burials from the Late Iron Age were uncovered (1986–1989). In the area of the Gauja river, two Latgalian cemeteries, Drabešu Liepiņas and Priekuļu Ģūģeri, have been excavated too. Archaeological excavations have also been carried out on the hillforts of Ķente, Koknese, Sārumkalns, Tanīskalns, as well as on other Latgalian sites. Only a few (Western) Latgalian settlements have been excavated. Large-scale excavations (1960s–1970s) and reconstruction have been done at the Āraiši lake dwelling site (9th century). In Latgale, dating from the 6th and 7th centuries, there were flat cemeteries as well as barrow cemeteries. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the transition started from flat graves to barrows. There are about 15 excavated Eastern Latgalian barrow cemeteries, but in most of them only a small number of barrows were investigated. Archaeologically-identified dwelling sites in Latgale include hill forts, settlements and lake dwellings. Among hillforts, the most well-researched one is Jersika Hillfort (excavated in 1939 and from 1990 onwards), forming a complex together with Dignāja Hillfort, on the opposite bank of the Daugava river. Jersika was occupied from the 10th to 14th centuries, probably after the decline of Dignāja, which had been inhabited since the 6th century. It is possible that ancestors of the so-called Eastern Latgalians migrated to the territory of present-day Latgale between the 7th and 11th centuries, pushed from their previously inhabited territory by Slavic migrations; some archaeologists also believe that the Eastern Latgalians are descended from the more ancient East-Baltic inhabitants of Latvia, who lived in central and eastern Latvia during the "Roman" Iron Age (1st to 4th centuries). References Ethnic groups in Latvia Medieval Latgalian people Historical Baltic peoples