The first hillfort settlements were established in the Bronze Age.[30] A transition from hunter-fisher subsistence to single-farm-based settlement started around 1000 BC, and was complete by around 500 BC.[25][31] The large amount of bronze objects indicate active communication with Scandinavian and Germanic tribes.[32] By the end of the Bronze Age, domestic manufacture of bronze artefacts began.[33] During the Iron Age, the local iron production began around 200 BC; north Estonia, particularly the coastal region of Virumaa, emerged as a trade hub.[34] North Estonia developed increasingly robust connections with the southern and southeastern Baltic Sea regions, particularly with tribes associated with the Wielbark culture, including Goths and Aesti.[35] North Estonian settlers moved into some other less populated areas in the Baltic Sea region.[36] This cultural and linguistic expansion continued until early 2nd millennium and also gave rise to the neighbouring Finnish language.[34] In the 4th century, King Ermanaric of the Goths claimed to have subjugated Estonia, but no archaeological evidence so far has supported this.[37] The Late Antique Little Ice Age is evident in the archaeological record, with a sharp drop in the number of sites and grave finds, indicating a severe population decline and slow recovery.[38] Viking Age Main article: Viking Age in Estonia Pre-Christian independent Estonian counties (maakond), c. 1200 The Estonian coast was a trade hub located on a major waterway, making it both a target and a starting point for many raids. Coastal Estonians, particularly Oeselians from Saaremaa, adopted a Viking lifestyle.[39][40] Several Scandinavian sagas referred to major confrontations with Estonians, notably when 7th century "Estonian Vikings" defeated and killed Ingvar Harra, the King of Swedes.[41][42] The mid-8th century Salme ship burials have been proposed as the beginning of the European Viking Age.[43][44] In c. 1030, Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kievan Rus attempted to subjugate the Chuds (as East Slavic sources called Estonians and related Finnic tribes) in southeast Estonia and captured Tartu. Chuds (Sosols) destroyed this foothold in 1061.[45][46][47][48] In 1187, Estonians, Curonians and Karelians sacked Sigtuna, a major Swedish city at the time.[49][50] Ruins of the gates to Varbola stronghold, the largest fortress of pre-Christian Estonia In the early centuries AD, Estonia's first administrative subdivisions emerged, primarily the parish (Estonian: kihelkond) and the county (Estonian: maakond). Counties usually included multiple parishes which local nobles referred to as kings (Estonian: kuningas) typically governed.[51] Ancient Estonia had a professional warrior caste[52] while international trade provided nobles wealth and prestige.[53] Parishes were commonly centred on hill forts, though occasionally a parish had multiple forts. By the 13th century, Estonia was divided into eight major counties – Harjumaa, Järvamaa, Läänemaa, Revala, Saaremaa, Sakala, Ugandi, and Virumaa – and several smaller, single-parish counties. Counties operated independently, forming only loose defensive alliances against foreign threats.[54][55] Estonia had two regional cultures in this period. Northern and western coastal areas maintained close connections with Scandinavia, while the inland had stronger ties to the Balts and the principality of Pskov.[56] Viking Age Estonia participated actively in trade, including exports of iron, furs, and honey. They imported fine goods like silk, jewelry, glass, and Ulfberht swords. Evidence of ancient harbour sites has been found along the coast of Saaremaa.[57] This era's Estonian burial sites often contain both individual and collective graves, with artefacts like weapons and jewelry reflecting the shared material culture of Scandinavia and Northern Europe.[57][58] Very little is known about the religious beliefs of medieval Estonians prior to Christianisation. A 1229 chronicle mentions Tharapita as the supreme deity of the islanders of Saaremaa (Ösel). Sacred groves, particularly of oak trees, factored prominently into pagan worship practices.[59][60] Albeit foreign traders and missionaries introduced Christian (both Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox) practices already in the 10th–11th centuries, most people retained their indigenous beliefs.[61] Crusades and the Catholic Era Main articles: Livonian Crusade, Terra Mariana, and Danish Estonia Estonia and Livonia after the 12th/13th century Northern crusades Põltsamaa Castle was the seat of Magnus, King of Livonia from 1570 to 1578 In 1199, Pope Innocent III declared a crusade to "defend the Christians of Livonia".[62] The crusading German Swordbrothers, who had previously subjugated Livonians, Latgalians, and Selonians, started campaigning against Estonians in 1208. The following years saw many raids and counter-raids. In 1217, the Estonians suffered a significant defeat in the battle where their most prominent leader Lembitu, an elder of Sakala, was killed. In 1219, the armies of King Valdemar II of Denmark defeated Estonians in the Battle of Lyndanisse (Tallinn), and conquered northern Estonia.[63][64] In the uprising of 1223, Estonians were able to push the German and Danish invaders out of the whole country, except Tallinn. The Catholic crusaders soon resumed their offensive, and in 1227, Saaremaa was the last Estonian maakond ("pagan county") to surrender, and convert to Christianity.[65][66] In the 13th century, the newly Christian territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia was named Terra Mariana; later it became known simply as Livonia.[67] North Estonia became part of the Kingdom of Denmark. The rest was divided between Swordbrothers and the Holy Roman Empire's prince-bishops of Dorpat and Ösel–Wiek. In 1236, the Swordbrothers merged into the then larger Teutonic Order (becoming its regional branch, the "Livonian Order").[68] In the areas between southeast Estonia and the city of Pskov, then part of the Novgorod Republic, the indigenous Setos converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.[69]