Daugmale

the remains of an ancient town with a trading quarter and harbor on the left bank of the Daugava River (Zapadnaia Dvina), 22 km southeast of Riga (Latvian SSR). Excavations were conducted in 1933, 1935–37, and 1966–70. The oldest finds (bronze sickles and stone implements) date from the end of the second millennium B.C. A fortified settlement arose there at the beginning of the Common Era. It flourished in the 10th to 12th century when Daugmale, with its ethnically mixed population (Livs and Zemgali), became the center of trade and crafts. In the strata of this time there have been found dwellings, workshops, and service buildings, as well as many work implements, handcrafted articles, and various imported articles (including glass beads, bronze and silver ingots, ancient Russian slate weights for spindles, and Arabic, Byzantine, and Western European coins). The Daugmale fortifications, following their destruction at the end of the 12th century, were never rebuilt.