| Abstract [eng] |
The present paper attempts at reconstructing the societies that existed in the Roman period in the western part of Lithuania, the Lower Nemunas (Lithuania) and on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea – on the Zealand Island (Sjaelland) (Denmark), on the Skåne Peninsular (Sweden), on the Bornholm Island (Denmark), and on the Swedish islands of Gotland and Öland and at comparing them after having analysed the burial material on the basis of the theories and research methods of post-processual social archaeology and after having evaluated the research results in the context of other archaeological material available. The novelty of this research paper is that this is the first comparative analysis, carried out on the basis of the archaeological material and the social structures of the Baltic Sea region, of their changes and the reasons that caused those changes. Having made the comparative analysis of the societies of South Scandinavia and Western Lithuania the following generalising conclusions were drawn. All the Baltic Sea societies exhibited clear signs of stratification during the Roman period; it was only the degree of hierarchisation that differed. The middle and lowest layers of society had more similarities than differences in all the regions. The greatest differences can be seen among the highest layers of society; the highest degree of hierarchisation is undoubtedly characteristic of the island of Zealand, while the lowest one is typical of Western Lithuania. Everyday life was most probably similar in ordinary settlements on both coasts of the Baltic Sea. |
