Ancient Europe, Northeast Europe, 11 LATVIA (Founded: 18.11.1918): Mesolithic Period (9700-5400 BC)

As the ice retreated from Latvia, the warming climate transformed the tundra into dense forests – initially birch and pine, later expanding to broadleaf trees like oak and lime. A constantly shifting coastline dictated human settlement.

Communities had a diverse diet. They hunted large game (elk, wild boar, and deer), but fishing (pike, perch, sturgeon) and fowling were equally important. Gathering wild plants (hazelnuts and berries) provided essential seasonal nutrition.

The Mesolithic period is marked by the production of small, flint tools (microliths) used as inserts for composite weapons and tools. The craftsmanship of artefacts from sites like the Zvejnieki II layer suggests that bows and arrows may have been used in the hunting of large prey, such as elk and beaver.

Amber (fossilised tree resin) was extracted from Holocene deposits such as sandbars or washed ashore by the sea, primarily collected along the Baltic Sea coastline, including present-day Latvia. Unlike the vast Amber Road trade route of the Bronze Age, Mesolithic trade was more localized, i.e. between local groups and neighbouring regions.

In the Zvejnieki cemetery, a female skeleton dated to 6465-6242 BC was found with a collection of grave goods and laid to rest in an extended supine position – practices typical of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.

The artefacts found at the Užavas Celmi site link its inhabitants to the Kunda culture (8500-5000 BC), a direct descendant of the Palaeolithic Swiderian culture in the Baltic region. Excavations revealed a rounded dwelling depression measuring roughly 3.2 by 3.8 metres.             During the Late Mesolithic (7000-5000 BC), the Kunda culture was succeeded by the Narva culture (5300-1750 BC), sedentary hunter-fisher-gatherers associated with the earliest pottery in Latvia. This pottery was hand-built, often using organic temper like crushed snail shells, and fired without a kiln. They were known for using and trading amber, and arte-facts including ceremonial canes carved from bone or horn.