This working paper proposes a comparative and critically grounded reconstruction of the possible cosmological and socio-religious structures of the Yotvingians (Sudovians), a Baltic-speaking group of the medieval eastern Baltic region. Due to the absence of indigenous written sources, the study integrates three categories of evidence: external medieval chronicles, archaeological material (primarily funerary contexts), and comparative Baltic and Indo-European religious models. The analysis does not aim at reconstructing a historically verifiable religious system, but rather at constructing a plausible interpretive model that accounts for recurring structural patterns observable across Baltic religious traditions. Particular attention is given to cosmological structuring, ritual landscapes, decentralized institutional networks, and the social distribution of ritual knowledge. Methodological Framework & Epistemic Boundaries: To maintain rigorous scholarly standards, the model deliberately categorizes its findings into distinct layers of certainty: High reliability: Empirically grounded archaeological data. Moderate certainty: Moderately reliable Baltic comparative parallels. Probabilistic models: Theoretical extrapolations. Note on Collaboration: This study was compiled, critically refined, and structured by the author in collaboration with advanced AI language models under strict human methodological and epistemic supervision.
Sudovian Research Project (Mon,) studied this question.