A new isotope study of a medieval cemetery in Vilnius has revealed that some of the city’s earliest Christian inhabitants migrated from hundreds of kilometres away, providing fresh evidence for ethnic and religious diversity in Lithuania while it remained Europe’s last officially pagan state.
The research focuses on a 13th–14th century cemetery on Bokšto Street in Vilnius Old Town, where archaeologists have uncovered burials associated with one of the city’s earliest Christian communities. By analysing the chemical signatures preserved in human remains, researchers were able to determine where many of those individuals spent their childhoods.
The findings indicate that several of the people buried at the site were not native to Lithuania. Instead, isotope evidence points to origins in regions once belonging to Kievan Rus’, corresponding to parts of present-day western Ukraine and southern Poland.
Lithuania occupies a unique place in European history as the continent’s final pagan state. While Christianity had spread across much of Europe by the Middle Ages, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania did not officially adopt Catholicism until AD 1387. Until now, however, archaeologists have had only limited evidence for the extent of Christian migration into the country before its conversion.
Excavations at Bokšto Street had already uncovered Byzantine-style jewellery, crosses, chaplets and imported grave goods, suggesting strong cultural links with the Ruthenian and Byzantine worlds. The new isotope analysis provides the first direct biological evidence that at least some members of the community had migrated from those regions.
“Archaeologists have long suspected that the Civitas Ruthenica community included migrants from the Ruthenian lands,” said Dr Rytis Jonaitis of the Lithuanian Institute of History, who co-led the long-term excavations at the cemetery. “The isotope data now provide direct evidence that at least some individuals buried at Bokšto came from far beyond Lithuania.”
The study also revealed clear differences between men and women buried at the cemetery. While many of the men appear to have originated outside Lithuania, most of the women were local to the Vilnius area. The researchers suggest this pattern reflects a community shaped by migration and intermarriage, with local women potentially adopting Christianity through contact with migrants from Orthodox territories.
To reconstruct the lives of those buried at the site, the team combined isotope analysis with archaeological evidence, including burial practices and grave goods. This multidisciplinary approach enabled researchers to investigate not only where individuals came from, but also how they became part of the emerging medieval city.
According to lead author Professor Giedrė Motuzaitė Matuzevičiūtė of Vilnius University and the Lithuanian Institute of History, human remains preserve evidence that cannot be obtained through archaeology alone.
“By combining archaeological and historical investigations with multi-tissue isotope analysis of human osteological remains, we can, for the first time, directly identify individuals who migrated into medieval Vilnius during the city’s earliest formation,” she said. “This research shows that Vilnius was already a highly diverse and internationally connected city from the very beginning of its history.”
The findings also have wider implications for understanding migration in medieval Europe. Researchers suggest that movement into Vilnius may have been driven by political ties between Lithuania and neighbouring Ruthenian territories, expanding trade networks, religious connections or population movements associated with the Black Death, which swept across Europe during the mid-14th century.
The study adds to growing evidence that medieval urban centres were shaped by long-distance mobility and cultural exchange, even in regions traditionally viewed as isolated from the Christian world.
Header Image Credit : Rytis Jonaitis
Sources : Antiquity – Motuzaitė Matuzevičiūtė G, Jonaitis R, Kaplūnaitė I, et al. Multiproxy analysis reveals migration and potential origins of the first Christians in medieval Vilnius. Antiquity. Published online 2026:1-17. doi:10.15184/aqy.2026.10389
