The Baltic Sea and People Too
Balts were anciently influenced by cultures call Scythian, Slav, and Celt. I am no longer sure of the nature of a Celt. It is probably say that a celt is Indo-European. You may not be very sure of the nature of a Scythian. We seem to have some learning to do. For now, let's put it off until later. Balts were also influenced by amber and the amber trade.They were probably influenced by everything else in their time and place. That certainly includes their geography.
Their Geography
The Baltic Sea is and has been an important feature on the face of Earth and on the course of our history; how could it not influence the people around it and on it. I am just getting oriented to it; let me pass on the little I am learning. A map can help. I believe that I have included one somewhere on this blog.
The Baltic Sea opens on the Atlantic Ocean and is in the northwestern part of Europe, It has a complex geography, history, and present. Here I hope to begin a look at its early history and prehistory. However, it seems best to begin with a bit of geography. It has been called a brackish inland sea the geological history of which is difficult to clarify.
At the risk of muddying the waters I will say that the Baltic Sea could be called the Baltic Lake. Its opening to the Atlantic is not large and it has several rivers flowing into it, including the Oder, Vistula, Neman, Daugava and the Neva. Snow melt, rain, smaller rivers and streams add to the fresh water of great lake Balt. So, it is much like a great sweet water lake made brackish by an opening to the Atlantic.
Still, it has been called a sea marginal to the Atlantic ocean. That Sea drains into the Atlantic through the Danish Straights by way of the little Kattagat sea. This Baltic Sea includes the Gulf of Bothnia, the Bay of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga, and the bay of Gdansk.
In the Baltic Sea is the little Kattagat sea. Kattagat refers to an area of rather shallow sea bounded by the Jutland peninsula in the west, the Danish Straights and the Baltic Sea to the south, and the shores of Sweden to the east.
More names and places then one can easily remember. Expect to see them more here and to hear them in your future.
The Gulf of Bothnia
The word "bothnia" seems to have once referred to lowland shores. The Gulf of Bothnia still has some lowland shores. However, that land has continued to rise since its release from its Ice Age burden of ice. We are looking a lands and waters in what is considered the far north. So, the waters of the Gulf still freeze over in winter.
I could benefit from more research in the histories of Sweden and Finland to find much of the history of this Gulf. Here is a tiny taste of that history. Ottar an early Viking adventurer may have referred to the Gulf as the Kven Sea. A Danish navigator may have referred to it as as the Mare gotticus in the 15th century. Bothnia Bay may be called a northern landward extension of the gulf of Bothnia.
The Gulf of Finland
This gulf is the eastern branch of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland on north and Estonia on the south, and on to Saint Petersburg, Russia, Where the River Neva flows into it. Other major cities on the Gulf are Helsinki and Tallinn. Wikipedia reminded me of this.
In the early post Ice Age the Gulf of Finland was preceded by the Littoriana Sea. hat sea stood as 30 feet above present sea level. By some 4,000 years ago that sea receded to near present levels.
Archaeology:
Archaeologist have found that the lands along the Gulf of Finland began to be settled in about 9,000 BC. To me writing about archaeology is much like writing a history. So, we do seem to be moving in the right direction. That is we are moving a bit beyond geography and more toward history. Onward. As early as 1905 AD eleven neolithic settlements had been found along the Gulf. Early culture of about that time include: Finnic, Esti/Chud, Votes, Izhorians,, and Korela. There is much to learn about each of them.
Later. from about 700 AD: through 900 AD East Slavs, Ilman Slavas, and Krivichs had settled along the Neva river and the Gulf of Finland. They practiced agriculture and animal husbandry and so, marked a change in culture.
Between about 700 AD and 1,200 AD, the River Neva and the Gulf were part of the waterway from, say, Scandinavia to the Byzantine Empire. I consider that last sentence to be a historic fact until I find strong evidence to the contrary. This was much the development of and the final flourishing of the "Viking Age." That is a leadership position in what became Russia and lead to attacks on the Byzantine Empire. Of course Norsemen were viking elsewhere as well.
After about 850 AD historic information from this arena becomes more abundant. About that time The Gulf was controlled by Russians(Russian-Vikings) we might say. They maintained this control until 1219 when the Danes took control. Around this time the city of Reval was established on what has been called the area of Tallinn. There is plenty to learn about this are with plenty of interesting details. The historical record is increasingly complete from about 750 AD.
Gulf of Riga:
The Gulf of Riga lies between modern Latvia and Estonia on, of course, the Baltic sea. I hope to learn more of this gulf area through the histories and archaeology of the histories of Latvia and Estonia. You can help me with this by using the "comments" just below this essay. An investigation of the early days of the cities of Riga, Parnu, Jumala, and Kuressaare could help.
Bay of Gdansk:
The Bay of Gdansk has a lot of history which may include my Prussian, Polish, and German ancestors. The Vistula river flows into theBay. Some consider the Bay as extending to Russian Kaliningrad and the coast of Lithuania. I hope to learn of the happenings and doings in this area from the earliest times until Rome moved its first amber.
Kursenieski:
There be Kursenieski on the Bay! They have been their long. They call their language Curonian. Some linguists have seen it as related to Latvian. They have been called Prussian Latvians. Who are these people? Who were they? They lived on a well visited sea coast near the outlet of a well navigated river; so have been subjected to much social and cultural activity and change. I suspect that they were an important prehistoric people. Can you tell us more about them. I hope to live long enough to post more about them here.
Kattagat Sea:
Let me Travel back toward where the Baltic Sea meets the Atlantic ocean. That is near to the "little" Kattagat sea. The name Kattagat may be of Swedish origin. I seem to remember having head of an ancient queen Kattagat who may have been a Swede. This Sea certainly is a Scandinavian area.
Jutland:
The Jutlandic peninsula juts into the Kattagat and is part of Jutland. The Peninsula and perhaps all of Jutland Called Cimbric or the Cimbric Peninsula and is now part of Denmark. Jutes and Cimbri have lived there.
Jutes have been named among powerful Germanic invaders of England. Was this naming a Roman idea? It seems that there may be some confusion over this naming. But there seems to be good reason the peninsula is called Jute. It was an area of Jute movement and trade before, during, and after the Roman Empire. If you believe me wrong, please tell me about it. Anyway there the Jutland Peninsula is at the Kattaga Sea.
Cimbrian:
Wait a minute! We have a varied lot of people to learn about and the Cimbri are one of them and they seem to have been on the Jutland Peninsula before the the Jutes. Many have thought that the Cimbri were what we have called Gauls Celts. Anyway I believe that this peninsula was once called the Cimbrian peninsula. We have more to learn. We need more archaeological and historical evidence.
We humans do seem to get around a lot and it seems that includes the Cimbri. I am finding that for a very long time there was a mostly seasonal migration from part of the Baltic Sea area and from part of Britain as least as far as the Iberian peninsula. So, there was probably movement from peninsula to peninsula, Cimbric to Iberian and back. It sounds right, but I a feeling some amazement.
I also find that there was even a Cimbrian military expedition against 1st century Rome! Who are these Cimbri? Who were they. Could they have been visitors to Ireland as early as the early Bronze Age?
Some say that there were Belgians of Cimbrian origin. Romans may have called them Germans, but then they called nearly everyone of the area German. We are not very clear about who Celts were other than that they were almost certainly what we have called Indo-Europeans. However that may be, a people who seemed much like Cimbri, but whom some called Celts joined Carthaginians to resist Rome. I wish you could help me to learn more.
OK it seems about time to publish this. I intend to gather more information. Might I get some from you. Remember this blog and its associated blogs were designed to have some interactivity.
Please do try to help to correct the errors or misapprehensions I make. Try using the "comments" app below.
Thank you for reading.
Richard S
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