Northern gold : amber in Lithuania (c. 100 to c. 1200) / / by Audrone Bliujiene.

• Superior document: East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450 ; v. 18
• Author: Bliujienė, Audronė, 1954-
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Language: English
• Series: East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450 ; v. 18.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (466 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

This study presents a systematic analysis of the huge, and in most cases, completely new archaeological evidence for amber from Lithuania and the surrounding regions. A comprehensive synthesis of archaeological evidence and written sources provides an opportunity to develop new viewpoints about the sources of amber, extraction methods, amber-wearing traditions in different Aestii/Balt cultures and by people of different social status, ages and genders, and the amber trade in different markets in Lithuania and the whole eastern Baltic region. However, a tradition of amber usage in Lithuania was dependent not only on the ability of local communities to acquire “northern gold” but, to a larger degree, its use in the north was determined by cultural developments that took place in Europe.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- 1. Baltic Amber: Distribution, Main Sources and Accessibility -- 2. Amber in Lithuanian Historiography -- 3. The Aestii and the Glesum Epoch -- 4. Amber in Medieval Lithuania -- Conclusions -- Appendices and Tables -- Bibliography -- Index.