RUSSIA/UKRAINE

followed by feature essay on:

Staraya Ladoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568

The early Russian state emerged between a.d. 750 and 1000, the result of a complex development process. Among the most important factors in this process were the growth of an economy based on craft production and long-distance trade and the rise of urban centers to facilitate the specialized economy and the administration of the nascent state. These factors, in turn, were related closely to connections and interrelationships among peoples living in Russia, the Baltic Sea area, and the east during the eighth through tenth centuries.

Primary historical evidence regarding the origin of the Russian state is scarce, consisting mainly of a single record, the Russian Primary Chronicle. It is thought that the chronicle was compiled in the Monastery of the Caves near Kiev in about a.d. 1110. According to the chronicle account, in the early ninth century northern Russia was divided politically into diverse tribal principalities, all of which owed tribute to the Varangians (Scandinavians). In 859 these principalities rose together against the Varangians and drove them out of Russia. Without a central power, the Russian peoples began to fight among themselves and eventually resolved to invite the Varangians to return and rule over them. Three Varangian brothers accepted the invitation. They moved to northern Russia with their kin and founded cities from which to rule the area. The oldest brother was Rurik, who located himself in Novgorod or Staraya Ladoga (depending on the particular codex consulted). The two younger brothers also each established a city but died within a few years, leaving Rurik the sole authority over northern Russia. In later years Rurik's successors expanded and consolidated Russian rule. In 882 Oleg, a descendant of Rurik, established himself in Kiev and declared that city the capital of Russia, which it remained until the eleventh century.

Although the Russian Primary Chronicle account has a legendary feel to it, clearly serving to legitimize the rule of the Kievan dynasty over early Russia, it does provides insight into how the early state was formed. The document identifies several key factors in the formation of the early Russian state: early towns, the diversity of peoples who inhabited them, and their economic interrelationships. Archaeological research on the formation of the early Russian state has investigated these key factors, providing a great deal of information about the development of early towns as economic and administrative centers and about the role of the Varangians and other early peoples in the area. Most archaeologists currently believe that the establishment of the early Russian state was a process, not an event, as the Russian Primary Chronicle presents it. The process of state formation, as revealed in the archaeological


record, included the growth of a specialized economy, urbanization, and increasing social stratification.

State development took place between a.d. 750 and 1000 in two primary phases. In the first phase, between about a.d. 750 and 900, appeared such early towns as Staraya Ladoga and Rurik Gorodishche, whose primary function was to facilitate a long-distance economy. The focus of these early towns was on trade and craft production. They had a multiethnic population, which only in later years was controlled by a central administration. In the second phase, from about a.d. 900 to 1000, rose such towns as Novgorod and Kiev, whose primary function was administration. These later towns showed evidence of urban planning, the presence of a ruling elite and a military, and a continuing interest in craft production and trade.

a.d.750–900

The peoples who settled in northwest Russia before the period of state formation belonged to Baltic and Finno-Ugric ethnic groups. During the eighth century, Slavic peoples were expanding north and settling along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, while at the same time Scandinavians were moving south into that area. Organized into small tribal principalities, these peoples coexisted in northern Russia. They lived in small villages scattered across the landscape. Their economy was primarily agrarian, with local exchange.

Between a.d. 750 and 900 the characteristic settlement pattern and economy of northern Russia changed rapidly. A number of towns appeared, including Staraya Ladoga, Rurik Gorodishche, and Gnezdovo. These early towns were located at strategic points for facilitating and controlling the growing trade across the Baltic and through Russia to the Far East. The first towns in northern Russia were different from earlier settlements in two significant ways: their population was more concentrated, and they had a specialized economy focused on craft production rather than agriculture and on long-distance rather than local trade. They also were notable for having a multiethnic population, with individuals from several cultures living side by side and engaging in the same economic activities.

Staraya Ladoga. The earliest known town in northern Russia is Staraya Ladoga, located south of Lake Ladoga at the easternmost point of the Baltic Sea. Staraya Ladoga is important to historians, because it appears in some versions of the Russian Primary Chronicle as Rurik's original seat. To archaeologists it is significant because it is the only northwest Russian medieval town with an unambiguous eighth-century cultural layer and with excellent preservation of organic and metallic materials due to the waterlogged soil. Based on the findings from Staraya Ladoga, archaeologists have reconstructed a great deal of information related to the process of state formation in early Russia, including the development of a specialized economy, the appearance of social stratification, and the role of these factors in the process of urbanization and state formation in Russia.

Staraya Ladoga is situated in an ideal position to monitor access to the main communication routes through Russia, the Dnieper and Volga Rivers. In the mid-eighth century, the earliest settlement at the town developed along the southern bank of the Ladozhka, at the point where the tributary entered the Volkhov River. This location probably was chosen as the best spot for a harbor. The town grew rapidly. During the mid-ninth century, the north bank of the Ladozhka was settled, and by the tenth century the town had expanded to both sides of the Volkhov.

Early development of Staraya Ladoga was haphazard, but after the mid-ninth century there is evidence for town planning and public works, suggesting that a town administration had evolved. The center of Staraya Ladoga was fortified in the second half of the ninth century. In the tenth century, the town's streets were laid out on a grid, and a princely residence was built with provisions for military protection.

More than one hundred and fifty buildings have been excavated at Staraya Ladoga. Almost every excavated building turned up evidence of craft production, suggesting that manufacturing was an important part of the town's economy and that a majority of permanent residents were engaged in craft production. Other activities include agriculture, stock raising, and hunting and gathering, but these appear minor compared with craft production and trade. Staraya Ladoga's economy was organized around two main spheres: a local and regional exchange area and a long-distance exchange area. The local and regional economy centered on manufacturing and trading utilitarian objects and importing prestige goods and raw materials for the elite. The long-distance economy involved exporting furs and other materials, importing foreign prestige goods, and transferring foreign goods to other trading centers in Scandinavia, Russia, and the Near East.

There is no clear evidence to suggest that any particular ethnic group founded or administered the town, or participated significantly more than any other in its core activities of trade and manufacture. In the earliest layers of Staraya Ladoga there are Baltic, Finno-Ugric, Scandinavian, and Slavic materials, integrated throughout the settlement. Over time the material culture began to appear more homogenized, suggesting that the town's diverse ethnic groups were assimilating a new, local identity. Archaeological work carried out throughout the Lake Ladoga region indicates that ethnic integration existed outside the town as well.

There is also evidence of status differentiation among the people of Staraya Ladoga. The town must have had an emerging elite, whose position was communicated clearly and reinforced by their consumption of luxury goods and construction of showy burial mounds. The ordinary folk used utilitarian objects and buried their dead in more humble cremation graves. The elite probably did not organize or control the economy of the town early in its history, but their influence and authority over the town and its activities increased through time. Staraya Ladoga is best understood as a trade and manufacturing town, one link in the network that connected Scandinavia, the eastern Baltic, and the Far East. From its earliest days, the town had farreaching trade contacts and an economy based largely on commerce and the production of trade goods.

Staraya Ladoga developed around the same time that new peoples were moving into northern Russia, notably Scandinavians and Slavs. These newcomers, together with the existing population of Balts and Finns, played an important role in stimulating trade and the growth of towns and thus ultimately encouraging craft specialization and increasing class stratification. The participation of numerous ethnic groups in the same range of economic activities seems to have contributed to the development of a new local identity and the minimizing of previous ethnic differences.

Rurik Gorodishche. Rurik Gorodishche is located on an island north of Lake Ilmen, which is midway down the Volkhov. In the ninth century Rurik Gorodishche and Staraya Ladoga were the largest settlements in northwest Russia. While Staraya Ladoga served as gateway to Russia from the eastern Baltic, Rurik Gorodishche controlled access to the Russian river routes. Traders heading to the Bulgar state via the Volga or to Kiev and Byzantium via the Dnieper would pass through Lake Ilmen.

Rurik Gorodishche was a trade and craft production center in the ninth and tenth centuries, taking advantage of its location. Craft production seems to have been important to the town's economy, given the quantities of production debris and materials recovered during excavations. Scales and weights indicate that trade also took place in the town. Goods from the Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea, and Scandinavia have been found at the site. The population of Rurik Gorodishche, as at Staraya Ladoga, included many ethnic groups: Finns, Balts, Slavs, and Scandinavians. Evidence from burials, jewelry, and other sources suggests that these groups mutually influenced each other and gradually developed a composite local identity that blended elements from all of the cultures.

Evidence for fortifications and weapons suggest that Rurik Gorodishche ("Rurik's Fortress") was an administrative and military center early in its history. Staraya Ladoga was fortified at about the same time that Rurik Gorodishche was established as a fortified center, perhaps indicating that fortifications were a common precaution or a statement of power in the mid-ninth century.

Archaeological research shows that Staraya Ladoga and Rurik Gorodishche (as well as other early towns, such as Beloozero and Gnezdovo/Smolensk) share many common features in their development and character: an economy based on trade and craft production, a strategic location along developing trade routes, and a multiethnic population. Other Baltic trade towns manifest these same features, including Hedeby and Ribe in Jutland, Kaupang in Norway, Paviken on Gotland, Birka in central Sweden, and Wolin in Poland.

a.d.900–1000

By a.d. 900, many towns existed in Russia, including Staraya Ladoga and Rurik Gorodishche. These early towns encouraged the development of a novel specialized economy based on crafts and trade, fostered the interaction of numerous ethnic groups, and depended upon a limited amount of urban administration. Between a.d. 900 and 1000, a new kind of town arose in Russia, which was associated closely with the development of an elite class and a central government. As ethnic differences became less pronounced in urban populations, social stratification became more prominent. Tenth-century towns, such as Novgorod, increasingly served as administrative and economic centers for their territories, encouraging interdependence among the urban and rural settlements. The rise of Kiev in the late tenth century unified Russian towns and their territories under one central administration and further increased the social, political, and settlement hierarchy of early Russia. By a.d. 1000 Kiev effectively served as capital of the early Russian state.

Novgorod. Novgorod was established in the mid-tenth century, two kilometers from Rurik Gorodishche in the Lake Ilmen area of northern Russia. In many ways, early Novgorod resembled its neighboring settlement. Novgorod was home to extensive craft production; about one hundred and fifty workshops have been found so far in the archaeological record. Connections with long-distance trade are indicated by imported objects from the north, south, east, and west. The material culture embraced elements from Slavic, Scandinavian, Baltic, and Finno-Ugric groups, which indicates that there were mutual cultural influences.

Despite the basic similarity between the two towns—a multiethnic population concerned with craft and trade activities—Novgorod had a different character from that of nearby Rurik Gorodishche. Archaeologists have recovered copious evidence of a greater elite presence at Novgorod than at Rurik Gorodishche. In Lyudin End, where the earliest traces of settlement have been found in Novgorod, individual house lots generally fit into one of two types. The first type, a narrow rectangular lot about 15 by 30 meters, is thought to have belonged to regular urban residents. The second type of lot, up to three times as large as the first, has been identified as residences for elite class. The conspicuous consumption of luxury goods in Novgorod also suggests well-developed social differences among the town's population. The evidence for an elite presence is so striking that some scholars have suggested that Novgorod may have been founded as an elite settlement.

In the late tenth or early eleventh century, Novgorod appears to have taken over administrative functions for the Lake Ilmen area and perhaps for all of northern Russia. Novgorod probably also was the religious center of northern Russia, first for the pagan religion and then for Christianity. By about a.d. 1000 Rurik Gorodishche and Novgorod may have had complementary functions, together serving as the urban center of the Lake Ilmen region. Contemporary examples of similar paired settlements have been excavated in other areas of the eastern Baltic, including Hedeby and Schleswig in Jutland and Birka and Sigtuna in central Sweden. In these cases, as in Rurik Gorodishche and Novgorod, the earlier settlement was a craft and trade center particularly reliant on long-distance trade, flourishing from the eighth through the tenth centuries. The later settlement, beginning in the late tenth or early eleventh century, was an administrative and ecclesiastical center. In both Russia and Scandinavia the rise of these urban settlements appears to have been related to the greater sociopolitical and economic changes that played a part in early state development.

Kiev. Kiev is located on a promontory on the west bank of the Dnieper River, about 10 kilometers south of the confluence of the Dnieper and the Desna. From this position Kiev controlled the lower Dnieper. Archaeological evidence indicates that the character and extent of settlement on the Kiev promontory changed dramatically between the beginning of the tenth century a.d. and the first half of the eleventh century. The settlement expanded tenfold, filling the hills of the promontory and stretching along the riverbanks of the Dnieper. Economic specialization increased as craft production, including bronze casting and iron production, flourished. Long-distance trade partners included the Muslim east, the Bulgar state, and the Byzantine Empire.

The town's dense population and specialized economy suggests that Kiev must have been dependent upon tribute or some other means of exacting agricultural and subsistence products from the surrounding countryside. According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, Prince Oleg established Kiev as preeminent over all Russian cities in a.d. 882 and gathered tribute from all the Russian lands. A fortified area was established on Starokievska Hill c. a.d. 900, with large stone structures that may have been princely residences. By about a.d. 1000 this fortress probably served as an administrative center for the area, effectively unifying the scattered settlements in the Kiev area into one urban and tributary unit.

Burial and architectural evidence shows that Kiev was a multiethnic and socially stratified community. Slavic, Baltic, Finno-Ugric, Scandinavian, and Byzantine elements are present in the burial customs and building methods of Kiev during this period. After Kiev was established as the Russian capital, the population of Kiev appears to have become more ethnically homogeneous. This no doubt occurred through natural assimilation of the various groups living in Kiev as well as through the introduction of Christianity. In 988, the Russian Primary Chronicle reports, Prince Vladimir of Kiev introduced the Christian church to Russia. Social stratification, in contrast to ethnic diversity, increased through time.

Archaeological and historical sources indicate that the early Russian state had emerged by a.d. 1000, with centralized rulership at Kiev exercising political and economic control over an extensive area, from the shores of the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in the north down to the Black Sea in the south. Kievan Russia developed diplomatic and trade relations with its neighbors, including Scandinavia, Europe, the Islamic Caliphate, the Bulgar Khazarate, and the Byzantine Empire. The Russian state also had converted to Christianity, and the lands and peoples under its control were beginning to evince social and cultural institutions considered to be characteristically "Russian."

summary and conclusions

The development of the early Russian state took place between a.d. 750 and 1000. Several factors contributed to the formation of the state: the growth of early towns as trade and administrative centers, the elaboration of a specialized economy; and the development of social stratification. Between a.d. 750 and 900 the first towns arose in Russia, relying on and encouraging the development of an economy based on craft production and long-distance trade. Early Russian towns, such as Staraya Ladoga and Rurik Gorodishche, share many common features: an economy based on trade and craft production, a strategic location along developing trade routes, and a multiethnic population. As such, they were similar to other trade towns in Scandinavia and northern Europe. The eighth- and ninth-century trade towns created a basis for statehood in these regions, contributing to the expansion of a specialized economy, social stratification, and central administration.

Between a.d. 900 and 1000, a different kind of urban center became established in Russia, administrative and ecclesiastical centers that integrated the urban and rural economy. In Russia and Scandinavia the appearance of these administrative centers settlements resulted from and contributed to the sociopolitical and economic changes associated with the formation of a state. Novgorod served as one such political center, administering taxation and collecting tribute in northern Russia during the tenth century. Kiev in central Russia (now Ukraine) grew alongside Novgorod, eventually surpassing it and all other Russian cities in economic and political importance.

See alsoRus (vol. 2, part 7); Staraya Ladoga (vol. 2, part7).

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