Semgals (Radin ̧sˇ and Zemı ̄tis 1992 ; Radin ̧sˇ, 2001 ; Zemı ̄tis 2007 ). The hill fort, which
controlled the waterway, emerged in early tenth century, probably as a reaction to the
Viking raids, and was in use up to the mid- or late twelfth century. Its rise correlates
well with Daugava’s becoming the main east–west Viking trade route. Finds from
Daugmale include several imports of the tenth and eleventh centuries and over 190
silver coins from the eighth to twelfth centuries. The other numerous hill forts at
Daugava, such as Jersika, are of different character: local power and administrative
centres with only the most limited traces of Viking contacts (Radin ̧sˇ 2001 ).
From coastal Lithuania there are data for two multicultural proto-urban trade and
handicraft centres, oriented on the Baltic Sea, namely Palanga and Zˇarde ̇, which both
arose in the ninth–tenth centuries (Zˇulkus 1997 , 2004 : 90 , 107 – 18 ; Genys 1995 , 1997 :
149 – 51 ). Likewise at Daugava, the major Viking Age centres in southern Curonia
(e.g. Apuole ̇, Impiltis, Ekete ̇, Imbare ̇) were not oriented on foreign contacts but served
as internal power, handicraft and trade centres.
From Estonia there are no data for proto-urban centres. Evidently, communication
with the passing Vikings was based on several local harbours.
General involvement in Viking tradeFor the long-distance trade between Scandinavia and Old Rus the eastern Baltic offered
no special interest. Nor was it reflected on runestones as the destination: only the large
water routes to the east were important. The east Baltic region or its toponyms occur on
runestones only if someone perished there and thus Viking finds of ritual character are
missing from the area (Mickevicˇus 1997 : 192 – 4 ). The interests of the Scandinavians
were limited to a safe passage and some trading on the way.
Local involvement and the importance of inland rivers in Viking Age trade contacts
were especially remarkable in Estonia, being reflected in the equal distribution of
Viking silver. In Latvia traces of Viking trade are mainly limited to the areas near the
main waterways. Lithuania remained outside the network of long-distance trade but its
western coast was part of the trade system of the Baltic Sea. The northern part of the
country formed a remote hinterland of the Daugava water route.
THE VIKINGS AND THE NATIVESOn their way to Rus, as well as in their Baltic Sea activities, the Vikings encountered
people with a different linguistic and ethnocultural background (Figure 36. 1 ). Among
the natives of the eastern Baltic, the Finnic ethnicities were represented by the Estonians
and the Livs. The latter inhabited northern and north-western Latvia, including the
lower course of the Daugava and Gauja rivers, and up to the eleventh century, probably,
most of the Curonian peninsula (Vasks 2004 : 13 ). The Curonians lived near the Baltic
Sea, closest to Scandinavia, in the western part of present-day Lithuania and south-
western Curonia. This ethnonym was probably used by people living in the west also for
the peninsula’s Livic population. The Daugava waterway met the lands of the Semgals
and Sels to its south and the Latgalian territories at its middle course. Lithuania was
involved in the Viking world mainly via the coastal, south Curonian areas, although the
big rivers were sometimes also touched by Viking activities. As a whole, Scandinavia
and the eastern Baltic represented worlds with different cultures and societies. Their
–– chapter 36: The Vikings and the eastern Baltic––