New Vilnius University A study by the Vilnius University (VU), the Institute of Lithuanian History and international partners, published in Antiquity, one of the most prestigious international peer-reviewed archaeological journals published by Cambridge University Press, has provided the first direct scientific evidence that migrants from distant regions arrived in the emerging medieval Vilnius in the 13th century. The researchers found that some of the first Christians buried in Vilnius likely came from Kievan Rus, which today belongs to Ukraine and southern Poland.
Scientists made these conclusions after examining human remains from the 13th–14th centuries found in the historic cemetery of Vilnius’s Rusyn Quarter (Latin: Civitas Ruthenica), on Bokšto Street. By analyzing the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and strontium isotopes preserved in teeth and bones, the researchers were able to determine not only the dietary characteristics of the people, but also assess where they might have come from.
The study provides new knowledge about the early history of Vilnius and shows that the city was multicultural and multi-confessional from the very beginning of its formation – it was also inhabited by people who came from the most distant lands, with whom Christianity likely spread to Lithuania.
Migrant from the South
From the remains of 15 individuals examined, we see that the men were particularly mobile and probably not local. One young man (grave 311) stood out from the others. Chemical traces on his teeth showed that he spent his childhood in a warmer southern region. His diet included millet, a plant that was widespread in the eastern and southern regions in the Middle Ages, but had almost disappeared in Lithuania due to the onset of cold weather.
Also, in childhood, this man ate a lot of animal proteins, that is, dairy products, meat and fish. However, later his diet changed and became similar to the local residents of Vilnius, which indicates that in adolescence he moved to Vilnius and integrated into the local Orthodox community. Additionally, the strontium and oxygen isotopes of the tooth enamel of grave 311, which reflect the food consumed in childhood and the water drunk during the formation of permanent teeth, were radically different from the isotopes of the enamel of the vast majority of people buried in the cemetery and coincided with the signal characteristic of regions south of Lithuania. The same isotopic signal was recorded in studies of the tooth enamel of people from the 11th-12th century Ostriv cemetery near Kiev. Researchers believe that the man from grave 311 could have come from the territories of the former Kievan Rus – perhaps present-day Ukraine or southern Poland.
One of the leaders of the research on the Bokšto Street cemetery, a researcher at the Lithuanian Institute of History, Dr. Rytis Jonaitis, says that archaeologists had previously suspected the presence of migrants from Ruthenian lands in the city community. However, isotope data now confirms this – at least some of the people buried here did indeed come from distant regions outside Lithuania.
The study also revealed that most of the women buried in the cemetery were of local origin, from the Vilnius region. This suggests that the Vilnius community at that time was shaped by migration and mixed marriages. It is likely that along with the men who arrived from Orthodox lands, Christianity also came to the region, which was adopted by local women.
Research reveals the diverse origins of Vilnius
The Bokšto Street Cemetery is one of the largest known medieval Christian burial sites in pagan Lithuania. In the 13th–14th centuries, Lithuania was still officially pagan, but the people buried in this cemetery followed Orthodox Christian burial traditions.
Archaeological finds there – Byzantine-style jewelry, crosses, necklaces, and imported tombstones – have long indicated connections with the Ruthenian and Byzantine worlds. New isotope studies now confirm this, along with biological data, that migration contributed to the formation of Vilnius’s earliest Christian communities.
The lead author of this scientific study, Professor Giedrė Motuzaitė Matuzevičiūtė of the Faculty of History of Vilnius University, states that studies of human remains allow us to understand their migrations, diet and social relations much more precisely than archaeological finds alone. “By combining anthropology, archaeology and isotopic studies from different human tissues that form at different periods of human life, we can for the first time directly identify individuals who changed their diet and place of residence and migrated to the medieval city of Vilnius during the formation period. This study shows that Vilnius was very diverse from the very beginning of its history – meeting the criteria of an ethnically dynamic and growing cultural and economic center.”
Dr. Irma Kaplūnaitė, a researcher at the Institute of History of Lithuania and one of the leaders of long-term archaeological research at the Bokšto Street Cemetery, emphasizes that archaeology and chemistry complement each other particularly well. “Together, grave finds, burial customs, and isotope analysis allow us not only to determine the origin of people, but also to understand how they integrated into medieval Vilnius society, who were locals and who were not, and how the processes of the formation of a multicultural and multi-confessional city took place.”
What encouraged migration to Vilnius?
The study also raises broader questions about migration in medieval Europe. According to researchers, people could have come to Vilnius for various reasons: political ties between the Lithuanian and Rus’ lands, trade opportunities, religious motives, or population relocation, which could have been prompted by the Black Death (plague) pandemic that devastated much of Europe in the mid-14th century. Rimantas Jankauskas, professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University, emphasizes that “the territories of northern Europe were a kind of refuge for the inhabitants of densely populated southern European regions, where pandemics spread particularly rapidly. Fleeing from the outbreak of epidemics and in search of better living conditions, people moved north, and Vilnius eventually became a center of attraction for various nations. These discoveries are important for better understanding the early history of Vilnius. They once again confirm that medieval cities were dynamic and diverse spaces, shaped by the mobility of people, the interaction of different cultures, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
The study was conducted by researchers from Vilnius University and the Lithuanian Institute of History in collaboration with the Free University of Brussels.