Ancient Lithuanian Kanklės. History

Ancient Lithuanian kanklės are the stringed instruments. They are similar to the kanklės of the Baltic sea nations, which occur in the area, almost coinciding with the spreading of the early Neolithic Narva culture (4th millennium B.C.) (Fig. 1). Lithuanian kanklės are known only in Northern and Western Lithuania, in the southern part of "Kanklės" area (Fig. 2). Kanklės players are representatives of different linguistic systems: Indo - European (the Baltic Finns, the Eastern Slavs) and Ural language families (the Baltic Finns). The kanklės of Lithuanians and all the Baltic sea nations have no more ancient equivalents in the Northern and North Eastern Europe.

The area of the kanklės of the Baltic sea nations.