Pages: 123-134| DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp244123134

The article addresses the reasons behind the Ryazan-Oka archaeological culture’s particular choice of habitat in the first millennium AD as a set of territorial advantages offered by the intersection of the Volga-Oka and Don trade routes. This territory was a key resource and raw material hub for Eastern Europe and a point of optimal contact (accessibility) with the Nistru/Dniester basin, Black Sea, Northern Caucasus, Kama, and Ural regions. All of this led to the formation of the Ryazan-Oka culture's areal, distribution, and influence during the Roman migrations and the Great Migrations. From the second half of the fifth to the middle of the seventh century, there was a period of stability in the microregion, the influx of a huge number of imports, implying the presence of exports from the Middle Oka. Against this background, social differentiation increased, which led to the formation of a more developed social system.

Keywords: Eastern Europe, early Middle Ages, Ryazan Finns, technologies, cultural interactions, social stratification, Ryazan-Oka culture bearers, barbarian kingdom, fur route, Oka, commerce, power centers

Information about author:

Aleksandr Gavrilov (Shilovo, Russian Federation). Professor  of the Russian Academy of Natural History. Museum Historical and Cultural Complex of the Shilovo Municipal District of the Ryazan Oblast . Shilovsky district, Ryazan region, 391500, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-0306-0936