The ladder of life: archaeology and iconography in the New Jerusalem monastery in the 17th-18th centuries

The excavations of Primorskaya culture settlements Pribrezhnoye,Ushakovo-1 and Ushakovo-3 (Kaliningrad region) have yielded products of amber.Amber items were retrieved from constructions as well as pits, presumably interpretedas burials. Radiocarbon dates from the constructions with amber items in Pribrezhnoyefall within 3100 - 2700 BC (fig. 1). Object A from dwelling 9 is notable for a necklaceconsisting of flattened pendants, lentoid buttons and discs (fig. 2). Another amber necklacefrom Object № 60 included 3 rings and lens-shaped button (fig. 3). Two fragmentsof ceramic and a piece of cylindrical-shaped amber bead were found in Object № 46.All products of amber found in Pribrezhnoye entirely correspond to amber repertoirefrom the settlements of the late IV - first half of the III mill. BC. Close analogies arerevealed also at the settlements Šventoji 6 and 2/4A. The similarity is not limited to amberjewelry. Ceramic ware and stone axes are also similar in their ornaments and shapes.Amber waste products and raw materials have not been found at Pribrezhnoye. There areno traces of amber workshop at the site, which evidences that products of amber were notmanufactured at the settlement. The same concerns other large settlements of Primorskayaculture. It means that population of the Eastern group of Primorskaya culture worked outa distinctive approach to making items of amber. These were made at seasonal shortterm sites in the areas where raw amber was collected and then half-finished and finishedproducts of amber were transported to large centers including Pribrezhnoye, Nida,Sukhach, etc. Most likely, the initial period of amber working was related to the early stageof the Primorskaya culture which dates back to the end of IV - first half of III mill. BC).