Baltai ir antika

Abstract

During the antique period (in Lithuania it would correspond to the Early and Old Iron Age) the Baltic region extended from the lower Vistula in the West till the upper reaches of the Oka in the East; from the upper reaches of the Lovate, the Velikaja, the Daugava, and the Dnieper in the North till the mid Padnieper in the South. This article surveys the most important aspects of the relationship between the Balts and the antique world (the amber trade is not taken into consideration here). The relationship is revealed on the basis of the following sources: the reports of Herodotus, Plinius the Senior, Cornelius Tacitus, as well as Ptolemy's map. A thorough comparative investigation of the Germanic society described by P. C. Tacitus and Dauglaukis burial ground (the region of Taurage), belonging to the Old Iron Age, allow to compare the social structure of the two societies. [...]