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- Title
SENOSIOS KAIMŲ KAPINĖS PAVELDOSAUGINIU IR PAVELDOTRYRINIU ASKEPTU.
- Authors
Prascevičiūtė, Laura
- Abstract
Analysis of the Valakai Reform reveals cardinal changes in the development of Lithuanian villages. In the middle of the 16th century, or somewhat later, according to the regulations of the Valakai Reform, street villages established in the territory of Lithuania became dominant all over the country. Typically, in the contemporary landscape, old village cemeteries have survived near villages of this type. The paper aims at the discussion of the circumstances that determined the formation of village cemeteries during the times of the Valakai Reform, as well as their development, including the problems related to cemetery protection and record-making. Both in the system of heritage protection and archeology, there is no precise conception of what type of cemetery should be considered as an old village cemetery. The dating of such cemeteries is not clear, either. The burial places which, with the help of archeological findings, are dated back to the second quarter of the 18th century, are called burial grounds (except barrows) and protected as objects of archeological heritage. Meanwhile, the formation of cemeteries near villages is only preliminarily related to the 18th and 19th centuries. In various historical sources, burials in cemeteries near villages were recorded during a rather long period between the second half of the 16th century beginning of the 20th century. This fact implies burial continuity, without considering the 18th century as a strict boundary. Of course, burial places should be related to dwelling locations and the sedentary life of their inhabitants. In our case, the remaining village cemeteries seem to be lost in the common context of history and archeology, if they are not related to a particular settlement and its history. The term 'old village cemetery' and the accepted system of their dating suggest that a village cemetery as a phenomenon appeared only at the end of the 18th century. However, it is necessary to understand that even earlier the burial places (today called burial grounds) functioned in no other way than cemeteries of a village community. After the realization of the Valakai Reform, the reconstruction of the old pre-valakai villages and the establishment of the new ones, the net of the settlements became compressed and obtained a new structure. An assumption has been made that with the formation of a new net of settlements, new burial places were formed. In the history of village cemeteries, the Valakai Reform might be considered as one of the most important chronological aspects due to the fact that the formation of part of the remaining cemeteries or burial grounds might be related to the establishment of villages. On the basis of the results of archeological research and data given in the historical sources, it has been determined that, typically, after the Valakai Reform in the first half of the 16th century, with the formation of new villages, new burial places were formed in some uninhabited localities. It should be also noted that, if an old burial place was found in the territory of a newly formed or reconstructed village, this factor determined the development of the cemetery around it. Another tradition, kept by part of village dwellers at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, was burying the deceased in the churchyards. In the 19th century, most people were buried in the newly formed parish cemeteries. Nevertheless, up to as late as the middle of the 20th century, the tradition of burying the deceased in the cemeteries located near villages is noted.
- Publication
Studies of Lithuania's History, 2012, Issue 29, p98
- ISSN
1392-0448
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.15388/lis.2012.0.7445