Although the sagas repeatedly mention the Scandinavian kings subordinating different
areas and peoples in the eastern Baltic, the stated conquests remained only temporary
and are not reflected in archaeology. In spite of the Scandinavian activity on the
‘Austrvegr’, its shores were still controlled by the native, Finnic and Baltic population.
Evidently, Baltic tribes had different relations with Scandinavia. Scandinavian
sources tell about piracy and plundering attacks from the east, mentioning especially
the Curonians. As archaeology in northern Curonia speaks of trade contacts with
Scandinavia, and as finds referring to long-distance trade are not numerous from the
south Curonian coast (Genys 1997 : fig. 1 ), the data on piracy seem to concern rather the
latter area (Mickevicˇius 1997 : 196 ). In Estonia, Saaremaa was most actively involved in
piracy, and its relations with Scandinavia (except for Gotland) were probably of a mostly
military character. From the early tenth century the island was overpopulated and the
lack of arable land forced part of its population to live by means of plunder (Ligi 1995 b).
At the lower course of the Daugava River, but also in the Gauja Basin, mainly trade
contacts are reflected in the archaeology. North Estonian coastal areas were not touched
much by the passing Vikings but the silver hoards speak of involvement in a broad trade
system.
Although the initiative on the Baltic Sea and the main waterways to the east
belonged to the Scandinavians in the Viking Age, the situation seems to have changed
in the eleventh century. The transition to the Middle Ages and the genesis of new
political, social and religious structures in Scandinavia not only caused a decline in
Viking activities, but also increased the social and cultural distance of the eastern Baltic
where Iron Age societies continued. Economic and population growth and the lasting
practices of a plundering economy even increased the ‘eastern’ military pressure on
Scandinavia. In the mid-twelfth century a new power – the German merchant –
appeared on the Baltic Sea. This change shifted the balance of force, in which semi-
professional traders began to be expelled, both from Scandinavia and the eastern Baltic,
and prepared the ground for the east Baltic crusades.
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of its own coinage’, in B. Hårdh and B. Wyszomirska-Werbart (eds) Contacts across the Baltic
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–– chapter 36: The Vikings and the eastern Baltic––