Balts

For the Visigothic rulers, seeBalt dynasty.For the ethnic German inhabitants of the Baltics, seeBaltic Germans.

"Baltic tribes" redirects here. For the 2018 documentary film, seeBaltic Tribes (film).

This article is about the Baltic-speaking peoples, an ethnic group. Not to be confused with the similarly named ethnic group inhabiting Kashmir, theBalti people.

Balts

Countries with a predominantly Baltic population
Total population
6.5–7.0 million (including the diaspora)
Regions with significant populations
Lithuania	2,397,418
Latvia	1,175,902
Languages
Baltic languages
Religion
PredominantlyRoman CatholicismandProtestantism;minorityEastern OrthodoxyandBaltic neopaganism
Related ethnic groups
Slavs

TheBaltsorBaltic peoples(Lithuanian:baltai,Latvian:balti) are a group of peoples inhabiting the eastern coast of theBaltic Seawho speakBaltic languages.Among the Baltic peoples are modern-dayLithuanians(includingSamogitians) andLatvians(includingLatgalians) — all East Balts — as well as theOld Prussians,Curonians,Sudovians,Skalvians,YotvingiansandGalindians— the West Balts — whose languages and cultures are now extinct.

The Balts are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the lowerVistulaand southeast shore of the Baltic Sea and upperDaugavaandDnieperrivers, and which over time became differentiated into West and East Balts. In the fifth century CE parts of the eastern Baltic coast began to be settled by the ancestors of the Western Balts, whereas the East Balts lived in modern-day Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. In the first millennium CE, large migrations of the Balts occurred. By the 13th and 14th centuries, the East Balts shrank to the general area that the present-day Balts and Belarusians inhabit.

Baltic languages belong to theBalto-Slavicbranch of theIndo-European languages.One of the features of Baltic languages is the number of conservative or archaic features retained.

Etymology

Medieval German chroniclerAdam of Bremenin the latter part of the 11th century AD was the first writer to use the term "Baltic" in reference to thesea of that name.Before him various ancient places names, such as Balcia,were used in reference to a supposed island in the Baltic Sea.

Adam, a speaker of German, connectedBalt-withbelt,a word with which he was familiar.

In Germanic languages there was some form of the toponym East Sea until after about the year 1600, when maps in English began to label it as the Baltic Sea. By 1840, German nobles of theGovernorate of Livoniaadopted the term "Balts" to distinguish themselves from Germans of Germany. They spoke an exclusive dialect, Baltic German, which was regarded by many as the language of the Balts until 1919.

In 1845,Georg Heinrich Ferdinand Nesselmannproposed a distinctlanguage groupforLatvian,Lithuanian,andOld Prussian,which he termedBaltic.The term became prevalent after Latvia and Lithuania gained independence in 1918. Up until the early 20th century, either "Latvian" or "Lithuanian" could be used to mean the entire language family.

History

Origins

Baltic archaeological cultures in the Iron Age from 600 BC to 200 BC

Sambian-Nothangian group

Western Masurian group (Galindians?)

Eastern Masurian group (Yotvingians)

Lower Neman and West-Latvian group (Curonians)

Brushed Pottery culture

Milograd culture

Plain-Pottery culture, AKA Dnepr-Dvina culture

Pomeranian culture

Bell-shaped burials group

The Balts or Baltic peoples, defined as speakers of one of theBaltic languages,a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the lowerVistulaand southeast shore of theBaltic Seaand upperDaugavaandDnieperrivers. The Baltic languages, especially Lithuanian, retain a number of conservative or archaic features, perhaps because the areas in which they are spoken are geographically consolidated and have low rates of immigration.

Some of the major authorities on Balts, such asKazimieras Būga,Max Vasmer,Vladimir ToporovandOleg Trubachyov,in conducting etymological studies of eastern European river names, were able to identify in certain regions names of specifically Baltic provenance, which most likely indicate where the Balts lived in prehistoric times. According toVladimir ToporovandOleg Trubachyov,the eastern boundary of the Balts in the prehistoric times were the upper reaches of theVolga,Moskva,andOkarivers, while the southern border was theSeym river.This information is summarized and synthesized byMarija GimbutasinThe Balts(1963) to obtain a likely proto-Baltic homeland. Its borders are approximately: from a line on thePomeraniancoast eastward to include or nearly include the present-day sites ofBerlin,Warsaw,Kyiv,andKursk,northward throughMoscowto the River Berzha, westward in an irregular line to the coast of theGulf of Riga,north ofRiga.

However, other scholars such as Endre Bojt (1999) reject the presumption that there ever was such a thing as a clear, single "BalticUrheimat":

'The references to the Balts at variousUrheimatlocations across the centuries are often of doubtful authenticity, those concerning the Balts furthest to the West are the more trustworthy among them. (...) It is wise to group the particulars of Baltic history according to the interests that moved the pens of the authors of our sources.'

Proto-history

The area of Baltic habitation shrank due to assimilation by other groups, and invasions. According to one of the theories which has gained considerable traction over the years, one of the western Baltic tribes, theGalindians,Galindae, or Goliad, migrated to the area around modern-day Moscow, Russia around the fourth century AD.

Over time the Balts became differentiated into West and East Balts. In the fifth century AD parts of the eastern Baltic coast began to be settled by the ancestors of the Western Balts:Brus/Prūsa( "Old Prussians" ),Sudovians/Jotvingians,Scalvians,Nadruvians,andCuronians.The East Balts, including the hypothesisedDniepr Balts,were living in modern-day Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.

Germanic peopleslived to the west of the Baltic homelands; by the first century AD, theGothshad stabilized their kingdom from the mouth of the Vistula, south toDacia.As Roman domination collapsed in the first half of the first millennium CE in Northern and Eastern Europe, large migrations of the Balts occurred — first, theGalindaeor Galindians towards the east, and later, East Balts towards the west. In the eighth century, Slavic tribes from the Volga regions appeared.By the 13th and 14th centuries, they reached the general area that the present-day Balts and Belarusians inhabit. Many other Eastern and Southern Balts either assimilated with other Balts, or Slavs in the fourth–seventh centuries and were gradually slavicized.

Middle Ages

Baltic tribes before the coming of theTeutonic Order(c. 1200 AD). The East Balts are shown in brown hues while the West Balts are shown in green. The boundaries are approximate. Baltic territory was extensive inland.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, internal struggles and invasions byRutheniansandPoles,and later the expansion of theTeutonic Order,resulted in an almost complete annihilation of the Galindians, Curonians, and Yotvingians.Gradually, Old Prussians becameGermanizedor Lithuanized between the 15th and 17th centuries, especially after theReformationinPrussia.The cultures of the Lithuanians and Latgalians/Latvians survived and became the ancestors of the populations of the modern-day countries ofLatviaandLithuania.

Old Prussian was closely related to the other extinct WesternBaltic languages,Curonian,GalindianandSudovian.It is more distantly related to the surviving EasternBaltic languages,LithuanianandLatvian.Compare the Prussian wordseme(zemē),Latvianzeme,the Lithuanianžemė(landin English).

Culture

Further information:Baltic mythology

The Balts originally practicedBaltic religion.They were gradually Christianized as a result of theNorthern Crusadesof theMiddle Ages.Baltic peoples such as theLatvians,LithuaniansandOld Prussianshad their distinct mythologies. The Lithuanians have close historic ties to Poland, and many of them areRoman Catholic.TheLatvianshave close historic ties toNorthern GermanyandScandinavia,and many of them are irreligious. In recent times, the Baltic religion has been revived inBaltic neopaganism.

Genetics

See also:Kunda culture § Genetics,Narva culture § Genetics,Pit–Comb Ware culture § Genetics,andZvejnieki burial ground § Archaeogenetics

The Balts are included in the "North European"gene clustertogether with theGermanic peoples,some Slavic groups (thePolesand NorthernRussians) andBaltic Finnic peoples.

Saag et a. (2017) detected that the eastern Baltic in theMesolithicwas inhabited primarily byWestern Hunter-Gatherers(WHGs).Their paternal haplogroups were mostly types ofI2aandR1b,while their maternal haplogroups were mostly types ofU5,U4andU2.These people carried a high frequency of the derivedHERC2allele which codes for lighteye colorand possess an increased frequency of the derived alleles for SLC45A2 and SLC24A5, coding for lighter skin color.

Baltic hunter-gatherers still displayed a slightly larger amount of WHG ancestry thanScandinavian Hunter-Gatherers(SHGs). WHG ancestry in the Baltic was particularly high among hunter-gatherers in Latvia and Lithuania.Unlike other parts of Europe, the hunter-gatherers of the eastern Baltic do not appear to have mixed much withEarly European Farmers(EEFs) arriving fromAnatolia.

During theNeolithic,increasing admixture fromEastern Hunter-Gatherers(EHGs) is detected. The paternal haplogroups of EHGs was mostly types ofR1a,while their maternal haplogroups appears to have been almost exclusively types of U5, U4, and U2.

The rise of theCorded Ware culturein the eastern Baltic in theChalcolithicandBronze Ageis accompanied by a significant infusion ofsteppe ancestryand EEF ancestry into the eastern Baltic gene pool.In the aftermath of the Corded Ware expansion, local hunter-gatherer ancestry experienced a resurgence.

Haplogroup Nreached the eastern Baltic only in the Late Bronze Age, probably with the speakers of theUralic languages.

Modern-day Balts have a lower amount of EEF ancestry, and a higher amount of WHG ancestry, than any other population in Europe.

List of Baltic peoples

Main article:List of ancient Baltic peoples and tribes

Modern-day Baltic peoples

• East Balticpeoples
  • Latvians
    • Latgalians
  • Lithuanians
    • Aukštaitija( "highlanders" )
    • Samogitians( "lowlanders" )

See also

• East Baltic languages
• West Baltic languages

Sources

English language

• Jones, Eppie R. (February 20, 2017)."The Neolithic Transition in the Baltic Was Not Driven by Admixture with Early European Farmers".Current Biology.27(4).Cell Press:576–582.doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.060.PMC5321670.PMID28162894.
• Balanovsky, Oleg; Rootsi, Siiri; et al. (January 2008)."Two sources of the Russian patrilineal heritage in their Eurasian context".American Journal of Human Genetics.82(1): 236–250.doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.09.019.PMC2253976.PMID18179905.
• Bojtár, Endre (1999).Foreword to the Past: A Cultural History of the Baltic People.Budapest and New York: Central European University Press. p. 9.ISBN978-963-9116-42-9.
• Gimbutas, Marija(1963).The Balts.London: Thames & Hudson.
• Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch(1911)."Lithuanians and Letts".InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 789–791.
• Lazaridis, Iosif (September 17, 2014)."Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans".Nature.513(7518): 409–413.arXiv:1312.6639.Bibcode:2014Natur.513..409L.doi:10.1038/nature13673.hdl:11336/30563.PMC4170574.PMID25230663.
• Malmström, Helena (October 9, 2019)."The genomic ancestry of the Scandinavian Battle Axe Culture people and their relation to the broader Corded Ware horizon".Proceedings of the Royal Society B.286(1912).Royal Society:20191528.doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.1528.PMC6790770.PMID31594508.
• Mathieson, Iain (February 21, 2018)."The Genomic History of Southeastern Europe".Nature.555(7695): 197–203.Bibcode:2018Natur.555..197M.doi:10.1038/nature25778.PMC6091220.PMID29466330.
• Mittnik, Alisa (January 30, 2018)."The genetic prehistory of the Baltic Sea region".Nature Communications.16(1): 442.Bibcode:2018NatCo...9..442M.doi:10.1038/s41467-018-02825-9.PMC5789860.PMID29382937.
• Saag, Lehti (July 24, 2017)."Extensive Farming in Estonia Started through a Sex-Biased Migration from the Steppe".Current Biology.27(14).Cell Press:2185–2193.doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.022.PMID28712569.

Polish language

• "Bałtowie".Encyklopedia Internetowa PWN(in Polish). Archived fromthe originalon April 26, 2005.RetrievedMay 25,2005.
• Antoniewicz, Jerzy;Aleksander Gieysztor(1979).Bałtowie zachodni w V w. p. n. e. – V w. n. e.: terytorium, podstawy gospodarcze i społeczne plemion prusko-jaćwieskich i letto-litewskich(in Polish).Olsztyn-Białystok:Pojezierze.ISBN83-7002-001-1.
• Kosman, Marceli(1981).Zmierzch Perkuna czyli ostatni poganie nad Bałtykiem(in Polish). Warsaw: Książka i Wiedza.
• "Bałtowie".Wielka Encyklopedia PWN(in Polish) (1 ed.). 2001.
• Okulicz-Kozaryn, Łucja(1983).Życie codzienne Prusów i Jaćwięgów w wiekach średnich(in Polish). Warsaw:Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
• Čepienė, Irena(2000).Historia litewskiej kultury etnicznej(in Polish).Kaunas,"Šviesa".ISBN5-430-02902-5.

Further reading

• (in Lithuanian) E. Jovaiša,Aisčiai. Kilmė(Aestii. The Origin). Lietuvos edukologijos universiteto leidykla, Vilnius; 2013.ISBN978-9955-20-779-5
• (in Lithuanian) E. Jovaiša,Aisčiai. Raida(Aestii. The Evolution). Lietuvos edukologijos universiteto leidykla, Vilnius; 2014.ISBN9789955209577
• (in Lithuanian) E. Jovaiša,Aisčiai. Lietuvių ir Lietuvos pradžia(Aestii. The Beginning of Lithuania and Lithuanians). Lietuvos edukologijos universiteto leidykla, Vilnius; 2016.ISBN9786094710520
• Nowakowski, Wojciech; Bartkiewicz, Katarzyna. "Baltes et proto-Slaves dans l'Antiquité. Textes et archéologie". In:Dialogues d'histoire ancienne,vol. 16, n°1, 1990. pp. 359–402. [DOI:https://doi.org/10.3406/dha.1990.1472];[ persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_1990_num_16_1_1472]
• Matthews, W. K. "Baltic origins." Revue des études slaves 24.1/4 (1948): 48–59.

External links

• Gimbutas, Marija(1963).The Balts.London, New York: Thames & Hudson, Gabriella. Archived fromthe originalon 20 August 2008.Retrieved2008-09-06.E-book of the original.
• Baranauskas, Tomas (2003)."Forum of Lithuanian History".Historija.net.Archivedfrom the original on 6 September 2008.Retrieved2008-09-06.
• Sabaliauskas, Algirdas (1998)."We, the Balts".Postilla 400.Samogitian Cultural Association. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-04-02.Retrieved2008-09-05.
• Straižys, Vytautas;Libertas Klimka(1997)."The Cosmology of ancient Balts".astro.lt.Retrieved2008-09-05.