Footprint Stones in Lithuania

Abstract

This study will examine unique monuments of the Baltic religion consisting of 231 stones with impressions reminiscent of human and/or animal footprints recorded in Lithuania. Data are drawn from archaeology, linguistics, folklore, ethnology, and history related to these stones. Footprint stones are autonomous natural holy places that rarely belong to complexes of archaeological and mythological sites. After the introduction of Christianity, Baltic chthonic gods and goddesses who were believed to have left traces of their presence on stones were either proclaimed evil spirits or granted the names of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Christ, or other Christian holy figures. Religious rites recorded at the footprint stones by historical sources and/or those which have survived to this day have left no clear archaeological traces.