Pages: 147-157

The main thesis of this article is that the Hunnic age in the Upper Don region saw formation of an intertribal potestary society, which may be conventionally called a “barbarian kingdom”. The first feature of this formation is the presence of a uniform military and administrative organization controlling relatively vast populated area. The system of Hunnic-age settlement and burial sites in the Upper Don region meets these conditions. Center of the ‘kingdom’ was located in the Ostraya Luka area (complex of sites near villages Zamyatino, Ksizovo, Mukhino, Kamenka). Most of other sites represent rural communities, which often grouped around fortified settlements. The second feature of a potestary consociation of tribes is the presence of a military class. The excavations in Mukhino revealed a grave of a rich woman with prestigious goods. We also know some graves of warriors in necropolises near Ksizovo and Zhivotinnoe. Finds of arms and prestigious goods in the territory of settlements are also connected with the same social group. As judged by dating goods and complexes, the “barbarian kingdom” in the Upper Don region formed in the middle of the 5th century AD, when local population (mainly — early Slavs) was captured by an Alano-Germanic warrior group immigrating from the Lower Don region and the Tanais area.

Keywords: Upper Don, Lower Don, Hunnic age, “barbarian kingdom”, potestary organization, early Slavs, Alans, Germans

Information about author:

Denis Akimov (Voronezh, Russia). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Voronezh State University, Universitetskaya Sq., 1, Voronezh, 394006, Russia
E-mail: [email protected]