22nd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in Vilnius

2016.09.27 -

The 22nd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, 31st August – 4th September 2016, was hosted by the Vilnius University, a venue with many fond associations for us. Within an easy travelling distance, the conference was attended by many researchers from Central and Eastern Europe. The number of sessions was quite impressive (see: http://eaavilnius2016.lt/programme/programme-of-meeting/), and choosing between them was not easy. New discoveries of bog bodies (some of them of animals) and the most recent trends in their study were presented during Session TH1-25 (Bothered by bog bodies). Understanding the actual value of objects, now interpreted as marks of prestige - a subject of special relevance for Migration Period studies – with some examples from the Merovingian cultures and the Anglo-Saxon sphere, was addressed within Session TH1-27 (What's it all worth? Material possessions and value in the past societies). Presentations given within Session TH1-31 ("Barbarians" of Eastern Europe in the system of cross cultural interactions) proved less inspiring, except for the well informed contribution from Olga Rumyantseva who reported on specialist studies of enamelling techniques characteristic for eastern Europe during the Late Roman Period and at the onset of the Migration Period. Another noteworthy presentation was the one given by Evgenii Bogdanov who discussed the sacred sites at Altÿnkazgan, Kazakhstan dating to the Hunnic-Sarmatian period. Next to some remarkable stone structures, a remarkably rich assemblage of archaeological finds was found there, including metal saddle fittings with figural representations executed in the nomad Animal Style. The same session included a preliminary analysis of type Dollkeim-Kovrovo brooches presented by Iaroslav Prasolov, a contribution from prof. dr. Maria Ruiz Del Arbol Moro on ancient salt extraction by the Przeworsk Culture people in the Kujawy region (Polish lowlands), and a presentation given by David Wigg-Wolf on Germanic coins (a familiar subject at MPOV meetings). Also inspiring were sessions devoted to the uses of archival documentation in archaeology, particularly session TH6-06 ("Dusty" archives and archaeology: old information - new perspectives), dealing mostly with the archaeology of the Baltic Sea region and East-Central Europe. Session TH1-21 (After the flames. New approach to the study of the medieval sites with funeral cremations in northern and eastern Europe) included papers dealing with the Migration Period and the cremation rite in eastern Europe as well as a stimulating contribution concerned with the Merovingian cemetery at Broechem where, for the first time in the history of Belgian archaeology, a specialist study of cremation remains from this type of grave-field was made, with good results (Rica Annaert). Contributions within one of the closing sessions, TH4-05 (Sketches of first millennium rural communities: integrating dwelling spaces and the dead) were concerned with new findings from a settlement adjacent to the outstanding elite grave discovered at Hoby on Lolland, attributed to the Lubieszewo Horizon (Susanne Klingerberg), addressed the subject of the elite burial itself (Ruth Blankenfeldt), a number of some case studies from Lithuania; Bartosz Kontny, MPOV team member, discussed the presence of Balt forms in Scandinavian sacred sites (bog and terrestrial) dating to the Roman Period and the Migration Period (Vimose1 and 2a, Kragehul, Balsmyr, Uppakra, Sorte Muld, etc.), indicating the participation of Balt warriors in long-distance plundering expeditions. On the whole the conference was a success, we only regret that its formula and the number of scholars taking part prevented us from taking full advantage of the opportunities offered.

The participants from Poland felt at home, all thanks to the genius loci of historic Vilnius.