East Slavic union of tribes living in the basin of the upper and middle reaches of the Oka and along the Moscow River. The settlement of the Vyatichi occurred from the territory of the Dnieper left bank or from the upper reaches of the Dniester. The substrate of the Vyatichi was the local Baltic population. The Vyatichi preserved pagan beliefs longer than other Slavic tribes and resisted the influence of the Kyiv princes. Disobedience and belligerence are the calling card of the Vyatichi tribe.

Tribal union of the Eastern Slavs of the 6th-11th centuries. They lived in the territories of what are now Vitebsk, Mogilev, Pskov, Bryansk and Smolensk regions, as well as eastern Latvia. They were formed on the basis of the incoming Slavic and local Baltic population - Tushemlinskaya culture. The ethnogenesis of the Krivichi involved the remnants of local Finno-Ugric and Baltic tribes - Estonians, Livs, Latgalians - who mixed with the numerous newcomer Slavic population. The Krivichi are divided into two large groups: Pskov and Polotsk-Smolensk. In the culture of the Polotsk-Smolensk Krivichi, along with Slavic elements of decoration, there are elements of the Baltic type.

Slovenian Ilmenskie- a tribal union of Eastern Slavs on the territory of the Novgorod land, mainly in the lands near Lake Ilmen, adjacent to the Krivichi. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, the Ilmen Slovenes, together with the Krivichi, Chud and Meri, participated in the calling of the Varangians, who were related to the Slovenes - immigrants from the Baltic Pomerania. A number of historians consider the ancestral home of the Slovenes to be the Dnieper region, others trace the ancestors of the Ilmen Slovenes from the Baltic Pomerania, since the legends, beliefs and customs, the type of dwellings of the Novgorodians and Polabian Slavs are very similar.

Duleby- tribal union of the Eastern Slavs. They inhabited the territories of the Bug River basin and the right tributaries of the Pripyat. In the 10th century The association of Dulebs disintegrated, and their lands became part of Kievan Rus.

Volynians- an East Slavic union of tribes that lived on the territory on both banks of the Western Bug and at the source of the river. Pripyat. In Russian chronicles, Volynians were first mentioned in 907. In the 10th century, the Vladimir-Volyn principality was formed on the lands of the Volynians.

Drevlyans- East Slavic tribal union, which occupied in the 6th-10th centuries. the territory of Polesie, the Right Bank of the Dnieper, west of the glades, along the rivers Teterev, Uzh, Ubort, Stviga. The area of ​​residence of the Drevlyans corresponds to the area of ​​the Luka-Raykovets culture. The name Drevlyans was given to them because they lived in forests.

Dregovichi- tribal union of the Eastern Slavs. The exact boundaries of the habitat of Dregovichi have not yet been established. According to a number of researchers, in the 6th-9th centuries the Dregovichi occupied territory in the middle part of the Pripyat River basin; in the 11th-12th centuries, the southern border of their settlement ran south of Pripyat, the northwestern - in the watershed of the Drut and Berezina rivers, the western - in the upper reaches of the Neman River . When settling Belarus, the Dregovichi moved from south to north to the Neman River, which indicates their southern origin.

Polotsk residents- a Slavic tribe, part of the tribal union of the Krivichi, who lived along the banks of the Dvina River and its tributary Polota, from which they got their name.
The center of Polotsk land was the city of Polotsk.

Glade- a tribal union of Eastern Slavs who lived on the Dnieper, in the area of ​​​​modern Kyiv. The very origin of the glades remains unclear, since the territory of their settlement was at the junction of several archaeological cultures.

Radimichi- an East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the eastern part of the Upper Dnieper region, along the Sozh River and its tributaries in the 8th-9th centuries. Convenient river routes passed through the lands of the Radimichi, connecting them with Kiev. The Radimichi and Vyatichi had a similar burial rite - the ashes were buried in a log house - and similar female temple jewelry (temporal rings) - seven-rayed (among the Vyatichi - seven-paste). Archaeologists and linguists suggest that the Balt tribes living in the upper reaches of the Dnieper also participated in the creation of the material culture of the Radimichi.

Northerners- an East Slavic union of tribes that lived in the 9th-10th centuries along the Desna, Seim and Sula rivers. The origin of the name northerners is of Scythian-Sarmatian origin and is traced back to the Iranian word “black”, which is confirmed by the name of the city of northerners - Chernigov. The main occupation of the northerners was agriculture.

Tivertsy- an East Slavic tribe that settled in the 9th century in the area between the Dniester and Prut rivers, as well as the Danube, including along the Budjak coast of the Black Sea in the territory of modern Moldova and Ukraine.

Ulichi- East Slavic tribal union that existed in the 9th - 10th centuries. The Ulichi lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Bug and on the shores of the Black Sea. The center of the tribal union was the city of Peresechen. The Ulichi for a long time resisted the attempts of the Kyiv princes to subjugate them to their power.

The history of Russian statehood begins from the time when, ten centuries before the beginning of the new era, numerous Slavic tribes began to settle in the northern and central parts of the East European Plain. They were engaged in hunting, fishing and farming. Those who lived in the steppe were engaged in animal husbandry.

Who are the Slavs

The term "Slavs" refers to an ethnic group of people who have centuries of cultural continuity and who speak a variety of related languages ​​known as Slavic languages ​​(all of which belong to the Indo-European language family). Little is known about the Slavs before they were mentioned in Byzantine records of the 6th century AD. e., while most of what we know about them until that time, scientists obtained through archaeological and linguistic research.

Main places of residence

Slavic tribes began to develop new territories in the 6th-8th centuries. The tribes diverged in three main directions:

• to the south - the Balkan Peninsula,
• to the west - between the Oder and the Elbe,
• to the east and northeast of Europe.

They are the ancestors of such modern peoples as Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. The ancient Slavs were pagans. They had their own deities, they believed that there were evil and good spirits that personified various natural forces: Yarilo - the Sun, Perun - thunder and lightning, etc.

When the Eastern Slavs mastered the East European Plain, changes occurred in their social structure - tribal unions appeared, which later became the basis of future statehood.

Ancient peoples on the territory of Russia

The oldest of the far north were Neolithic wild reindeer hunters. Archaeological evidence of their existence dates back to the 5th millennium BC. Small-scale reindeer herding is believed to have developed as early as 2,000 years ago.

In the 9th-10th centuries, the Varangians (Vikings) controlled the central part and the main rivers of the eastern territory of modern Russia. East Slavic tribes occupied the northwestern region. The Khazars, a Turkic people, controlled the south central region.

Even 2000 BC. e., both in the north, and in the territory of modern Moscow, and in the east, in the Urals region, there lived tribes who grew unprocessed grains. Around the same time, tribes in the territory of modern Ukraine were also engaged in agriculture.

Distribution of ancient Russian tribes

Many peoples gradually migrated to what is now eastern Russia. The Eastern Slavs remained in this territory and gradually became dominant. The early Slavic tribes of Ancient Rus' were farmers and beekeepers, as well as hunters, fishermen, shepherds and hunters. By 600, the Slavs had become the dominant ethnic group on the East European Plain.

Slavic statehood

The Slavs withstood invasions by the Goths from Germany and Sweden and the Huns from Central Asia in the 3rd and 4th centuries. By the 7th century, they had established villages along all the major rivers of what is now eastern Russia. In the early Middle Ages, the Slavs lived between the Viking kingdoms in Scandinavia, the Holy Roman Empire in Germany, the Byzantines in Turkey, and the Mongol and Turkish tribes in Central Asia.

Kievan Rus arose in the 9th century. This state had a complex and often unstable political system. The state flourished until the 13th century, before its territory sharply decreased. Among the special achievements of Kievan Rus are the introduction of Orthodoxy and the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures. The disintegration of Kievan Rus played a decisive role in the evolution of the Eastern Slavs into the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples.

Slavic tribes

Slavs are divided into three main groups:

• Western Slavs (mainly Poles, Czechs and Slovaks);
• South Slavs (mostly tribes from Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia);
• East Slavic tribes (primarily Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians).

The eastern branch of the Slavs included numerous tribes. The list of names of tribes of Ancient Rus' includes:

• Vyatichi;
• Buzhan (Volynians);
• Drevlyans;
• Dregovichi;
• Dulebov;
• Krivichi;
• Polotsk;
• clearing;
• Radimichi;
• Slovene;
• Tivertsev;
• streets;
• Croats;
• Bodrichi;
• Vistula;
• Zličan;
• Lusatians;
• Lutich;
• Pomeranian

Origin of the Slavs

Little is known about the origins of the Slavs. They inhabited areas of east-central Europe in prehistoric times and gradually reached their current limits. The pagan Slavic tribes of Ancient Rus' migrated from what is now Russia to the southern Balkans more than 1,000 years ago and took over the Christian communities founded by Roman colonists.

Philologists and archaeologists claim that the Slavs settled in the Carpathians and in the region of modern Belarus a very long time ago. By 600, a linguistic division had resulted in southern, western, and eastern branches. The Eastern Slavs settled on the Dnieper River in what is now Ukraine. They then spread north to the northern Volga Valley, east of modern Moscow, and west to the basins of the northern Dniester and Western Bug, into the territory of modern Moldova and southern Ukraine.

Later the Slavs adopted Christianity. These tribes were scattered over a large area and suffered from the invasions of nomadic tribes: the Huns, Mongols and Turks. The first large Slavic states were the Western Bulgarian state (680-1018) and Moravia (early 9th century). In the 9th century the Kiev state was formed.

Old Russian mythology

Very little mythological material has survived: until the 9th-10th centuries. n. e. Writing was not yet widespread among the Slavic tribes.

One of the main gods of the Slavic tribes of Ancient Rus' was Perun, who is associated with the Baltic god Perkuno, as well as with the Norwegian god Thor. Like these deities, Perun is the god of thunder, the supreme deity of the ancient Russian tribes. The god of youth and spring, Yarilo, and the goddess of love, Lada, also occupied an important place among the deities. They were both gods who died and were resurrected every year, which was associated with fertility motives. The Slavs also had a goddess of winter and death - Morena, a goddess of spring - Lelya, a goddess of summer - Zhiva, gods of love - Lel and Polel, the first was the god of early love, the second was the god of mature love and family.

Tribal culture of Ancient Rus'

In the early Middle Ages, the Slavs occupied a large territory, which contributed to the emergence of several independent Slavic states. From the 10th century BC e. There was a process of gradual cultural divergence that gave rise to a variety of closely related but mutually exclusive languages ​​classified as part of the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family.

Currently, there are a large number of Slavic languages, in particular, Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Polish, Serbian, Slovak, Russian and many others. They are distributed from central and eastern Europe to Russia.

Information about the culture of the East Slavic tribes of Ancient Rus' in the VI-IX centuries. there are very few. They were mainly preserved in works of folklore recorded later, represented by proverbs and sayings, riddles and fairy tales, work songs and stories, and legends.

These tribes had some knowledge about nature. For example, thanks to the system of shifting agriculture, the East Slavic agricultural calendar appeared, divided on the basis of agricultural cycles into lunar months. Also, the Slavic tribes on the territory of Ancient Rus' had knowledge about animals, metals, and actively developed applied art.

History does not have accurate data about where the first Slavs appeared. All information about their appearance and settlement throughout the territory of modern Europe and Russia was obtained indirectly:

• analysis of Slavic languages;
• archaeological finds;
• written mentions in chronicles.

Based on these data, we can conclude that the original habitat of the Slavs was the northern slopes of the Carpathians; it was from these places that the Slavic tribes migrated to the south, west and east, forming three branches of the Slavs - Balkan, Western and Russian (Eastern).
The settlement of East Slavic tribes along the banks of the Dnieper began in the 7th century. Another part of the Slavs settled along the banks of the Danube and received the name Western. The South Slavs settled on the territory of the Byzantine Empire.

Settlement of Slavic tribes

The ancestors of the Eastern Slavs were the Veneti - a union of tribes of ancient Europeans who lived in Central Europe in the 1st millennium. Later, the Veneti settled along the coast of the Vistula River and the Baltic Sea to the North of the Carpathian Mountains. The culture, life and pagan rituals of the Veneti were closely connected with the Pomeranian culture. Some of the Veneti who lived in more western areas were influenced by Germanic culture.

Slavic tribes and their settlement, table 1

In the III-IV centuries. The East European Slavs were united under the rule of the Goths as part of the Power of Germanaric, located in the Northern Black Sea region. At the same time, the Slavs were part of the tribes of the Khazars and Avars, but were in the minority there.

In the 5th century, the settlement of East Slavic tribes began from the territories of the Carpathian region, the mouth of the Dniester and the banks of the Dnieper. The Slavs actively migrated in various directions. In the East, the Slavs stopped along the Volga and Oka rivers. The Slavs who migrated and settled in the East began to be called Antes. The Antes' neighbors were the Byzantines, who endured Slavic raids and described them as "tall, strong people with beautiful faces." At the same time, the southern Slavs, who were called Sklavins, gradually assimilated with the Byzantines and adopted their culture.

Western Slavs in the 5th century. were settled along the coast of the Odra and Elbe rivers, and constantly launched raids into more western territories. A little later, these tribes split into many separate groups: Poles, Czechs, Moravians, Serbs, Luticians. The Slavs of the Baltic group also separated

Slavic tribes and their settlement on the map

Designation:
green - Eastern Slavs
light green - Western Slavs
dark green - southern Slavs

The main East Slavic tribes and their places of settlement

in the VII-VIII centuries. Stable East Slavic tribes were formed, whose settlement occurred as follows: Polyans - lived along the Dnieper River. To the north, along the Desna River lived the northerners, and in the northwestern territories lived the Drevlyans. The Dregovichi settled between the Pripyat and Dvina rivers. Polotsk residents lived along the Polota River. Along the Volga, Dnieper and Dvina rivers there are Krivichi.

Numerous Buzhans or Dulebs were settled on the banks of the Southern and Western Bug, some of whom migrated towards the west and assimilated with the Western Slavs.

The places of settlement of the Slavic tribes influenced their customs, language, laws and methods of farming. The main occupations were growing wheat, millet, barley, some tribes grew oats and rye. They raised cattle and small poultry.

The settlement map of the ancient Slavs displays the boundaries and areas characteristic of each tribe.

East Slavic tribes on the map

The map shows that the East Slavic tribes are concentrated in Eastern Europe and in the territory of modern Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. During the same period, a group of Slavic tribes began to move towards the Caucasus, therefore in the 7th century. Some of the tribes find themselves on the lands of the Khazar Kaganate.

More than 120 East Slavic tribes lived on the lands from the Bug to Novgorod. The largest of them:

1. The Vyatichi are an East Slavic tribe that lived at the mouths of the Oka and Moscow rivers. The Vyatichi migrated to these areas from the Dnieper coast. This tribe lived separately for a long time and retained pagan beliefs, actively resisting joining the Kyiv princes. The Vyatichi tribes were subject to raids by the Khazar Khaganate and paid them tribute. Later, the Vyatichi were still annexed to Kievan Rus, but did not lose their identity.
2. The Krivichi are the northern neighbors of the Vyatichi, living on the territory of modern Belarus and the Western regions of Russia. The tribe was formed as a result of the merger of the Balts and Finno-Ugric tribes that came from the north. Most elements of Krivichi culture contain Baltic motifs.
3. Radimichi are tribes that lived in the territory of modern Gomel and Mogidev regions. Radimichi are the ancestors of modern Belarusians. Their culture and customs were influenced by Polish tribes and eastern neighbors.

These three Slavic groups subsequently united and formed the Great Russians. It must be understood that the ancient Russian tribes and the places of their settlement did not have clear boundaries, because Wars were fought between the tribes for lands and alliances were concluded, as a result the tribes migrated and changed, adopting each other’s culture.

In the 8th century the eastern tribes of the Slavs from the Danube to the Baltic already had a single culture and language. Thanks to this, it became possible to create a trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” and became the root cause of the formation of the Russian state.

The main East Slavic tribes and their places of settlement, table 2

Krivichi	The upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper, and Western Dvina rivers
Vyatichi	Along the Oka River
Ilmenskie Slovenes	Around Lake Ilmen and along the Volkhov River
Radimichi	Along the Sozh River
Drevlyans	Along the Pripyat River
Dregovichi	Between the Pripyat and Berezina rivers
Glade	Along the western bank of the Dnieper River
Ulichi and Tivertsy	Southwestern East European Plain
Northerners	Along the middle reaches of the Dnieper River and the Desna River

Western Slavic tribes

West Slavic tribes lived in the territory of modern Central Europe. They are usually divided into four groups:

• Polish tribes (Poland, Western Belarus);
• Czech tribes (part of the territory of modern Czech Republic);
• Polabian tribes (lands from the Elbe River to the Odra and from the Ore Mountains to the Baltic). The “Polabian union of tribes” included: Bodrichi, Ruyans, Drevyans, Lusatian Serbs and more than 10 other tribes. In the VI century. most of the tribes were captured and enslaved by the young Germanic feudal states.
• Pomeranians who lived in Pomerania. Beginning in the 1190s, the Pomeranians were attacked by the Germans and Danes and almost completely lost their culture and assimilated with the invaders.

Southern Slavic tribes

The South Slavic ethnic group included: Bulgarian, Dalmatian and Greek Macedonian tribes settled in the northern part of Byzantium. They were captured by the Byzantines and adopted their customs, beliefs and culture.

Neighbors of the ancient Slavs

In the west, the neighbors of the ancient Slavs were tribes of Celts and Germans. In the east are the Balts and Finno-Ugric tribes, as well as the ancestors of modern Iranians - the Scythians and Sarmatians. Gradually they were supplanted by the Bulgar and Khazars tribes. In the south, Slavic tribes lived side by side with the Romans and Greeks, as well as the ancient Macedonians and Illyrians.

The Slavic tribes became a real disaster for the Byzantine Empire and for the Germanic peoples, carrying out constant raids and seizing fertile lands.

In the VI century. Hordes of Turks appeared in the territory inhabited by the Eastern Slavs, who entered into a fight with the Slavs for lands in the Dniester and Danube region. Many Slavic tribes went over to the side of the Turks, whose goal was to seize the Byzantine Empire.
During the war, the Western Slavs were completely enslaved by the Byzantines, the southern Slavs, the Sklavins, defended their independence, and the East Slavic tribes were captured by the Turkic horde.

East Slavic tribes and their neighbors (map)

The Slavs were not the only people who inhabited Ancient Rus'. Other, more ancient tribes were also “cooked” in her cauldron: Chud, Merya, Muroma. They left early, but left a deep mark on Russian ethnicity, language and folklore.

Chud

“Whatever you call the boat, that’s how it will float.” The mysterious Chud people fully justify their name. The popular version says that the Slavs dubbed some tribes Chudya, because their language seemed strange and unusual to them. In ancient Russian sources and folklore, there are many references to the “chud”, which “the Varangians from overseas imposed tribute on.” They took part in Prince Oleg’s campaign against Smolensk, Yaroslav the Wise fought against them: “and defeated them and established the city of Yuryev,” legends were made about them as about the white-eyed miracle - an ancient people akin to European “fairies.” They left a huge mark on the toponymy of Russia; Lake Peipus, the Peipsi shore, and the villages: “Front Chudi”, “Middle Chudi”, “Back Chudi” are named after them. From the north-west of present-day Russia to the Altai mountains, their mysterious “wonderful” trace can still be traced.

For a long time it was customary to associate them with the Finno-Ugric peoples, since they were mentioned in places where representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples lived or still live. But the folklore of the latter also preserves legends about the mysterious ancient Chud people, whose representatives left their lands and went somewhere, not wanting to accept Christianity. There is especially a lot of talk about them in the Komi Republic. So they say that the ancient tract Vazhgort “Old Village” in the Udora region was once a Chud settlement. From there they were allegedly driven out by Slavic newcomers.

In the Kama region you can learn a lot about the Chud: local residents describe their appearance (dark-haired and dark-skinned), language, and customs. They say that they lived in dugouts in the middle of the forests, where they buried themselves, refusing to submit to more successful invaders. There is even a legend that “the Chud went underground”: they dug a large hole with an earthen roof on pillars, and then collapsed it, preferring death to captivity. But not a single popular belief or chronicle mention can answer the questions: what kind of tribes were they, where did they go and whether their descendants are still alive. Some ethnographers attribute them to the Mansi peoples, others to representatives of the Komi people who chose to remain pagans. The boldest version, which appeared after the discovery of Arkaim and the “Land of Cities” of Sintashta, claims that the Chud are ancient arias. But for now one thing is clear, the Chud are one of the aborigines of ancient Rus' whom we have lost.

Merya

“Chud made a mistake, but Merya intended gates, roads and mileposts...” - these lines from a poem by Alexander Blok reflect the confusion of scientists of his time about two tribes that once lived next door to the Slavs. But, unlike the first, Mary had a “more transparent story.” This ancient Finno-Ugric tribe once lived in the territories of modern Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Tver, Vladimir and Kostroma regions of Russia. That is, in the very center of our country.

There are many references to them; merins are found in the Gothic historian Jordan, who in the 6th century called them tributaries of the Gothic king Germanaric. Like the Chud, they were in the troops of Prince Oleg when he went on campaigns against Smolensk, Kyiv and Lyubech, as recorded in the Tale of Bygone Years. True, according to some scientists, in particular Valentin Sedov, by that time ethnically they were no longer a Volga-Finnish tribe, but “half Slavs.” Final assimilation apparently occurred by the 16th century.

One of the largest peasant uprisings of Ancient Rus' in 1024 is associated with the name of Merya. The reason was the great famine that gripped the Suzdal land. Moreover, according to the chronicles, it was preceded by “immeasurable rains,” drought, premature frosts, and dry winds. For the Marys, most of whose representatives opposed Christianization, this obviously looked like “divine punishment.” The rebellion was led by the priests of the “old faith” - the Magi, who tried to use the chance to return to pre-Christian cults. However, it was unsuccessful. The rebellion was defeated by Yaroslav the Wise, the instigators were executed or sent into exile.

Despite the meager data that we know about the Merya people, scientists managed to restore their ancient language, which in Russian linguistics was called “Meryan”. It was reconstructed on the basis of the dialect of the Yaroslavl-Kostroma Volga region and the Finno-Ugric languages. A number of words were recovered thanks to geographical names. It turned out that the endings “-gda” in Central Russian toponymy: Vologda, Sudogda, Shogda are the heritage of the Meryan people.

Despite the fact that mentions of the Merya completely disappeared in sources back in the pre-Petrine era, today there are people who consider themselves to be their descendants. These are mainly residents of the Upper Volga region. They claim that the Meryans did not dissolve over the centuries, but formed the substrate (substratum) of the northern Great Russian people, switched to the Russian language, and their descendants call themselves Russians. However, there is no evidence of this.

Muroma

As the Tale of Bygone Years says: in 862 the Slovenes lived in Novgorod, the Krivichi in Polotsk, the Merya in Rostov, and the Murom in Murom. The chronicle, like the Merians, classifies the latter as non-Slavic peoples. Their name translates as “an elevated place by the water,” which corresponds to the position of the city of Murom, which for a long time was their center.

Today, based on archaeological finds discovered in large burial grounds of the tribe (located between the left tributaries of the Oka, the Ushna, the Unzha and the right, the Tesha), it is almost impossible to determine which ethnic group they belonged to. According to domestic archaeologists, they could be either another Finno-Ugric tribe or part of the Meri, or the Mordovians. Only one thing is known, they were friendly neighbors with a highly developed culture. Their weapons were of the best quality in the surrounding areas, and their jewelry, which was found in abundance in the burials, is distinguished by its inventiveness of form and careful workmanship. Murom was characterized by arched head decorations woven from horsehair and strips of leather, which were spirally braided with bronze wire. Interestingly, there are no analogues among other Finno-Ugric tribes.

Sources show that the Slavic colonization of Murom was peaceful and occurred mainly through strong and economic trade ties. However, the result of this peaceful coexistence was that the Muroma were one of the very first assimilated tribes to disappear from the pages of history. By the 12th century they were no longer mentioned in chronicles.

Publications in the Traditions section

Ancient inhabitants of Rus'

And the history of the lands, which today are considered primordially Russian, began long before the appearance of the state among the Eastern Slavs. The Russian plain was inhabited 25 thousand years ago - a site of an ancient man from this period was found near Vladimir. The ancestors of the Balts and Germans lived on the territory of our country, and the first “Muscovites” were from Finno-Ugric tribes. The portal "Culture.RF" has collected 7 interesting facts about the inhabitants of Central Russia before the appearance of the Slavic peoples here.

The first sites of the Russian Plain

It is believed that people settled on the Russian Plain in the Upper Paleolithic. The site of an ancient man, Sungir near Vladimir, dates back to this period. The age of the site is about 25 thousand years. It was a seasonal hunting camp, which scientists believe was used for two to three thousand years. Today this monument is under the protection of UNESCO.

In the settlement, archaeologists discovered the burial of two boys - 12 and 14 years old. An adult bone filled with ocher was also found here. The researchers found that the bone belonged to the great-great-grandfather of the buried teenagers and had special burial significance: the boys were most likely sacrificed in honor of a fertility cult.

The graves contained spears and darts made from mammoth ivory, as well as disks symbolizing the sun. The children's clothes were embroidered with beads from mammoth ivory - scientists found about 10 thousand of them. The outfits resembled the costumes of the current northern peoples, and after the reconstruction of their appearance it became clear that the Sungir people could be the ancestors of modern northern Europeans.

European nomads

In the III–II millennium BC. e. On the territory of Central Russia lived tall people of the European type with wide faces. They belonged to the community from which the Balts, Germans and Slavs later emerged. This archaeological culture was called Fatyanovo - after the burial ground, which was discovered by archaeologist Alexey Uvarov in 1873. The scientist discovered it near the village of Fatyanovo (today - Yaroslavl district). The second name, “battle ax culture,” arose from the custom of these people to place axes carved from stone in men’s graves. By the way, they buried not only people, but also animals - mainly bears and dogs. The Fatyanovo people revered them as the ancestors of their clan.

The Fatyanovo people roamed, making light dwellings, raising pigs, sheep and goats, and making bone and stone hoes. They transported property on carts and carts.

Scientists have found traces of nomads in the Ivanovo and Yaroslavl, Tver and Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod and Vladimir, Ryazan and Tula regions, as well as in the foothills of the Urals. Over time, the Fatyanovo people began to be pressed by tribes advancing from the east - part of the people retreated to the west, and the other part mixed with the invaders.

The first Muscovites

From the 8th–7th centuries BC. e. The lands from Vologda to Smolensk were inhabited by the Dyakovo archaeological culture. Only within the borders of modern Moscow, 10 Dyakovo settlements have been discovered - all of them were built on high capes at the confluence of rivers. This is how the oldest settlement arose on the site of the Moscow Kremlin. It is known that the Dyakovites belonged to the Finno-Ugric tribes. It was from their descendants - the Merya and Ves tribes - that we got many of the names of the rivers: Yakhroma, Kashira, Vologda, Vychegda.

The Dyakovites led a sedentary lifestyle - from 50 to 200 people lived in each settlement. From about the 4th century BC. e. Iron spread widely and the prosperity of the clans increased, and therefore predatory raids became more frequent. The Dyakovites began to fortify their settlements with palisades, earthen ramparts and ditches. Their main occupation was cattle breeding: they bred horses. Moreover, horses were practically not used mainly for food, as draft power. The population also hunted: elk and deer, bears and wild boars. The skins of beavers, foxes, martens and otters were used as currency during exchange with other tribes.

The Dyakovites burned the dead and buried them in the “houses of the dead.” Such burials were found in Bereznyaki on the Volga River (today Yaroslavl region), not far from the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery in the Moscow region. One of the hypotheses says that Baba Yaga’s fairy-tale hut on chicken legs is the “houses” of the Dyakovites found in the forest.

The ancestral home of the Slavs

Archaeologists and linguists have established that the Slavs separated from the ancient European community in 400 BC. e. By that time, there were already Celts and Italics, Germans and Western Balts, Veneti and Illyrians. According to one version, the ancestral home of the Slavs was the valley between the Vistula and Odra (Oder) rivers in the territory of modern Poland. Other scholars suggest that the Slavs originally settled between the Western Bug and the middle reaches of the Dnieper - today the territory at the intersection of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. For a long time it was believed that the ancestors of the Slavic peoples came from the Danube - this theory was based on information from the Tale of Bygone Years. Today scientists have recognized it as unscientific.

The Northern European origin of the Slavs was unexpectedly confirmed by the Old English language. It contained many Slavisms - the Angles, Saxons and Jutes who settled the British Isles in the 4th–5th centuries previously lived on the Danish peninsula of Jutland and the lower Elbe. Their neighbors were the Slavs.

"Great Slavic Migration"

Sergey Ivanov. Housing of the Eastern Slavs. Illustration for the collection “Pictures on Russian History”. Edition by Joseph Knebel. 1909

In the 4th century, the lands of the Goths and Romans were invaded by the Huns, Asian nomads who occupied South-Eastern and Central Europe. Fleeing from them, Europeans fled en masse to the west, crowding out other tribes. This is how the Great Migration of Peoples took place for almost three centuries. In history textbooks, the migration of Slavic peoples is explained by this very process, but archaeologists emphasize: the Slavs began to settle to the south and east even before the Huns, at the beginning of the new era. In the 6th century, they already made up the bulk of the population of the Avar Kaganate, a state founded in Central Europe by the Avars.

The real “great Slavic migration” was provoked by a cold snap that began at the end of the 4th century. The coldest over the past 2000 years was the 5th century. At this time, the water level in the North and Baltic seas rose, rivers flooded coastal settlements. Due to flooded fields and the proliferation of swamps, people began to leave the Vistula-Oder region, their ancestral territory, en masse. By the 7th–8th centuries they crossed the border of modern Russia.

Balts near Moscow

In the 9th century, at the time of the formation of the Old Russian state, there was a mixed population on the territory of what is now Central Russia. The indigenous people at that time were the Finno-Ugric peoples and the Balts, the foreign ones were the Slavs and Varangians. In the Tale of Bygone Years, the chronicler listed the tribes that “give tribute to Rus'”: Ves, Merya, Muroma, Cheremis, Mordovians, Chud, Perm, Pechera, Yam, Lithuania, Zimigols, Kors, Narovas and Livs.

On the border of the Moscow, Kaluga and Smolensk regions lived the Golyad tribe, which was finally assimilated only in the 14th century. Probably, the representatives of this people called themselves Galinds, and they came from the Prussian region of Galindia. They spoke a language related to Lithuanian and Latvian. Having moved to the Oka in the 2nd century, the Galinds quickly mixed with the eastern Balts who lived here. As a reminder of this people, we have the Baltic names of the rivers near Moscow: Oka, Dubna, Protva and Istra. According to one version, the word “Moscow” has a Baltic root.

What Slavic tribes lived in Russia

In the Tale of Bygone Years, the author mentioned 15 Slavic tribal unions - three lived on the territory of modern Russia: Slovenes, Krivichi and Vyatichi. Veliky Novgorod, Ladoga, Beloozero, Staraya Russa, etc. were founded in Slovenia. At the time of the formation of the Old Russian state, they paid tribute to the Khazars and lived separately. It was possible to finally annex the lands of the Vyatichi to Ancient Rus' only in the 11th century.