ENThe origins of the Baltie peoples are traced on the basis of the earliest written evidence, linguistic data and material recovered in the course of archaeological excavation, presenting the range of views that have been expressed regarding this issue. An analysis is given of the evidence of varying credibility in written historical sources regarding the Couronians, Semigallians, Selo-nians and Latgallians, the groups that merged to form the Latvian people during the Middle Ages.