Lembit Jaanits
| Lembit Jaanits | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 January 1925 Tartu, Estonia |
| 5 July 2015 (aged 90)5 July 2015 (aged 90) | |
| 🏳️ Citizenship | Estonian |
| 🏫 Education | University of Tartu |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 🏅 Awards | Order of the White Star, III Class |
Lembit Jaanits (22 January 1925 – 5 July 2015) was an Estonian archaeologist who specialised in the Stone Age of Estonia, especially the Neolithic.[1][2] He was among the central figures in post-war Estonian prehistoric archaeology, and his excavations, typologies and syntheses became important reference points for the study of the eastern Baltic Stone Age.[3][4]
Early life and education
Jaanits was born in Tartu.[1] He entered the University of Tartu in 1942 and attended lectures by Richard Indreko, Gustav Ränk, Armin Tuulse and Friedrich Puksoo.[5] In 1943 he took part in excavations at the Tamula Neolithic settlement site and began working at the university's Archaeological Museum, where he assisted with archival copying and with the packing and evacuation of collections during the war.[5]
He graduated from the University of Tartu in 1948 with a diploma in history and archaeology.[5] In 1954 he defended a candidate dissertation on Neolithic and Early Metal Age settlements at the mouth of the Emajõgi.[5] A revised Russian-language version was published in 1959 as Poseleniia epokhi neolita i rannego metalla v priust'e reki Emaiygi (Estonskaia SSR).[6]
Career and research
Jaanits spent most of his professional career at the Institute of History of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. He worked there as a researcher from the late 1940s onward, became head of the archaeology sector in 1968, and later served as a leading researcher until 1993.[2] His work focused above all on Stone Age settlement archaeology, ceramic typology and chronology in Estonia.[1]
He carried out or directed excavations at many of Estonia's best-known prehistoric sites, including Akali, Kullamäe, Valma, Kääpa, Tamula, Kunda Lammasmägi, Narva Joaoru hillfort and Pulli.[5][7][8] In later recollections, he described his main scholarly aim as placing the material of the Estonian Stone Age, especially the Neolithic, into a reliable chronological sequence. He regarded the settlements at the mouth of the Emajõgi, particularly Akali, as fundamental to that effort because their stratigraphy helped establish the early Neolithic date of material later grouped under the name Narva culture.[5]
Later scholarship has continued to treat Jaanits's work as foundational. Recent studies have described his typology as the main framework for classifying Neolithic pottery in Estonia,[3] and have noted that he played an important role in defining Late Comb Ware in Estonia during the 1950s and in distinguishing Narva-type pottery on the basis of Estonian material.[4] Colleagues have also credited him with producing the first systematic synthesis of Estonia's later Stone Age and with substantially expanding the source base for the study of the Mesolithic and Neolithic in Estonia.[1]
Publications and legacy
Among Jaanits's best-known publications were his monograph on the Emajõgi mouth settlements,[6] the general survey Eesti esiajalugu (1982), written with Silvia Laul, Vello Lõugas and Evald Tõnisson.[9]
Honours
In 2001 Jaanits was awarded the Order of the White Star, III Class.[10]
Selected works
- Poseleniia epokhi neolita i rannego metalla v priust'e reki Emaiygi (Estonskaia SSR) (1959).[6]
- Eesti esiajalugu (with Silvia Laul, Vello Lõugas and Evald Tõnisson, 1982).[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Kriiska, Aivar (2015). "Lembit Jaanits – in memoriam" (PDF). Tutulus: Eesti arheoloogia aastakiri (in eesti): 60. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Lembit Jaanits 100". Eesti Arheoloogide Liit (in eesti). 22 January 2025. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kriiska, Aivar; Khrustaleva, Irina; Macāne, Aija; Kirs, Juho; Nordqvist, Kerkko (2025). "Archaeological investigations at the Naakamäe Stone Age settlement site on Saaremaa" (PDF). Archaeological Fieldwork in Estonia. 2024: 53–66. doi:10.15157/ave.vi.26159. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Khrustaleva, Irina; Kriiska, Aivar (2026). "The 4th–3rd millennia BC in the eastern Baltic: inter- and counteractions" (PDF). Estonian Journal of Archaeology. 30 (1): 50–71. doi:10.3176/arch.2026.1.03. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Suits, Merike (23 December 2013). "Lembit Jaanits – mees, kes tahtis teada saada, millega kõik algas". Tutulus (in eesti). Retrieved 16 April 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Jaanits, Lembit (1959). Поселения эпохи неолита и раннего металла в приустье реки Эмайыги (Эстонская ССР) [Settlements of the Neolithic and Early Metal Age at the mouth of the Emajõgi River (Estonian SSR)] (in русский). Tallinn: Академия наук Эстонской ССР, Институт истории. Retrieved 16 April 2026. Search this book on
- ↑ Sander, Kristjan; Kriiska, Aivar (2015). "Archaeological test excavations at the Stone Age site Kunda Lammasmägi in 2013–2014". Archaeological Fieldwork in Estonia. 2014: 29–38. doi:10.15157/ave.vi.25078. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
- ↑ Khrustaleva, Irina (16 January 2026). "Tänu teaduse arengule pakuvad Pulli asulakoha leiud uusi teadmisi". University of Tartu Institute of History and Archaeology (in eesti). Retrieved 16 April 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Jaanits, Lembit; Laul, Silvia; Lõugas, Vello; Tõnisson, Evald (1982). Eesti esiajalugu (in eesti). Tallinn: Eesti Raamat. Retrieved 16 April 2026. Search this book on
- ↑ "985. Riiklike autasude andmine". President of the Republic of Estonia (in eesti). 2 February 2001. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
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