lithuania got almost 1000 hillforts and has the biggest concetration in the world. i live few hundred meters away from one and the next one is few kilometers away. the area i live is full of small hills, forests, lakes, swamps, hillforts and tumulus. i was always fascinated about their history since i was a kid but its very little known
And counting.... New ones are still being discovered. In my humble opinion, they are in contention for a No. 1 local tourism attraction among Lithuanians offering some adventure and great views in an otherwise rather flat landscape (the feature challenged recently by the onslaught of modern observation towers ;)) . Plus, the spots are often picturesque and involve a lake or a cool looking stream. Hundreds have excellent access, paths, info boards, and are consistently taken care of.
True and the first free people to escape from soviet oppression( Lithuania was the first republic to declare full independence restored from the Soviet Union by the Act of 11 March 1990 with its Baltic neighbors and the Southern Caucasus republic of Georgia joining it over the next two months.) !
@@Microphunktv-jb3kj What are you on about? Lithuanian partisans fought for Lithuania's freedom since the soviet Russia's occupation of the baltics. Learn some decency and history
@@Microphunktv-jb3kjsure… gorbachev gave away our independence… and he didnt order an onslaught on civilian infrastructure, which resulted in deaths of dozen unarmed civilians.
@@Microphunktv-jb3kj Its better that you learn some history. it only happened because of lithuanian freedom fighters partisans and strong sense of freedom from everyday lithuanians, who all fought bravely against the soviet occupation, stood in front of tanks and rifles without any weapons, but with their dreams of freedom.
Latvians grow cannabis, but this cannabis has very little THC and is called hemp. Hemp's fibers are used in fabrics, construction etc. and seeds in food.
@@janismancevics6638 unlike Estonian and Latvian Lithuanian has a variable stress system, the stress can fall on any syllable of a word depending on its form, grammatical case, tense, or derivation. (ah so it's one of the things that make Lithuanian very hard to learn 🙂)
@@Moliugas89 Definitely, but it's not that difficult. Lithuanian is a fun language to learn, and while I don't know Lithuanian, when I try to speak it playfully, you quickly get a feel for what needs to be stressed and what doesn't. I guess I was motivated, though, after my Lithuanian friends made fun of how I say 'Iki.' 😅
When saying Balts, it is usually understood as meaning Latvians and Lithuanians as they are literally Balts, but Estonians are Finno-Ugric, and as such are quite different!
Quite different in a conceptual sense. Relatively through, Estonia and to an extent Finland are not that different to their Baltic neighbors. It’s the same magnitude of difference when compared with their Scandic neighbors to the West. So yes, different, but not drastically enough to say “quite different.”
I refer to this region of Europe as Northeastern for simplicity’s sake but I wish there was a unifying term (like Baltic) that made note of the difference between Baltic and Finnic. Or maybe Estonia can split from the Baltic states and be included with Finland to make the Finnic states 😆. That would be cool
@@karkevicius I get the need to simplify to an extent, but I'd still push back on lumping them together like this without some caveats. The term Baltic suits the region very well as a geographic term (encompassing also Finland, Sweden, and parts of Germany and Poland). As a geopolitical term, it's a different story as Baltic used to mean 4 countries including Finland pre WWII, but Sweden made an effort to rebrand Finland as Nordic not Baltic (and succeeded!). But as a linguistic/ethnic term it is very much unique to Lithuanians and Latvians as they originate from a completely unique branch. This also means Estonian Finnic animism and shamanistic practices were very different from the Balts' polytheism. Completely different languages, religious practices, activities (Estonians were island and sea oriented, the Balts inland and farming oriented), and relations to neighbors meant that the relations between the Balts and Finnic nations weren't close (as is the case even to this day!). That said, I don’t actually disagree with your “magnitude of difference” point-just that much is lost when lumping them together based solely on shared history of occupation or natural features (like pine forests, which dominate much of the Baltic Sea region). Great video overall!
@@priitsan heh, saying that Balts and Finnic nations weren't close would be an understatement. One could say that the only relationship they had was that of blood and violence. They say that Curonians once continually raided and burned down a town that could've become Sweden's capital (Sigtuna).
There also seems to be a pattern of each occupier making its own type of settlement: natives around defensible terrain (hill forts), swedes near good water routes (coastal, esp. river mouths), 'germans' near rivers (as is their way), and 'russians/veneti' wherever something already existed (they don't make, they take).
... they take" and always destroy. But you would be more accurate if you use word ,,moskovites" . That is what they are and it was Peter I who simply started calling them ,,russians" in his diabolical endeavors. REAL russians are nowerdays ukrainians from Kyev rus, who were robbed of their history, heritige, relevance ect. In reality only they have historical right to be called that name but I am not sure they want it , as it has become a word dispised by everyone.
Small correction Lithunia considers NEMUNAS as its main and largest river not NERIS wich is second largest. Although in city of Kaunas those rivers meet and become one.
@@edyk6291 Yes, I saw the meeting point in Kaunas, it was quite lovely. But the largest isn't always the most important, especially when speaking of the past vs. the present! Kernavé sits on the Neris, and the original tribes of Lithuanians resided on their banks
@@topperis1501 Just curious, what stops the amber from being from the Baltics during the Egyptian Bronze Age? I am asking in the context of large quantities of Baltic Amber found at Qatna in Syria during the Bronze Age.
@@cholst1 It does somewhat indeed, probably in the first instance during the classical Greek period. But it really peaked in the Roman era. @topperis1501 is correct, amber in ancient Egypt specifically is thought to be from a different source
@@DataBeingCollectedmaybe due Mediterranean amber - by memory and as a layman: Baltic amber started to flow towards south more, when local demand rose, and supplies lessened (Sicily?).
For the sake of clarity: These ancient graves in Northern Estonia are called "Hundikangrud". Their location is Muuksi village. Usually I don't mind foreign pronounciation. But this time I was so confused when I tried to understand what their exact location is. I would suggest you to write "exotic" placenames in videos or video descriptions. Interesting video though. I respect that you came to our region. It is especially rare when people visit us because of archaeology.
@waucktet9162 Good clarity! Yes, Hundikangrud is the grave site, and it's in the village of Muuksi. Muuksi also has a hillfort, not far from the gravesite. And normally I put up the map and locations, but for some reason I had a brain fart on this video and completely forgot about it! I enjoyed much more than the archaeology. The food, the people, the nature, not a single thing I wouldn't recommend! But the archaeology is what draws in the views
The kanep or cannabis krown in Estonia was an Asian variant what made its way here somewhere around 700-300bce. It was mostly used for the fibre and the seeds for making flour and to use in medicine. We still but the seeds into bread to this day.
We have more known group of similar graves in Rebala. They are situated just couple of kilometers out of Tallinn next to a main highway. You can see those from the bus window travelling east because half of graves were destroyed when the highway was built just after WWII by the soviets.
Thank you for an interesting video and thank you also for not using genAI even if it makes making the videos take a bit longer UwU This is a fascinating subject and I am keen to learn more of! So thank you for covering it, I instantly subscribed :D As a wish for future videos, if it's not too much trouble, can you put the names of the sites on the screen as text? Makes it way easier to google them :D I'd definitely want to visit these spots one day as I live in Finland, the trip won't be too long either xD
Fun fact regarding Kernavė it isnsituated next to river Neris old bed, that became a deep bog. The anaerobic acidity of bog helped in preserving stuff made even from wood and bone. Also Nėris is one of the two main rivers in LT, the second being Nemunas (Neman).
Also, regarding "vikings" in Baltics - this was mostly done by Kuršiai, a western tribe of Balts, and they kinda had a beef with Scandinavian Vikings..
An interesting minor adjustment. Traditionaly the river Nemunas is considered as the main river of Lithuania while, acording to some historic recods, Neris used to be named Vingia and was renamed after a ferry of that river - Neris. I have the original sourse newspaper journal in polish form arround the 19th century. It is "somewhat" intact, sitting in a cupboard just behind me. Another thing about the introduction of catholic fate as well as the joint rule of Lithuania and poland, it was a mostly political move as fighting off the crusaders was no slim pickings and access to west europe trade was indeed very much needed. oh, check out the story behind the very first mention of Lithuania in first sourse texts. and review the Romuva religion - still practiced today, ethernal flame altars are still kept lit, the whole shabang. Have a great one, Cheers!
I live in Elva town and we have near our town huge hill where in 6-10century was wooden bastion. Peedu linnus. Our history teacher said its most studied and smallest bastion in estonia. Place name: Peedu hillfort
It's quite believable that they grew hemp - it's just a different type of hemp that doesn't give you a real high, but that they used for making butter and even clothing.
Damn, why are we always left out 🇱🇻 😪. Jk 😁, will glady watch the next video, appreciate what you're doing. Are you just travelling here for this channel? I get Tom Scott vibes but for archaeology and history, which is great 👍
@@supaman6713 Latvia will get it's due in the next video, promise! Sort of a 50-50. I genuinely enjoy archaeology and travelling, so I'll more choose a place and then figure out what (if anything) is there I can put in a video. Every country has a history and archaeology, it's just a matter of researching beforehand and seeing if I can get a workable video out of my destination
a really cool archaeology side in latvia is Āraiši Lake Town, witch is a supper well preseved (now for a shocker) lake town witch showed how the Latgaļi (the tribs people from that region) lived.
prehistoric baltics is a rather difficult chapter plagued by lack of written material, sketchy archeological finds and a plethora of folk tales from heterogenic ethnic groups (some of whom are extinct), so much respect trying to tackle the topic
Thank you for the very interesting video. I've noticed and find it fascinating that videos about [insert ethnic group here] seem to attract mostly that group rather than "outsiders looking in".
Nature is indeed an important part of estonian and finnish religion. Don't know aboyt lithuanians, but since neigbouring religions often share pantheons, propably to some point too.
@woweriukas reminds me of the song "Sininen ja valkoinen", where the story pretty much is what would the singer as a traveler tell about his homeland, and hends up listing a lot of things in nature
I think we could learn a lot by producing a map of hill forts and burrial mounds across europe throughout europe; perhaps colour coded on spectrum to indicate their relative ages.
Thanks for an interesting video but I must say that as an ethnic Estonian I hate being grouped together with Latvia and Lithuania as Baltic. We are Finnic, second largest Finnic nation after Finns to be precise. We were grouped together by former occupiers Germans and later Russians, who didn't let us self determine ourselves as Finnic. So until now Finland and Estonia are grouped into different regions of Northern Europe but we both are 'black sheep' of these regions. It's so confusing, not only for foreigners but also locals. Hopefully that historical injustice will end in the near future, so that Finland and Estonia will be officially in the same region. For clarification - I have nothing against the Balts but they have their own distinct language and culture, which they should be proud of.
Tribes from the baltic did indeed do a lot of raiding, just ask the swedes! I remember some trivia tidbit that Estonia is the biggest hotspot for finding ancient buried coin caches per capita or something, which means the Estonians mustve been especially prolific.
The Balts - Indo-European-speaking people who speak Baltic languages. Today, they are represented by Lithuanians and Latvians. Estonians, however, belong to the Finno-Ugric language group and culture. These languages are very different, but genetically these people are closely related, as Indo-Europeans who arrived in the region formed families with the local inhabitants (people of the Narva and Nemunas archeological cultures). This is reflected even in the genetics of modern Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians. Thanks to the video creator for their interest in the Balts and Finno-Ugric topics, but there are several strange claims. I won’t criticize them, but instead, I recommend exploring the works of Lithuanian-American archaeologist Marija Gimbutas. Her book The Balts explains everything in detail, listing Baltic archaeological cultures, describing the origins of Baltic tribes, and providing relevant illustrations of Baltic pottery, jewelry, housing, and more. Good luck with your studies! 😉👍 ! MARIJA GIMBUTAS book 📚 The Balts !
Busy? Tweezing? My mother has a beard like yours. Ironically, her name was Amber. Also, she didn't like Estonians. She said they weren't Balts. They were Finns. I don't know why that would matter. They all have "A" cups, or as my mom used to say, "Why bother?"
During a stay on Listerlandet in Sweden I stumbled across ancient round stone grave mounds, slightly north of Lörbyskov. Any known overlap in timeline in relation to those in the Baltics?
@@merkvandermeulen3978 there is an overlap between Scandinavia and the Baltics! It's a bit debated, but I don't want to get into it here because this is something discussed in the next video
I found your video, because as a fan of Lithuanian history, youtube recommends me all of them. But when you said that you don't use AI, it's when I decided to stay, watch and subscribe. Thank you! (I don't mind one or two images made by IA, but IA made scripts are all the same!)
@@VM-hl8ms that is the prevailing theory, yes. It's then thought to have picked up again after the region got more connected to the wider world and learned land management engineering, also getting more sophisticated themselves
Interesting video. Considering the linguistic difference between Estonians and Latvians & Lithuanians, are there differences between their hillfort styles? It might be helpful too if you could include some maps to give an overview of where the different locations are and what the surrounding landscape is
@@RS-nw6pz by memory, and as a layman. At least in Estonia, and about immediately pre crusade scenery, there seemed to be west-north(coastal) and sout-east(inland) distinction between the cultures in general, essentially as two halves (rough diagonal from Pärnu to Narva; interestingly enough mismatching the linguistic alignments -- we have our idea about linguistic scenery form chroniclers of crusades for example). Costal cultures were similar to Scandinavian, and inland similar to neighboring Balts -- namely at the "masculine side of things" (hunting and war gear, attire, etc) - whereas feminine side tended to be more local (and better aligned with the linguistic expectations). If I remember correctly, this kind of coastal vs inland distinction continued at western Latvia as well (eg: Curonians). If I'm not mistaken against current theories, in much more distant past, Finnic languages entered the Baltics from the contemporary Pskov area, and expanded towards the north and west from there, assimilating the previous cultures (intermerging, rather than replacing). --- During that time, and even prior to that, this kind of coastal vs inland cultural division seemed to be at play, and at least somewhat carrying theme throughout the time.
@@TravelswithanArchaeologist just happened to be familiar with some local aspects - but even then I'm fairly poorly knowledgeable on it really. I find it quite interesting that there's been two major cultural spheres in such a small area (well, actually the area aren't all that small - the population density back then however ...). And then these two cultures interethnic at one hand, and at another, divided through lingua spheres. What I understand, this division wasn't overly radical either - neighboring cultures after all. I think it's still just a teaser at the best for now, on something that even many locals aren't too well aware of, tucked away in the comments, about something to look forward to - and I hopefully didn't ruin the surprise and rather gave something to await for.
I really enjoyed a video. Although would it be possible to display site names? Spelling in unknown foreign language is hard. Thanks for the great video though!
The Lithuanian Baltic language is recognized today in the academic world as the most archaic living Indo-European language.❗️ Those studying Indo-European linguistics are always encouraged to learn the Lithuanian Baltic language.
@@g956f7 Hi! Actually, the oldest Indo-European language is Hittite, with the oldest living believed to be Greek, both of which have written records dating to the Bronze Age. Lithuanian has no records until the 13th century CE. Experts can sort of retroengineer a language, but it's very limited without written records and leaves itself open for a lot of debate. That being said, I would encourage the study of the Lithuanian language regardless on it's own merits. You can learn a lot about a people from how they speak about their world
Looks like one of the stone walls that are found all over the woods here in New England. I know it it’s more impressive than that or at least was long ago 4:18
@@auris_yo False info, probably from a Vilnius local as Neris is in Vilnius. In Lithuanian folklore river Neman is called the father of all rivers precisely because its the main river of Lithuania and river Neris flows into Neman, making river Neris a part of a bigger, river Neman.
Did you know that Baltic tribes used to live across a large area in Belarus and Russia? Around Dnipro and the Oka rivers. That's what toponyms suggest.
Cool video. As lithuanians we were taught mostly about our own culture and ancient dwellings. While Baltic identity is live and well, I may be less aware of some subtle similarities or differences with Estonia and Latvia. Keep it up and don't buy into AI.
Caligula wanted to wage war on people over the sea, the army refused, he told them to go down to the beech and wage war on the sea and collect seashels then. If they wont fight real war for real prises they can wage fony war and get seashels for prises.
Of course we grew canabis. There are two different kinds of it, one is used for THC and smoking, the other kind for making fibers for cloth, ropes ect. In Estonia there is even a town Kanepi whose logo is canabis leaf. And it depicted their main trade.
I wouldn't call the Baltics "fringes", unless you count Finland as a fringe European state too. Geographically it doesn't make sense, considering Georgia is also part of Europe.
@@wind2536 Two things: first, I would include Finland, and the term refers to it's historical treatment by recorded history and a mostly Mediterranean and western dominated narrative. Second (probably more important), I need a clickbaity title to draw in viewers. I don't like that fact any more than you do (believe me!) but it's the reality of RUclips algorithm garbage
Stones in smallish, mossy piles? Awesome! Where I live is so poor, we don't even have stones to make a small stack with. We stack up pine needles. They can be pretty pokey. We have been conquered many times, so we have gotten very good at running away and hiding. Mostly behind pine trees, but sometimes also laying down in tall grass. Fortunately, our women are not very attractive, since the pretty ones were captured and hauled away long ago. Also, our men are not very brave, since the brave ones mostly got killed trying to defend the pretty women who got hauled away anyways. So if you're walking through the woods out in the middle of nowhere and you see small piles of pine needles and hear people running away, let this be a warning to you.
I know my ancestors on Bornholm and the Skane would raid Estonia and Latvia just because they could. I could never figure out a reason. This was in the late Viking age into the Medieval period. Christianity did not slow down their violent ways. It just gave a different label and reason for raiding/killing nearby groups. The Swedes were their favorite target to start fights with. Again I could never find any reasons, much less good reasons for starting trouble. Usually the Swedes would spank them, they'd run back to our Hammershus fortress, then start another fight later. Trying to keep straight all the Bornholm/Danis vs Swede fights and wars gave me a bad headache.
There is a legend that all humanity in Baltics started in Latvia, but then people got tired of each other and all the slow ones were sent out to nowadays Estonia and all with facial patterns of a horse sent to Lithuania. I'm not supporting it, just saying.
nice video and footage but like just ask a guy how to pronounce stuff lmao i know its not easy but its easier than living with the shame of mispronouncing names on a history video. comment sponsored by baltic gang.
I've been living in Latvia 4 years. I'm American. Other than a few things I can't tell the difference between Latvian culture and Russian culture. Russia did a good job colonizing this place not only with Russian people, but Russian language and culture. Latvians are less aggressive, less hostile, less pushy. Other than that all their customs and culture and cuisine are identical.
im a simple man: i see eesti mentioned, i press like
Balti riik: *räägitakse*
Eestlased: "Tere"
lithuania got almost 1000 hillforts and has the biggest concetration in the world. i live few hundred meters away from one and the next one is few kilometers away. the area i live is full of small hills, forests, lakes, swamps, hillforts and tumulus. i was always fascinated about their history since i was a kid but its very little known
And counting.... New ones are still being discovered. In my humble opinion, they are in contention for a No. 1 local tourism attraction among Lithuanians offering some adventure and great views in an otherwise rather flat landscape (the feature challenged recently by the onslaught of modern observation towers ;)) . Plus, the spots are often picturesque and involve a lake or a cool looking stream. Hundreds have excellent access, paths, info boards, and are consistently taken care of.
Thanks for this. There's a lack of Baltic stuff on youtube. The last free people of Europe to be converted by the sword!
True and the first free people to escape from soviet oppression( Lithuania was the first republic to declare full independence restored from the Soviet Union by the Act of 11 March 1990 with its Baltic neighbors and the Southern Caucasus republic of Georgia joining it over the next two months.) !
@@ThePoxx learn some history.. that only happened because of poland efforts.... and gorba himself undermined ussr and knew its failed system...
@@Microphunktv-jb3kj What are you on about? Lithuanian partisans fought for Lithuania's freedom since the soviet Russia's occupation of the baltics. Learn some decency and history
@@Microphunktv-jb3kjsure… gorbachev gave away our independence… and he didnt order an onslaught on civilian infrastructure, which resulted in deaths of dozen unarmed civilians.
@@Microphunktv-jb3kj Its better that you learn some history. it only happened because of lithuanian freedom fighters partisans and strong sense of freedom from everyday lithuanians, who all fought bravely against the soviet occupation, stood in front of tanks and rifles without any weapons, but with their dreams of freedom.
Thanks for bringing up history of Baltic people!
Ball ticks? Is that an S.T.D.?, or more of a parasite from not using soap? Do they get in your butt too? Not the ticks, I mean the people.
Thank you for not using AI for the narration voice and script, that stuff is insufferable.
@@VisivisiV I'm amazed how common that's becoming!
Latvians grow cannabis, but this cannabis has very little THC and is called hemp. Hemp's fibers are used in fabrics, construction etc. and seeds in food.
Estonia has county named after cannabis (kanepi) and county uses weed leaf on it's flag.
Also hemp is better than tobacco leaf to smoke not to get high.Special plants for special occasions. And special mushrooms
@@DEVINdevdevkaņepe in lv
Thanks for bringing some attention to the baltics! This part of our history is often overlooked, not just by westerners, but locals themselves.
Perhaps it's a sign of targedet russification of Latvia during USSR times and attempts at erasing our identity.
Thank you for covering our region, it is barely covered and barely receives any interest.
Any attention is great, thank you!
Wow. So natural. Marshy bogs. I love mosquitoes. And spider webs.
The stress of all Estonian words is on the 1st syllable, except some loan words.
@@henrikmanitski1061 thanks! I don't speak Estonian, so I'll keep it in mind for the next video!
It’s the same in Latvian. 😊
@@janismancevics6638 unlike Estonian and Latvian Lithuanian has a variable stress system, the stress can fall on any syllable of a word depending on its form, grammatical case, tense, or derivation. (ah so it's one of the things that make Lithuanian very hard to learn 🙂)
@@Moliugas89 Definitely, but it's not that difficult. Lithuanian is a fun language to learn, and while I don't know Lithuanian, when I try to speak it playfully, you quickly get a feel for what needs to be stressed and what doesn't. I guess I was motivated, though, after my Lithuanian friends made fun of how I say 'Iki.' 😅
@@janismancevics6638 are you saying that you don't speak Lithuanian, but you know how to stress the words?
Im Lithuanian but didn't knew most of the information, thank you for educating us!
When saying Balts, it is usually understood as meaning Latvians and Lithuanians as they are literally Balts, but Estonians are Finno-Ugric, and as such are quite different!
Quite different in a conceptual sense. Relatively through, Estonia and to an extent Finland are not that different to their Baltic neighbors. It’s the same magnitude of difference when compared with their Scandic neighbors to the West. So yes, different, but not drastically enough to say “quite different.”
I refer to this region of Europe as Northeastern for simplicity’s sake but I wish there was a unifying term (like Baltic) that made note of the difference between Baltic and Finnic. Or maybe Estonia can split from the Baltic states and be included with Finland to make the Finnic states 😆. That would be cool
@@karkevicius I get the need to simplify to an extent, but I'd still push back on lumping them together like this without some caveats. The term Baltic suits the region very well as a geographic term (encompassing also Finland, Sweden, and parts of Germany and Poland). As a geopolitical term, it's a different story as Baltic used to mean 4 countries including Finland pre WWII, but Sweden made an effort to rebrand Finland as Nordic not Baltic (and succeeded!).
But as a linguistic/ethnic term it is very much unique to Lithuanians and Latvians as they originate from a completely unique branch. This also means Estonian Finnic animism and shamanistic practices were very different from the Balts' polytheism. Completely different languages, religious practices, activities (Estonians were island and sea oriented, the Balts inland and farming oriented), and relations to neighbors meant that the relations between the Balts and Finnic nations weren't close (as is the case even to this day!).
That said, I don’t actually disagree with your “magnitude of difference” point-just that much is lost when lumping them together based solely on shared history of occupation or natural features (like pine forests, which dominate much of the Baltic Sea region).
Great video overall!
@@priitsan heh, saying that Balts and Finnic nations weren't close would be an understatement. One could say that the only relationship they had was that of blood and violence. They say that Curonians once continually raided and burned down a town that could've become Sweden's capital (Sigtuna).
Interesting video. I subscribe. Greetings from Lithuania.
Quality content, super interesting! Thank you for making this video.
There also seems to be a pattern of each occupier making its own type of settlement: natives around defensible terrain (hill forts), swedes near good water routes (coastal, esp. river mouths), 'germans' near rivers (as is their way), and 'russians/veneti' wherever something already existed (they don't make, they take).
... they take" and always destroy. But you would be more accurate if you use word ,,moskovites" . That is what they are and it was Peter I who simply started calling them ,,russians" in his diabolical endeavors. REAL russians are nowerdays ukrainians from Kyev rus, who were robbed of their history, heritige, relevance ect. In reality only they have historical right to be called that name but I am not sure they want it , as it has become a word dispised by everyone.
Small correction Lithunia considers NEMUNAS as its main and largest river not NERIS wich is second largest. Although in city of Kaunas those rivers meet and become one.
@@edyk6291 Yes, I saw the meeting point in Kaunas, it was quite lovely. But the largest isn't always the most important, especially when speaking of the past vs. the present! Kernavé sits on the Neris, and the original tribes of Lithuanians resided on their banks
Whats up. Love the content. Cheers from Estonia
The Amber goes back much further than the Roman/Iron age doesnt it? Baltic amber is found in bronze age egypt as well.
In bronze age Egypt no, its not baltic if its amber but in bronze age there are some baltic amber in southern Europe (Spain, Greece)
@@topperis1501 Just curious, what stops the amber from being from the Baltics during the Egyptian Bronze Age? I am asking in the context of large quantities of Baltic Amber found at Qatna in Syria during the Bronze Age.
@@cholst1 It does somewhat indeed, probably in the first instance during the classical Greek period. But it really peaked in the Roman era. @topperis1501 is correct, amber in ancient Egypt specifically is thought to be from a different source
@@DataBeingCollectedmaybe due Mediterranean amber
- by memory and as a layman: Baltic amber started to flow towards south more, when local demand rose, and supplies lessened (Sicily?).
@@KohaAlbert Thanks for the replies everyone! Love getting more insight on these things.
For the sake of clarity: These ancient graves in Northern Estonia are called "Hundikangrud". Their location is Muuksi village.
Usually I don't mind foreign pronounciation. But this time I was so confused when I tried to understand what their exact location is.
I would suggest you to write "exotic" placenames in videos or video descriptions.
Interesting video though. I respect that you came to our region. It is especially rare when people visit us because of archaeology.
@waucktet9162 online service Neurokõne may come handy with pronunciation.
@waucktet9162 Good clarity! Yes, Hundikangrud is the grave site, and it's in the village of Muuksi. Muuksi also has a hillfort, not far from the gravesite. And normally I put up the map and locations, but for some reason I had a brain fart on this video and completely forgot about it!
I enjoyed much more than the archaeology. The food, the people, the nature, not a single thing I wouldn't recommend! But the archaeology is what draws in the views
Thanks for the video on Baltic countries! Latvia here :)
The kanep or cannabis krown in Estonia was an Asian variant what made its way here somewhere around 700-300bce. It was mostly used for the fibre and the seeds for making flour and to use in medicine. We still but the seeds into bread to this day.
My wife is Estonian but even she didn’t know about the first site. Maybe next spring we will go there and check it out..
We have more known group of similar graves in Rebala. They are situated just couple of kilometers out of Tallinn next to a main highway. You can see those from the bus window travelling east because half of graves were destroyed when the highway was built just after WWII by the soviets.
@ I know. Russians have destroyed a lot of things. Old medieval grave covers from stone were used to plan roads f. e. 😩
Balts : basin of Pregile - Prūsija, basin Nemunas - Lithuania, basin Dauguva - Latvia
More videos about the baltics please!!
Lmao, your intro 40 seconds in. So good. Good work buddy!
Thank you for an interesting video and thank you also for not using genAI even if it makes making the videos take a bit longer UwU This is a fascinating subject and I am keen to learn more of! So thank you for covering it, I instantly subscribed :D As a wish for future videos, if it's not too much trouble, can you put the names of the sites on the screen as text? Makes it way easier to google them :D I'd definitely want to visit these spots one day as I live in Finland, the trip won't be too long either xD
Sooo true!!!
Amazing video, thanks man!
Fun fact regarding Kernavė it isnsituated next to river Neris old bed, that became a deep bog. The anaerobic acidity of bog helped in preserving stuff made even from wood and bone.
Also Nėris is one of the two main rivers in LT, the second being Nemunas (Neman).
Also, regarding "vikings" in Baltics - this was mostly done by Kuršiai, a western tribe of Balts, and they kinda had a beef with Scandinavian Vikings..
This is great presentation, thank you for your effort!
An interesting minor adjustment. Traditionaly the river Nemunas is considered as the main river of Lithuania while, acording to some historic recods, Neris used to be named Vingia and was renamed after a ferry of that river - Neris. I have the original sourse newspaper journal in polish form arround the 19th century. It is "somewhat" intact, sitting in a cupboard just behind me. Another thing about the introduction of catholic fate as well as the joint rule of Lithuania and poland, it was a mostly political move as fighting off the crusaders was no slim pickings and access to west europe trade was indeed very much needed. oh, check out the story behind the very first mention of Lithuania in first sourse texts. and review the Romuva religion - still practiced today, ethernal flame altars are still kept lit, the whole shabang. Have a great one, Cheers!
I live in Elva town and we have near our town huge hill where in 6-10century was wooden bastion. Peedu linnus. Our history teacher said its most studied and smallest bastion in estonia.
Place name: Peedu hillfort
Only 650m²
It's quite believable that they grew hemp - it's just a different type of hemp that doesn't give you a real high, but that they used for making butter and even clothing.
Really appreciate you for this video
Damn, why are we always left out 🇱🇻 😪. Jk 😁, will glady watch the next video, appreciate what you're doing. Are you just travelling here for this channel? I get Tom Scott vibes but for archaeology and history, which is great 👍
@@supaman6713 Latvia will get it's due in the next video, promise!
Sort of a 50-50. I genuinely enjoy archaeology and travelling, so I'll more choose a place and then figure out what (if anything) is there I can put in a video. Every country has a history and archaeology, it's just a matter of researching beforehand and seeing if I can get a workable video out of my destination
Thank you for sharing my peoples and beautiful neighbors history!
Became your 1000th subscriber. Congratulations!
Loved the video, and as a Lithuanian I also learnt a lot, thank you!
Thanks for the video!
a really cool archaeology side in latvia is Āraiši Lake Town, witch is a supper well preseved (now for a shocker) lake town witch showed how the Latgaļi (the tribs people from that region) lived.
@@minminpley5982 I almost went there when I visited Cesis, but it was it was closed that day ☹️
prehistoric baltics is a rather difficult chapter plagued by lack of written material, sketchy archeological finds and a plethora of folk tales from heterogenic ethnic groups (some of whom are extinct), so much respect trying to tackle the topic
Thank you for the very interesting video. I've noticed and find it fascinating that videos about [insert ethnic group here] seem to attract mostly that group rather than "outsiders looking in".
Thanks! Can't wait for the next episode. :)
Nature is indeed an important part of estonian and finnish religion. Don't know aboyt lithuanians, but since neigbouring religions often share pantheons, propably to some point too.
I can confirm that nature was a big part of our old pagan religion. Even to this day we have mixed pagan and christian traditions.
@woweriukas reminds me of the song "Sininen ja valkoinen", where the story pretty much is what would the singer as a traveler tell about his homeland, and hends up listing a lot of things in nature
Can confirm that nature was big part of Latvian and Lithuanian religion too
Thank you. Very interesting.
This was great!
Waiting for part 2!
Hi, I really like your videos and your way of explaining your point. You have earned yourself another subscriber! Kind regards!
Love your videos man!
1:37 it would be nice if for occasions like this where you mention a name, you could put it written out on the screen as well.
@@uku4171 yep. Usually I do, but this time I forgot. I've corrected it in the next video!
I think we could learn a lot by producing a map of hill forts and burrial mounds across europe throughout europe; perhaps colour coded on spectrum to indicate their relative ages.
Places you can visit! Yes, I like that, especially whether there are interpretive guides of some sort to be found.
Lake Kahala syllables are without any particular stress on any part of the word, so each part of the word has same stress
Thanks for an interesting video but I must say that as an ethnic Estonian I hate being grouped together with Latvia and Lithuania as Baltic. We are Finnic, second largest Finnic nation after Finns to be precise. We were grouped together by former occupiers Germans and later Russians, who didn't let us self determine ourselves as Finnic. So until now Finland and Estonia are grouped into different regions of Northern Europe but we both are 'black sheep' of these regions. It's so confusing, not only for foreigners but also locals. Hopefully that historical injustice will end in the near future, so that Finland and Estonia will be officially in the same region. For clarification - I have nothing against the Balts but they have their own distinct language and culture, which they should be proud of.
@@carleryk I think you'll feel pretty vindicated in the next video...
I'm intrigued 🙂
Amazing review! We have historic radioshow in national radio(analogue to BBC), sometimes interesting information there
Great video, thanks!
Tribes from the baltic did indeed do a lot of raiding, just ask the swedes! I remember some trivia tidbit that Estonia is the biggest hotspot for finding ancient buried coin caches per capita or something, which means the Estonians mustve been especially prolific.
The Balts - Indo-European-speaking people who speak Baltic languages. Today, they are represented by Lithuanians and Latvians. Estonians, however, belong to the Finno-Ugric language group and culture. These languages are very different, but genetically these people are closely related, as Indo-Europeans who arrived in the region formed families with the local inhabitants (people of the Narva and Nemunas archeological cultures). This is reflected even in the genetics of modern Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians.
Thanks to the video creator for their interest in the Balts and Finno-Ugric topics, but there are several strange claims. I won’t criticize them, but instead, I recommend exploring the works of Lithuanian-American archaeologist Marija Gimbutas. Her book The Balts explains everything in detail, listing Baltic archaeological cultures, describing the origins of Baltic tribes, and providing relevant illustrations of Baltic pottery, jewelry, housing, and more.
Good luck with your studies! 😉👍
! MARIJA GIMBUTAS book 📚 The Balts !
greate work bro. cheers from Bornhom
Thanks for video. I`m latvian :)
Busy? Tweezing? My mother has a beard like yours. Ironically, her name was Amber. Also, she didn't like Estonians. She said they weren't Balts. They were Finns. I don't know why that would matter. They all have "A" cups, or as my mom used to say, "Why bother?"
During a stay on Listerlandet in Sweden I stumbled across ancient round stone grave mounds, slightly north of Lörbyskov. Any known overlap in timeline in relation to those in the Baltics?
@@merkvandermeulen3978 there is an overlap between Scandinavia and the Baltics! It's a bit debated, but I don't want to get into it here because this is something discussed in the next video
I found your video, because as a fan of Lithuanian history, youtube recommends me all of them.
But when you said that you don't use AI, it's when I decided to stay, watch and subscribe. Thank you! (I don't mind one or two images made by IA, but IA made scripts are all the same!)
Thank you for a down to earth vid. For this video I name thee Indiana Jaan
another reason why bronze age people halted agriculture on arival could've been swamps spreading through entire region.
@@VM-hl8ms that is the prevailing theory, yes. It's then thought to have picked up again after the region got more connected to the wider world and learned land management engineering, also getting more sophisticated themselves
Interesting video. Considering the linguistic difference between Estonians and Latvians & Lithuanians, are there differences between their hillfort styles?
It might be helpful too if you could include some maps to give an overview of where the different locations are and what the surrounding landscape is
@@RS-nw6pz Ah, I knew I forgot something! Usually I do just that. I'll include a clarification in the intro of the next video...
@@RS-nw6pz by memory, and as a layman.
At least in Estonia, and about immediately pre crusade scenery, there seemed to be west-north(coastal) and sout-east(inland) distinction between the cultures in general, essentially as two halves (rough diagonal from Pärnu to Narva; interestingly enough mismatching the linguistic alignments -- we have our idea about linguistic scenery form chroniclers of crusades for example). Costal cultures were similar to Scandinavian, and inland similar to neighboring Balts -- namely at the "masculine side of things" (hunting and war gear, attire, etc) - whereas feminine side tended to be more local (and better aligned with the linguistic expectations).
If I remember correctly, this kind of coastal vs inland distinction continued at western Latvia as well (eg: Curonians).
If I'm not mistaken against current theories, in much more distant past, Finnic languages entered the Baltics from the contemporary Pskov area, and expanded towards the north and west from there, assimilating the previous cultures (intermerging, rather than replacing).
--- During that time, and even prior to that, this kind of coastal vs inland cultural division seemed to be at play, and at least somewhat carrying theme throughout the time.
@@KohaAlbert coastal vs. inland, Scandinavians, and pre-crusades... Did you peek at my script for this video's sequel? ;)
@@TravelswithanArchaeologist just happened to be familiar with some local aspects - but even then I'm fairly poorly knowledgeable on it really.
I find it quite interesting that there's been two major cultural spheres in such a small area (well, actually the area aren't all that small - the population density back then however ...). And then these two cultures interethnic at one hand, and at another, divided through lingua spheres. What I understand, this division wasn't overly radical either - neighboring cultures after all.
I think it's still just a teaser at the best for now, on something that even many locals aren't too well aware of, tucked away in the comments, about something to look forward to - and I hopefully didn't ruin the surprise and rather gave something to await for.
I really enjoyed a video. Although would it be possible to display site names? Spelling in unknown foreign language is hard. Thanks for the great video though!
@@ValeKasutajaNimi hi, site names are displayed on the map in the sequel! My bad on this one...
The Lithuanian Baltic language is recognized today in the academic world as the most archaic living Indo-European language.❗️ Those studying Indo-European linguistics are always encouraged to learn the Lithuanian Baltic language.
@@g956f7 Hi! Actually, the oldest Indo-European language is Hittite, with the oldest living believed to be Greek, both of which have written records dating to the Bronze Age. Lithuanian has no records until the 13th century CE. Experts can sort of retroengineer a language, but it's very limited without written records and leaves itself open for a lot of debate. That being said, I would encourage the study of the Lithuanian language regardless on it's own merits. You can learn a lot about a people from how they speak about their world
Hello from Curonian land of Pilsotas, which I believe means "Row Of Hilforts"
Looks like one of the stone walls that are found all over the woods here in New England. I know it it’s more impressive than that or at least was long ago 4:18
11:54 use bolt or uber taxi. They can pick you up almost everywhere. 😊
@@volkerr. I know. But not from there, haha! It worked back from Kernavé, not so much from Muuksi...
check Madona city in Latvia, and Museum there. Stone age, and iron age burrial findings.
Great video, but you got one fact wrong, Nemunas (Neman River) is the main river of Lithuania, but Neris flows into it!
It is two main rivers in Lithuania.Nemunas and Neris.But Nemunas is bigger.Thanks for video.
@@auris_yo False info, probably from a Vilnius local as Neris is in Vilnius. In Lithuanian folklore river Neman is called the father of all rivers precisely because its the main river of Lithuania and river Neris flows into Neman, making river Neris a part of a bigger, river Neman.
your not weird your awesome
@@itsmellsfishy3978 I can be two things!
Did you know that Baltic tribes used to live across a large area in Belarus and Russia? Around Dnipro and the Oka rivers. That's what toponyms suggest.
Neris is not the main river in LT
Cool video. As lithuanians we were taught mostly about our own culture and ancient dwellings. While Baltic identity is live and well, I may be less aware of some subtle similarities or differences with Estonia and Latvia. Keep it up and don't buy into AI.
God bless Samogitia, the heartland of the Lithuanian nation!
I'm subscribing haha
Baltics mentioned, Like given.
Incredible high watch ⬜⛵🟩
Nemunas is the more important river culturally than Neris.
for lithuania as a nation (as we know it now) - yes, absolutely, but baltic tribe named by the same name used to reside on the shores of neris.
Do you like flint dibble?
Kernave is awesome, still have many pagan stuff in it.
👍👍👍
plz no AI! your videos are good!
Please add location names in writing. The pronunciation in unrecognisable.
Caligula wanted to wage war on people over the sea, the army refused, he told them to go down to the beech and wage war on the sea and collect seashels then. If they wont fight real war for real prises they can wage fony war and get seashels for prises.
Thanks for the video. You should get yourself a microphone.
Of course we grew canabis. There are two different kinds of it, one is used for THC and smoking, the other kind for making fibers for cloth, ropes ect. In Estonia there is even a town Kanepi whose logo is canabis leaf. And it depicted their main trade.
Hills were used in Baltics for smoke signal fires as enemies approach.its well known fact
Interesting, and well done
Baltics!!! 🇱🇻🇱🇹🇪🇪
I wouldn't call the Baltics "fringes", unless you count Finland as a fringe European state too. Geographically it doesn't make sense, considering Georgia is also part of Europe.
@@wind2536 Two things: first, I would include Finland, and the term refers to it's historical treatment by recorded history and a mostly Mediterranean and western dominated narrative.
Second (probably more important), I need a clickbaity title to draw in viewers. I don't like that fact any more than you do (believe me!) but it's the reality of RUclips algorithm garbage
Stones in smallish, mossy piles? Awesome! Where I live is so poor, we don't even have stones to make a small stack with. We stack up pine needles. They can be pretty pokey. We have been conquered many times, so we have gotten very good at running away and hiding. Mostly behind pine trees, but sometimes also laying down in tall grass. Fortunately, our women are not very attractive, since the pretty ones were captured and hauled away long ago. Also, our men are not very brave, since the brave ones mostly got killed trying to defend the pretty women who got hauled away anyways. So if you're walking through the woods out in the middle of nowhere and you see small piles of pine needles and hear people running away, let this be a warning to you.
I know my ancestors on Bornholm and the Skane would raid Estonia and Latvia just because they could. I could never figure out a reason. This was in the late Viking age into the Medieval period. Christianity did not slow down their violent ways. It just gave a different label and reason for raiding/killing nearby groups. The Swedes were their favorite target to start fights with. Again I could never find any reasons, much less good reasons for starting trouble. Usually the Swedes would spank them, they'd run back to our Hammershus fortress, then start another fight later. Trying to keep straight all the Bornholm/Danis vs Swede fights and wars gave me a bad headache.
@@daneaxe6465 Everyone on here guessing elements of the sequel... 😏
I need to edit faster!
There is a legend that all humanity in Baltics started in Latvia, but then people got tired of each other and all the slow ones were sent out to nowadays Estonia and all with facial patterns of a horse sent to Lithuania. I'm not supporting it, just saying.
when you say Baltic i think you mean Estonian
🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹
nice video and footage but like just ask a guy how to pronounce stuff lmao i know its not easy but its easier than living with the shame of mispronouncing names on a history video. comment sponsored by baltic gang.
@@DjAkho correct their pronunciation, but never shame it. All it means is that they've read the word more than they've shouted about it
L
I've been living in Latvia 4 years. I'm American. Other than a few things I can't tell the difference between Latvian culture and Russian culture. Russia did a good job colonizing this place not only with Russian people, but Russian language and culture. Latvians are less aggressive, less hostile, less pushy. Other than that all their customs and culture and cuisine are identical.