Brass pendant "Key" ŽP646

The history of keys

XII – XIV a. a new type of keys, reminiscent of today's ones, spread in 56 areas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, mostly in cemeteries, mounds and sacrificial sites.

Copper, Brass, Iron and Bronze - Keys

This opened wide spaces for various interpretations. The said keys were made of copper or other non-ferrous metal alloys, many of which are quite ornate. Therefore, in the scientific literature, they are usually interpreted as symbolic, having no utilitarian meaning. Archaeologist Eugenijus Svetikas associates the keys with Christian symbolism, in which they are mostly St. Peter and St. Mortas attributes. According to the researcher, Martha's cult is more likely in the GDL, because the owners of the keys were women and girls of different ages, moreover, the keys in the graves were mostly found in the pelvic-lumbar area, i. y. in the place where the keys are depicted in St. Mortas in iconography. According to other archaeologists, the keys were a symbolic adornment of a woman who ruled a certain wealth and had power and authority over a certain group of people.