Cite this as: Petrauskas, G., Muradian, L. and Kurilienė, A. 2024 Archaeology of Modern Conflict and Heritage Legislation in Lithuania during Thirty Years of Restored Independence, Internet Archaeology 66. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.66.13
After the Lithuanian National Revival in 1988 and the restoration of independence in 1990, the public on their own initiative searched for the remains of fallen anti-Soviet Lithuanian partisans (1944-1953), excavating the burial sites of partisan remains, their bunkers and dugouts. Such excavations prompted the need to establish regulations and procedures for the exhumation and transfer of the remains of victims of 20th-century conflicts and occupation regimes. Government resolutions adopted in 1992 obliged prosecutors, archaeologists, anthropologists and forensic medical experts to be involved in the exhumation procedure and to carry out the exhumation in accordance with the basic requirements of archaeological research.
Owing to the restoration and destruction of authentic partisan bunkers and dugouts, the increase in archaeological investigations at 20th-century conflict sites, as well as the emergence of a distinct field of modern conflict archaeology, the 2022 revision of the Archaeological Heritage Management Regulation stipulated the necessity to carry out archaeological research prior to any excavation works at all 19th- and 20th-century conflict sites. Between 1995 and 2022, a total of 171 permits for archaeological excavations at 20th-century conflict sites were issued. Investigations were mostly carried out at the burial sites of Wehrmacht and Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) soldiers of the Second World War and Lithuanian partisans. Partisan bunkers, dugouts, campsites, battlefields also received considerable attention.
Today, more than 1700 20th-century conflict sites have legal protection in Lithuania. These include Lithuanian Partisan War sites (mainly sites of death and burial), burial sites of soldiers from the First and Second World Wars, sites of massacres and burials of Jews, and other sites associated with the Soviet and Nazi occupation regimes. This article focuses on 20th-century conflict sites in Lithuania, examining issues of their protection, heritage conservation and archaeology, as well as current trends in archaeological research methodology.
Corresponding author: Gediminas Petrauskas
petrauskasgediminas@gmail.com
Klaipėda University, Institute of Baltic Region History and Archaeology
Lijana Muradian
National Museum of Lithuania
Augustina Kurilienė
Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture
Figure 1: Exhumation of partisans Petras Bartkus (codename Žadgaila) and Bronius Liesis (codename Naktis), signatories of the Declaration of 16 February 1949, in Radviliškis in 1991. Photo by Romas Kaunietis
Figure 2: Restored partisan dugout in Šventai forest (Rietavas municipality). Photo by Gediminas Petrauskas, 2011
Figure 3: Number of permits (1995-2022) issued for archaeological research on 20th-century conflict sites. Diagram by Lijana Muradian
Figure 4: Percentage distribution of archaeological research carried out at sites of 20th-century conflicts between 1995 and 2022: 1 - burial sites of Wehrmacht soldiers, 2 - burial sites of soldiers of the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa), 3 - labour camps or sites of massacre, 4 - defensive fortifications of the First and Second World Wars, 5 - sites of the Lithuanian Partisan War; 6 - other sites. Diagram by Lijana Muradian
Figure 5: Proportion of immovable cultural heritage in the Register of Cultural Property. Diagram by Augustina Kurilienė
Figure 6: Distribution of modern conflict sites in the Register of Cultural Property: 1)19th and 20th-century fortifications, 2) First World War German and Russian cemeteries, 3) Second World War Red Army cemeteries, 4) Second World War Wehrmacht cemeteries, 5) Holocaust sites, 6) graves of Lithuanian soldiers, resistance fighters and defenders of freedom, 7) sites of terror and massacres and graves of victims of terror, 8) bunkers, dugouts and campsites of the Lithuanian Partisan War, 9) burial sites of Lithuanian partisans, 10) sites of battle and death of Lithuanian partisans, 11) other sites. Diagram by Augustina Kurilienė
Figure 7: Lithuanian Partisan War sites registered in the Register of Cultural Property. Diagram by Augustina Kurilienė
Table 1: Institutions for research and management of modern conflict heritage
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