Zabiela, Gintautas

I was born on 11 May 1962 in the village of Vaitkuškis, Anykščiai district. In 1980, after graduating from Leliūnai Secondary School, I entered the Faculty of History of Vilnius University, graduating in 1985 with a degree in history (specialisation in archaeology). In 1985–1988 I worked as a senior methodologist in the Archaeology Department of the Scientific Methodological Council for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture. From the autumn of 1988, with a short break of 5 months in 1991, when I worked at the Inspectorate of Cultural Heritage as a chief state inspector, until the end of 2005 I worked at the Archaeology Department of the Lithuanian Institute of History, initially as a junior scientific (1989–1993), scientific (1993–1994), senior scientific (1994–2005) collaborator. In 1994–1999 I was the head of this Department, in 1997–1999 I was the deputy director of the Lithuanian Institute of History, in 2002–2003 I was the chairman of the Council of the Institute. From 2006 to 2021 I was a senior researcher at the Institute of Baltic Region History and Archaeology of the of Klaipėda University, from 2021 – a senior researcher, from 2010 – an associate professor, and from 2016 to 2020 – a chairman of the Institute Council. Research interests – Lithuanian hillforts, Lithuanian medieval archaeology, history of Lithuanian archaeology, archaeological research methods. Since 1985, dozens of archaeological monuments (including 29 hillforts) have been investigated, of which the Šeimyniškėliai hillfort (Anykščiai district) was fully investigated in 1990–2006. 8 December 1993. I defended my doctoral thesis "Wooden castles of Lithuania in the XI–XV centuries (archaeological data)" at Vilnius University. Over 80 scientific and over 140 scientific–information articles have been published in the Lithuanian and foreign press (Austria, Belarus, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Russia, USA), over 50 scientific papers have been read at conferences in Lithuania and abroad (Austria, Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine). The following books have been published: in 1995 "Lietuvos medinės pilys/ Wooden castles of Lithuania", in 1999 "Lietuvos archeologijos istorija (iki 1945 m.)/ The history of Lithuanian archaeology (until 1945)" (co-author P. Kulikauskas), in 2005 – "Lietuvos piliakalniai. Atlasas. T. I–III/ Hillforts of Lithuania. Atlas. Volumes I–III", 2006 – "Šilalės krašto piliakalnių atlasas/ Atlas of the Šilalė region hillforts", 2009 (2nd edition in 2017) – "Klaipėdos rajono piliakalniai/ Klaipėda district hillforts" (co-author of the last 3 books Z. Baubonis), 2009 (Lithuanian translation in 2021) – "Apuolė. Ausgrabungen und Funde. 1928–1932/ Apuolė. Kasinėjimai ir radiniai. 1928–1932" (author of the second part), in 2013 – "Lietuvos XVII–XIX a. pradžios ikonografijos ir kartografijos šaltiniai Švedijoje/ Sources of iconography and cartography of Lithuania of the 17th–19th centuries in Sweden" (co-author E. Vasiliauskas), in 2016 – "Saulės mūšio pėdsakų paieškos/ The search for the footprints of the battle of the Saulė" (co-author T. Baranauskas), in 2017 – "Baltų piliakalniai: nežinomas paveldas/ Baltic hillforts: the unknown heritage" (co-authored M. Vitkūnas) (also in English and Russian); "Lietuvos piliakalniai. Atlasas. T. IV/ Hillforts of Lithuania. Atlas. Vol. IV" (co-authors Z. Baubonis, D. Stončius, E. Šatavičius), "Šilalės rajono piliakalniai/ Šilalė district hillforts" (co-authors Z. Baubonis, J. Viršilienė), in 2018 – "Atgimę piliakalniai/ Hillforts revived" (co-author J. Viršilienė), "Ankstyvojo metalų laikotarpio gyvenvietės Lietuvoje/ Settlements of the Early Metallic Period in Lithuania" (co-authors V. Juodagalvis, A. Merkevičius, R. Nemickienė, L. Remeikaitė, E. Šatavičius), and in 2019 – "Žemių įtvirtinimai Lietuvoje/ Earth fortifications in Lithuania" (co-author Z. Baubonis). I am the editor-in-chief of “Archeologiniai tyrinėjimai Lietuvoje/ Archaeological investigations in Lithuania” (since 2004), member of editorial board of “Lietuvos archeologija/ Lithuanian archaeology” (since 1995), “Archaeologia Baltica” (since 2020), and “Lituanistica” (since 2022); compiler and author of part of the text books "Bilionių piliakalnis – nauji Žemaitijos istorijos faktai/ Bilioniai hillfort – new facts in the history of Žemaitija" (Klaipėda, 2019) and "Medvėgalio archeologinio komplekso naujausių tyrimų duomenys/ Data from the latest research on the archaeological complex of Medvėgalis" (Klaipėda, 2020) in the book series "Lietuvos piliakalnių tyrinėjimų medžiaga/ Materials of Lithuanian hillforts research". In 1992 I did a traineeship at the State Historical Museum and the Royal Council of Antiquities in Stockholm (Sweden), in 1999–2000 – at the University of Bamberg (Germany). Since 2006 I give lectures at Klaipėda University on the history of archaeology, field research methods, history of fortifications, archaeological field practice, researching Klaipėda castle (2007–2019) and other archaeological sites in Western Lithuania, and in the period 2020–2021 I carried out archaeological surveys and research on the route of the under–construction Polish – Lithuanian pipeline (GIPL) in Southern Lithuania.