Arheoloģiska studija par Augšzemes pilskalnu aploces vietvārdiem
An Archaeological Study on the Place-names of Augšzeme Hill Fort Surroundings

Summary/Abstract: In the early 19th and 20th centuries, when the studies of hill forts started in Latvia, the place-names of hill fort surroundings were mainly used to find the respective hill fort itself. Upon the discovery of hill forts, the place-names of hill fort surroundings were used in two types of research. The first direction represented the studies of historical geography where the names of the houses, estates, and settlements located near a hill fort were linked and compared to the mentions of a fort or a settlement in the early written sources, mainly those dating hack to the 13th and 14th centuries. Thus, it was attempted to link a place mentioned in the written sources to a definite hill fort. The second direction was connected with the identification and study of the sacred places and cult places related to hill forts or located close to them. It can be assumed that the place-names of hill fort surroundings might contain some information about the processes or actual facts characterizing a particular fort during its existence. Therefore, 36 genuine Augšzeme hill forts were subject to the analysis. All the place-names in the territory of 2.5 km around each hill fort were recorded based on the maps published in 1920s. As regards the crafts, the craft of a blacksmith can be singled out most distinctly (10 place-names). Three place-names are related to pottery. In the early period of the existence of hill forts, pottery could not have been a separate branch of economy. There are also place-names related to wood working, and bee keeping; four place-names refer to brewing, bread, and malt. It appears that at the present stage of the research it is not possible to give a definite answer to the question whether the place-names of Augšzeme hill fort surroundings contain any evidence of the period of their existence. It seems that these place-names identify a little studied research direction which, hopefully, could result in new knowledge in the studies of hill forts as well.

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