Hatched-Ware Culture

an archaeological culture of eastern Baltic tribes widespread during the early Iron Age (seventh century B.C. to fifth century A.D.) in central Byelorussia and eastern Lithuania.

Identified by A. N. Liavdanskii in the 1920’s, the culture was named for the method of ornamenting modeled vessels with hatching. It arose on the basis of local cultures of the late Bronze Age and is known chiefly from ancient town sites. Early sites were poorly fortified, while later ones were surrounded by one or several earthen banks or ditches. Traces of iron-making were also discovered. Among the objects found were iron spearheads, axes, sickles, spurs, knives, and awls and bronze ornaments. No burials of the hatched-ware culture have been found. By the middle of the first millennium A.D., the population no longer lived in fortified towns but in unfortified settlements. The tribes of the culture engaged in slash-and-burn farming, stock raising, hunting, fishing, and gathering.