>>512163278 Prehistoric Cultures (Stone Age to Iron Age)
Kunda Culture (c. 8000โ5000 BCE) โ Early Mesolithic hunters and fishers around present-day Estonia and Latvia.
Likely of Finno-Ugric origin.
Tools made from bone, antler, and stone.
Source
Narva Culture (c. 5300โ1750 BCE) โ Neolithic pottery-using society in the eastern Baltics.
Transition from foraging to early farming.
Corded Ware Culture (c. 2900โ2350 BCE) โ Indo-European-speaking group spreading into the Baltic from the west.
Known for burials with pottery and stone battle axes.
Considered a major contributor to the formation of Baltic and Slavic languages.
Source
Bronze and Iron Age Cultures (c. 1500 BCE โ 1200 CE)
Baltic Tribes (c. 1000 BCE onward):
Spoke early forms of Baltic languages (a branch of Indo-European).
Included:
Latgalians (NE Latvia)
Selonians (SE Latvia, N Lithuania)
Samogitians and Aukลกtaitians (Lithuania)
Old Prussians (today's Kaliningrad and NE Poland)
Practiced cremation, lived in hillforts, and worshipped nature deities.
Finno-Ugric Peoples (Estonia and northern Latvia):
Ancestors of Estonians and Livonians.
Related to modern Finns, Karelians, Saami, and Udmurts.
Maintained distinct non-Indo-European languages and shamanistic traditions.
Source
Scandinavian Influence (Late Iron Age):
Viking traders and settlers, especially in coastal Estonia and along the Daugava River.
Sites like Salaspils (Latvia) and Saaremaa (Estonia) show trade and cultural contact.
