Names and places: Vėlaičiai, Vėlekiemis

The study is focused on analysis of names of Lithuanian places from the point of view of landscape geography. It is intended for the analysis of the Vėlaičiai (Laties) and other similar place names. According to data from linguists, such place names are derived from personal names. But the root of the word Late does not answer what the personal name means itself. In Lithuanian language the Laties word shares the same root with: late - time of day, the end of a season or ghost - the spirit of a dead person? With which of these meanings could be associated with communities, areas that are still marked in the 19th and 21st century beginning maps? Hypothesis made that if in the past the meaning of such communities or areas would be linked to a world of the dead, in or in the surrounding of them should be some objects from the pre-Christian period. In search for possible connections first the oldest cultural layer - the archeological heritage was analyzed, and then the natural environment of the areas. In total the 29 locations were studied.