The map showing the territory of already partially assimilated Yotvingians.

Yotvingian kurhan, piliagarbas in the area of Suwałki

The biggest Yotvingian kurhan in the area of Suwałki

Yotvingians or Sudovians (also called Suduvians, Jatvians, or Jatvingians in English) (Lithuanian: Jotvingiai, Sūduviai; Latvian: Jatvingi; Polish: Jaćwingowie, Belarusian: Яцвягі,German: Südowier, ) were a Baltic people with close cultural ties to the Lithuanians and Prussians. The Yotvingian language (sometimes called Sudovian) was a Western Baltic language nearest to Prussian, but with small variations.

[edit] Geography

Yotvingians lived in the area of Sudovia and Dainava (Yotvingia); south west from the upper Neman and their land began to be conquered by various people. The territory was between later Marijampolė, Merkinė (Lithuania), Slonim, Kobryn (Belarus), Białystok, and Ełk (Poland). Vytauatas the Great wrote about "terra Sudorum", in a letter to King Sigismund of March 11, 1420. Today this area corresponds mostly to the Podlaskie Voivodeship of Poland, portions of Lithuania and a part of Hrodna Province of Belarus.

[edit] Name

The name derives from the Old Prussian word "sudawa": swampy region.

[edit] History

According to The Histories of Herodotus (5th century B.C.), the Neuri ( Νέυροι ) were a tribe living beyond the Scythian cultivators, one of the nations along the course of the river Hypanis (Bug river), west of the Borysthenes (Dniepr river). Roughly the area of modern Belarus and Eastern Poland by the Narew river - which coincides with the Yotvingian linguistic territory of toponyms and hydronyms (Narew river).

Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD called the people Galindai kai Soudinoi (Σουδινοί). Peter von Dusburg called them Galindite and Suduwite. In Russian sources (since 983 AD) the Sudovian are described as Jadwinger. In the Ipatius Chronicle the spellings are changing: Jatviagy, Jatviezie, Jatviažin, zemlia Jatveskaja, na zemliu Jatviažs´kuju and more. In Latin language written sources of the Masovians this prussian tribe was called Polexiani. Kadlubek told that area was belonging to the Prussians: sunt autem Pollexianni, Getarum seu Prussorum genus. Polish sources used also Russian spellings: Jazviagi, Iazvizite, Jazvizite, Yazvizite. In the treaty with the Teutonic Knights in 1260 the region is called "terre Getuizintarum". This name was taken by the papal administration: terra Jatwesouie, Gretuesia, Gzestuesie, Getuesia und Getvesia. The Knights called this tribe Sudowite, Sudowia, in qua Sudowit.

The names Yotvingians and Sudovians are never mentioned at the same time, so that both names mean the same tribe. In the sentence of Breslau of the emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg to the Order of Livland from 1325 it is called Suderlandt alias Jetuen. In two dotations (1253 and 1259) of Mindaugas I. a new name was published: Dainava, Deynowe, Dainowe, Denowe (land of songs). Also named were the forests Deinova Jatvež.

[edit] Genetic

A genetic portrait of modern Belarusians documents A separation of subpopulations along the south-north line, which is demonstrated particularly in distribution of Y chromosomal lineages R1b, I1a and I1b, N3 and G-chromosomes, has been noted; east-west gradient is insignificant.^[1]

[edit] Famous Persons

Skomante Skalmantas, leader of Sudovians, took part in the Prussian uprisings.^[2]

[edit] Monuments

The horse

• Per nedėlę žirgužį szėrau
• Subatoje po pietu sawo bėrą žirgėlį gražei szropawau.

Flowers

• Sėjau rutas, sėjau mėtas
• sėjau szwėses lėlijates
• sėjau žalius lewendrelus.

The lover

• Atsimįk bernužėli
• Ką wakar kalbėjai
• Karcziamėlij už stalėlio, rankėles sudėjai.

Dancing animals

• Szoka kiszkis, szoka lapė, szoka wisi žwėris
• ir tas briedis, il garietis , ir tas ne tylėju.

[edit] Literature

• Marija Gimbutas, The Balts. London : Thames and Hudson, Ancient peoples and places 33, 1963.
• Totoraitis, J., Sūduvos Suvalkijos istorija. Marijampolė: Piko valanda.(2003) [1938] ISBN 9986875870.
• Witczak, K. T., Traces of Dual Forms in Old Prussian and Jatvingian in Woljciech Smoczynski and Axel Holvoet, eds, Colloquium Pruthenicum primum, 1992, pp 93–98
• Gerullis, G., Zur Sprache der Sudauer-Jadwinger, in Festschrift A. Bezzenberger, Göttingen 1927
• Toporov,V., ИНДОЕВРОПЕЙСКЕ ЯЗЫКИ [Indo-European languages] Лингвистический энциклопеический словарь.[Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary] Мoskva, 1990, pp 186–189
• Mažiulis, V., Baltic languages. Britannica Online Encyclopedia
• Henning, E., De rebus Jazygum sive Jazuin-gorum, Regiomonti, 1812
• Sjoegren, A., Ueber die Wohnsitz Verhaeltnisse und der Jatwaeger, St. Petersburg, 1859
• Sembrzycki, J., Die Nord-und Westgebiete the Jadwinger und deren Grenzen, Altpreussischeme Monatschrift, XXVIII, 1891, pp. 76-89
• W. R. Schmalstieg, Studies in Old Prussian, University Park and London, 1976.
• V. Toporov, Prusskij jazyk: Slovar', A - L, Moskva, 1975-1990.
• V. Mažiulis, Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas, Vilnius, t. I-IV, 1988-1997.
• Archäologie der UDSSR: Die Finno-Ugrier und die Balten im Mittelalter, Teil II, Balten, S. 411-419, Moskau 1987
• Lepa, Gerhard (Hrsg): Die Sudauer, in Tolkemita-Texte Nr. 55, Dieburg 1998
• Lepa, Gerhard: Gedanken über die Prußen und ihre Lieder, in Tolkemita-Texte „25 Lieder der Sudauer“ Nr. 56, Dieburg 1999
• Litauische Enzyklopädie, Bd. XXVX, Boston, USA, 1963
• Salemke, Gerhard: Lagepläne der Wallburganlagen von der ehemaligen Provinz Ostpreußen, Gütersloh, 2005, Karten 19/ 7 - 19/ 13
• Žilevičius, Juozas: Grundzüge der kleinlitauischen Volksmusik, in Tolkemita-Texte „25 Lieder der Sudauer“ Nr. 56, Dieburg 1999

[edit] References

Gimbutas, Marija, The Balts, (1963) London : Thames and Hudson, pp 97–102.

Mažiulis, V, Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas,t. II, (1993) Vilnius: Mokslas, pp 7–12, ISBN 5-420-00791-6-8

ANTONIEWICZ, J., The mysterious Sudovian people, Archaeology, II, 3, 1958

ANTONIEWICZ, J., The Sudovians, Biaĺystok, 1962.

DUSBURG (PETRI DE DUSBURG), Chronicon Prussiae, ed. Chr. Hartknock, Jena, 1879

[edit] External links

• M. Gimbutas book on the Balts, with maps

[edit] See also

• Yotvingian / Sudovian language
• Yotvingia