July 6th 12 pm. The Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor (Didžioji Vandens g. 2, Klaipėda) will host a presentation of an archaeological reconstruction of a single warrior, based on the burial grounds of the port city, entitled “The 13th century. Klaipėda Curonian Spit: an experiment in archaeological reconstruction”.
The Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor is probably the only museum in Lithuania that has amassed such a huge archaeological collection from the burial sites in its town and its surroundings from the Roman period to the 13th century. There are over 1 000 exhibits from Bandužiai, Slengiai, Joniškės, Aukštkiemiai, Klemiškės, which can be seen in the museum’s expositions.
In order to give visitors a better idea of what a representative of the Curonians, the indigenous people of the present-day Klaipėda city and the surrounding area, looked like when the Knights of the Livonian Order set foot in the region, the idea of making a 13th-century monument to the Curonian Order was born. reconstructions of Curonian warrior clothing, jewellery and weapons.
The originator of the idea and the author of the initiative, local historian Denis Nikitenka, carried out a huge amount of research work on archaeological artifacts for the reconstructions, based on scholarly articles and the exhibits stored in the Museum’s vaults and exhibitions: he assembled the armament and jewelry of a Curonian warrior. He also made a discovery: he observed the most complex inlays on the sword’s cross-guard, made hundreds of years ago by a local armorer, which had not been recorded for decades. All this research material was used by the promoters of the project, the Curonian Living History Club Pilsots: 11 craftsmen from Lithuania and Ukraine made the reconstructions.
During the presentation, visitors will have the opportunity to see the complete 13th-century. a set of reconstructions of a Curonian warrior, to compare the reproductions made with the originals, and to learn about the long, complex and enigmatic world of reconstruction itself. D. Nikitenka will tell how and on what grounds the selection of the Curonian warrior’s skeletons was carried out, what challenges awaited them, and the behind-the-scenes of assembling the set will be revealed.
13th century. The Klaipėda Curonian Warrior Archaeological-Reconstruction Experiment is the first of its kind not only in Klaipėda but also in Lithuania. So, we invite you to not only look out of the corner of your eye, but to get further acquainted with the mysterious world of reconstructions, which allows you to switch on the time machine and return to the Middle Ages, when Curonian saddles were not rusty and swords were not corroded.
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On July 6th, from 10 am to 6 pm. – free admission to the History of Lithuania Minor (Didžioji Vandens g. 2, Klaipėda), the Castle (Priešpilio g. 2, Klaipėda) and the Blacksmith’s (Šaltkalvių g. 2, 2A, Klaipėda) museums expositions.
Also on the festive day, Dr Aušra Kavaliauskienė, Head of the Ethnography Department, will be interacting with visitors from the very beginning of the morning at the Ethnic Culture Exposition of the Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor. Here she will present the most ornate Lithuanian women’s shirts, “kedelius” skirts worn only in Lithuania Minor, waistcoats called “vestes” by the people of Shishion, aprons – “shiursis”, and unique symbols of identity: the hundred-character stripes and delmons.
Information source “Museum of the History of Lithuania Minor”