Footprint Stones in Lithuania: Origin, Names, and Rites
This study will examine unique monuments of the Baltic religion consisting of 231 stones with impressions reminiscent of human and/or animal footprints recorded in Lithuania. Data are drawn from archaeology, linguistics, folklore, ethnology, and history related to these stones. Footprint stones are...
Subtitles: | "Special Issue - Religion and the Experience of Nature" |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Equinox Publ.
2024
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In: |
Journal for the study of religion, nature and culture
Year: 2024, Volume: 18, Issue: 1, Pages: 39-61 |
Further subjects: | B
sacred landscape
B Balts B Rituals B Natural places B Religion B footprint stones B Lithuania B natural places |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | This study will examine unique monuments of the Baltic religion consisting of 231 stones with impressions reminiscent of human and/or animal footprints recorded in Lithuania. Data are drawn from archaeology, linguistics, folklore, ethnology, and history related to these stones. Footprint stones are autonomous natural holy places that rarely belong to complexes of archaeological and mythological sites. After the introduction of Christianity, Baltic chthonic gods and goddesses who were believed to have left traces of their presence on stones were either proclaimed evil spirits or granted the names of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Christ, or other Christian holy figures. Religious rites recorded at the footprint stones by historical sources and/or those which have survived to this day have left no clear archaeological traces. |
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ISSN: | 1749-4915 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the study of religion, nature and culture
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/jsrnc.23402 |