
From my old mother face.
UJM 28
As we see, the functions of riding horse are very wide,

deep and important in the poetic texts of the Lithuanian
folk songs. The image of riding horse is much more
representative comparing it with other images of biological horse, such as working horse, mare and jade.
Wo r k i n g h o r s e ( a r k l y s ) i m a g e s
We have very special
Spring time (since Shrove-Tuesday up to Easter time) calendar ritual folk songs from
very local East Auktaitija region. And only here we
can find image of working horse arklys (not irgas). By the way, very positive one:
14. Vo tai arklys
14. What a horse do I have!
Ugavni
ShroveTuesday calendar ritual
kalendorin apeigin song
daina, inoma Ryt
(East Auktaitija region)
Auktaitijoje
Vo tai arklys, vo tai
arklys,
Vo tai geras yra arklys.
What a horse do I have, what a

horse!
What a fine horse do I have!
Kanopelm, kanopelm, He blazed the trail (the road) with

Vis keli dai razmu. his hoofs,
He blazed the trail.
370
Vuodegeli, vuodegeli,
Vis keli dai nulav.
He cleaned the road with his tail,

He cleaned the road.
auselm, auselm
Visas pauktes jau
suklaus.
He listened for all the birds with

his ears,
He listened for all the birds.
akelm, akelm
Danguj vaigdes jau
suskait.
He counted up all the stars in the

sky with his eyes,
He counted up all the stars.
[Personal archive by R.
Sliuinskas]
Such songs were sung in special early spring-time calendar feasts, the first time this year visiting masters
agricultural fields. All family used to put horses into
the sledges, and to sing loudly, making some sort of
fast running competitions with the same way sledge
running families from the neighboring farmsteads.
Mare (kumel) images

The grey mare is sung up in some Lithuanian humour
youth and love songs. They are very different from the
serious attention to the riding horse in previous youth,
love, wedding or war-historic folk songs. This way
young men use to sneer the scruffy young ladies or
women:
15. Kai a turjau
yv kumel
15. When I have got the grey

mare
Humoristin jaunimo ir Humour youth and love song,

meils daina,
Auktaitija region.
inoma Auktaitijoje.
Kai a turjau yv kumel
Kas dien jojau pas t panel,
Oi lylia lylia, oi lylia lialia,
Kas dien jojau pas t panel.
At the times, when I have

got the grey mare,
I had my everyday riding
trip to my dear girlfriend,
Oh, yea! Oh hurrah!
I had my everyday riding
trip to my dear girlfriend.
Kumel bga, net balos teka, My grey mare run fast way,
Mano panel batvinius rako, splashing the swamps,
And my young girlfriend
Oi lylia ...
weeds out the beetroots.
Oh, yea! Oh hurrah! (...)
Sijonas trumpas, vos iki keli,
Veidas raukltas, pilnas
dulkeli,
Oi lylia ...
She wears the short skirt,

just up to the knees,
Her face is wizened, dirty
and full of dust.
Mano kumel kai tik pamat, My grey mare saw such a

Ausis pastat, kojas pakrat, picture,
Oi lylia ...
And she died away at the
moment.
UJM 9
Jade (kuinas) images

The same way, even more attractive, we know humour
folk songs about old, already not usable jade (kuinas).
Possibly, I didnt catch the right English term. It might
be nag, rip, screw, hack, knacker, weed, plug in some
dialects, but all of them in dictionary have the last
meanings.
Anyway our Samogitian (emaitija) people have the
special sort of humour. I do hope all our local, Lithuanian people know this, the last song in my presentation. Lets sing together:
16. A turjau kuin sen 16. I have got the old jade
Jumoristin daina, inoma
emaitijoje
A toriejau koin sen,
Veizu bestija jau
stena.
Jmiau dalgi nuo
pastuoges
Veizu bestija
nuspruogis.
Kasu doube plate gile,
Kad palaiduot ton
bestije.
Anon oudega kap
meitas
Nabuteka doubie
veitas.
Humour folk song, emaitija

region.
I have got the old jade
And I see it crepitates for
the last time already.
I took a scythe from the loft,
And I see it is dead already.
I started to dig the deep and
wide pit
To inhume such beast.
But I have got a problem: it
has so long and stiffen tail,
And there is not enough
space to fit it in this pit.
[Personal archive by R.
Sliuinskas]
Conclusions
1. We can find the following positions of the biological horse in the poetic texts of Lithuanian folk songs:
riding-horse (irgas); working horse (arklys); mare
(kumel) and jade (kuinas).
2. The main attention is given for the riding horse
(irgas) in our folk songs.
3. Riding horse is important object in the poetic texts
of youth and love, wedding, family life, orphan and
war-historic Lithuanian folk songs at first.
4. The analysis of poetic texts of Lithuanian folk songs
let us know about the taking care for the riding horse
as the main symbolic action for the young (unmarried) man in his everyday life here. The same symbolic
meaning has the green rue wreath in the everyday life
of virgin young lady.
5. There are a lot of very warm attentions (even dialogs) with riding horse usually in the poetic texts of
our folk songs. It is more usable to indicate he (instead
of it) for the horse image in the translations of such
texts.
6. Some special riding horse functions we can find in
female orphan wedding songs. The orphan bride is preparing to get married, but it is also important for her to
stop all the wedding escort horses near the cemetery,
and to talk with her mummy here in such important
turn of her life.
BALTICA 11
At the times, when I will

have another grey mare,
I will never ride to this my
beloved any more.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Kai a tursiu kit kumel,

Daugiau nebjosiu pas t
panel,
Oi lylia ...
7. The riding horses are very important in the farewell

moment before brides travel to the church for the get
married ceremony.
8. Riding horse images are very important in Lithuanian war-historic songs. Young men need to have the
strong riding horse as well as suitable war equipment.
9. We have special spring-time calendar ritual folk
songs from local East Auktaitija region. And only
here we can find image of very positive working horse
(arklys).
10. The grey mare (kumel) is sung up in some Lithuanian humour youth and love songs. They are very different from the serious attention to the riding horse.
This way young men use to sneer the scruffy young
ladies or women.
11. Samogitian (emaitija region) people also know
the humour folk songs about old, already not usable
jade (kuinas).
12. In general, all mentioned above meanings of the
biological horse are very important as the wide and
deep symbolic meanings in the poetic texts of Lithuanian folk songs.
Abbreviations
SV Subatls vakarl. Ms dainos, kn. 1. Dainynlis.
Pareng R. Sliuinskas. Klaipdos universitetas, Muzikologijos institutas. Klaipda, 1998
UJM U jri mareli. Ms dainos, kn. 2. Dainynlis.
K Kam rei irgel. Ms dainos, kn. 3. Dainynlis.
LLLDS Sliuinskas R. Lietuvi ir lenk liaudies dain
ssajos. Klaipda: KU leidykla, 2006
VIII
H orses
an d F olklore
371

Folk Songs
RIMANTAS
SLIUINSKAS
KTR Lietuvos muzikos ir teatro akademijos Muzikologijos

instituto Etnomuzikologijos skyriaus Muzikinio folkloro
archyvas. Tautosakos rankratyno rinkiniai.
References
IURLIONYT, J., 1969. Lietuvi liaudies dain melodikos
bruoai. Vilnius: Vaga.
KAZLAUSKIEN, B., ed. 1994. Lietuvi liaudies dainynas,
Vestuvins dainos. Jaunosios iekojimo ivaiavimo
jungtuves dainos. T. 8, kn. 4. Vilnius: LLT.
SLIUINSKAS, R., ed. 1998. Subatls vakarl. Ms
dainos, Dainynlis. Kn. 1. Klaipda: KU Muzikologijos
institutas.
SLIUINSKAS, R., ed. 1998. U jri mareli. Ms dainos, Dainynlis. Kn. 2. Klaipda: KU Muzikologijos institutas.
SLIUINSKAS, R., ed. 1998. Kam rei irgel. Ms dainos, Dainynlis. Kn. 3. Klaipda: KU Muzikologijos institutas.
SLIUINSKAS R., 2006. Lietuvi ir lenk liaudies dain
ssajos. Klaipda: KU leidykla.
Rimantas Sliuinskas
Klaipeda University
E-mail: risli@delfi.lt
I R G O VA I Z D I S L I E T U V I
LIAUDIES DAIN POETINIUOSE
TEKSTUOSE
Rimantas Sliuinskas
Santrauka
372
irgo vaizdis yra inomas vairi anr liaudies dainose, paplitusiose visuose Lietuvos etnografiniuose
regionuose. i dain poetiniuose tekstuose irgas
apdainuojamas kaimo (ne miesto aplinkos) buities,
kasdienio gyvenimo, kalendorini veni ir eimos
apeig kontekste. Daugiausia dainose atspindi moter
bei mergin gyvenimo lkesius, svajones ir gyvenimo
patirties aspektus. Vyr buities ir pasauljautos aktualijos atsispindi tik atskirose lauk darb (ienapjts),
karinse istorinse ar vaii dainose. Pastebima aiki
simbolin netekjusi mergin ir nevedusi jaunuoli
atskirtis merginos rpinasi savo ali rt vainikliu, o vaikinai stengiasi gerai priirti savo br irg.
Jaunimas dainose niekada atvirai nekalba apie meil,
visi jausmai yra ukoduoti iais poetiniais simboliais
ir giliai paslpti.
Biologinis irgas (arklys) lietuvi liaudies dainose yra

minimas bent keturiais socialiai skirtingais savo vaizdiais. Tai (ristas, bras, jojamasis) irgas, (darbinis,
kinkomasis) arklys, (yva, klia) kumel arba (senas,
paliegs) kuinas.
Daniausiai ir visada teigiamai yra apdainuojamas irgas. Jis yra svarbiausias ir brangiausias jauno bernelio
turtas tiek kasdienybje, tiek ir ventse, tiek namuose,
tiek ir jojant pas mergel ar tolimas aleles. Apdainuojamas irgas, galintis nuneti mergelei bernelio dovanles, dialoguose mergelei atpasakojantis bernelio
bd. Jojant berneliui per tilt nukritusi jo kepurl
(arba jis pats beskends) simbolikai reikia jo bernysts pabaig. Lygiai taip pat simbolikai mergysts
praradim dainose simbolizuoja nuvyts (prarastas,
nudivs) ali rt vainiklis. Nesunku suprasti, k
poetiniuose dain tekstuose reikia nenaudlio bernelio irgelis, sutrypiantis (mindiojantis, nulauiantis)
mergels alias rtas ar sulauantis jos rt darelio
tvorel.
Kitoks, santresnis, irgo vaizdis yra inomas vestuvinse dainose. Prie gonkeli pastatyti irgeliai kantriai
laukia, kol jaunoji paskutin kart savo jaunose dienose atsisveikins su motina, tvu, seserimis, broliais, rt
dareliu ir visu jaunimliu. Ji jiems visiems paeiliui
dkoja u savo jaunysts dienas tv namuose, nori
dar ir dar kuo ilgiau pratsti paskutines io jos mergysts gyvenimo akimirkas ir tik tada ssti savo vestuvi
veimlin ir leisti irgeliams veti j su savo jaunuoju
berneliu banytln. Tekant nalaitei, pakeliui banytl irgeli praoma pakeliui sustoti prie aukto kalnelio (kapini). Ten mergel dar kart atsisveikina su ten
palaidota savo motina, prao jos palaiminimo pradedant nauj savo nesibaigiani vargeli gyvenim.
Bernelio irgas yra ypa svarbus lietuvi karini istorini liaudies dain tekstuose. Bernelis nra drsus karygys, savo prievol joti karo lauk tolimose alelse
jis priima kaip neivengiam lemt ir ino, kad nebegr. Tik bras irgelis parbgs vytruodamas tuiomis
balno kilpelmis ir taip prane namikiams lidnj
ini. Nuo carins Rusijos laik mus pasiekia rekrt
dainos, kur tvas kinko irg ir su aaromis akyse vea
svetimiems generolams atiduoti savo snel.
Visi ie pavyzdiai liudija teigiamus, gilius, daugiaplanius ir labai svarbius simbolinius irgo vaizdius
lietuvi liaudies dain poetiniuose tekstuose. Tuo tarpu
arklys ia minimas labai retai. Bdingas yra tik arklio
apdainavimas Ryt Auktaitijos Ugavni apeiginio
pasivainjimo dainose, kur grimasi arklio (ne irgo)
akeli viesumu, auseli jautrumu, kanopli kietumu
ir uodegls vitrumu.
Visi keturi aukiau aptarti biologinio irgo (irgo, arklio, kumels ir kuino) vaizdiai liudija daugialyp io
simbolio gyvybingum ir jo svarb pai vairiausi
lietuvi liaudies dain poetiniuose tekstuose.
BALTICA 11
Senas kuinas subtiliai apdainuojamas emaitijos krato humoristinse liaudies dainose. Btent io regiono
mons garsja subtiliu ir labai specifiniu humoru. Tik
jie gali nuspalvinti seno, uguito kuino vaizd tuo pat
metu ir uuojaut, ir juok sukelianiomis spalvomis.
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Kumels vaizdis bdingas vairi Lietuvos etnografini region humoristinio pobdio jaunimo ir meils
dainoms. Bernelis su subtilia autoironija joja ant kumels (ne ant irgo) pas mergel, kurios nevalyvumu
pasibaisjusi kumel ir kojas pakrato...
VIII
H orses
an d F olklore
373

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BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
1
5
Plate I
1 A mare of Akhaltekin race from the Kara-kums, Turkmenistan, bred in a private horse farm of Ryszard and Hanna
Zieliski, Poland (photograph by H. Zieliska).
2-4 Paprotki Kolonia site 1: The location of a horse skeleton in graves 251, 442, 221 and 369 (photograph by Karczewski).
Plates
1a
1b
44
Plate II
1. Hornesses from the main deposit of the first half of the third century AD, excavated in the Thorsberg bog; 2 Harness of
the highest military leader found in the Thorsberg bog (first half of the third century AD). Reconstructions. Scale 1:6.
3-5 Yoke fittings (bronze), three from the Oberesch, one from a site nearby (3); iron Steigergebiss (4); equine equipment
(iron bridle bit; bronze pendants and fittings) (5).
II
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Plate III
Finds within grave 73, Lazdininkai cemetery (Kalnalaukis, Kretinga d.): 1-4, 6-7 bronze; 3, 3a bronze, silver Pressblech,
blue glass; 5 amber; 8,9, 13-17 iron; 10,12 bronze, bronze coated with silver layer, silver Pressblech; 11, 11a bronze, silver
Pressblech, blue glass;18 limestone (photograph by K. Stokus. Courtesy of the Kr.M in Kretinga).
III
Plates
IV
Plate IV
1-11 Taurapilis barrow no. 5, dukes sword (1) with sword-pendant (2) scabbard bindings (3-5, 8, 10), scabbard buckles
(6-7, 9) and belt buckle (11). Sword: iron; sword-pendant: opal mounted with gilded silver plate; buckles: gilded silver;
details of scabbard: gilded silver, bronze, gilded silver Pressblech; belt buckle: iron, gold, silver, garnets (curated at the
Lithuanian National Museum in Vilnius; photograp by K. Stokus).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
Plate V
1 Paduob-altalin barrow no. 17, tongue of a belt buckle (length 7.4 cm gilded silver; photograph by K. Stokus); 2
barrow no. 17 during excavations; 3 barrow no. 17: horseman and his horse grave in situ (curated at the Lithuanian National
Museum in Vilnius; 2-3 photographs by Steponatis).
Plates
VI
Plate VI
Archaeological complex at Ogresgala abas: 1 Location plan of the complex of ancient sites at Ogresgala abas and the
position of the ritual pits; 2 Grave 10; 3 Cross-section of a ritual pit (Feature 75); 4 The horse sacrifice from Ogresgala
abas (photograps by Spirgis).
BALTICA 11
ARCHAEOLOGIA
1
b
2
Plate. VII
1-2 Poganowo IV, excavation area IX, stone statue in situ (1); Poganowo IV, excavation area 9: bank 19 during exploration
- A: stone statue; B: concentration of horse and cattle bones under the bank (2) (photograph by Wyczkowski).
3 Aleika-3 burial ground. Saddle detail (the rear pommel) with polychromic painting from burial -520:
photograph by Skvortsov, b: reconstruction by R. Shiarouhov.
VII
Plates
VIII
Plate VIII
1-2 The Hggeby picture stone, Uppland, Sweden, without inscription. The ship dates it to the Migration Age, AD 400550.
On the other side is a horse-fight. The latter motive of a presumed horse-fight occurs with a four-wheeled cart drawn by one
of the horses in the same province at a Late Bronze Age rock carving at the Angarn Lake. Photograph by author.

Archaeologia BALTICA 11

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ARCHAEOLOGIA

Klaipda University Press

History and Archaeology

Lithuanian Institute of History

Institute of Baltic Sea Region

Volume 11 Editorial Board

Prof Dr Claus von Carnap-Bornheim (Archlogisches Landesmuseum Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische

I . F ro m H orse D o m estication to I m ages

Alicja Lasota-Moskalewska, Karol Szymczak and

Jurgita ukauskait. Images of the Horse and Horseman

I I . R iding to H eav en : H orses fro m B urials

Andrei V. Zinoviev. Horses from Two Burials in Samland and Natangen

Magorzata Karczewska, Maciej Karczewski, and Anna Grzak.

I I I . H orses , H orse m en , and E q uestrian

Bartosz Kontny. Horse and its Use in the Przeworsk Culture

Wojciech Nowakowski. Horse Burials in Roman Period Cemeteries

Konstantin Skvortsov. Burials of Riders and Horses Dated

Audron Bliujien and Donatas Butkus. Burials with Horses

Bartosz Kontny, Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn and Mirosaw Pietrzak.

Audron Bliujien and Valdas Steponaitis. Wealthy Horsemen

Christine Reich. The Cemetery of Oberhof (Auktkiemiai)

Susanne Wilbers-Rost and Achim Rost. Bones and Equipment of Horses

Michel Kazanski. La cavalerie slave lpoque de Justinien

V. T he W orld of H orse S y m bolis m

Laurynas Kurila. Symbolic Horse Burials

Antonija Vilcne. Findings of Harness Items and the Cult

Guntis Zemtis. The Divine Trial in 12th Century Turaida

V I . H orse and E q uestrian E q uip m ent

Rdolfs Brzis and Roberts Spiris. The Ogresgala abas Cemetery

Mariusz Wyczkowski and Daniel Makowiecki.

Mindaugas Bertaius. Horse Graves, Sacrifice, and the Performers

Christer Westerdahl. The Horse as a Liminal Agent

V I I . I m ages of the H orse in A ncient A rt

Dieter Quast. The Merovingian Period Equestrians in Figural Art

Konstantin Skvortsov and Aleksander Khokhlov.

Sonja Hukantaival. Horse Skulls and Alder-Horse:

Giedr ukyt. The Behaviour of Horses in Lithuanian Narrative Folklore 357

Guidelines for Authors

VIII. Horses in Ethnoarchaeology and Folklore

I miss the horse

Baltic languages, dialects, narrative folklore, and folk

or to the fair, or to some other special occasion. One

Participants of the conference The Horse and Man in European Antiquity

Thus, the location of the international conference The

rides a piebald horse is untrustworthy or one who

How these goals were met can be judged by the articles

difficulty (e.g., the sickle), and the role of the horse in

A Problem of the Earliest

A PROBLEM OF THE EARLIEST HORSE

mobile items were documented, together with other

ment. Among the bone and tooth fragments, the horse

Some remarks on horse domestication

appear that we are only able to give some suggestions,

upper settlement layer

A Problem of the Earliest

For the third, analyzed are also the changes and an

At last, an often used indicator for horse domestication

A problem of horse domestication in

A model sketched above refers mainly to the settled

taming was a period of adapting of a certain species

appear only in 8 out of 18 studied assemblages, with

In a following sub-phase a (75007400 cal. BP),

A Problem of the Earliest

horses whose remains, among others, were found in