BAFES-R-002 is a completed study of sacred places and sacred landscapes in Lithuania. It examines what historical documents, archaeology, place-names and folklore actually allow us to establish about particular places, and where later interpretation or reconstruction begins.
What was studied
The project compared thirty places and landscape complexes from different parts of present-day Lithuania. The sample included places named as sacred in medieval sources, archaeological complexes with possible ritual interpretations, places known through old place-names, later folklore or healing traditions, and modern reconstructions that can be checked against earlier evidence.
Main findings
The research confirms that specific sacred forests, settlements and cultic spaces are genuinely documented in medieval Lithuania. At the same time, the evidence does not support treating every suggestive place-name, legend, unusual archaeological find or later religious practice as proof of a pre-Christian sanctuary.
One of the central conclusions is that a sacred place was not necessarily a temple. In many cases the strongest sources establish that a place was regarded as sacred while saying little about a particular deity, priesthood, altar or rite.
Archaeology, folklore and negative results
Archaeology can securely establish material remains without always establishing one religious meaning. Folklore can document a tradition as it was recorded, but a later account cannot automatically be projected back into the Middle Ages.
Negative results are also part of the study. For example, the 2001 investigation at Šakiai examined 61 m² in 18 test pits and substantially weakened an earlier reconstruction of a hillfort and material temple.
Mapping and uncertainty
The study also shows why historical sacred landscapes should not always be represented by a single precise point on a modern map. Some sources identify a forest, route, boundary area or landscape near a known settlement without providing exact historical boundaries. In such cases uncertainty is part of the result.
Publication
The research is complete and has been released as BAFES Research Publication 02: Sacred Landscape of Lithuania. The complete study is distributed as a downloadable PDF; the PDF file will be attached to the publication page separately.