Viking age cultural contacts across the Baltic Sea : behind the interpretations -- Clan-based collectivists or hierarchical individualists? Late prehistoric societies in the Ea; stern Baltic -- Making trade : cultural landscapes and communication routes -- The historical reality : places, place names, and ethnonyms in written sources -- Networks take shape : communication through the Eastern Baltic 600-850 -- West goes east : Viking age long-distance communication and the Eastern Baltic 850-ca. 1000 -- Between consolidating states. The Eastern Baltic areas in the 11th and 12th centuries -- Summing up and conclusions.