See this theme in halls 1 – 4
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At the end of the Ice Age, 13 000–14 000 years ago, the territory of Latvia became free from the ice sheet. The first human settlers arrived around 8500 BC, following the reindeer. People subsisted from hunting, fishing and gathering wild plants. These people made weapons and tools from flint, antler, bone and wood. Around 3400 BC, the Comb Ware people, regarded as the ancestors of the Finnic peoples, arrived in the territory of Latvia from the north-east. Around 2300 BC, the Corded Ware people, regarded as ancestors of the Baltic peoples, arrived in the area of present-day Latvia.
The Bronze Age (1500–500 BC) witnessed the transition from an economy based on food procurement to one based on food production. Stock-keeping and agriculture became increasingly important. In the Earliest Iron Age (500 BC – 1st cent. BC), the first iron objects came into use.
An important development in the Early Iron Age (1–400 AD) was the spread of knowledge about how to smelt and work iron. In the Middle Iron Age (400–800 AD) and the first half of the Late Iron Age (800–1000 AD), the archaeological cultures of the Early Iron Age underwent complicated processes of ethno-cultural change, developing into the Baltic peoples—Couronians, Semigallians, Latgallians and Selonians and Finnic peoples—Livs, Estonians and Vends that we know from written sources. In the second half of the Late Iron Age (1000–1200 AD) the distinctive culture of Latvia’s indigenous peoples reached its highest point of development. The economy was still based mainly on agriculture and stock-keeping. Craft production was increasingly concentrated in the hands of specialist craftsmen: blacksmiths, jewellery makers, etc.
Written sources indicate that, by the late 12th century, the indigenous peoples had developed their own states, or at least the process of state-formation was nearing completion. Social structure was complex: at the top of the hierarchy were the rulers, subordinate to whom were district and village elders. The majority of the population consisted of freemen, with thralls at the bottom of the social scale. The upper stratum of society lived in castles. International trade played an important role at this time.
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