Russian chronicles connect the area of the Vyatichi with the Oka. The tale of bygone years notes: "... and Vyatko sede with his kin according to Otse, from him Vyatichi was nicknamed" (PVL, I, p. 14), and under 964, in connection with Svyatoslav's campaign to the northeast, it says: "And go to the Oka River and the Volga, and climb the Vyatichi ”(PVL, I, pp. 46, 47).
Vyatichi are mentioned more than once in chronicles and later, especially in connection with political events XII century, and this information allows in the most general outline outline the boundaries of the Vyatichi land. Under 1146, two Vyatichi cities were named - Kozelsk and Dedoslavl. In the first of them, Svyatoslav Olgovich fled to the Vyatichi, in the second, a Vyatichi meeting is convened, which decides to fight against Svyatoslav Olgovich (PSRL, II, p. 336-338). In the description of the 1147 campaign of Svyatoslav Olgovich against Vladimir Davydovich of Chernigov, the cities of Bryansk, Vorobin, Domagoshch and Mtsensk are named, which were located near the Vyatichi land or on its outskirts (PSRL, II, p. 342). However, in the XII century. the chronicle "Vyatichi" were also an administrative-territorial unit of the Chernigov land, and the boundaries of the latter did not at all correspond to the limits of the tribal (ethnographic) region of the Vyatichi (Zaitsev A.K., 1975, pp. 101-103).
However, it seems certain that the administrative region "Vyatichi" was some part of the tribal territory. Therefore, the geography of the cities indicated in the chronicle in "Vyatichi" can be used for the reconstruction of the Vyatichi ethnographic territory.
Under 1185, Karachev was definitely assigned to the Vyatichi cities (PSRL, II, p. 637). In addition, Vyatichi mentions the cities of Vorotinesk (on the Vysa River, the left tributary of the Oka), Koltesk (on the Oka), Mosalsk (in the Ugra basin) and Serenek (in the Zhizdra basin).
In later chronicles there is news that in the east the Vyatichskaya land stretched to the Ryazan course of the Oka: “Vyatichi and to this day, there is Ryazantsi” (PSRL, XV, p. 23; XX, p. 42; XXII, p. 2). Thus, judging by the chronicles, the Vyatichi settlement territory covered the basins of the upper and middle reaches of the Oka.
The largest representatives of Russian historical geography, N.P. Barsov and M.K. They also looked for an opportunity to use the data of dialectology for the reconstruction of the territory of the Vyatichi, but to no avail. The most reasoned and detailed picture of the Vyatichi settlement was provided only by archaeological materials.
Vyatichsky burial mounds with corpses and their inventory of belongings were perfectly systematized and interpreted by A.V. Artsikhovsky (Artsikhovsky A.V., 1930a). Small in volume, but
a very rich book, this researcher was able to process all the archaeological materials accumulated by that time on the Vyatichi and draw important historical and archaeological conclusions, which have not lost their scientific significance to this day. The objects allocated by him - seven-bladed temporal rings, crystal spherical and yellow glass spherical beads, lattice rings and lamellar curved bracelets, very characteristic of the Vyatichi, made it possible to outline the Vyatichi tribal territory in detail. Of these things, only the seven-bladed rings are ethnically defining for the Vyatichi. The rest of the decorations, although very often found in the Vyatichi mounds, are also known in some other regions of the East Slavic territory.
Based on the distribution of the seven-lobed temporal rings, the limits of the Vyatichi tribal region are outlined as follows (Map 21).
In the west, the Vyatichi neighbors with the northerners, the Radimichs and the Krivichs. The western border of the Vyatichi area first followed the watershed of the Oka and Desna. In the basins of Zhizdra and Ugra, there is a boundary strip 10-30 km wide, where the Vyatichi kurgans coexisted with the Krivichi ones. This strip ran along the upper reaches of the Zhizdra and along the tributaries of the Ugra - Bolva, Ressa and Snototi. Further, the Vyatichskaya border rose north to the upper reaches of the Moskva River, and then turned east towards the upper reaches of the Klyazma. The right bank of the Moskva River belonged entirely to the Vyatichi people. Vyatichi also entered the left bank of this river (10-50 km to the north), but here, along with the Vyatichi kurgans, there are also Krivichi kurgans. Approximately near the confluence of the Ucha and the Klyazma, the Vyatichskaya border turned southeast and went first along the left bank of the Moskva River, and then - on the Oka.
The most eastern point with the Vyatichi temple rings is Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky. From here, the southeastern border of the Vyatichi went to the upper reaches of the Oka, capturing the Proni basin, but not reaching the Don basin. The basin of the upper reaches of the Oka was entirely Vyatichi.
Several thousand burial mounds have been excavated in this vast Vyatichi region. Their first scientific research dates back to 1838 (A.D. Chertkov, 1838). In the second half of the XIX century. Vyatichsky burial mounds studied large group researchers, including A.P. Bogdanov, N.G. Kerzelli, A.I. Kelsiev, A.M. Anastasyev, V.A.Gorodtsov, A.I. Cherepnin, I.I. F. Miller, (Bogdanov A.P., 1867, p. 1-176; Kerzelli N.G., 1878-1879, p. 9-12; Kelsiev A.I., 1885, p. 30-45; Miller V.F., 1890, p. 182-186; Cherepnin A.P., 1896, p. 130-152; 1898а, p. 53-76; 18986, p. 6-17; Gorodtsov V.A., 1898 , p. 217-235; Spitsh A.A., 1898, p. 334-340; Prokhodtsev I.I., 1898, p. 81-85; 1899, p. 73-76; Milyukov 77.77., 1899 , pp. 14-137).
Large studies of burial mounds on the Krivichsko-Vyatichsky borderland at the very end of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th centuries. conducted by N.I.Bulychov (Bulychov N.I., 1899a; 18996; 1903; 1913).
From the works of the first decades of the XX century. one can mention the excavation of burial mounds in the basin of the upper Oka by I.E. Evseev (Evseev I.E., 1908, p. 29-52). In the 1920s, barrow excavations were carried out by A.V. Artsikhovsky (Artsikhovsky A.V., 1928, p. 98-103), M.V. Gorodtsov (Gorodtsov M.V., 1928, p. 342-558) and other.
After the publication of A. V. Artsikhovsky's monograph on the Vyatichi kurgans, their field studies continued almost every year. Burial mounds are being excavated by many researchers both in Moscow and in peripheral centers. In the Moscow region, they were dug up by the Department of Archeology of the Moscow state university, and in the postwar years - the Museum of History and Reconstruction of Moscow. Some information about the works of the 30-40s was published in the archaeological collection dedicated to the 800th anniversary of Moscow (Artsikhovsky A.V., 1947a, pp. 17-19; 19476, pp. 77-81; Bader O.N., 1947 , pp. 88-167). Materials on excavation of burial mounds on the territory of the Moscow region. the last decades were published by many researchers (Latysheva G.P., 1954, p. 39-56; Avdusina G.A., 1962, p. 272-285; Ravdina T.V., 1963, p. 213-217; 1966, p. 222-221; Rosenfeldt R.L., 1963, p. 218-220; 1966, p. 202-204; 1967, p. 106-109; 1973a, p. 62-65; 19736, p. 192- 199; 1978, p. 81, 82; Veksler A.G., 1970, p. 122-125; Yushko A.A., 1967, p. 48-53; 1972, p. 185-198; 1980, p. 82, 87).
In the basin of the upper Oka interesting results were obtained during the burial excavations of P.S. Tkachevsky and K. Ya. Vinogradov, the materials of which have not been published. T.N. Nikolskaya conducted research in the burial mounds of Voronovo and Lebedka (Nikolskaya T.N., 1959, pp. 73-78, 120,147), and S. A. Izyumova - in the burial grounds located on the territory of the Tula region. (Izyumova S.A., 1957, p. 260,261; 1961, p. 252-258; 1964, p. 151-164; 1970a, p. 191-201; 19706, p. 237, 238). Vyatichi settlements are also fruitfully explored (Nikolskaya T.N., 1977, p. 3-10).
At the time when A.V. Artsikhovsky was writing a monograph on Vyatichi antiquities, there were very few materials about burnt mounds in the studied region and they were not published. The researcher cited the words of the chronicler: “And radimichi, and Vyatichi, and the north, there is one custom of the name: ... if anyone dies, I will triumph over him, and seven TDO-ryah I put a great one, and put it on the treasure, I will burn the dead man, and I will put together seven bones I will put a mala in the Suda, and I will put it on a pillar on the way, and create a hedgehog for the Vyatichi even now ”(PVL, I, p. 15) - and concluded that before the XII century. Vyatichi were buried "on a pillar, on the tracks", and from such a ceremony nothing remains for the lot of archaeologists (Artsikhovsky A.V., 1930a, pp. 151, 152).
However, the etymology of the Old Russian word "pillar" is not limited to the meaning of "pillar", "log". In the monuments of Russian writing of the XI-XVI centuries. small grave houses and sarcophagi are called pillars (Rybakov B.A., 1970a, p. 43). The chronicler from Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, who wrote at the beginning of the 13th century, added to the words of the text of the Tale of Bygone Years about placing a burial vessel on a pillar: “... and in the burial mounds,” and interpreted “the great treasure” as “the bulk of veliy firewood” (Chronicler of Pereyaslavl Suzdalsky, p. 4). In this regard, the Vyatichi funeral rite in the chronicle can be understood as the burial of the remains of cremations in burial mounds with wooden structures in the form of houses, or pillars. Therefore, the search for early Vyatichi burial mounds is quite natural.
The first to start their persistent search was P.N. NS. of the Shankovo type, excavated in the 80s of the last century by N.I.Bulychov in the Ugra basin (Tretyakov P.N., 1941, pp. 48-51).
However, with the accumulation of new materials, in particular from extensive excavations in settlements of the 1st millennium A.D. BC, it turned out that antiquities of the Shankovo-Pochepok type belong to the non-Slavic population. These are the monuments of Moshinskaya culture, left by the ancestors of the chronicle golyad.
Information about the excavations of early Vyatichi burial mounds with cremations, which archeology now has, was summarized and analyzed in a special work (Sedov V.V., 1973, pp. 10-16). These mounds are classified into two types. Mounds of the first type are generally identical to the burial mounds of other East Slavic tribes. In the Vyatichi region, they are most widespread and found in all places where there are mounds with cremations.
Among the Vyatichi most studied in the land, let us name the burial mound located in the Igrishche tract, 0.5 km north of the village of Lebedka in the Tsona basin, the left tributary of the Oka. V different years I. E. Evseev, P. S. Tkachevsky, K. Ya. Vinogradov and T. N. Nikolskaya excavated 32 burial mounds here. All of them contained burials according to the rite of corpse burning. In most cases, the calcified bones collected from the funeral pyre, in a heap or in an earthen urn, are placed directly in the burial mound, at its base or in the upper part. Many of the mounds contained one burial, others from two to four. Most of the burials are devoid of things. Things were found only in two burials: in one - fused glass beads, a billon openwork buckle and copper spirals, in the other - an iron buckle. Clay urns from barrows (Table XLI, 5, 6) have analogies among the materials of a nearby settlement, the lower layer of which belongs to the VIII-X centuries. (Nikolskaya T. Ya., 1957, pp. 176-197). Obviously, the Lebedkin kurgans belong to the same time.
Similar burial mounds with cremations have been investigated in many places along the banks of the upper Oka and on its tributaries. The burnt bones collected from the funeral pyre are more often placed in the foundations of the embankments, but burial mounds with burials of the remains of cremations are found 0.2-0.3 m above the mainland, as well as with burials at the top. Most of the burials do not contain urns or items.
Map 21. Mounds of the XI-XIII centuries. range of Vyatichi. a - monuments with finds of seven-lobed temporal rings; b - monuments with finds of bracelet-shaped knotted temporal rings; c - monuments with rhomboid rings; d - monuments with seven-rayed rings; e - monuments with spiral temporal rings; f - burial mounds without finds of temple rings of the listed types 1 - Titovka; 2 - Volokolamsk; 3 - Ivanovskaya; 4 - Zakhryapino; 5 - Palashkino; 6 - Rybushkino; 7 - Volyn region; 8 - Song; 9 - Lower Slyadnevo; 10 - Volkov; 11 - Vorontsovo; 12 - New items; 13 - Blokhino; 14 - Chentsovo; 15 - Vlasovo; 16 - Mityaevo; 17 - Tesovo; 18 - Red Stan; 19 - Shishinorovo; 20 - Oaks; 21 - Tuchkovo; 22 - Grigorovo; 23 - Crimean; 24 - Volkov; 25 - Shikhovo; 26 - Diggers; 27 - Biostation; 28 - Savino; 29 - Korallovo-Dyutkovo; 30 - Klopovo; 31 - Tagannikovo; 32 - Porechye; 33 - Upper mud; 34 - Islavskoe; 35 - Uspenskoe; 36 - Nikolina Gora; 37 - Povadino; 38 - Podevschina; 39 - Sannikovo; 40 - Christmas; 41 - Ayosovo; 42 - Nikolskoe; 43 - Chashnikovo; 44 - Lyalovo; 45 - Shustino; 46 - Muromtsevo; 47 - Mikhailovskoe; 48 - Fedoskino; 49 - Listvyany; 50 - Kudrin; 51 - Podrezkovo; 52 - Mitino; 53 - Angel 54 - Cherkeevo; 55 - Znamenskoye (Gubailovo); 56 - Spas-Tushino;
57 - Aleshkino; 58 - Nikolskoe; 59 - Cherkizovo; 60 - Bolshevo; 61 - Cherkizovo-Gostokino; 62-Moscow, Kremlin; 63-. Kosino; 64 - Aniskino; 65 - Oseevo; 66 - Obukhov; 67 - Feast of Peter and Paul; 68 - Miletus; 69 - Saltykovka; 70- Trinity; 71 - Dyatlovka; 72 - Marusino; 73 - Tokarev; 74 - Balatina; 75 - Fili; 76 - Cherepkovo; 77 - Setun; 78 - Nemchinovo; 79 - Kalchuga; 80 - Chamomile; 81 - Odintsovo (three groups); 82 - Matveevskaya; 83-Troparevo; 84 - Cheryomushki; 85 - Zyuzino; 86 - Derevlevo; 87 - Konkovo; 88 - Borisovo; 89 - Orekhovo; 90 - Chertanovo; 91 - Kotlyakovo; 92 - Dyakovo; 93 - Tsaritsyno; 94 - Bitsa; 95 - Potapovo; 96 - Conversations; 97 - Berezkino; 98 - Bobrovo; 99 - Sukhanovo; 100 - Solarevo; 101 - Filimonki; 101а - Desna; 102 - Marino; 102а - Penino; 103 - Ryazanovo; 104 - Alkhilovo; 105 - Polivanov; 106 - Lukino; 107 - Ovechkio; 108 - Peremyshl; 109 - Strelkovo; 110 - Cover; 111 - Turgenevo; 112-Swamp; 113-Dobryagino; 114 - Domodedovo; 114- Vitovka; 115 - Seraphim-Znamensky skete; 116 - Bityagovo; 117 - Sudakovo; 118 - Nikitskoe; 119 - Ushmars; 120 - Puvikovo; 121 - Ivino; 122 - Meshcherskoe; 123 - Alexandrovna; 124 - Lopatkina; 125 - Tupichino; 126 - Nikonovo; 127 - Leninskiye Gorki; 128 - Novlenskoe; 129 - Semivragi; 130 - Volodarsky; 131 - Konstantinovo; 132 - Pond; 133- Zhukovo; 134 - Eganovo; 135 - Morozov; 136 - Heavy; 137 -
Antsiferovo; 138 - Bell; 139 - Tishkovo; 140 - Boborykino; 141 - Zalesie; 142 - Avdotino; 143 - Voskresensk; 144 - Five Crosses Churchyard; 145 - Achkasovo; 146 - Fedorovskoe; 147 - Rivers; 148 - Nikulskoe; 149 - Myachkovo; 150 - Suvorov; 151 - Insomnia; 152 - Oreshkovo; 153 - Bogdanovka; 154 - Malivo; 155 - Aksenovo; 156 - Krivishino; 157 - Aponichischi; 158 - Kozlovo; 159 - Rossokh; 160- Vakino; 161 - Rubtsovo; 162 - Akaemovo; 163 - Borki; 164 - Ryazan; 165 - Alekapovo; 166 - Gorodets; 167 - Old Ryazan; 168 - Princely; 169 - Maklakovo; 170 - Pronsk (monastery); 171 - Proyask (Zavalye); 172 - Sviridovo; 173 - Zvoiko; 174 - Osovo; 175 - Dyatlovo; 176 - Sosnovka; 177 - Smedovo; 178 - Flint; 179 - Teshilov; 180 - Meshcherekovo; 181 - Serpukhov; 182 - Savior; 183 - Slevidovo; 184 - Parshino; 185 - Lobanovka; 186 - Vasilievskoe; 187 - Epiphany; 188 - Spas-Pereksha; 189 - Yukhnov; 190 - Wet; 191 - Leonovo; 192 - Klimovo; 193 - Oblique Mountain; 194 - Bo ¬charova; 195 - Kozlovtsy; 196 - Kharlapovo; 197 - Ivanovskoe; 198 - Steps (two groups); 199 - Desire; 200 - Kohans; 201 - Shuya; 202 - Goodness; 203 - Merenische; 204 - Voilovo; 205 - Maklaki; 206 - Serenek; 207 - Marfina; 208 - Prisca; 209 - Good; 209а - Senevo; 210 - Duna; 211 - Shmarovo; 212 - Likhvin; 213 - Boil; 214 - Kuleshovo; 215 - Belev; 216 - Doves; 217 - Tshlykovo; 218 - Settlement; 219 - b. Chernsk district near Zushn; 220 - Volokhovo; 221 - Mtsensk; 222 - Vorotyntsevo; 223 - Gat; 224 - Plots; 225 - Vschizh: 226 - Slobodka; 227 - Alekseevna (Dunets)
Mounds of the first type made up the bulk of the burial ground near the village of Zapadnaya on the right bank of the river. Skull, not far from its confluence with the Oka. Excavations here were carried out by Yu. G. Gendune and S. A. Izyumova (Ieyumova S. A., 1964, pp. 159-162). The burning of the dead is always committed on the side. The burnt bones were placed in a heap OR in an urn at the base of the mound or at different heights. Often, a layer of burnt bones was scattered at the base of the embankments with an area of 80X70 to 210X75 cm. The burials placed in the embankments were obviously introductory.
In the mounds near the village of Zapadnaya, five earthenware urns were found, of which one is a potter's (Pl. XLI, 3), the rest are molded (Pl. XLI, 7). Bronze items are represented by a small wire ring, a wire bracelet and fragments of other jewelry. Found also an iron buckle rectangular... Found beads - glass mosaic (striped and ocellated), which have analogies in the North Caucasian antiquities of the 8th-9th centuries, and one - cylindrical carnelian.
The Vyatichi kurgans of the second type contained burial houses made of wood. In the mounds near the village of Zapadnaya, the burial chambers were log-carved. Their dimensions were from 2.2 X 1.1 to 1.75X0.5 m. Above the chambers were covered with blocks, and from below they had a floor of well-fitted boards. The height of the chambers is up to 0.35 - 0.45 m. All of them are charred. Burial buildings were burnt inside the embankment after the burial mound was built.
Each burial chamber was a kind of burial vault, where the remains of several cremations, committed on the side in different time... The entrance to the chambers was filled with stones, so access to them was always possible, as soon as the boulders were pushed aside. When clearing the chambers, accumulations of calcified bones were found in the form of either a continuous layer 10-20 cm thick, or five to seven piles. In addition to scattered bones, urns with ashes and empty pots, obviously of ritual purpose, were found on the floor of the houses. All ceramics are molded (Table XLI, 1, 2, 4, 8).
The finds are rare - small iron knives, melted glass beads, fragments of buckles, a deformed bell with a corrugated surface, a button and a casing tube.
The felling chamber was also opened during the excavation of one of the burial mounds in the village. Kind. It measured 1.4X1 m, 0.25 m high and contained three accumulations of calcified bones, fragments of molded vessels and glass beads, which made it possible to date the mound to the 9th-10th centuries.
The researcher of the mounds in Vorontsov V.A.Gorodtsov noted that the chambers here were built from boards under the western hollow embankment (Gorodtsov V.A., 1900a, pp. 14-20). The entrances to them were laid with stones or covered with boards. In the Peskovatovsky kurgan, the box was charred and measured 2.3 X 0.7 m. It contained a very large number of burnt bones, apparently from the burning of several dead. One of the burials was located in an old Russian pottery vessel decorated with linear ornament. Apparently, burials in this mound were made in the 10th-11th centuries. In addition to the burned bones, the pot contained a wire ring and pieces of melted glass.
Burial mounds are known so far only in six Vyatichi burial grounds (Voronets, Dobroe, Zapadnaya, Lebedka, Peskovatoe and Vorotyntsevo). With the exception of the Vorotyntsevsky kurgan, all these embankments were located in common groups with embankments of the first type and interspersed with them. The mound in Vorotyntsevo was single.
Burial mounds are specific, but do not constitute the ethnographic feature of the Vyatichi area. Similar mounds are known in the area of settlement of the Radimichs (Popova Gora, Demyanka), and in the land of the northerners (Shuklinka), as well as in the basin of the upper reaches of the Don. Later, in the XI-XII centuries, similar domina cameras were placed in mounds with corpses, mainly in the area of resettlement of Dregovichi and Radimichi (Sedov V.V., 19706, pp. 88-90), but they are also known in the earth Vyatichi. So, NI Bulychov dug out burial mounds with a wooden chamber, in which there was a corpse with seven-bladed temporal rings, in the Merenshtse tract on the river. Bolva (Bulychov N.I., 1903, p. 47), and V.A.Gorodtsov investigated burial mounds with wooden boxes-chambers, in which there were skeletons, near Voskresensk (Artsikhovsky A.V., 1930a, p. 106).
V recent times burial domina with labor positions were investigated in the Pokrovsky and Strelkovsky burial mounds on the river. Pakhra (Yushko A.A., 1972, p. 190, 191).
In many Vyatichi mounds with burials according to the rite of corpse burning, circular pillar fences are fixed. These are palisade fences, built of posts dug into separate holes or one common ditch. Pillar enclosures were found in the East Slavic mounds, containing both incinerations and corpses, over a wide area from the Pripyat basin in the southwest to Suzdal land in the northeast (Bessarabova 3.D., 1973, pp. 74-76). Obviously, the custom of setting up pillar enclosures was widespread in the East Slavic environment. It cannot be considered only Vyatichi, as it was thought quite recently. In all likelihood, the ring fences had a ritual purpose. It has been suggested that they are associated with the cult of the sun in the funeral rituals of the Slavs (Lavrov N.F., 1951, p. 73). P.N. Tretyakov noticed that the ring-shaped barrow fences are very reminiscent of the “fences” of the pagan sanctuaries of the Baltic population of the Smolensk Dnieper region (Tretyakov P.N., 1969, p. 89).
Vyatichi burial mounds with cremations are dated as a whole to the 8th-10th centuries, but some burials of this type, obviously, can be attributed to the 11th-12th centuries. So, in 1940, G. P. Grozdilov dug up two burial mounds near the village of Slevidovo, which contained burials according to the rite of burning and corpses. Ceramics and carnelian beads make it possible to date burials according to the rite of cremation in these mounds of the 12th century. (Izyumova S.A., 19706, p. 237, 238). Obviously, in the XI-XII centuries. the rite of cremation coexisted with the rite of inhumation.
Map 22. Settlement of Vyatichi in the VIII-X centuries. a - burial grounds with burial mounds containing cremations; 6 - fortified settlements of Vyatichi; c - settlements of Vyatichi; d - settlements of the Romny and Borshevsk cultures; d - settlements last stage Dyakov's culture; e - settlements of Mary; g - Sredneoksky ground burial grounds; a - the boundaries of the settlement of Vyatichi along the mounds of the XI-XIII centuries.
1 - Strelkovo; 1a - Fominskoye; 2 - Stepankovo; 3 - Kamenzino; 4 - Red Town; 5 - Rosva; 6 - the mouth of the Kaluzhka; 7 - Zhdamirovo; 8 - Gorodnya; 9 - Slevidovo; 10 - Vorotynsk; 11 - Zhelokhovo; 12 - Upper Podgorichye; 13 - Voronovo; 14 - Good; 15 - Kudinovo; 16 - Western; 17 - Duna; 18 - Township; 19 - Zhabynskoe; 20 - Triznovo; 21 - Supruts; 22 - Timofeyevka; 23 - Shchepilovo; 24 - Toptykovo; 25 - Snetka; 26 - Solonovo; 27 - Resset; 28- Kharitonovna; 29 - Mikhailovna; 30 - Doves; 31 - Sandy; 32 - Fedyashevo; 33 - Raven; 34 - Borilovo; 35 - Shlykov; 36 - Nikitina; 37 - Settlement; 38 - Zaitsev; 39 - Mtsensk; 40 - Vorotyntsevo; 41 - Spasskoe; 42 - Winch; 43 - Winch (Igrishche tract); 44 - Kirov; 45 - Pashkov; 46 - Rafts
Vyatichsky burial mounds with cremations are concentrated in the basin of the upper reaches of the Oka (above Kaluga), and the settlements of the VIII-X centuries. are known only in the same southwestern part of the Vyatichi area (map 22). It must be assumed that in the last centuries of the 1st millennium A.D. NS. the more northern and northeastern regions of the Oka basin were not Slavic. This conclusion is consistent with the results of the latest work on the study of Dyakovsk settlements in the Moskva River basin. The materials of the Shcherbinsky settlement show that this settlement was inhabited up to the 9th (maybe 10th) century inclusive (Rosenfeldt I.G., 1967, pp. 90-98). Other settlements of the late stage of the Diakovo culture are also known (Rosenfeldt I.G., 1974, pp. 90-197). The Dyakovo tribes occupied the entire basin of the Moskva River and the adjacent part of the Oka River. At the same time, the Ryazan current of the Oka belonged to the tribes who left a group of Ryazan-Oka burial grounds, the latest burials of which date back to the 8th-10th centuries. (Mongayt A.L., 1961, p. 76, 78; Sedov V.V., 1966a, p. 86-104).
Vyatichi settlements VIII-X centuries - settlements and settlements. Beds with ceramics of the Romny type, as a rule, are found on multilayer settlements. To what chronological period the fortifications on them belong, it is impossible to say before the excavation research. Near the fortified settlements, there are sometimes settlements with deposits of the 8th-10th centuries. Separately located settlements of this pore are also known. One of these settlements near the village of Lebedka on the banks of the river. Tsong was investigated by T.N. Nikolskaya (Nikolskaya T.N., 1957, pp. 176-197). Selmsche existed for a long time - from the 8th to the 13th century. Several semi-earthen buildings of the 8th-10th centuries were discovered. of the same type as in the Romny settlements of the Middle Dnieper region. The same semi-dugouts with adobe ovens were excavated at the settlement near the village of Luzhki (Nikolskaya T.N., 1959, p. 73) and at the settlement in the village. Cromy.
Settlements VIII-X centuries. are characterized by significant sizes. Their area is from 2.5 to 6 hectares. Buildings, judging by the excavated site at the settlement near the village of Lebedka, heap, with densely set dwellings (Nikolskaya T.N., 1977, pp. 3-9).
Verkhneokskaya ceramics of the 8th-10th centuries according to all data, it is very close to the Romny. These are mainly hand-made utensils (pottery ceramics appeared here not earlier than the end of the 10th century). It is represented by pots, bowls and pans. The shapes of pots and bowls have analogies in the Romny ceramics of the Middle Dnieper and the Desna basin. Most of Oka stucco ware is not ornamented. Although the proportion of ornamented vessels here is less than in the Romny ceramics, the patterns are absolutely identical and applied with the same tools (Nikolskaya T. #., 1959, pp. 65-70).
The antiquities of the early Vyatichi in their main features - ceramic material, house-building and burial rituals - are comparable to the synchronous Slavic cultures of the more southern regions of Eastern Europe: the Romny Dnieper forest-steppe left bank and the type of Luka-Raikovetskaya right-bank Ukraine.
Obviously, one must assume that at the very beginning of the VIII century. a group of Slavs came from somewhere in the south-west to the upper Oka, to the territory occupied by the goliad.
The Tale of Bygone Years informs about the origin of the Vyatichi: “... Radimichi bo and Vyatichi from the Lyakhs. Byasta bo 2 brothers in lyasekh, - Radim, and friend Vyatko, - and when he came to Sedosta Radim, he was called Radimichi, and Vyatko Sede was born to his family after Otse, from him he was nicknamed Vyatichi ”(PVL, I, p. 14).
However, researchers have long noticed that the chronicle "from the Poles" should be understood not in the ethnic, but in the geographical sense. Apparently, the chronicle means that in ancient times the ancestors of the Vyatichi lived somewhere in the western regions, where the Lyash (Polish) tribes settled in the Middle Ages.
The ethnonym Vyatichi was produced on behalf of Vyatko, which is also reported in the Tale of Bygone Years. Vyatko is a diminutive form from the Proto-Slavic anthroponym Vyacheslav (Fasmer M., 1964, p. 376). It must be assumed that Vyatko was the leader of that group of Slavs who first came to the upper Oka. This group was not yet, apparently, a separate ethnographic unit of the Slavs. Only isolated life on the Oka and crossbreeding with the local Balts led to the tribal isolation of the Vyatichi.
Until the 11th century, apparently, only small isolated groups of Slavs penetrated into the northern regions of the Vyatichskaya land. Traces of such penetration are the finds of molded ceramics, close to the Romny-Borshevskaya, discovered at the Dyakovo settlement near Moscow, at the Staroryazansky, Vyshgorodsky and Lukhovitsky settlements of the Ryazan Oka current (Mongayt A.L., 1961: 124). Separate Slavic strata of the VIII-X centuries. none of these sites, only in layers with a predominance of ceramic material of a different appearance were found a few shards of the 9th-10th centuries.
The Slavic infiltration of this time in the northern part of the Vyatichskaya land is also evidenced by single burials according to the rite of corpse burning. One of them was discovered in the burial mound of the Strelkovsky burial ground on Pakhra (Yushko A.A., 1972, p. 186). However, it is possible that this cremation refers to the XI century.
A sign of the massive penetration of the Slavs into the northern regions of the Vyatichi region is the spread of the burial mound ritual here. Mounds with corpses occupy the entire territory of the Vyatichi (Map 21). These are ordinary Old Russian hemispherical embankments, about 1-2.5 m high. The burial grounds consist of several dozen embankments. Sometimes there are burial mound groups numbering over a hundred embankments. In most of the Vyatichi burial mounds with corpses, there are randomly scattered coals or small accumulations of them. This is, in all likelihood, one of the remnants of the previous burial ritual - the cremations of the corpses.
The dead were buried according to a common Slavic ritual - on their backs, head to the west (with seasonal deviations). The eastern orientation of the dead was recorded in the Vyatichi region in isolated cases. Such burials have been discovered in the Zhizdra and Ugra basins, on the border with the Krivichi and in the Moskva River basin (Map 12). The eastern orientation of the dead in the ancient Russian barrows was the legacy of the Baltic burial ritual. Corpses, oriented meridionally, are also rare in the Vyatichi mounds. They are found in the Krivichsko-Vyatichsky borderlands - in the burial grounds of Kolchino, Kurganye, Manina, Marfinka, Singovo and, in addition, in the mounds near the village of Krymskoye in the Vereisky district of the Moscow region. and the mounds of the Ryazan current of the Oka, explored in Aponichishchi, Gorodets and Zemsky. Apparently, this group of burials includes corpses, oriented with their heads to the northeast (Sitkovo in the former Zaraisk district). The meridional position of the dead is characteristic of the Finnish tribes, and from them this rite penetrated to the Vyatichi.
As a rule, in the Vyatichi mounds there is one corpse position. Family burials are relatively rare, in which the deceased lie either both on the horizon, or in different tiers. Chiselled coffins were often used, less often plank coffins. Sometimes the deceased was wrapped in birch bark or covered it with a layer. As already noted, burials were recorded in wooden domina chambers.
Vyatichsky burial mounds are very rich in clothing material. In this respect, they differ significantly from the kurgans in the southern part of the East Slavic region. The corpses of women are characterized by a special variety of things, which makes it possible to reconstruct, in general terms, the decoration of a woman's costume.
A well-preserved headdress was found in one of the mounds in the village. Islavskoe near Zvenigorod. It consisted of a woolen ribbon encircling the head and a twisted fringe that descended in tiers on either side of the face. A.V. Artsikhovsky noted that similar headdresses were encountered by ethnographers among the peasant population of a number of districts of the Ryazan region. (Artsikhovsky A.V., 1930a, p. 101). Apparently, the remains of a similar headdress were also discovered in a mound near the village. Myachkovo in b. Kolomensky district (Index of monuments, p. 275).
The seven-lobed temporal rings characteristic of Vyatichi have been found in hundreds of female burials (Pl. XLII, 1, 2, 6, 10, 11 \ XLIII, 5, 6). They were worn on a headband made of leather or fabric, sometimes woven into the hair. Usually, one burial contains six to seven seven-bladed rings, but there are also fewer - four or two rings. In addition to finds in mounds, seven-bladed rings have been repeatedly found in Vyatichi settlements, including in the cities of Moscow, Staraya Ryazan, Serensk, Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky, Teshilov, etc.
Outside the Vyatichi area, the seven-lobed temporal rings are sporadic and undoubtedly reflect the dispersal of the Vyatichi from the land (Map 23). Two seven-bladed rings were found in Novgorod (Sedova M. V., 1959, p. 224, fig. 1, 6, 7). They are also found in the basin of the upper Volga (Spitsyn A.A., 1905a, p. 102, fig. 127; Kuza A. V., Nikitin A. L., 1965, p. 117, fig. 43, 1) , in Suzdal (Voronin N.N., 1941, p. 95, tab. XIV, 8). Several times, seven-lobed temporal rings were found in the area of settlement of the Smolensk Krivichi (Sedov V.V., 19706, p. 111), including in Smolensk (Belotserkovskaya I.V., Sapozhnikov N.V., 1980 , pp. 251-253). Several finds of Vyatichi temporal ornaments come from various places in more distant territories.
A.V. Artsikhovsky divided the seven-bladed temple rings into types. He attributed simple seven-bladed ornaments to the first type and dated the XII-XIV centuries, and complex ones, differentiable into 12 types, to the XIII-XIV centuries. (Artsikhovsky A.V., 1930a, pp. 49-55, 136, 137). BA Rybakov managed to notice the differences within simple seven-bladed rings (Rybakov BA, 1948, p. 554). Their typology was later developed by T.V. Raidina (Ravdina T.V., 1968, pp. 136-142), who also owns a general article on these decorations (Ravdina T.V., 1978, pp. 181-187).
The earliest among the seven-lobed are rings with rounded lobes (Pl. XLII, 2). Such rings existed in the 11th and early 12th centuries. (Table XLIV). They differ from the later ones in their relatively small size, do not have lateral rings, and their blades are not ornamented.
At the next stage in the development of seven-bladed rings, their blades acquire ax-like outlines, lateral rings appear, the shields are decorated first with a shaded stripe in one, and then in two rows (Table XLII, 1, 11 \ XLIII, 5, 6). The size of the temporal rings increases. The date of their XII-XIII centuries.
Map 23. Distribution of the seven-lobed temporal rings. a - main region; b - finds outside this region.
1 - Drusti; 2 - Novgorod; 3 - Smolensk; 4 - Borodino; 5 - Black Stream; 6 - Pavlovo; 7-Kharlapovo; 8 - Titovka; 9 - Volokolamsk; 10 - Shustino; 11 - Voronovo; 12 - Kupanskoye; ./Z - Settlement; 14 - Sizino; 15 - Kraskovo; 16 - Kubaevo; 17 - Suzdal; 18 - Gunners; 19 - Petrovskoe; 20 - Russian Bundievka
Seven-bladed ornaments are also known, which occupy an intermediate position. Their blades have rounded outlines, but there are already lateral rings (Pl. XLII, 10).
Complex seven-bladed rings (Plate XLIV) date from the second half of the 12th-13th centuries.
On the question of the origin of the seven-lobed temporal rings, several assumptions have been made. N.P. Kondakov believed that the temporal ornaments of Vyatichi developed from kolts: the balls that surround the kolts gradually evolved into lobes (Kondakov N.P., 1896, p. 198). However, transitional forms between kolts and seven-rayed ornaments have not yet been found. P. N. Tretyakov drew attention to the outward resemblance of seven-bladed rings with sickle-shaped ornaments hung with trapezoidal pendants. He believed that the Vyatichi rings developed from the latest jewelry (Tretyakov P.N., 1941, pp. 41, 42, 51).
The hypothesis of V.I.Sizov about the influence of art products of the Arab East on the origin of seven-blade rings seems to be more probable. The researcher came to this conclusion by comparing the patterns of Vyatichi rings with Arabic ornaments (Sizov V.I., 1895, pp. 177-188). Observations of B.A.Kuftin seemed to confirm the conclusions of V.I.Sizov (Kuftin B.A., 1926, p. 92). In this regard, A. V. Artsikhovsky wrote that "the thought of the Arab origin of these ornaments is, apparently, fruitful" (Artsikhovsky A. V., 1930a, p. 48). BA Rybakov also came to the conclusion about the Arab-Iranian origin of the seven-lobed temporal rings (Rybakov BA, 1948, pp. 106, 107).
V.I.Sizov also raised the question of the evolution of the Vyatichi temporal rings from the seven-rayed ornaments of the Radimichi. This idea was subsequently developed by N.G. Nedoshivina, who noted the finds in ancient Russian monuments of temporal rings, which occupy an intermediate place between seven-rayed and seven-bladed ornaments (Nedoshivina N.G., 1960, pp. 141-147).
Most likely, the Vyatichi temple rings were based not on Radimichi jewelry, but on seven-rayed rings of an early appearance, known from the monuments of the 8th-10th centuries. the southern part of the East Slavic territories. In the process of evolution of seven-bladed rings in the Vyatichi region, judging by the ornamentation, they experienced an oriental influence.
The clothes of Vyatichi women were sewn mainly of woolen fabric, but there were also remains of linen and brocade fabrics. Instead of buttons, beads and bells were sometimes used, but more often the buttons were apparently made of wood. Small mushroom-shaped buttons made of bronze or billon were also found several times in the mounds. Belt buckles are almost never found in women's burials. The remains of leather shoes were also found in the mounds.
Neck jewelry for women consisted of grivnas and necklaces. It cannot be said that neck metal hoops belong to the characteristic Vyatichi jewelry. In most of the Vyatichsky area, including on the upper and middle Oka, they are almost never found. Nevertheless, in the Vyatichi mounds, neck torcs are found more often than in burial monuments of other East Slavic tribes. But they are concentrated mainly in the basin of the Moskva River and the adjacent areas of the upper course of the Klyazma (Fechner M. V1967, pp. 55-87). The reasons for this proliferation of these ornaments remain to be seen.
Neck torcs of several types originate from the Vyatichi burial mounds. The earliest of them are made of a tetrahedral rod and end with a loop and a crochet hook. They were found in four burial grounds near Moscow (Beseda, Konkovo, Tagankovo and Cherkizovo) in mounds dating back to the 11th century. Similar hryvnias are found in the Rostov-Suzdal land, the southeastern Ladoga area and further in Scandinavia and the northern part of Central Europe.
In the later Vyatichi mounds, neck torcs of the following types were found: round-wire bent, gable-plate, twisted with locks in the form of hooks (Table XLIII, 11) or hook and loop and twisted with lamellar (split or soldered) ends, ending with a hook and a loop. Some other types are also represented by single copies].
Neck torcs, as a rule, are found in burials with a rich set of grave goods. Usually they contain a lot of bracelets, rings, pendants, beads and temple rings. However, it would be a mistake to believe on this basis that the most prosperous women wore neck torques among the Vyatichi. The proliferation of burial mounds with finds of these decorations makes such an assumption incredible. Accumulation of barrow finds of neck grivnas on the east coast Lake Peipsi, in the southeastern Ladoga area, in the Rostov-Suzdal land gives more reason to believe that these decorations are associated with the non-Slavic population of Eastern Europe.
Vyatichi necklaces, as a rule, consist of a large number of beads of various shapes and colors. More often beads of different types alternate (Table XLII, 5, 7, 8, 12 \ XLIII, 1, 4, 12). Sometimes pendants are added to them (Table XLII, 13). The most common among the Vyatichi were crystal spherical, carnelian bipirs, distant and yellow glass spherical beads.
Usually in Vyatichi necklaces crystal spherical. beads alternate with bipyramidal carnelian beads (Pl. XLIII, 12). A.V. Artsikhovsky considers such a combination to be a tribal characteristic of the Vyatichi.
Among the rare are chest adornments, consisting of openwork chain-holders and chains, on which bells were suspended, plate-like metal images of birds, keys, and combs (Table XLII, 4). More often there are little pendants (Table XLIII, 3), which served as single pendants to clothing.
Hand jewelry is represented by bracelets and rings. Among the bracelets, there are twisted knotted (Table XLIII, 9, 10), twisted triple, twisted 2X2, 2X3 and 2X4, wire, lamellar open and bent. Thick-plate bracelets with stylized ends occasionally come across (Plate XLII, 9). In Vyatichi antiquities, twisted triple and quadruple bracelets and lamellar curved bracelets predominate.
In the Vyatichi female burials, rings are almost always found (Pl. XLII, 3; XLIII, 2, 7, 8). They were worn on the fingers of both hands, in numbers from one to ten. In addition, in some burial mounds on the chest of the deceased, bundles of two or four rings were noted. Lattice rings were the most common among the Vyatichi. A.V. Artsikhovsky distinguishes among them several types, of which one-, two- and three-zigzag are found mainly in Vyatichi. Lamellar rings are quite common, including wide-median and straight, wire, ribbed and twisted all-Russian types.
In the burials with the corpses of men in the Vyatichi mounds, there are no things or there are few of them. The most common finds are iron knives, which are also found in women's graves. In the burials of men, iron and bronze buckles are often found, mostly lyre-shaped, but often ring and quadrangular, as well as belt rings.
The custom of putting weapons and objects of labor in the grave was not alienated among the Vyatichi. Only occasionally in the Vyatichi kurgans do you come across caliphoid and oval armchairs, and as an exception - iron axes and spearheads. Iron sickles, scissors, a kochedik and an arrowhead are also represented by isolated specimens. The flint arrows found in the burial mounds had ritual significance.
Quite often, clay pots are found in the burials of men and women in the Vyatichi mounds. Almost all of them are made with the help of a potter's wheel and belong to the usual ancient Russian pots of the kurgan type.
They were placed, as a rule, at the feet of the deceased and very rarely - near the head. It was a pagan ritual that gradually fell out of use. Vyatichsky burial mounds with pit corpses, as a rule, no longer contain clay pots.
A.V. Artsikhovsky differentiated the Vyatichi barrow antiquities into three chronological stages, dating the first to the 12th century, the second to the 13th century, and the third to the 14th century. (Artsikhovsky A.V., 1930a, pp. 129-150). The division of the mounds at the stage was performed by the researcher flawlessly; only the absolute chronology of these stages can be specified. So, T.V. Ravdina considers it possible to date the mounds of the first stage of the XI-XII centuries, the second stage -
XII century, and the third - XIII century. (Ravdina T.V., 1965, p. 122-129).
Mounds belonging to the first stage (XI - early XII centuries), in addition to the Upper Oka region, where there are burial mounds, are known along the Oka, before the confluence of the Moskva River, and further in the basin of the lower and middle reaches of the latter (including ¬chaya environs of Moscow).
It must be assumed that in the XI century. Vyatichi from the Verkhneoksky region ascended the Oka and, having reached the mouth of the Moskva River, turned to the northwest, populating the areas of the lower and middle reaches of this river. The upper reaches of the Moskva River, as well as the left tributaries of the Oka between the Ugra and the Moskva River, had not yet been mastered by the Slavs during this period. There are no Slavic mounds with corpses of the first stage in the Ryazan current of the Oka.
The mounds of the second stage were distinguished by A. V. Artsikhovsky from twisted (and false) bracelets, triple and quadruple, and from some types of seven-lobed temporal rings. Apparently, many of these mounds date back to the 12th century. (according to A.V. Artsikhovsky, to the XIII century), although the latest can be dated to the XIII century. These mounds occupy a larger territory than the area of the early embankments. The basins of the Zhizdra, Ugra and Moscow rivers are being fully developed. In the north, the Vyatichi reach the upper reaches of the Klyazma, in the east - to the right tributary of the Oka - the Prony.
The latest Vyatichi burial mounds, dating back to the 13th and, perhaps, partly to the 14th centuries, are known throughout the Vyatichi area, but they are distributed unevenly. So, in the basin of the upper Oka, they are unique, which, apparently, is explained by the disappearance of the custom of building mounds here. It is interesting to note that it is in this area of the Vyatichskaya land that the concentration of cities of the pre-Mongol period is observed. Of the Vyatichi cities mentioned in the chronicle in the XII century, the absolute majority is in the area of the early Vyatichi burial mounds (Sedov V.V., 1973, Fig. 5). It was in this area, apparently, that the baptism of the Vyatichi population began. At the end of the XI or the beginning of the XII century. here, near the city of Serensk, a Christian missionary was killed by the Vyatichi, the Kiev-Pechersk monk Kuksha, nicknamed by the church "the enlightener of the Vyatichi" (L. Ya., 1862, pp. 9, 10).
In the northern and eastern parts of the Vyatichskaya territory - in the basin of the Moskva River and the Ryazan part of the Oka - the burial mound held firmly and for a very long time. In the XII century. these were still rather dull edges. In the vast basin of the Moskva River, the chronicle knows in the XII century. only two cities - Kolomna and Moscow. In the Ryazan Oka basin, at the same time, Pronsk and Trubech are named, but Trubech, judging by the name, was founded by settlers from South Russia.
Christian symbols - crosses and icons - are very few in number in the Vyatichi mounds. They do not testify to Christianization rural population lands of the Vyatichi, but about the first contact of the population with a new religion (Belenkaya D.A., 1976, pp. 88-98).
The evolution of the burial rite among the Vyatichi (Table XLIV) went in the same direction as that of most other East Slavic tribes: the earliest were corpses on the horizon, burials in pits under the mounds spread in a later period (Nedoshivina N.G. , 1971, pp. 182-196). So, among the mounds with things of the first stage, about 90% are mounds with corpses on the horizon. In the second chronological period, the share of pit corpses reaches 24%, and in the third - 55%.
In this regard, the late character of the Vyatichi mounds of the Ryazan land is quite obvious. Podkurgan yampy corpses here decisively prevail over other types of burials. They account for over 80% of the investigated burials (corpses on the horizon - 11%, the rest are burials in embankments).
N.G. Nedoshivina believes that the spread of corpses in the pits under the mounds reflects the process of Christianization of the Vyatichi population (Nedoshivipa N.G., 1976, pp. 49-52).
Vyatichi
They were the most eastern ancient Russian tribe. According to legend, they got their name from the name of Prince Vyatko (abbreviated from Vyacheslav). Old Ryazan was located in the land of the Vyatichi.
The Union of Vyatichi existed from the US to the 12th century in the basin of the Upper and Middle Oka (on the territory of modern Moscow, Kaluga, Oryol, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tula and Lipetsk regions).
As for the origin of the name, there is a hypothesis that it is associated with the Indo-European root "ven-t" - "wet, wet" (Proto-Slavic vet). Another hypothesis brings the name to the Proto-Slavic "v§t-" - "big" and asserts its relationship with the name of the Wends (Venets), which means "big people".
In addition to the Tale of Bygone Years, Vyatichi are mentioned in the letter of the Khazar Kagan Joseph to the dignitary of the Caliph of Cordoba Hasdai ibn Shaprut (960s).
Archaeologists claim that the settlement of the Vyatichi took place from the territory of the Dnieper left bank in the VI-VIII centuries. When the Slavs came to the Oka, they mixed with the local Baltic population. In the upper reaches of the Oka, before the confluence of the Ugra into it, the process of assimilation of the Balts proceeded most intensively and ended by the 11th – 12th centuries. To the northeast, along the valleys of the Oka and then Moscow, the Slavs advanced in the 9th – 10th centuries, while Slavic colonization did not occur in the basins of the Nara and Protva rivers.
In the 9th-10th centuries, as the "Tale of Bygone Years" says, the Vyatichi paid tribute to Khazaria in a slot (presumably a silver coin) from a plow. The finds of numerous hoards of coins indicate that the Vyatichi participated in international trade.
Around 965, Prince Svyatoslav subdued the Vyatichi, now they paid tribute to him, and not to the Khazars. However, the submission was not complete, since the son of Svyatoslav, Prince Vladimir, again fought with the Vyatichi and imposed tribute on them in 981. They revolted, and in 982 they had to be conquered again. Until the end of the 11th century, campaigns against the Vyatichi Kiev princes are mentioned.
According to academician B.A. Rybakov, the main city of the Vyatichi was Kordno (the exact location is unknown). There is a version that he was located near the modern village of Karniki, Venevsky region. Arab sources called this city Khordab.
Already in the 8th century, settlements and even settlements of Vyatichi speak of property stratification. Among the local settlements there are very small in area, surrounded by powerful earthworks fortifications. Probably, these remnants of the fortified estates of local feudal lords of that time, a kind of "castles".
The Vyatichi princes lived in the capital of the Vyatichi tribe, the city of Dedoslavl (now Dedilovo). The strongholds were the fortress cities of Mtsensk, Kozelsk, Rostislavl, Lobynsk, Lopasnya, Moskalsk, Serenok and others, which numbered from 1 to 3 thousand inhabitants.
Vyatichi long time remained pagans. Even in the 12th century, they killed the Christian missionary Kuksha.
Vyatichi, like all Slavic tribes, lived in a tribal system. The clans were a tribe. The popular assembly of the tribe elected a leader - a prince who commanded the army during campaigns and wars. Gradually, the prince's power increased and became hereditary.
Vyatichi, who lived among the forests, built log huts, small windows were cut through them, which were tightly closed with latches during cold weather.
In the land of the Vyatichi, rich in forests, there were many animals, birds and fish. Therefore, the clans lived by agriculture, hunting, fishing, beekeeping. Small villages of 5-10 yards, as arable land was depleted, were transferred to other places where the forest was burned. At that time, beaver rutting existed on all rivers and streams, and beaver fur was considered an important item of commodity exchange. Vyatichi bred cattle, pigs, horses.
Archaeological excavations in the land of the Vyatichi have opened numerous craft workshops of metallurgists, blacksmiths, jewelers, potters, stone cutters. Metallurgy was based on local raw materials: swamp and meadow ores. Iron was processed in forges, where special forges were used. Jewelry business has reached a high level. Craftsmen made bracelets, signet rings, temple rings, crosses, amulets, etc.
The Vyatichi carried on a lively trade with the Arab world (along the Oka and Volga, as well as along the Don and further along the Volga and the Caspian Sea). At the beginning of the 11th century, trade with Western Europe where the art craft items came from. Vyatichi brought furs, honey, wax, products of armourers and goldsmiths to Byzantium, and in return they received silk fabrics, glass beads and vessels, bracelets.
The last time the Vyatichi were mentioned in the chronicle under their tribal name was in 1197. Their lands later became part of the Chernigov, Rostov-Suzdal and Ryazan principalities.
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From the book Encyclopedia of Slavic Culture, Written Language and Mythology the author Alexey KononenkoVyatichi "... and Vyatko sat down with his family on the Oka, from him the Vyatichi were named." Over time, the Vyatichi moved southeast to the upper
Migration of peoples.The first people in the upper reaches of the Don appeared several million years ago, in the Upper Paleolithic. The hunters who lived here knew how to make not only tools of labor, but also statuettes amazingly carved from stone, which glorified the Paleolithic sculptors of the Upper Don region. For many millennia, various peoples lived on our land, among which are the Alans, who gave the name to the Don River, which means "river"; wide open spaces were inhabited by Finnish tribes, who left us a legacy of many geographical names, for example: the rivers Oka, Protva, Moscow, Sylva.
In the 5th century, the migration of the Slavs to the lands of Eastern Europe began. In the VIII-IX centuries, in the interfluve of the Volga and Oka rivers and in the upper Don, an alliance of tribes came, headed by the elder Vyatko; after his name, this people began to be called "Vyatichi". The chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" writes in this regard: "And Vyatko is sede with his kin after Otse, from him I was nicknamed Vyatichi." The settlement map of the Vyatichi in the XI century can be viewed here.
Life and customs
Vyatichi-Slavs received an unflattering description of the Kiev chronicler as a rude tribe, "like animals, everything is unclean with poison." Vyatichi, like all Slavic tribes, lived in a tribal system. They knew only the genus, which meant the totality of relatives and each of them; the clans constituted a "tribe". The popular assembly of the tribe elected a leader who commanded the army during campaigns and wars. It was called old Slavic name"prince". Gradually, the prince's power increased and became hereditary. Vyatichi, who lived among boundless woodlands, built log huts, similar to modern ones, small windows were cut through them, which were tightly closed with latches during cold weather.
The land of the Vyatichi was vast and famous for its riches, an abundance of animals, birds and fish. They led a closed semi-hunting, semi-agricultural life. Small villages of 5-10 yards, as arable land was depleted, were transferred to other places where the forest was burned, and the land gave 5-6 years good harvest until exhausted; then it was necessary to move again to new areas of the forest and start all over again. In addition to farming and hunting, the Vyatichi were engaged in beekeeping and fishing. At that time, beaver rutting existed on all rivers and streams, and beaver fur was considered an important item of commodity exchange. Vyatichi bred cattle, pigs, horses. Food for them was prepared with scythes, the length of the blades of which reached half a meter, and the width - 4-5 cm.
Vyachny temporal ring
Archaeological excavations in the land of the Vyatichi have opened numerous craft workshops of metallurgists, blacksmiths, locksmiths, jewelers, potters, stone cutters. Metallurgy was based on local raw materials - bog and meadow ores, as elsewhere in Russia. Iron was processed in forges, where special forges with a diameter of about 60 cm were used. Jewelry business reached a high level among the Vyatichi. The collection of foundry molds found in our area is second only to Kiev: 19 foundry molds were found in one town of Serensk. Craftsmen made bracelets, signet rings, temple rings, crosses, amulets, etc.
The Vyatichi carried on a lively trade. Trade relations were established with the Arab world, they went along the Oka and Volga, as well as along the Don and further along the Volga and the Caspian Sea. At the beginning of the 11th century, trade with Western Europe was being established, from where the objects of artistic handicraft came. Denarii displace other coins and become the main means of monetary circulation. But the Vyatichi traded with Byzantium the longest - from the 11th to the 12th centuries, where they brought furs, honey, wax, armourers 'and goldsmiths' products, and in return received silk fabrics, glass beads and vessels, bracelets.
Judging by archaeological sources, Vyatichi settlements and settlements of the VIII-X centuries. and even more so XI-XII. centuries were settlements of not so much tribal communities as territorial, neighboring ones. The finds indicate a noticeable property stratification among the inhabitants of these settlements of that time, about the wealth of some and the poverty of other dwellings and graves, about the development of crafts and trade exchange.
It is interesting that among the local settlements of that time there were not only settlements of the "urban" type or explicit rural settlements, but also very small in area, surrounded by powerful earth fortifications of the settlement. Apparently, these are the remains of the fortified estates of local feudal lords of that time, their kind of "castles". In the Upa basin, similar fortress estates were found near the villages of Gorodna, Taptykovo, Ketri, Staraya Krapivenka, and Novoye Selo. There are such in other places of the Tula region.
About significant changes in life local population in the IX-XI centuries. the ancient annals tell us. According to the "Tale of Bygone Years" in the IX century. Vyatichi paid tribute to the Khazar Kaganate. They continued to remain his subjects in the 10th century. The initial tribute was collected, apparently, by furs and households ("from the smoke"), and in the 10th century. already required a monetary tribute and "from the Rala" - from the plowman. So the chronicle testifies to the development of arable farming and commodity-money relations at this time among the Vyatichi. Judging by the chronicle data, the land of the Vyatichi in the VIII-XI centuries. was an integral East Slavic territory. For a long time, the Vyatichi retained their independence and isolation.
Religion
The Vyatichi were pagans and kept the ancient faith longer than other tribes. If in Kievan Rus the main god was Perun - the god of the stormy sky, then among the Vyatichi - Stribog ("Old God"), who created the universe, the Earth, all gods, people, vegetation and animal world... It was he who gave people blacksmith tongs, taught how to smelt copper and iron, and also established the first laws. In addition, they worshiped Yarila, the sun god, who rides across the sky in a wonderful chariot drawn by four white golden-maned horses with golden wings. Every year on June 23, the holiday of Kupala was celebrated - the god of earthly fruits, when the sun gives the greatest strength to the plants and was collected medicinal herbs... The Vyatichi believed that on the night of Kupala, trees move from place to place and talk to each other with the noise of branches, and whoever has a fern with him can understand the language of each creation. Among young people, Lel, the god of love, who appeared in the world every spring, with his flower keys, used to open the earth's bowels for the exuberant growth of grasses, bushes and trees, for the triumph of the all-conquering power of Love, enjoyed special reverence. The goddess Lada, the patroness of marriage and family, was sung by the Vyatichi.
In addition, the Vyatichi worshiped the forces of nature. So, they believed in a devil - the owner of the forest, a creature of a wild species that was taller than any tall tree. Goblin tried to knock a man off the road in the forest, lead him into an impenetrable swamp, slums and destroy him there. At the bottom of a river, lake, in the pools, there lived a water man - a naked, shaggy old man, master of waters and swamps, of all their riches. He was the lord of the mermaids. Mermaids are the souls of drowned girls, evil creatures. Coming out of the water where they live on a moonlit night, they try to lure a person into the water by singing and charms and tickle him to death. The brownie, the main owner of the house, enjoyed great respect. This is a little old man, similar to the owner of the house, all overgrown with hair, an eternal bustle, often grumpy, but at heart is kind and caring. Ded Moroz, who shook his gray beard and caused crackling frosts, was an unassuming, harmful old man in the view of the Vyatichi. Father Frost frightened children. But in the 19th century, he turned into a kind creature who, together with the Snow Maiden, brings gifts for the New Year. Such were the way of life, customs and religion of the Vyatichi, which made them little different from other East Slavic tribes.
Vyatichi sanctuaries
P. Dedilovo (former Dedilovskaya Sloboda) - the remains of the holy city of the Vyatichi Dedoslavl on the Shivoron River (a tributary of the Upa), 30 km. to the South-East of Tula. [B.A. Rybakov, Kievan Rus and Russian principalities of the 12-13th centuries, M., 1993]
Venev toponymic knot - 10-15 km from Venev in the South-Eastern sector; the village of Dedilovskie vyselki, the village of Terebush, the village of Gorodenets.
Vyatichi burial mounds
On the Tula land, as well as in the neighboring regions - Oryol, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan - there are known, and in some cases, explored groups of mounds - the remains of pagan cemeteries of ancient Vyatichi. The mounds near the village of Zapadnaya and with. Dobry Suvorovskiy district, near the village of Triznovo, Shchekinskiy district.
During the excavations, the remains of cremations were found, sometimes of several different times. In some cases they are placed in an earthen urn vessel, in others they are stacked on a cleared area with a ring ditch. In a number of burial mounds, burial chambers were found - wooden log cabins with a plank floor and a covering of split members. The entrance to such a domina - a collective tomb - was laid with stones or boards, and therefore could be opened for subsequent burials. In other burial mounds, including those located nearby, there are no such structures.
Establishing the features of the funeral rite, ceramics and things discovered during excavations, their comparison with other materials helps to at least to some extent make up for the extreme scarcity of written information that has come down to us about the local population of that distant time, about ancient history our region. Archaeological materials confirm the information of the chronicle about the ties of the local Vyatichi, Slavic tribe with other related tribes and tribal unions, about the long-term preservation of old tribal traditions and customs in the life and culture of the local population.
Conquest by Kiev
In 882, Prince Oleg created a united Old Russian state. The freedom-loving and warlike tribe of the Vyatichi long and stubbornly defended independence from Kiev. They were headed by princes elected by the national assembly, who lived in the capital of the Vyatik tribe, the city of Dedoslavl (now Dedilovo). The strongholds were the fortress cities of Mtsensk, Kozelsk, Rostislavl, Lobynsk, Lopasnya, Moskalsk, Serenok and others, which numbered from 1 to 3 thousand inhabitants. Under the command of the Vyatka princes was a large army, in the first ranks of which were recognized strong men and brave men, boldly exposing their bare breasts to arrows. All their clothes were made of canvas pants, tied tight with belts and tucked into their boots, and their weapons were wide axes, so heavy that they fought with both hands. But how terrible were the blows of battle axes: they cut through even strong armor and split helmets like clay pots. Warriors-spearmen with large shields formed the second line of fighters, and behind them were archers and javelin throwers - young warriors.
In 907, the Vyatichi are mentioned by the chronicler as participants in the campaign of Prince Oleg of Kiev against Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium.
In 964, the Kiev prince Svyatoslav invaded the easternmost Slavic people... He had a well-armed and disciplined squad, but he did not want a fratricidal war. He held talks with the elders of the Vyatichi. The chronicle about this event reports briefly: “Svyatoslav went to the Oka River and the Volga and met the Vyatichi and said to them:“ Who are you giving tribute to? ”They answered:“ Khazars. ”Svyatoslav removed the power from the Vyatichi Khazar Kaganate, they began to pay tribute to him.
However, the Vyatichi soon left Kiev. The Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich also fought twice with the Vyatichi. The chronicle says that in 981 he defeated them and imposed tribute - from each plow, just like his father took it. But in 982, according to the chronicle, the Vyatichi rose up in war, and Vladimir went to them and won a second time. Having baptized Russia in 988, Vladimir sent a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery to the land of the Vyatichi in order to introduce the forest people to Orthodoxy. Gloomy bearded men in bast shoes and women wrapped up to their eyebrows in headscarves respectfully listened to the visiting missionary, but then unanimously expressed bewilderment: why, why should the religion of their grandfathers and fathers be changed to faith in Christ? that dark corner of the endless Vyatka forests at the hands of fanatical pagans.
It is noteworthy that in the epics about Ilya Muromets, his moving from Murom to Kiev on a "straight road" road through the Vyatka territory is considered one of his heroic deeds. Usually they preferred to go around it in a roundabout way. With pride, as a special feat, Vladimir Monomakh also speaks of his campaigns in this land in his "Teaching", dating back to the end of the 11th century. It should be noted that he does not mention either the subjugation of the Vyatichi by him, or the imposition of tribute. Apparently, they were ruled at that time by independent leaders or elders. In the "Teaching" Monomakh crushes Khodota and his son out of them.
Until the last quarter of the XI century. the chronicles do not name a single city in the land of the Vyatichi. Apparently, she was essentially unknown to the chroniclers.
Rise of Hodota
In 1066, the proud and rebellious Vyatichi again rose up against Kiev. They are headed by Khodota and his son, who are well-known adherents of the pagan religion in their region. Vladimir Monomakh is going to pacify them. His first two campaigns ended in nothing. The squad passed through the woods without meeting the enemy. Only during the third campaign Monomakh overtook and defeated the forest army of Khodota, but his leader managed to escape.
By the second winter Grand Duke prepared differently. First of all, he sent his scouts to the Vyatka settlements, occupied the main ones and brought in all supplies there. And when frost hit, Khodota was forced to go to warm up in the huts and dugouts. Monomakh overtook him in one of the winter quarters. The guards knocked out everyone who came to hand in this battle.
But the Vyatichi ratified and rebelled for a long time, until the governors intercepted and bandaged all the ringleaders and executed them in front of the villagers with a fierce execution. Only then did the land of the Vyatichi finally become part of Old Russian state... In the XIV century, the Vyatichi finally left the historical scene and were no longer mentioned in the chronicles.
Capital of Vyatichi
The following is known about the capital of the state: "In the 7th-10th centuries on the Oka and the upper Don there was a Vyatichi state, independent of Kievan Rus. The center of this state, old Russian city Kordno, historians see Venevsky district near the modern village of Karniki. Arab sources called this city Khordab and described how the squad collected tribute from the population. "
Vyatichi is one of the tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs, which existed, according to official data, between the 8th and 13th centuries AD in the upper and middle reaches of the Oka. Now these are the territories of modern Tula, Oryol, Ryazan, Kaluga, Moscow, Lipetsk and Smolensk regions.
Most sources agree that the name of the union came from the name of the ancestor of the tribe - Vyatko.
In the VIII-IX centuries, the tribes led by the elder Vyatko came to the interfluve of the Volga and Oka rivers and to the upper Don. The Chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" writes about this: "And Vyatko is sede with his family after Otse, from him I was nicknamed Vyatichi." The settlement map of the Vyatichi in the XI century can be viewed on the map.
Life of Vyatichi
The territory where the Vyatichi once lived was covered with impenetrable forests in the 12th century. There is even a story like this:
In 1175, during a princely feud, two troops, marching against each other (one from Moscow, the other from Vladimir), got lost in the thickets and missed each other without a battle.
So, among these dense forests the Vyatichi settled. They settled near rivers. And there are at least several reasons for this:
- the river is the source of food;
- trade waterway- one of the most reliable at that time.
The Vyatichi, however, like other Slavic tribes, built small (as a rule, 4 by 4 meters) semi-dugouts for housing (a dwelling dug in the ground, lined with a tree from the inside and having a gable roof, which rose slightly above the ground and was covered with sod).
A little later, the Slavs began to build log houses (sometimes even in two floors), which, in addition to their main, also performed a protective function. In the courtyards of such houses there were outbuildings (sheds, cellars, barns), and, of course, cattle pens. All houses in the settlement were “facing the water”.
Archaeological excavations in the land of the Vyatichi have opened numerous craft workshops of metallurgists, blacksmiths, locksmiths, jewelers, potters, stone cutters. Metallurgy was based on local raw materials - bog and meadow ores, as elsewhere in Russia. Iron was processed in forges, where special forges with a diameter of about 60 cm were used. Jewelry business reached a high level among the Vyatichi. The collection of foundry molds found in our area is second only to Kiev: 19 foundry molds were found in one town of Serensk. Craftsmen made bracelets, signet rings, temple rings, crosses, amulets, etc. 
Rings found in the Vorotynskoe settlement on the Ressa River
The ancestral nest of the Vyatichi in Russia was the city of Kozelsk.
The Vyatichi carried on a lively trade. Trade relations were established with the Arab world, they went along the Oka and Volga, as well as along the Don and further along the Volga and the Caspian Sea. At the beginning of the 11th century, trade with Western Europe was being established, from where the objects of artistic handicraft came.
The freedom-loving Vyatichi tribe
Vyatichi settled in a fertile land, achieved some success in craft and agriculture, actively traded with neighbors, and all this, naturally, contributed to the growth of the population.
Until the 12th century, there is no mention of their city in the annals. This, of course, is not such a mystery - the Vyatichi lived very, very apart. But back to the 12th century.
1146-1147 - another round in the history of civil strife. This time, two princely dynasties waged a dispute between themselves: the Monomakhovichs and the Svyatoslavichs. Naturally, the war did not escape the territories in which the Vyatichi lived. And where there are princes and wars, there are chroniclers. So the names of the ancient Slavic cities began to flash in the annals.
"The Tale of Bygone Years" tells us about the alleged military clash in 964 of the prince Svyatoslav with Vyatichi: "Victory over Vyatichi Svyatoslav and put a tribute on nya ...".
In fact, there was no war, it was just that Svyatoslav was preparing an attack on the Khazars, secretly gathering an army of loyal tribes all winter, from where his frightening expression sounded in the spring: "I am going on you!" It was the Ryazan land that became the stronghold of Svyatoslav's victories, where he enlisted the support of the Magi, having received from them the ancient Aryan knowledge and the highest initiation.
After the insidious murder of Svyatoslav at the Dnieper rapids, the Vyatichi did not recognize the power of the traitor Sveneld. About the new conquest of Aryan Rus by Kiev, in 981 by Prince Vladimir, the same chronicle says: "Victory in Vyatichi and pay tribute to her from the plow, as if his father was his and his ...".
Chronicles also mention that a year later, Prince Vladimir had to pacify the Vyatichi a second time: "Zaratishya Vyatichi and going to nya Volodymyr and I win the second ...".
And here it seems that there was not just indignation of the Vyatichi alone, but also of their relatives - the Severyans and Radimichs. The defeat of the Radimichi, in 984, is also mentioned in the annals: “Ida Volodymyr on Radimichi. If he had the Voivode Wolf Tail and Ambassador Volodymyr in front of him the Wolf Tail, I will eat on the river Pischana, and defeat Radimich the Wolf Tail. And Russia is upset with the Radimichs, saying: "The wolf's tail beckers are running around." Bysha Radimichi from the Lyakhov clan, come to that sya almighty and pay tribute to Russia ... ".
These clashes, described in the chronicle, were not any war of the Kiev prince with the Vyatichi, Radimichi and Severtsy, but there are only border conflicts that happened between neighbors, especially since the Kiev land was not "Rus", and even less so was called. The concept of "Kievan Rus" was born in scientific circles much later, somewhere in the 18th century (thanks to "our German scientists" who made up the history of Russia).
Religion
Vyatichi were pagans and kept the ancient faith for a long time. Among the Vyatichi, the main god was Stribog ("Old God"), who created the universe, the Earth, all gods, people, flora and fauna. It was he who gave people blacksmith tongs, taught how to smelt copper and iron, and also established the first laws.
In addition, they worshiped Yarila, the sun god, who rides across the sky in a wonderful chariot drawn by four white golden-maned horses with golden wings.
Every year on June 23, the holiday of Kupala, the god of earthly fruits, was celebrated, when the sun gives the greatest strength to plants and medicinal herbs were collected. The Vyatichi believed that on the night of Kupala, trees move from place to place and talk to each other with the noise of branches, and whoever has a fern with him can understand the language of each creation.
Among young people, Lel, the god of love, who appeared in the world every spring, with his flower keys to open the bowels of the earth for the violent growth of grasses, bushes and trees, for the triumph of the all-conquering power of Love, enjoyed special reverence. The goddess Lada, the patroness of marriage and family, was sung by the Vyatichi.
In addition, the Vyatichi worshiped the forces of nature. So, they believed in a devil - the owner of the forest, a creature of a wild species that was taller than any tall tree.
Archaeological evidence of the Vyatichi
On the Tula land, as well as in the neighboring regions - Oryol, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan - there are known, and in some cases, explored groups of mounds - the remains of pagan cemeteries of ancient Vyatichi. The mounds near the village of Zapadnaya and with. Dobry Suvorovskiy district, near the village of Triznovo, Shchekinskiy district. 
During the excavations, the remains of cremations were found, sometimes of several different times. In some cases they are placed in an earthen urn vessel, in others they are stacked on a cleared area with a ring ditch. In a number of burial mounds, burial chambers were found - wooden log cabins with a plank floor and a covering of split members. The entrance to such a domina - a collective tomb - was laid with stones or boards, and therefore could be opened for subsequent burials. In other burial mounds, including those located nearby, there are no such structures.
Establishing the features of the funeral rite, ceramics and things discovered during excavations, their comparison with other materials helps to at least to some extent make up for the extreme scarcity of written information that has come down to us about the local population of that distant time, about the ancient history of our region. Archaeological materials confirm the information of the chronicle about the ties of the local Vyatichi, Slavic tribe with other related tribes and tribal unions, about the long-term preservation of old tribal traditions and customs in the life and culture of the local population.
Vyatichi sanctuaries
the village of Dedilovo (former Dedilovskaya Sloboda) - the remains of the holy city of the Vyatichi Dedoslavl on the Shivoron River (a tributary of the Upa), 30 km. to the South-East of Tula. [B.A. Rybakov, Kievan Rus and Russian principalities of the 12-13th centuries, M., 1993]
Venev toponymic knot - 10-15 km from Venev in the South-Eastern sector; the village of Dedilovskie vyselki, the village of Terebush, the village of Gorodenets.
How the history of the Vyatichi tribe ended
The Vyatichi tribes resisted the invasion of the Kiev princes for a long time, and most importantly - new religion that they carried. It is known about the uprising of Khodota with his son, which took place in 1066. Vladimir Monomakh is going to pacify them. His first two campaigns ended in nothing. The squad passed through the woods without meeting the enemy. Only during the third campaign Monomakh overtook and defeated the forest army of Khodota, but his leader managed to escape.
Since the XII century, the territory of the Vyatichi was included in the Chernigov, Rostov-Suzdal and Ryazan principalities. Until the end of the XIII century, many Vyatichi preserved pagan rites and traditions, in particular, cremated the dead by erecting small mounds over the burial place. After rooting Christianity among the Vyatichi, the rite of cremation gradually disappeared from use.
Later, feeling the pressure of Kiev, some freedom-loving families of the Vyatichi went further to the North, beyond the Urals, to Siberia. Nestor says the following in his chronicle: "Radimichi and Vyatichi, and Severo are the same customs of imahu ...".
Vyatichi retained their tribal name longer than other Slavs. They lived without princes, the social system was characterized by self-government and democracy. The last time the Vyatichi were mentioned in the chronicle under such a tribal name was in 1197.
In the VIII-IX centuries, in the interfluve of the Volga and Oka rivers and in the upper Don, an alliance of tribes came, headed by the elder Vyatko; after his name, this people began to be called "Vyatichi". The chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" writes in this regard: "And Vyatko is sede with his kin after Otse, from him I was nicknamed Vyatichi."
Migration of peoples
The first people in the upper reaches of the Don appeared several million years ago, in the Upper Paleolithic. The hunters who lived here knew how to make not only tools of labor, but also statuettes amazingly carved from stone, which glorified the Paleolithic sculptors of the Upper Don region. For many millennia, various peoples lived on our land, among which are the Alans, who gave the name to the Don River, which means "river"; wide open spaces were inhabited by Finnish tribes, which left us with many geographical names, for example: the rivers Oka, Protva, Moscow, Sylva.
In the 5th century, the migration of the Slavs to the lands of Eastern Europe began. In the VIII-IX centuries, in the interfluve of the Volga and Oka rivers and in the upper Don, an alliance of tribes came, headed by the elder Vyatko; after his name, this people began to be called "Vyatichi". The chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" writes in this regard: "And Vyatko is sede with his kin after Otse, from him I was nicknamed Vyatichi." The settlement map of the Vyatichi in the XI century can be viewed here.
Life and customs
Vyatichi-Slavs received an unflattering description of the Kiev chronicler as a rude tribe, "like animals, everything is unclean with poison." Vyatichi, like all Slavic tribes, lived in a tribal system. They knew only the genus, which meant the totality of relatives and each of them; the clans constituted a "tribe". The popular assembly of the tribe elected a leader who commanded the army during campaigns and wars. It was called by the old Slavic name "prince". Gradually, the prince's power increased and became hereditary. Vyatichi, who lived among boundless woodlands, built log huts, similar to modern ones, small windows were cut through them, which were tightly closed with latches during cold weather.
The land of the Vyatichi was vast and famous for its riches, an abundance of animals, birds and fish. They led a closed semi-hunting, semi-agricultural life. Small villages of 5-10 yards, as the arable land was depleted, were transferred to other places where the forest was burned, and for 5-6 years the land gave a good harvest until it was depleted; then it was necessary to move again to new areas of the forest and start all over again. In addition to farming and hunting, the Vyatichi were engaged in beekeeping and fishing. At that time, beaver rutting existed on all rivers and streams, and beaver fur was considered an important item of commodity exchange. Vyatichi bred cattle, pigs, horses. Food for them was prepared with scythes, the length of the blades of which reached half a meter, and the width - 4-5 cm.
Vyachny temporal ring
Archaeological excavations in the land of the Vyatichi have opened numerous craft workshops of metallurgists, blacksmiths, locksmiths, jewelers, potters, stone cutters. Metallurgy was based on local raw materials - bog and meadow ores, as elsewhere in Russia. Iron was processed in forges, where special forges with a diameter of about 60 cm were used. Jewelry business reached a high level among the Vyatichi. The collection of foundry molds found in our area is second only to Kiev: 19 foundry molds were found in one town of Serensk. Craftsmen made bracelets, signet rings, temple rings, crosses, amulets, etc.
The Vyatichi carried on a lively trade. Trade relations were established with the Arab world, they went along the Oka and Volga, as well as along the Don and further along the Volga and the Caspian Sea. At the beginning of the 11th century, trade with Western Europe was being established, from where the objects of artistic handicraft came. Denarii displace other coins and become the main means of monetary circulation. But the Vyatichi traded with Byzantium the longest - from the 11th to the 12th centuries, where they brought furs, honey, wax, armourers 'and goldsmiths' products, and in return received silk fabrics, glass beads and vessels, bracelets.
Judging by the archaeological sources, Vyatka fortified settlements and settlements of the 8th-10th centuries. and even more so XI-XII. centuries were settlements of not so much tribal communities as territorial, neighboring ones. The finds indicate a noticeable property stratification among the inhabitants of these settlements of that time, about the wealth of some and the poverty of other dwellings and graves, about the development of crafts and trade exchange.
It is interesting that among the local settlements of that time there were not only settlements of the "urban" type or explicit rural settlements, but also very small in area, surrounded by powerful earth fortifications of the settlement. Apparently, these are the remains of the fortified estates of local feudal lords of that time, their kind of "castles". In the Upa basin, similar fortress estates were found near the villages of Gorodna, Taptykovo, Ketri, Staraya Krapivenka, and Novoye Selo. There are such in other places of the Tula region.
About significant changes in the life of the local population in the IX-XI centuries. the ancient annals tell us. According to the "Tale of Bygone Years" in the IX century. Vyatichi paid tribute to the Khazar Kaganate. They continued to remain his subjects in the 10th century. The initial tribute was collected, apparently, by furs and households ("from the smoke"), and in the 10th century. already required a monetary tribute and "from the Rala" - from the plowman. So the chronicle testifies to the development of arable farming and commodity-money relations at this time among the Vyatichi. Judging by the chronicle data, the land of the Vyatichi in the VIII-XI centuries. was an integral East Slavic territory. For a long time, the Vyatichi retained their independence and isolation.
Religion
The Vyatichi were pagans and kept the ancient faith longer than other tribes. If in Kievan Rus the main god was Perun - the god of the stormy sky, then among the Vyatichi - Stribog ("Old God"), who created the universe, the Earth, all gods, people, flora and fauna. It was he who gave people blacksmith tongs, taught how to smelt copper and iron, and also established the first laws. In addition, they worshiped Yarila, the sun god, who rides across the sky in a wonderful chariot drawn by four white golden-maned horses with golden wings. Every year on June 23, the holiday of Kupala, the god of earthly fruits, was celebrated, when the sun gives the greatest strength to plants and medicinal herbs were collected. The Vyatichi believed that on the night of Kupala, trees move from place to place and talk to each other with the noise of branches, and whoever has a fern with him can understand the language of each creation. Among young people, Lel, the god of love, who appeared in the world every spring, with his flower keys, used to open the earth's bowels for the exuberant growth of grasses, bushes and trees, for the triumph of the all-conquering power of Love, enjoyed special reverence. The goddess Lada, the patroness of marriage and family, was sung by the Vyatichi.
In addition, the Vyatichi worshiped the forces of nature. So, they believed in a devil - the owner of the forest, a creature of a wild species that was taller than any tall tree. Goblin tried to knock a man off the road in the forest, lead him into an impenetrable swamp, slums and destroy him there. At the bottom of a river, lake, in the pools, there lived a water man - a naked, shaggy old man, master of waters and swamps, of all their riches. He was the lord of the mermaids. Mermaids are the souls of drowned girls, evil creatures. Coming out of the water where they live on a moonlit night, they try to lure a person into the water by singing and charms and tickle him to death. The brownie, the main owner of the house, enjoyed great respect. This is a little old man, similar to the owner of the house, all overgrown with hair, an eternal bustle, often grumpy, but at heart is kind and caring. Ded Moroz, who shook his gray beard and caused crackling frosts, was an unassuming, harmful old man in the view of the Vyatichi. Father Frost frightened children. But in the 19th century, he turned into a kind creature who, together with the Snow Maiden, brings gifts for the New Year. Such were the way of life, customs and religion of the Vyatichi, which made them little different from other East Slavic tribes.
Vyatichi sanctuaries
the village of Dedilovo (former Dedilovskaya Sloboda) - the remains of the holy city of the Vyatichi Dedoslavl on the Shivoron River (a tributary of the Upa), 30 km. to the South-East of Tula. [B.A. Rybakov, Kievan Rus and Russian principalities of the 12-13th centuries, M., 1993]
Venev toponymic knot - 10-15 km from Venev in the South-Eastern sector; the village of Dedilovskie vyselki, the village of Terebush, the village of Gorodenets.
Vyatichi burial mounds
On the Tula land, as well as in the neighboring regions - Oryol, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan - there are known, and in some cases, explored groups of mounds - the remains of pagan cemeteries of ancient Vyatichi. The mounds near the village of Zapadnaya and with. Dobry Suvorovskiy district, near the village of Triznovo, Shchekinskiy district.
During the excavations, the remains of cremations were found, sometimes of several different times. In some cases they are placed in an earthen urn vessel, in others they are stacked on a cleared area with a ring ditch. In a number of burial mounds, burial chambers were found - wooden log cabins with a plank floor and a covering of split members. The entrance to such a domina - a collective tomb - was laid with stones or boards, and therefore could be opened for subsequent burials. In other burial mounds, including those located nearby, there are no such structures.
Establishing the features of the funeral rite, ceramics and things discovered during excavations, their comparison with other materials helps to at least to some extent make up for the extreme scarcity of written information that has come down to us about the local population of that distant time, about the ancient history of our region. Archaeological materials confirm the information of the chronicle about the ties of the local Vyatichi, Slavic tribe with other related tribes and tribal unions, about the long-term preservation of old tribal traditions and customs in the life and culture of the local population.
Conquest by Kiev
In 882, Prince Oleg created a united Old Russian state. The freedom-loving and warlike tribe of the Vyatichi long and stubbornly defended independence from Kiev. They were headed by princes elected by the national assembly, who lived in the capital of the Vyatik tribe, the city of Dedoslavl (now Dedilovo). The strongholds were the fortress cities of Mtsensk, Kozelsk, Rostislavl, Lobynsk, Lopasnya, Moskalsk, Serenok and others, which numbered from 1 to 3 thousand inhabitants. Under the command of the Vyatka princes was a large army, in the first ranks of which were recognized strong men and brave men, boldly exposing their bare breasts to arrows. All their clothes were made of canvas pants, tied tight with belts and tucked into their boots, and their weapons were wide axes, so heavy that they fought with both hands. But how terrible were the blows of battle axes: they cut through even strong armor and split helmets like clay pots. Warriors-spearmen with large shields formed the second line of fighters, and behind them were archers and javelin throwers - young warriors.
In 907, the Vyatichi are mentioned by the chronicler as participants in the campaign of Prince Oleg of Kiev against Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium.
In 964, the Kiev prince Svyatoslav invaded the borders of the easternmost Slavic people. He had a well-armed and disciplined squad, but he did not want a fratricidal war. He held talks with the elders of the Vyatichi. The chronicle about this event reports briefly: “Svyatoslav went to the Oka River and the Volga and met the Vyatichi and said to them:“ To whom are you giving tribute? ”They answered:“ Khazars. ”Svyatoslav removed the power of the Khazar Kaganate from the Vyatichi, they began to pay tribute his.
However, the Vyatichi soon left Kiev. The Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich also fought twice with the Vyatichi. The chronicle says that in 981 he defeated them and imposed tribute - from each plow, just like his father took it. But in 982, according to the chronicle, the Vyatichi rose up in war, and Vladimir went to them and won a second time. Having baptized Russia in 988, Vladimir sent a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery to the land of the Vyatichi in order to introduce the forest people to Orthodoxy. Gloomy bearded men in bast shoes and women wrapped up to their eyebrows in headscarves respectfully listened to the visiting missionary, but then unanimously expressed bewilderment: why, why should the religion of their grandfathers and fathers be changed to faith in Christ? that dark corner of the endless Vyatka forests at the hands of fanatical pagans.
It is noteworthy that in the epics about Ilya Muromets, his moving from Murom to Kiev on a "straight road" road through the Vyatka territory is considered one of his heroic deeds. Usually they preferred to go around it in a roundabout way. With pride, as a special feat, Vladimir Monomakh also speaks of his campaigns in this land in his "Teaching", dating back to the end of the 11th century. It should be noted that he does not mention either the subjugation of the Vyatichi by him, or the imposition of tribute. Apparently, they were ruled at that time by independent leaders or elders. In the "Teaching" Monomakh crushes Khodota and his son out of them.
Until the last quarter of the XI century. the chronicles do not name a single city in the land of the Vyatichi. Apparently, she was essentially unknown to the chroniclers.
Rise of Hodota
In 1066, the proud and rebellious Vyatichi again rose up against Kiev. They are headed by Khodota and his son, who are well-known adherents of the pagan religion in their region. Vladimir Monomakh is going to pacify them. His first two campaigns ended in nothing. The squad passed through the woods without meeting the enemy. Only during the third campaign Monomakh overtook and defeated the forest army of Khodota, but his leader managed to escape.
For the second winter, the Grand Duke prepared in a different way. First of all, he sent his scouts to the Vyatka settlements, occupied the main ones and brought in all supplies there. And when frost hit, Khodota was forced to go to warm up in the huts and dugouts. Monomakh overtook him in one of the winter quarters. The guards knocked out everyone who came to hand in this battle.
But the Vyatichi ratified and rebelled for a long time, until the governors intercepted and bandaged all the ringleaders and executed them in front of the villagers with a fierce execution. Only then did the land of the Vyatichi finally become part of the Old Russian state. In the XIV century, the Vyatichi finally left the historical scene and were no longer mentioned in the chronicles.
Capital of Vyatichi
The following is known about the capital of the state: “In the 7th-10th centuries on the Oka and the upper Don there was a Vyatichi state, independent of Kievan Rus. The center of this state, the ancient Russian city of Kordno, historians see near the modern village of Karniki, Venevsky region. described how the squad collected tribute from the population. "
Source - http://www.m-byte.ru/venev/
