Archaeology in the study of the Anti-Soviet Lithuanian partisan war

Abstract

The main sources for research on the partisan war in Lithuania are, of course, the documents left by repressive security institutions, eyewitness testimonials, and surviving partisan documents and memoirs. However, these data are significantly supplemented and sometimes corrected by archaeological excavations of partisan war heritage sites. In Lithuania, the search for the burial sites of undiscovered remains of partisans is being carried out, with research being conducted at bunker and battlefield sites and on the farms of former partisan supporters. Since 2004, archaeological research into the postwar partisan campaign has usually been organized by an official institution – the Lithuanian Genocide and Resistance Research Centre. The results of archaeological research into Lithuanian partisan war sites in a broad sense will probably not rewrite the history of this war. However, in shedding light on one aspect or another of the armed struggle, researchers are confronted by the partiality of the documents left by Soviet security institutions and the limited amount of information provided. Archaeological research practice in the past decade has clearly shown that the tools of archaeology are irreplaceable in locating and detailing known partisan war events and sites. Only through archaeological research is it possible to bring to light the unknown burial sites of partisan remains. Results have shown that we cannot always trust the individual memory of witnesses and through archaeological research it has become possible to accurately reconstruct sites of the period and recreate the course of events, most of which ended tragically.