Daiva Seskauskaite

Department of Culture and Education - folklore expert. Chief folk song leader at the World Song Festival. Vilnius University - Head of folklore group. studies and teaching courses at the university. Head of Culture and Education Department of Kaunas district - artistic director, Kaunas College of Forest and Environmental Engineering.
Ethnologist organises ancient weddings, hen parties, ceremonies, christenings, various celebrations, plays the kanklės, other Lithuanian folk instruments and sings ancient hymns.

EDUCATION

Dr. Daiva Šeškauskaitė - Kaunas J. Gruodis Conservatory - violin, viola. Vilnius Pedagogical University, specialisation in Lithuanian language and literature. Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University, doctoral studies in ethnology, folklore studies. Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University, PhD thesis in ethnology, doctoral dissertation in the humanities "Sutartines in the ceremonial context".

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Research interests - ethnology, folklore studies, male-female relations, children and their education, social initiatives, linguistics, musicology, ethnobotany, mythology, religious studies, anthropology, ethnomusicology.

Scopus Publications

The bear in Eurasian plant names: Motivations and models
Valeria Kolosova, Ingvar Svanberg, Raivo Kalle, Lisa Strecker, Ayşe Mine Gençler Özkan, Andrea Pieroni, Kevin Cianfaglione, Zsolt Molnár, Nora Papp, Łukasz Łuczaj, Dessislava Dimitrova, Daiva Šeškauskaitė, Jonathan Roper, Avni Hajdari, Renata Sõukand
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2017
Ethnolinguistic studies are important for understanding an ethnic group's ideas on the world, expressed in its language. Comparing corresponding aspects of such knowledge might help clarify problems of origin for certain concepts and words, e.g. whether they form common heritage, have an independent origin, are borrowings, or calques. The current study was conducted on the material in Slavonic, Baltic, Germanic, Romance, Finno-Ugrian, Turkic and Albanian languages. The bear was chosen as being a large, dangerous animal, important in traditional culture, whose name is widely reflected in folk plant names. The phytonyms for comparison were mostly obtained from dictionaries and other publications, and supplemented with data from databases, the co-authors' field data, and archival sources (dialect and folklore materials). More than 1200 phytonym use records (combinations of a local name and a meaning) for 364 plant and fungal taxa were recorded to help find out the reasoning behind bear-nomination in various languages, as well as differences and similarities between the patterns among them. Among the most common taxa with bear-related phytonyms were Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng., Heracleum sphondylium L., Acanthus mollis L., and Allium ursinum L., with Latin loan translation contributing a high proportion of the phytonyms. Some plants have many and various bear-related phytonyms, while others have only one or two bear names. Features like form and/or surface generated the richest pool of names, while such features as colour seemed to provoke rather few associations with bears. The unevenness of bear phytonyms in the chosen languages was not related to the size of the language nor the present occurence of the Brown Bear in the region. However, this may, at least to certain extent, be related to the amount of the historical ethnolinguistic research done on the selected languages.
Uses of tree saps in northern and eastern parts of Europe
Ingvar Svanberg, Renata Sõukand, Łukasz Łuczaj, Raivo Kalle, Olga Zyryanova, Andrea Dénes, Nóra Papp, Aneli Nedelcheva, Daiva Šeškauskaitė, Iwona Kołodziejska-Degórska, Valeria Kolosova
Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae, 2012
In this article we review the use of tree saps in northern and eastern Europe. Published accounts by travellers, ethnologists and ethnobotanists were searched for historical and contemporary details. Field observations made by the authors have also been used. The presented data shows that the use of tree sap has occurred in most north and eastern European countries. It can be assumed that tree saps were most used where there were extensive stands of birch or maple trees, as these two genera generally produce the largest amount of sap. The taxa most commonly used have been Betula pendula, B. pubescens, and Acer platanoides, but scattered data on the use of several other taxa are presented. Tree sap was used as a fresh drink, but also as an ingredient in food and beverages. It was also fermented to make light alcoholic products like ale and wine. Other folk uses of tree saps vary from supplementary nutrition in the form of sugar, minerals and vitamins, to cosmetic applications for skin and hair and folk medicinal use. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are the only countries where the gathering and use of sap (mainly birch sap) has remained an important activity until recently, due to the existence of large birch forests, low population density and the incorporation of sap into the former Soviet economic system. It is evident that gathering sap from birch and other trees was more widespread in earlier times. There are records indicating extensive use of tree saps from Scandinavia, Poland, Slovakia and Romania, but it is primarily of a historical character. The extraction of tree sap in these countries is nowadays viewed as a curiosity carried out only by a few individuals. However, tree saps have been regaining popularity in urban settings through niche trading.
The botanical identity and cultural significance of Lithuanian Jovaras: An ethnobotanical riddle
Ethnobotany in the New Europe People Health and Wild Plant Resources, 2010
Some Lithuanian ethnobotanical taxa: A linguistic view on Thorn Apple and related plants
Daiva Šeškauskaitė, Bernd Gliwa
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2006
BACKGROUND: The perception and use of plants correspond with common plant names. The study of plant names may give insight into historical and recent use of plants. METHODS: Plant names in dictionaries and folklore have been evaluated. A etymological analysis of the names is provided. Onomasiological and semasiological aspects have been considered. Therefore, species named with names related to each other have been selected. RESULTS: Plant names containing the stem dag- or deg- may belong to either of two categories: incenses or thorny plants. Plants named in durn- have been in use as psychopharmaca. The name rymo points not to Rome but to the use of plants as anodyne or psychopharmaca.
Rūtà, die nationalblume der litauer: Zur kulturgeschichte der weinraute (Ruta graveolens L.) und zur etymologie von litauisch rūtà und deutsch raute
Anthropos, 2002