– this is a large space, the height of adjacent areas practically does not differ from each other. For example, we can cite the vast West Siberian Plain. The plains themselves differ from each other in structure and formation. Therefore, plains as one of the landforms can also be divided into groups. Most often, plains are divided into groups according to the height of a particular hill. Plains with a height from 0 to 200 m are classified as lowlands, plains from 300 to 500 m are called uplands, and plains above 500 m are classified as plateaus. Also, when determining the type of plain, the genesis of the plain, i.e. origin, plays an important role. Alluvial plains are those plains that are formed by the deposition of river water and sediment. Alluvial plains can also be divided into two groups: fluvial and deltaic. Based on all this, we can conclude that alluvial plains are formed with the help of river activity. Such plains are usually formed from the surface by river sediments, and the thickness can reach hundreds of meters. Examples of alluvial plains are the Hungarian lowland, the valleys of the Po and Ganges rivers.
Let us consider in more detail the formation of alluvial plains. Alluvial plains formed through river activities: erosion, transport and deposition. The slow flow of the river leads to the fact that various natural materials are deposited, since at low speeds in the river they are not transported lower. Typically slow flow occurs at the mouth and downstream. The sediments produced by river waters are called alluvial sediments or alluvium. The formation of deltaic plains occurs in the lower reaches of rivers during the process of delta growth. A delta is an area of lowland that was formed from sediments formed during the operation of rivers, and this area may previously have been occupied by a sea or a lake. Typically, deltaic plains consist of loose and fine deposits of sand and silt, but at the mouths of rocks, deltaic plains can be formed from pebbles, gravel, i.e., large clastic rocks predominate. River channels that cross delta plains are usually very shallow in depth. Also, rivers with delta plains are characterized by a change in channels, which forms undulating surfaces and various river-bed levees. An example of deltaic alluvial plains are the deltas of the following rivers: Kuban, Yellow River, Nile, Amu-Daria, Ganga and Brahmaputra. Delta plains can be very large, ranging from 10 to 445 thousand square kilometers. The most common are fluvial alluvial plains. They are everywhere where there are rivers. If river valleys are deep, then usually river plains will be located along the rivers. The plains of the Middle and Lower Tunguska and Angara have this location. If the river is located in a low area, then very wide plains will form there.
The reason for the formation of wide areas of lowlands may be the slow flow of the river. Delta and river alluvial plains became the habitat of ancient man, and also served as a place for the formation of ancient human cultures. Alluvial deposits can form very large sea bays when river activity is very long. For example, such plains can include the Lombard and Rion lowlands and the Kuban River delta. In addition to river and delta plains, piedmont alluvial plains are also classified as alluvial. Their origin, which can also be understood by their name, is associated with the mountains. The formation of alluvial piedmont plains is explained by the fact that mountains tend to rise, and piedmont depressions descend, as a result of which thick Quaternary deposits, i.e. alluvium, accumulate. Examples of piedmont plains are: the Cis-Caucasian piedmont alluvial plain, the plains of Altai and Tien Shan. The largest alluvial plain on Earth is the West Siberian Lowland. Looking at it in more detail, you can see that it is not the same in its formation and structure. For example, sediments located in the Kulandinskaya and Barabinskaya steppes are formed at a height of 200 to 300 m. These sediment strata are formed mainly by the river activity of the Altai rivers. The Kulandinskaya and Barabinskaya steppes are areas of foothill depression, since the accumulation of sediment layers caused the subsidence of this area. The middle West Siberian Plain has small deposits of about 20-30 m. Alluvial sediments of the Irtysh and Ob rivers are mainly distributed in this part. In the northern regions of the West Siberian Plain, morainic deposits are very common, which are exposed to the influence of rivers.
As I believe, on the one hand, climatic conditions can be pleasant for a person (temperate, subtropical climate), but on the other - quite the opposite (harsh winters, frequent rains, drought). The distribution of population in different parts of the globe is also associated with these factors. But I want to figure out exactly what phenomena are unfavorable and in which areas they are observed.
Features of climatic conditions
Climate is a weather pattern formed over many years. The formation of climatic conditions directly depends on such geophysical processes as:
- moisture circulation;
- heat circulation;
- atmospheric air circulation.
The general concept of climate is divided into subtypes: macroclimate (that is, the climate over vast territories) and mesoclimate (the so-called climate in a certain area). The main feature is that this concept can be applied not only to the Earth, but also to all bodies that have an atmosphere (satellites, planets, asteroids).
Climate-related adverse events
To highlight unfavorable climate factors, a whole classification is used into individual types of phenomena. I'll start with the cosmic one, which implies high solar activity, the threat of a meteorite falling or magnetic storms. There are also geological phenomena: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and so on. Various forest fires are also climate-related adverse events. You can also note geomorphological phenomena (avalanches, mudflows, landslides, landslides).
Areas where adverse events occur
The causes of such phenomena are pressure drops, large amounts of precipitation or their absence at all. Sudden changes in temperature can also have an effect. For example, droughts occur in areas of steppe and forest-steppe zones. There are dust storms that often occur on plowed steppes. Dry winds are often observed in the North Caucasus and the Caspian region. Avalanches are common in mountainous areas with a lot of snow. Each adverse event is observed in its corresponding territory.
The oldest settlements on the territory of our country (from its origin to the 6th century AD)
Self-test questions
1. What is the place and role of ancient states in world history?
2. Explain the economic role of slavery.
3. Describe ancient civilizations as the embryos of all subsequent economic formations.
4. Describe the forms of government in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.
5. Name the most important socio-political and socio-economic reforms of ancient states, characterize their significance.
Chapter 4. Civilization of Ancient Rus'
· The most ancient settlements on the territory of our country. Predecessors of the ancient Slavs.
· Eastern Slavs on the threshold of civilization.
Over its more than thousand-year history, the Russian state has gone through a difficult path of development, which was influenced by many external and internal factors. Having emerged at the junction of Europe and Asia, having absorbed the features of both the West and the East, Russia is a unique Eurasian civilization. In order to assess Russia's place in global development, it is necessary to trace the historical path that it has passed from its inception to the present.
The history of the largest Russian state in Europe developed, on the one hand, like the history of other peoples and states, and, on the other, has a number of features. Our ancestors were the ancient Slavs. Until now, scientists do not have a common opinion about the ancestral home of the Slavs, from where they came to the vastness of the East European Plain - the territory of the future Russian state, when this happened, when the ancient Slavic cities were formed, and also what the economy of the ancient Slavs was like.
Various hypotheses of scientists have developed and continue to be refined on the basis of a variety of archaeological and linguistic sources, as well as written monuments.
Many scientific works have been written on the history of Russia by foreign and Russian historians. Among our compatriots, an exceptional place is occupied by the outstanding scholar-historians N.M. Karamzin (1766-1826), S.M. Soloviev (1820-1879), V.O. Klyuchevsky (1841-1911), S.F. Platonov (1860-1933) and others. During the Soviet period, such famous scientists as B.D. devoted their works to the history of Russia. Grekov (1882-1953), B.A. Rybakov (b. 1908), L.N. Gumilev (1912-1993) and others.
The oldest settlements on the territory of our country (from its origin to the 6th century AD)
Predecessors of the ancient Slavs. On the territory of our Fatherland, primitive man appeared during the Early Paleolithic period - the Old Stone Age (about 700 thousand years ago). The settlement came from the south, as evidenced by archaeological finds. Thus, in the Zhitomir region and on the Dniester, traces of the presence of ancient people 500-300 thousand years ago were found. Sites of people of the Middle Paleolithic (100-35 thousand years BC) were discovered on the territory of Russia: in the Middle and Lower Volga and in other places. These settlements were relatively few in number and located at a considerable distance from each other.
During the Late Paleolithic period (35-10 thousand years BC) replaced a skilled man(homo habilis) comes reasonable man(homo sapiens), the primitive herd is replaced by a higher form of social organization - the clan community.
A unique monument of the Late Paleolithic era is the Sungir (near Vladimir) culture. Archaeological finds tell us about the appearance, clothing, material culture and ritual ceremonies of that time.
Ancient people were engaged in gathering, hunting, fishing (appropriating farm), and later - agriculture and cattle breeding (producing farm). Hoe farming (manually using a hoe without draft power) was later replaced by plow farming - horses or oxen were harnessed to the plow.
During the Bronze Age (III-II thousand years BC), the specialization of the production economy began. In the North, hunting and fishing remain the main occupation; nomadic cattle breeding and farming predominate in the steppe zone.
With the advent of the iron ax (1st millennium BC), it became possible to clear areas of forest for arable land, and agriculture moved further and further to the North.
The use of metal (copper, bronze, iron) tools increased the productivity of all types of human economic activity. From the hunting and agricultural tribes, the pastoral tribes stand out. This was the first major social division of labor.
The advent of metals, especially the use of iron, contributed to the development of crafts. The second major social division of labor occurred when crafts separated from agriculture. This led to the production of surplus products, which were used for trade exchange not only within the tribe and on its borders, but also with more distant tribes. The process of property differentiation has intensified.
Predecessors of the ancient Slavs. On the northern shores of the Black Sea, which the Greeks called Pont Euxine, in the 7th-6th centuries. BC. Numerous Greek colonies emerged - city-states (policies). The most famous of them are Olbia at the mouth of the Bug River, Chersonesus (the old Russian name is Korsun) in the vicinity of present-day Sevastopol, Panticapaeum (on the site of present-day Kerch), Phanagoria on the Taman Peninsula, Tanais at the mouth of the Don River, etc. The Greeks fought with the local population - Scythians - not only lively trade, but also exerted their cultural influence on them. The Greeks bought mainly bread and fish, and sold fabrics, wine, oil, and luxury goods.
As a result of such connections, mixed Hellenic-Scythian settlements were created. With its center in Panticapaeum arose Bosporan Kingdom1(V-IV centuries BC), which united some Greek cities, as well as local Scythian tribes.
Scythian nomadic tribes in the VIII-VII centuries. BC. came from Asia to the southern and southeastern steppes, displacing the dominant here ethnic community2 agricultural people of the Cimmerians who went far into Thrace. Under the general name “Scythians”1 numerous nomadic tribes are known that differed in their place of settlement and their occupations. The main tribe was considered the royal Scythians, who lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper By left bank. On the right bank of the lower Dnieper lived Scythian nomads, to the west of them there were Scythian farmers and Scythian ploughmen on the middle Dnieper.
The main occupation of the Scythians was cattle breeding and agriculture. Scythian farmers traded grain with the Greek cities on the Black Sea, from where the Greeks supplied grain to Hellas. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, they grew “the best wheat in the world.” The Scythians were good at crafts: they processed iron and bronze, made weapons, and tanned leather. This is evidenced by numerous archaeological finds in Scythian mounds.
In the VI-IV centuries. BC. the Scythians united into a large tribal union, on the basis of which arose Scythian kingdom with its capital in Scythian Naples (near present-day Simferopol) This state was a union of warlike tribes led by a king, and tribal leaders led troops during campaigns. The power of the king was inherited. There was a gradual stratification of the population in the state; the military and priestly aristocracy were distinguished. The main work was performed by free community members - cattle breeders and farmers; the labor of slaves was insignificant.
Herodotus writes that in the second half of the 5th century. BC. The Scythian kingdom occupied a huge space from the Don in the east to the mouths of the Danube and Lower Dnieper in the west.
In the 3rd century. BC. Scythians are being replaced by a new ethnic community - Sarmatians, who previously lived in the east of Scythia, beyond the Don. The borders of the Sarmatians, according to the testimony of ancient writers, were more extensive: almost from the Carpathians, Vistula, Danube to the Don, Volga, and Ural.
In the II-III centuries. AD The Sarmatians were supplanted by the German tribes of the Goths, who came to the Black Sea steppes from the shores of the Baltic Sea and occupied the territory from the Don to the Carpathians and the Lower Danube.
The leader is ready Germanarich, glorified in songs and legends, united not only the Gothic tribes, but also subjugated neighboring ones, including Finnish and Slavic ones.
IV-VII centuries known in history as The Great Migration of Peoples. The invasion of the Huns2 (from the 70s of the 4th century) opened a series of successive Asian invasions into Europe. The Huns passed through the southern Siberian steppes and through "Great Gate of Nations" between the Ural Range and the Caspian Sea to Eastern Europe. They defeated the Goths, and their old leader Germanaric committed suicide in despair. Having led a powerful alliance of tribes, the Huns undertook devastating campaigns in many countries. The Huns reached their greatest power when they were led (in 440) by a fierce leader Attila. They moved from the Black Sea steppes to the west, to the Danube Plain, attacking the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, taking ransom from them. After the death of Attila3 in 453, the alliance of the Huns fell apart.
In the VI century. they were replaced accidents1 who lived in the Danube basin, oppressing the conquered tribes, including the Slavs.
In the 7th century a new nomadic tribe appeared Khazars, who founded a vast state from the Caucasus Mountains to the Volga and the Middle Dnieper - Khazar(until the end of the 10th century) Khaganate
All these peoples and tribes not only preceded the appearance of Slavic tribes on the East European Plain, but were already neighbors with them and exerted mutual influence on each other.
The ancestral home of the Slavs and their ethnogenesis.There are several There are many versions of the ancestral home of the Slavs and their ethnogenesis2, which were and are proposed by various scientists. But they all take as a basis the oldest Russian written monument - the chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years"3, the authorship of which is attributed to the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor(beginning of the 12th century). Nestor puts forward a mythological version of the origin of the Slavs: as if their family goes back to the youngest son of Noah, Japheth, who, after dividing the lands with his brothers, received the Northern and Western countries as an inheritance. Gradually, historical facts appear in the narrative. Nestor settles the Slavs in the Roman province of Noricum, located between the upper reaches of the Danube and Drava. From there, pressed Volokhs(meaning the Romans), the Slavs were forced to move to new places on the Vistula and Dnieper.
"Danube" version The ancestral homeland of the Slavs was adhered to by the Russian historian S.M. Soloviev, referring to the ancient Roman historian Tacitus.
Student S.M. Solovyova - historian V.O. Klyuchevsky also recognized the “Danube” version of the ancestral home of the Slavs. But he introduced his own clarifications into it; Before the Eastern Slavs came from the Danube to the Dnieper, they stayed in the foothills of the Carpathians for about 500 years. According to Klyuchevsky, only from the 7th century. Eastern Slavs gradually settled on the modern Russian Plain.
Some Soviet scientists were inclined to the Danube origin of the Slavs, but the majority adhered to the version that the ancestral home of the Slavs was much further north. At the same time, they disagreed about the ethnogenesis of the Slavs, and about where the Slavs formed into a single ethnic community - in the Middle Dnieper region and along Pripyat or in the area between the Vistula and Oder rivers.
Archaeologist and historian academician B.A. Rybakov, based on the latest archaeological data, tried to combine both of these versions of the possible ancestral home of the Slavs and their ethnogenesis. In his opinion, the Proto-Slavs occupied a wide strip of Central and Eastern Europe: about 400 km wide from north to south, and about 1.5 thousand km long from west to east. Its western half was bordered from the south by European mountains - the Sudetes, Tatras, Carpathians, and in the north the lands of the Proto-Slavs reached almost to the Baltic Sea. The eastern half of the Proto-Slavic land was bounded from the north by the Pripyat River, and from the south by the upper reaches of the Dniester and Southern Bug rivers and the basin of the Rosi River, which flows into the Dnieper.
B.A. Rybakov believes that the Slavs belong to the ancient Indo-European unity, which includes such peoples as Germanic, Iranian, Celtic, Indian, Greek, etc. The center of the original Indo-European massif 4-5 thousand years ago was the northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor. At the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. In the northern part of Europe (from the Rhine to the Dnieper), a pastoral economy developed, and in search of pastures, pastoral tribes settled widely throughout Eastern Europe in the 2nd millennium. The settled related Indo-European tribes gradually formed large ethnic tracts. One of these massifs became the Slavs, who settled the territory from the Middle Dnieper in the east to the Oder in the west, from the northern slopes of the Carpathians in the south to the latitude of the Pripyat River in the north.
Information about the Slavs (called chipped) appear already in the 5th century. BC. by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. Other ancient authors - Polybius (III-II centuries BC), Titus Livia (1st century BC - 1st century AD), Strabo (1st century AD), Tacitus (c. 58 – c. 117) provides information about the Slavs called Venedov(Venetians), who lived among the Scythian and Sarmatian tribes somewhere on the Vistula. More detailed information about the Slavs appears in the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea (c. 500 - after 565) and the Gothic historian Jordan (Jordanes) (VI century).
Procopius of Caesarea highly appreciates the Slavs, especially their ability to fight in mountainous, inaccessible places. About their political structure, he writes: “These tribes of the Slavs and Antes are not ruled by one person, but since ancient times they have lived by democracy and therefore, regarding all happy and unhappy circumstances, they make decisions together.”
Jordanes for the first time describes the Slavs under their own tribal names of Wends, ants And Sklavenov, as coming “from the same root.” According to his information, the Wends, the ancestors of the Western Slavs, lived in the northwest to the Vistula and in the southeast to the Dniester. The ancestors of the Eastern Slavs - the Antes, “the most powerful among the Slavs,” according to Jordan, lived in the south along the Black Sea coast, in the lower reaches of the Dnieper and Danube. In general, the Slavs (sklavens) lived in the north, in the Ladoga region and the Lake region.
By the time the Slavs joined the Great Migration of Peoples (VI century), the countries of the world had come a long way of development: huge states arose and collapsed, active migration processes were underway. In the 4th century. The huge Roman Empire collapsed. In Europe, the Western Roman State was formed with its center in Rome. A new powerful state arose on the territory of the Balkans and Asia Minor - the Eastern one, with its center in Constantinople, which later became known as the Byzantine Empire (lasted until 1453). It became the heir and successor of Greek culture, the most powerful and economically developed European state. It had a great influence on its neighbors and the tribes that traded with it, including the Slavs.
In Western Europe in the V-VII centuries. There was a settlement of Germanic tribes that conquered the territory of the Roman Empire. The so-called “barbarian” kingdoms arose here - Frankish, Visigothic, Lombard, etc.
In the VI century. Slavs (called Slovenian) joined the global migration process. The settlement of the Slavs took place in the VI-VIII centuries. in three main directions: – south to the Balkan Peninsula; to the west - to the Middle Danube and between the Oder and Elbe rivers; to the east and north - along the East European Plain. At the same time, the Slavs were divided into three branches: southern, western and eastern. TO South Slavs include today's Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, etc. Western - Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, men, to eastern – Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians.
4.2. Eastern Slavs on the threshold of state formation (VI – 9th centuries)
Natural conditions. The formation and development of the state and its population is influenced by a number of factors, and, first of all, such as geographical location, climatic And natural conditions.
The eastern half of Europe is a plain bordered by four seas - the White, Baltic, Black and Caspian and three mountain ranges - the Carpathians, the Caucasus and the Urals. Numerous rivers with their tributaries head to the seas, which in ancient times served as the main means of communication for people.
A thousand years ago, the entire northern part of the East European Plain was characterized by a harsh, cold climate and was covered with dense coniferous and deciduous forests, numerous lakes and swamps. The soils in these places are mainly loamy and sandy loam. Further to the south there is a strip of forest-steppe, which approximately coincides with the strip of the deepest and thickest black soil. Even further away there is a steppe strip - treeless, but fertile and convenient for agriculture, and in the southeast of the plain, on the northern coast of the Caspian Sea, there is a desert - sandstones and salt marshes unsuitable for cultivation.
The climate in the middle zone of the East European Plain is continental: hot, relatively short summers with short vegetation activity are replaced by long, cold and snowy winters.
All these natural conditions had a diverse impact on the way of life of the peoples of the East European Plain. In the forest belt, where the Eastern Slavs mainly lived after their settlement, all human life activities were connected with the forest. It was used as a building material, fuel, for making household utensils, etc. The main industries associated with the forest were hunting and beekeeping1 - collecting honey from wild bees. People ate the meat of animals caught by hunting, their skins were used to make clothes, and honey was used to make sweets and drinks. In the forest, local residents hid from the invasion of enemies.
Rivers had no less beneficial influence on people's lives. They served as a means of communication between tribes, supplying people with fish for food and for exchange. Slavic tribes settled along the banks of the rivers: settlements were built - first small villages, and then large villages and cities.
Over time, river routes acquired international significance; they no longer only connected individual tribes, but also different peoples and countries.
The most important was known from the 6th century. the great water trade route from Scandinavia to Byzantium, which in the chronicles is called the route "from the Varangians to the Greeks." This route went from north to south, from the Baltic (Varangian) Sea along the Neva River to Lake Ladoga (Lake Nevo), then along the Volkhov River to Lake Ilmen, from there along the Lovat River, then through small rivers and portages to the upper reaches of the Dnieper, and already along the Dnieper to the Black Sea. In this way, the Eastern Slavs maintained contact with the Black Sea Greek colonies, and through them with Byzantium.
Another international river route "from Varangian to Persian" went southeast along the tributaries of the upper Volga and further along this river to the lands of the Volga Bulgarians and through the Khazar kingdom to the Caspian Sea. This trade route served as a link with the Volga Bulgarians, the Khazar Khaganate and further with Central Asia and the Arab world: in its importance it was not inferior to the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.”
Settlement of the Eastern Slavs. In the process of settling the Eastern Slavs across the East European Plain, their primitive communal system decomposed. The Tale of Bygone Years talks about tribal reigns, which historians call tribal unions. Such a union included 100-200 tribes, united around the strongest tribe, after which the entire union was named. In turn, each individual tribe consisted of many clans and occupied a significant territory. The chronicle names a dozen and a half such tribal principalities and their places of settlement. So, in the middle reaches of the Dnieper they lived clearing, in the Pripyat River basin – Drevlyans And Dregovichi, in the basin of the Sozh River (left tributary of the Dnieper) – Radimichi. They settled in the basins of the Desna, Seim and Sula rivers northerners, in interfluve of the Southern Bug and the Dniester - incriminate, between the Dniester and Prut rivers – Tivertsy. In the foothills of the Carpathians they lived "white" Croats, and along the Western Bug - Duleby, Volynians And buzhans, in the upper reaches of the Western Dvina and Dnieper - Krivichi, in the middle reaches of the Western Dvina at the confluence of the Polot River - Polotsk residents, in the north, around Lake Ilmen and along the Volkhov River - Ilmen Slavs, and in the Oka basin the easternmost of the Slavic tribes are Vyatichi
Each tribe was governed by its leader - an elder; there was also a council of elders and a general meeting of the tribe - the veche.
The chronicle data on the settlement of the Eastern Slavs after many centuries was confirmed by archaeological finds of women's jewelry - temple rings, typical of each tribal union.
An important factor in the formation of a people and a state are the neighboring peoples and tribes, which differ in their language, way of life, way of life, morals and customs, culture, etc. At various times, neighboring peoples subjugated the Slavic tribes, drew them into the sphere of their economic activity, or, conversely, were under the influence of the Slavs.
The neighbors of the Eastern Slavs (by the 9th century) were in the west the Baltic tribes: Livs, Chud, Ves, Korela, etc., Western Slavs: Poles (Poles), Slovaks, Czechs, as well as Hungarians (Ugrians); in the northeast - numerous Finno-Ugric tribes: Mordovians, Mari, Muroma, Merya, etc.; in the Lower Volga - the Khazars, in the east - the Volga Bulgarians, and in the south in the Black Sea region - the Pechenegs and other Turkic tribes.
As they settled, the Eastern Slavs displaced the peoples living here or assimilated with them. After settling in new places, the Eastern Slavs created the foundations of their social and economic life.
Economic activity.Judging by the surviving literary monuments and archaeological finds, the Slavs, even before their settlement across the East European Plain, were engaged in arable farming and cattle breeding, as well as hunting and beekeeping. While settling in new places, they continued their previous activities, although they had to be adapted to new conditions. Among the Slavs of the forest-steppe zone, the arable farming system dominated - relog, when a piece of land was sown for several years until it was exhausted, and then moved on to a new one. Used in the forest area slash-and-burn farming system: they cut down and uprooted a section of the forest, burned the trees, fertilized the ground with ash and also used it for two to three years, and then cleared a new plot. Rye, wheat, barley, millet, and oats were grown on cleared lands; from garden crops - turnips, cabbage, beets, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, they were also engaged in cattle breeding: they raised horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats.
The tools used were an axe, a hoe, a harrow, a spade, a sickle, flails, stone grain grinders and hand millstones. In the southern regions, the main tool of labor was the plow, and later - a wooden plow with an iron tip - a ploughshare.
Oxen were used as draft animals in the south, and horses in the forest zone. The economy was of a subsistence nature: it produced mainly agricultural and livestock products necessary to satisfy basic needs.
Social system. Having settled across the East European Plain, the Eastern Slavs lived at first tribal communities, The chronicle also testifies to this: “Everyone lives with his clan and in his own place, each possessing his clan.”
Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky wrote: “The clan union rested on two pillars: the power of the clan elder and the indivisibility of the clan property. The ancestral cult, the veneration of ancestors, sanctified and strengthened both of these pillars.”
From the 6th century clan relations among the Eastern Slavs began to disintegrate due to the advent of metal tools and the transition from cutting to arable farming, since the joint efforts of all members of the clan were already required to manage the economy. The main economic unit became a separate family.
Gradually, first in the south, in the forest-steppe zone, and then in the forest, in the north, the clan community was replaced by a neighboring, territorial one, which was called “mir” in the south, and “rope”1 in the north. The neighboring community retained communal ownership of forest and hay lands, pastures, reservoirs, and arable land, but the family was already allocated plots of arable land for use allotments. These plots were cultivated by each family with its own tools, which received ownership of the harvest it collected. Over time, the redistribution of arable land ceased, and the plots became the permanent property of individual families.
The improvement of tools of labor led to the production of not only what was necessary in a subsistence economy, but also a surplus product. There was an accumulation surplus product, and on its basis – exchange development between individual families. This led to differentiation of the community, growing wealth inequality, and accumulation of wealth by elders and other nobility. The highest governing body among the Slavs continued to be the veche2 - people's government, which jointly resolved all the most important issues. But gradually its importance fell.
The Eastern Slavs waged “numerous wars with their neighbors, repelling the onslaught of nomadic peoples. At the same time, they made campaigns in the Balkans and Byzantium. Under these conditions, the role of the military leader increased enormously - prince, who was often the main person in the management of the tribe. When wars were rare, all the men of the tribe took part in them. In conditions of frequent wars, this became economically unprofitable. The growth of the surplus product made it possible to support the prince and his squad - a group of warriors loyal only to the prince. So, in the VIII-IX centuries. formed in tribes and tribal unions military squad nobility, concentrating both power and wealth. They declared themselves the owners of the lands of the tribe or tribal union, imposing tribute (tax) on their fellow tribesmen.
The prince and the warriors also grew rich from war booty: they turned captured prisoners of war into slaves, forcing them to work on their lands.
In the VI-VIII centuries. The slaves of the Eastern Slavs were mainly prisoners captured in the war. At that time the Slavs had ordinary right3, according to which it was forbidden to enslave one’s fellow tribesmen, for example, for debts, etc. Slaves from prisoners of war were used mainly in the household, in the most difficult jobs. There was no fundamental difference between a free community member and a slave. Slavery among the Slavs was patriarchal form when slaves do not form a class, but are considered junior members of the family.
Thus, the Eastern Slavs experienced a sharp differentiation (stratification) of society, which came close to the formation of a state.
Trade, cities. The emergence of surplus products contributed to active exchange, and later to the emergence and development of trade, which went mainly along numerous rivers and their tributaries. The great waterways were especially actively used - "from the Varangians to the Greeks" and along the Volga to the Caspian Sea - “from the Varangians to Persians".
The route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” was actively used by the Scandinavian peoples, whom the Slavs called Varangians(hence the name of the path itself). The Varangians traded with coastal tribes, including the Slavs. They reached the Greek Black Sea colonies and Byzantium. The Varangians not only traded peacefully, but often also robbed, and sometimes were hired to serve in squads, including the Slavic princes, and to serve in Byzantium.
The main items of foreign trade were furs, wax, honey, and servants (slaves). Silks, silver and gold items, luxury goods, incense, weapons, and spices came from the East and Byzantium.
The success of trade was facilitated by the spread of the nomadic Turkic tribe of the Khazars across the southern Russian steppes. Unlike other Asian peoples, the Khazars soon began to settle on the earth. They occupied the steppes along the banks of the Volga and Dnieper and created their own state, the center of which was the city of Itil on the Lower Volga. The Khazars subjugated the East Slavic tribes of the Polyans, Northerners, and Vyatichi, from whom they took tribute. At the same time, the Slavs used the Don and Volga flowing through the territory of the Khazars for trade. IN. Klyuchevsky, citing Arab sources, wrote that Russian merchants transport goods from remote parts of the country to the Black Sea to Greek cities, where the Byzantine emperor takes a trade duty from them - tithe. Along the Volga, merchants descend to the Khazar capital, enter the Caspian Sea, penetrate its southeastern shores, and even transport their goods on camels to Baghdad. Treasures of Arabic coins found by archaeologists in the Dnieper region indicate that this trade was carried out from the end of the 7th-8th centuries.
The development of trade was associated with the emergence of cities among the Slavs. Most cities arose along the Dnieper-Volkhov waterway. More often, at the confluence of two rivers, a place for the exchange of goods appeared, where trappers and beekeepers converged to trade, as they said then for guests1. In their place, future Russian cities emerged. The cities served as trading centers and main storage points where goods were stored.
Cities are already named in The Tale of Bygone Years Kyiv, Chernigov, Smolensk, Lyubech, Novgorod, Pskov, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Rostov, Suzdal, Murom etc. In total by the 9th century. there were about 24 large cities. Therefore, the Varangian newcomers called the Slavic land Gardarikoy – country of cities.
The chronicles brought to us the legend about the emergence of Kyiv. Kiy, his brothers Shchek and Khoriv and their sister Lybid founded their settlements (courtyards) on three hills on the Dnieper. Then they united into one city, which they named Kiev in honor of Kiy.
The first principalities appeared. From Arabic sources of the 8th century. we learn that at that time the Eastern Slavs had the following principalities: Kuyavia (Cuyaba - around Kyiv), Slavia (in the area of Lake Ilmen with the center in Novgorod) and Artania. The emergence of such centers testified to the emergence of new intra-tribal relations in the organization of the Eastern Slavs, which created the preconditions for the emergence of a state among them.
Customs, morals and beliefs. The life of the East Slavic tribes is vividly described in the monuments of ancient Russian literature. So, between the villages they arranged games - religious holidays, at which residents of neighboring villages snatched away(kidnapped) their wives by agreement with them. At that time, the Slavs had polygamy; there were not enough brides. To appease the family from which the bride was kidnapped, her relatives were given vein(ransom). Over time, bride kidnapping was replaced by a ritual son-in-law walking around the bride, when the bride was bought from her relatives by mutual agreement. This ritual was replaced by another - bringing the bride to the groom. Relatives of the bride and groom became in-laws, i.e., their own people for each other.
The woman occupied a subordinate position. After the death of a husband, one of his wives had to be buried with him. The deceased was burned at the stake. The burial was accompanied feast - feasting and war games.
It is known that the Eastern Slavs still retained blood feud: the relatives of the murdered man took revenge on the murderer by death.
Like all peoples who were at the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system, the Slavs were pagans. They worshiped natural phenomena, deifying them. So, the god of the sky was Svarog, the god of the sun - Dazhdbog (other names: Dazhbog, Yarilo, Khoros), the god of thunder and lightning - Perun, the god of the wind - Stribog, the patron saint of cattle - Velos (Volos). Dazhdbog and the deity of fire were considered the sons of Svarog and were called Svarozhichi. Goddess Mokosh - Mother Earth, goddess of fertility. In the 6th century, according to the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea, the Slavs recognized one god as the ruler of the Universe - Perun, the god of thunder, lightning, and war.
At that time there were no public services, there were no temples, no priests. Usually, images of gods in the form of stone or wooden figures (idols) were placed in certain open places - temples, sacrifices were made to the gods - requirements
The cult of ancestors has received great development. He is connected with the guardian of the clan, family, the ancestor of life - Rod and with his Rozhanitsy, i.e. grandparents. The ancestor was also called “chur”, in Church Slavonic – “shchur”. The expression “keep me safe”, which has survived to this day, means “grandfather protect me.” Sometimes this guardian of the clan appears under the name of the brownie, the guardian not of the entire clan, but of a separate yard or house. All nature seemed to the Slavs to be animated and inhabited by many spirits; goblins lived in the forests, and in rivers - mermaids, mermaids.
The Slavs had their own pagan holidays associated with the seasons and agricultural work. At the end of December - caroled The mummers walked from house to house with songs and jokes, praising the owners, who were supposed to give gifts to the mummers. The big holiday was seeing off winter and welcoming spring - Maslenitsa. On the night of June 24 (old style), the holiday of Ivan Kupala was celebrated - rituals with fire and water, fortune telling, round dances, and songs were sung. In the fall, after the end of field work, they celebrated the harvest festival: they baked a huge honey loaf.
Our distant ancestors, who inhabited the East European Plain, went through a complex path of development. Difficult natural and geographical conditions and the constant need to repel raids on their lands by various tribes and peoples, the emergence of cities among the ancient Slavs delayed the formation of individual principalities into an independent state for several centuries in comparison with Western European states. At the same time, having embarked on the path of decomposition of the tribal system, the emergence of land and property inequality and the creation of tribal principalities, the development of international trade and external economic and cultural relations, the Eastern Slavs in the 9th century. came close to creating a single state - Kievan Rus.
There are few questions that have so many answers. The name Rus' was traced to dew, the Ros River, light brown hair, the Greek word for “red,” the Scythian word for “white,” the tribes of Rugs and Rosomons, the island of Rügen, and even mermaids. Many similar words, roots, names exist in the space from the Baltic to the Black Sea steppes. Which version should I follow? Whose arguments should we listen to?
Most often, modern researchers build a chain of reasoning based on the oldest Russian historical monument - “The Tale of Bygone Years”. Scientists have noticed: the peoples placed by the chronicler in the vastness of the Russian land, according to the form of their names, fall into three categories. The first is made up of Slavic tribes whose names end in -ana, -ene (Polyans, Drevlyans, Slovenians). The second category is formed by names in -ichi (Krivichi, Radimichi, Dregovichi). They also belong to Slavic tribes. The third category is formed by monosyllabic names with a soft consonant at the end (vod, chud, sum). This is how the chronicle identifies the peoples who lived in the north of the East European Plain and spoke languages of the Finnish group. What category is “Rus” similar to? Obviously with the third one. This means that we can try to discover the origins of the name in the north, where Finnish speech was heard.
And an analogy was found. From the Middle Ages to the present day, Swedes in Finland have been called “Ruotsi”. Scientists suggest that this word comes from the Old Norse verb “ruo” - “swim, row.” "Ruotsi" - "rowers, sailors." This is what the ancient inhabitants of the Finnish coast called the Vikings who sailed to them from neighboring Scandinavia. Other neighbors of the Finnish tribes were the Slavs. They took the word “ruotsi” and transformed it according to the laws of their language: “ruotsi” turned into “Rus”, just as the self-name of the Western Finns “suomi” turned into “sum” in Russian chronicles.
At first, the Slavs called the Vikings - Scandinavian sailors and warriors - “Rus”. Often, Scandinavian troops were hired to serve the Slavic leaders. Professional princely squads emerged. And the word “Rus” acquired a new meaning: this is what the princely squad was now called. The squad consisted not only of Scandinavians, it also included Slavic warriors. The concept of “Rus” referred to the squad as a whole and denoted the prince’s associates and warriors. Over time, “Rus” began to be called the territory that the princely squad controlled or tried to control. The name of the ruling layer became the name of the country.
So, according to many researchers, the origin of the name “Rus” is connected with the concept of “rowers”. Therefore, the name of our country comes from an occupation that is quite consistent with its river expanses.
The name of a country after the ancient occupations of its inhabitants is not that uncommon. Our neighbors call their country Suomi. But for the rest of Europe it is Finland, “the country of the Finns.” How did this name come about? The word “Finn” came into European languages from ancient Germanic dialects. It is translated as “seeker” or “hunter”. The most ancient inhabitants of the Finnish land were engaged in hunting, and the skins they obtained reached the Roman Empire. The name “Finland” - “land of hunters” was not assigned to the country by chance.
The name “England” arose in a similar way. Have you ever thought that “England” and “needle” sound similar? If it seemed, you were absolutely right. Both words go back to an ancient Indo-European root meaning “sharp object.” The name “England” was given to the country by the Anglo tribes, immigrants from Scandinavia, from the territory of modern Denmark. The name of these tribes comes from the concept of “sharp object, fish hook.” In their homeland, the Angles lived by fishing. In the 4th-6th centuries, the Angles moved to the British Isles, leaving their former “England” - part of the Jutland Peninsula. It turns out that England is a “country of fishermen.”
Rivers are permanent or temporary streams of water flowing in the relief depression they have created, fed by runoff from their catchment area. Every river has a source, that is, the place where it begins. The source of the river can be an outlet of groundwater (Volga), a spring, a swamp, a lake (Angara). In high mountains, rivers usually start from glaciers (Amazon). The place where a river flows into another river, lake or sea is called an estuary. It is easy to notice that the river flows in a depression in the topography, which is called a river valley. At the bottom there is a depression through which a river flows. This depression is called a channel. During a flood, the river overflows its banks and floods the lower part of the river valley, which is called the floodplain. Every river has tributaries, which are usually shorter than the main river. In places where there is a lot of precipitation, the river has many tributaries (Amazon), and in desert areas, where precipitation is extremely rare, there are few tributaries, and sometimes no tributaries at all (Nile). The tributary that flows into the main river from the right, when looking downstream, is called the right one, and the one on the left is called the left one. A river with all its tributaries forms a river system. The area from which a river system collects water is called a river basin. The boundary between basins is called a watershed. Most often they are served by mountains or hills. The direction and nature of river flow is influenced by the terrain. Rivers flow slowly across flat terrain. This is explained by the fact that the sources of lowland rivers are at low altitude, and the terrain through which they flow has a slight slope. The valleys of lowland rivers are wide, their slopes are sloping, and their relative height does not exceed several tens of meters. Lowland rivers include the Volga, Ob, Don, Amazon, Mississippi, Congo, Nile, and Dnieper. Rivers flowing through mountainous areas rush at high speed, seethe, and foam. Their sources are located high in the mountains. The terrain through which they flow has a large slope. As a rule, mountain rivers flow in narrow rocky valleys with steep slopes. It takes tens and even hundreds of thousands of years for a river to carve a valley in the mountains. Often the beds of mountain rivers, unlike lowland ones, occupy the entire bottom of the valley. Many rivers, starting in the mountains, change when they enter the plain. An example of such a river would be the Terek. It originates in the Caucasus Mountains at an altitude of over 5,000 meters and flows into the Caspian Sea. The Terek passes through the first stages of its journey like a mountain river. Here he races 600 km, descending from a height of 5000 meters along a rocky gorge. Having reached the plain, the river flows slowly and meanders along the bottom of a wide valley, lined with sediment brought from above.
Lake is an accumulation of water in a natural depression on land. It consists of a lake bowl or bed filled with water to the brim. This body of water is not connected to the sea and ocean. Knowing what a lake is, it is easier to understand its origin. And it varies significantly. There is a lake: tectonic, glacial, river, seaside. There is also a failure, a mountain, a crater and an artificial one.
What is a lake, what are its features? Firstly, unlike rivers, lakes do not have a current and are not part of the World Ocean. Secondly, lakes have different water mineralization. The deepest and freshest lake is Baikal. And the largest lake, similar in composition of salts to ocean water, is the Caspian. It was once a sea, as it was connected to the ocean.
Lakes are also divided by position, by water balance, by the chemical composition of the water and by the nutritional value of the substances contained in the lake.
Types of lake basins:
Tectonic- are formed in depressions of the earth’s crust on the plains (Ladoga, Onega, Ilmen, Verkhneye in North America), in depressions in the mountains (Markakol, Sonkel, Issyk-Kul, Alakol), in foothill depressions (Balkhash), in rift depressions (Baikal, Tanganyika). Most tectonic lakes are large in area and depth. Volcanic- arise in craters and calderas of extinct volcanoes (lakes on the island of Java, lakes Bolsena, Albeno, Avernskoye in Italy, Kronotskoye in Kamchatka), in depressions of lava covers (Lake Komarinoe in Iceland), in maars (Lake Lacherskoye in the Eifel massif , Germany). Meteoric- formed in depressions caused by falling meteorites (Lake Kaali in Estonia). Glacial- their occurrence is associated with the exaration-accumulative activity of ancient and modern glaciers. Numerous lakes in Karelia and Finland owe their origin to the excavation activity of the glacier. They are often elongated in the direction of glacier movement. This group also includes tar and trough lakes. Tars arose in karas and cirques - niche-shaped depressions on the upper slopes of the trough mountains - in trough valleys (Lake Geneva). Distributed in the Alps, the Caucasus, Tien Shan and other mountainous countries. Failed- lakes whose basins arose as a result of leaching of soils and rocks by surface and mainly groundwater, as well as by thawing of permafrost soil or melting of ice in it. Failure lakes include: a) karst, b) suffosion and c) thermokarst lakes (alas in Yakut). The latter are common in the tundra and taiga zones of the permafrost region. The basins of suffosion and thermokarst lakes often have an oval shape, poorly indented shores and shallow depths. Aeolian- lakes that arose in blowing basins, as well as between dunes and dunes. With rare exceptions, they are small in size and shallow (Lake Selety, Teke in Kazakhstan).
Podprudnye- the emergence of these lakes is associated with mountain falls, landslides blocking river valleys, damming of rivers by lava flows, and glacial moraines. Thus, dammed lakes are formed through the action of several processes. Thus, as a result of landslides caused by an earthquake, a lake appeared. Sarezskoye in the valley of the river. Murghab in the Pamirs, lake. Gekgel - in the valley of the river. Aksu in Azerbaijan, lake. Sevan, which arose in a tectonic depression dammed by a lava flow. Organogenic- intra-marsh lakes and lagoon lakes among coral structures (atolls).
A swamp (also swamp, bog) is an area of land (or landscape) characterized by excessive moisture, high acidity and low soil fertility, the emergence of standing or flowing groundwater to the surface, but without a permanent layer of water on the surface. A swamp is characterized by the deposition on the soil surface of incompletely decomposed organic matter, which later turns into peat. The peat layer in swamps is at least 30 cm; if less, then these are wetlands. Swamps are an integral part of the hydrosphere. The first swamps on Earth formed at the junction of the Silurian and Devonian 350-400 million years ago.
They are more common in the Northern Hemisphere, in forests. In Russia, they are distributed in the north of the European part, in Western Siberia, and Kamchatka. In Belarus and Ukraine, swamps are concentrated in Polesie (the so-called Pinsk swamps). Research into the nature of swamps was started by M.V. Lomonosov, and a great contribution was made by the Soviet botanist V.S. Dokturovsky, the creator of a manual on swamp science.
