Editing Hiiumaa (section)

=== Prehistory ===
Hiiumaa emerged from the Baltic Sea 8500 years ago due to [[Post-glacial rebound|isostatic uplift]] after the retreat of the [[ice cap]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qqBCT3H2afsC&q=Hiiumaa+geology&pg=PA84|title=Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Geology|date=1994|publisher=Estonian Academy Publishers|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> [[Mesolithic]] settlements are found on the island's Kõpu Peninsula from about 5500 BC.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/hum/kultt/vk/kriiska/tekstid/11.html|title=Coastal Adaption and Marine Exploitation of the Island Hiiumaa, Estonia, During the Stone Age with Special Emphasis on the Kõpu I Site|website=ethesis.helsinki.fi|access-date=2019-04-18|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305042846/http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/hum/kultt/vk/kriiska/tekstid/11.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> These settlements seem to be related mostly to [[seal hunting]] and extend into the earliest [[Neolithic]]. As Hiiumaa is constantly uplifting the local [[sea level]] was 20 m higher than today at this time. For this reason these settlements are located far from the modern coastline. The pottery found at these sites is of the Narva Type and is similar to that found on Saaremaa and the Estonian mainland.<ref name=":3" />

A series of [[Cist|stone-cist]] graves are also present on the island from the [[Bronze Age|Late Bronze Age]] through to the [[Iron Age|Late Iron Age]].<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Laneman|first=Margot|date=2012|url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=221121|journal=Eesti Arheoloogia Ajakiri|language=en|volume=16|issue=2|pages=91–117|issn=1406-2933|doi=10.3176/arch.2012.2.01|title=Stone-Cist Grave at Kaseküla, Western Estonia in the Light of Ams Dates of the Human Bones|doi-access=free}}</ref>