Abstract
<jats:p>The emergence of fortified settlements is an important phase in prehistory, during which communities made fundamental changes to their way of life and daily routines, with significant additional investments of time and labour to ensure their security. The Eastern Baltic region in Europe had undergone a distinctive economic development characterised by a late74 process of Neolithisation, with the earliest evidence of crop agriculture identified around 1400–1200 cal BC (Piličiauskas et al. 2021). During this period, bronze artefacts reflecting the ideas of the European Bronze Age culture had already been imported for some time. It is likely that metalwork, which was initially new and alien to local communities, gradually became accessible and culturally inherent. The changing socio-economic environment from the Early Bronze Age (EBA) to the Late Bronze Age (LBA) is also indicated by the emergence of intensive agriculture, the significant increase in artefact types associated with the Scandinavian tradition, the doubling of bronze consumption, an almost quadrupling of the number of hoards, and the development of ritual practices such as the emergence of the stone ship graves that were likely made by groups from Scandinavia or Gotland (Luchtanas, Sidrys 1999: 22, Table 1–2; Vasks 2010: 156; Wehlin 2013; Minkevičius et al. 2020). At a similar time, there were probably considerably more changes in the culture, behaviour, economy, diet and burial practices of the Eastern Baltic population. Thus, it is possible to consider not only the opportunities for economic and social development, but also the increased social tensions between different communities in the region. The data on fortified settlements collected so far have not been sufficiently interpreted on a larger regional scale. Previous studies have concentrated on individual sites, on a particular area of the region, or have summarised knowledge gathered within the boundaries of individual countries, devoting a small part of the discussion to contextual information from the wider region. The application of 14C dating has been scarce in understanding the more complete regional development of fortified settlements. The economy and diet of these communities has been understood mostly through zooarchaeological data, which provide only one-sided information. All this did not allow for an understanding of when, how and why fortified settlements emerged in the Eastern Baltic.</jats:p>