Recently, a great interest in Slavic roots has begun to show. Two questions need to be resolved: did this people appear on European lands as a result of migration, or was this ethnos formed on the basis of indigenous tribes that already occupied the territory?
Theory of autonomy
Among the various versions, the theory of autochthonism now prevails. According to it, the tribes that occupied the area from the Vistula and Oder to the Dnieper are the Pre-Slavs. Later, their spread to the north and south determined the formation of various Slavic nationalities.
Anthropologists studying this issue, in particular Gerasimov, argue that the appearance of the people who lived in this territory almost did not change. Research covers the period from the first millennium BC (Scythians) to Chernyakhov culture and further up to Russia of the XVII century.
Since the whole culture cannot appear suddenly, even as a result of migration, the prerequisites for its formation must exist. In this regard, it will be interesting to consider several issues:
- Is there a transition from Scythians to the pre-Slavic Chernyakhov culture, which is recognized as the forerunner of Kievan Rus?
- What is Chernyakhov culture, which influenced its formation and dissolution of an earlier Zarubinets culture in it?
- What artifacts are found on this subject.
- The legacy of Zarubinets culture.
Scythians
In ancient Greek sources, Scythia is designated as the place of settlement of this people (Scythians). Many versions of his appearance in the territory that interests us, we will omit. Based on the testimony of Herodotus, we can definitely say that it was an established culture with rulers (politics), a progressive army (the strategic retreats of the Scythians were previously unknown to the Greeks) and a system of worship and burial (religion).
Zarubinets culture originates from the time of the disappearance of the Scythians. Rybakov writes about the search for the Slavs among the Scythian kingdom, which began in the XVII century. Then they still considered the Scythians to be the ancestors of the Slavs. But in the XIX century, the Iranian origin of the Scythians was established, and the problem of the search for the Slavs arose again.
The researcher himself is inclined to the existence of the Scythian period in the history of the Pre-Slavs. The distribution zone of Slavic ceramics determines the resettlement of the Pre-Slavic tribes at the turn of our era. It coincides with the territory of interest to us.
Rybakov prefers to skip consideration of Chernyakhov’s culture due to the migration of peoples and the invasion of ready when it was. He believes that the previous Zarubinets culture can provide more evidence.
In the “Word of Igor’s Regiment”, the heyday of the Slavs is mentioned. This time is called the Trojan Centuries. The bread trade with Rome brought stability. Crafts are developing. Unfortunately, the invasions of the Huns and the strong import of Roman products make it difficult to determine ethnic signs.
Zarubinetsk and Chernyakhov archaeological culture
Archaeologists, conducting excavations near the village of Zarubintsy, found cremated remains and identified signs of a culture named after the location of Zarubintsy. It was common in the Iron Age along the middle course of the Dnieper. Its origin is unclear. There are two opinions regarding the tribes that created it: some scholars consider them Proto-Slavic, others Germanic.
The finds are dated to the period that began from the second century BC and, presumably, the second century AD. Further, the culture assimilates and disperses. It is replaced in this territory by Chernyakhovskaya, which is considered Slavic. From it the Kiev culture was born. From this perspective, it is interesting to consider what science says.
Education: history. Zarubinets culture
At the moment, there are enough versions regarding the emergence of this culture. According to modern historical data, it has developed as a synthesis of several cultures: Scythian plowmen who lived in the forest zone, Milograd, who lived quite absent-mindedly in this territory and came from the Hanging tribes. They brought a culture of anticuburn burials and Pomeranian.
The official version, reflected in the textbooks, provides such evidence of the similarity of archaeological finds:
- uniformity of ceramics and its patterns;
- uniformity of tools;
- residential and farm buildings.
Excavations have established that the reason for the migration was the expansion of the Celts. They came to the north of the Carpathians and later spread to the area of the under-cheek graves. This provoked the movement of large groups of the population of Hanging East.
Agriculture
The lifestyle was built on agriculture. Plowed with wooden tools. An interesting instance of this primitive rall has been preserved. It was discovered near the left tributary of Pripyat. It is made of an oak trunk with a female branch that comes out at the right angle, which after processing turned into a flat ridge.
The length of the entire gun is about two and a half meters, the length of the slider is slightly more than half a meter. This is a Scythian version of the ral for light soils. Horses or oxen helped to plow. After they sowed barley, millet, soft wheat and dwarf wheat. Turnips, flax and hemp supplemented the food. In the northern regions, Zarubinets culture is characterized by slash agriculture.
Livestock is a mixed herd of cows, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, less often oxen. Dog bones found in settlements suggest their help in hunting fur animals.
The hunt was conducted on moose, deer, wild boar, bison. Less commonly, bear and roe bones are found. Fur beast was a special craft, apparently for trade.
Fishing and gathering did not have large volumes, although they were used as auxiliary crafts.
clothing
Due to the practice of incineration, no clothing samples were preserved. But its metal details and jewelry, as well as cast in metal images of people of that time, allow you to recreate the appearance of a person of Zarubinets culture.
The Trajanova Column, located in Rome, contains images of women and men dressed as nickels. At that time, the Roman Empire, having conquered Dacia, approached the territory of the Dnieper. Active trade was conducted and there is every reason to assume that the people depicted are Zarubins.
Men wore pants - pillars or pistons - sewn from leather. Linen pants - ports - were worn daily. Shirts and women and men wore plain, tunic-like. Used hairpins, pins for their fastening.
Women stabbed the top dress at work. The primitive cut had no size and such things were customized according to the figure with the help of numerous bronze maces. Fashion was introduced to them by the Celts, who were the first in Europe to mine iron.
Hardware
Not only the pin fashion has spread throughout Europe. Celtic weapons also found recognition everywhere. Swords, shields, forged armor, metal cores (apparently for a sling). There are elements of horse harness and spur. In general, metal weapons are not often found. Tips prevail over other species.
For Zarubinets culture, only universal weapons are characteristic - such that it is suitable for both hunting and war. Professional equipment is found later, in the era of Chernyakhovtsi. Interestingly, the weapons of Chernyakhov’s culture are divided into two types: military - axes, swords and shields - and homemade. An untrained person could not control the combat type of weapons. This suggests that the Chernyakhovites have a class of specialist soldiers.
Metal tips for plows are also found, axes with an iron nail handle are also found in burials. Apparently, marshy areas provided iron ore. The quality of the iron was poor, critical.
Judging by the findings of slag, almost every settlement received iron. Later specialization led to the emergence of villages such as Lutezhsky. There, the ore was enriched and smelted in furnaces. It is believed that during the season the village could melt up to one hundred kilograms of iron.
Ceramics
A feature of ceramics is black-glazed ceramic products. For their manufacture, there was the so-called scalping method, when a hot product was immersed in a warm solution of flour. It turned out a dark surface.
The manufacture of ceramics was carried out with the help of a subsidiary farm; allocation to a separate craft did not occur. Mostly molding technique is used. The shaping was carried out using a circle driven by hands. There were devices that smoothed the surface. They were made of bones. Leather veneers brought a special smoothness. Dried in air and burned with a bonfire method.
Smooth dishes served a more honorable purpose - was ritual or dining room. Unglazed - for kitchen use. There were many household vessels such as a korchag. Among them are round and ribbed. In the middle reaches of the Dnieper, conical covers with a hollow handle were found. Such used the Scythians.
Clay pans for cakes were a common item in Zarubin’s kitchen utensils. Decorative ceramics, such as vases, jugs, cups and piles, are much less common.
Burials
Zarubinets culture is called the culture of urn burials. The field, where the remains are not buried, is adjacent to the settlement. All burial grounds are burialless. During excavations, it was established that they were previously indicated by columns.
Oval pits are filled with bones cleared of ceremonial burning, usually placed in an urn. Cremation was carried out somewhat away from the burial ground. But there are corpses.
In the graves of the middle Dnieper are found the remains of a funeral meal - the unbaked bones of pigs, sheep and cows. This is a ritual from Scythian burials. In the upper reaches of the Dnieper there are only isolated cases of animal bones.
Inventories found during burials make up ceramic dishes, personal items (jewelry, clothing items), and less commonly, sickles and axes, a clay spindle.
