An occasional ornament, part of clothes or just a gift for ancestors? The results of traceological studies of teeth pendants from the Subneolithic sites in Šventoji, Lithuania

•A collection of teeth pendants was found at Subneolitic sites in Šventoji, Lithuania.•We present results of technological and functional studies of these artefacts.•The basis for the interpretations are experimental and traceological studies.•We present the spatial distribution of different pendants at the site Šventoji 23. This article presents the results of a zooarchaeological, technological and functional analysis of a collection of animal tooth pendants from the Subneolithic sites in Šventoji, Lithuania. The technological research carried out on the artefacts showed minimal interference in the material and the use of three basic techniques for drilling the holes. Traseological research of the use-wear traces legible on the pendants established a long period of use and was a premise for making inferences on the likely differences in their way of use. These inferences were tested with an experimental programme testing different ways of wearing pendants and with different types of strings. The article also presents the results of the analysis of the spatial distribution of pendants of different types at the site Šventoji 23. The discussion compares the results of the analyses carried out with the results of studies of other European collections of animal tooth pendants of similar chronology.