As the plane descended into Vilnius the capitol of Lithuania I caught my first glimpse of Eastern Europe complete with monolithic Soviet era apartment blocks and shiny post 1991 skyscrapers. I was in Lithuania to take part in the 10th year of excavations at Lake Luokesas the site of two submerged lake settlements which dated to the Bronze Age 6th century B.C and Iron Age 4th century B.C.

The site was originally built around 2600 years ago on a foundation of wooden stilts above the water 30 metres from the lake shore and was the first prehistoric pile dwellings ever discovered in Lithuania. Due to the freshwater and overlying lake sediments the archaeological material was exceptionally well preserved with large wooden planks, beams and piles lying exactly as they were over 2000 years ago.

The work this year involved the excavation of a 2 x 2m square adjacent to those excavated over the past 2 years to further understand how the site was constructed and to recover artefacts that would give a clearer picture about the people who lived there.

The excavation itself involved removing the layers of sediment that covered the site using a water dredge which sucks away sand and silt as it is lifted by hand by the person excavating. The site only extended around about 50 cm below the current lake bottom but due to the fragile nature of such archaeological sites a great deal of care is required during excavation so it is a time consuming exercise.

A typical day at the site involved waking up around 7 am climbing out of my tent and walking through the forest to the lake for a very refreshing early morning dip. It was then time for a traditional Lithuanian breakfast before taking the runabout to the pontoon to start the days diving.

As the site itself was only 3 metres below the surface it doesn’t take long for the diver to descend and get to work with the biggest worry not about getting the bends but hitting the bottom when you rolled off the pontoon. Due to the site being so shallow each diver’s excavation shift lasted for at least 2 hours in which we carefully removed the layers to uncover the artefacts and remains of the wooden foundations.

When we weren’t diving we took turns on the platform monitoring the dredge machinery and enjoying the beautiful lake scenery.

During the excavation a number of really amazing artefacts were uncovered including various types of ceramic pots, grindstones and even intact fish nets and ropes. After two weeks of hard work we had managed to dig through and record all of the evidence of the people who had lived at the sight within our 2 x 2m grid and it was time to leave Luokesas for 2009.

Fortunately, after the excavation I still had a few days to explore Lithuania and I took the train from Vilnius, to Lithuania’s only seaport, Klaipeda where I got my first sight of and swim in the Baltic Sea. After a few days of sightseeing it was back to Vilnius where I was shown around by my new Lithuanian friends.

It turns out that the year 2009 marks 1000 year since Lithuania was first mentioned in written sources and while in Vilnius I visited a number of museums and castles which illustrated just how rich the history in this area is. On the 23rd of July, my second last day in Lithuania, I celebrated my 25th birthday and I was taken out by my host Elena Pranckenaite to the old city where we visited some of the sights by night and sampled traditional Lithuanian food and drink for what was definitely a memorable birthday. I had an amazing time during my stay in Lithuania not only did I get to work on a fantastic archaeological site with a great group of people but I also got to experience a whole new part of the world that chances are I would never have visited without my scholarship.

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