The Map of a Chiefdom in the Upper Dnieper Area: Towards the Methodology of Spatial Reconstruction of Archaic Polities

The paper presents a schematic map of the Gnezdovo archaeological complex and a map of the hierarchy of settlements around it. Analysis of the spatial organization of the capital city and the sub-centres of the second level around it allows us to confirm the hypothesis of the existence of a medium-scale centralized polity in the Upper Dnieper area. The analysis of the elite burials (in “large mounds” and “wooden chambers”) allows to state the presence of the formed elite and to identify the type of this polity as a chiefdom or close to it territorial and functional analogue.

Keywords

chiefdom, medium-scale polity, people Rus’, Gnezdovo archaeological site, the 10th century, historical mapping

Acknowledgment

The article was prepared within the framework of the project of the Foundation “Humanitarian Research of the Federal State Scientific Research University Higher School of Economics” — “Historical and Anthropological Atlas «End of the Millennium»: an electronic and graphical atlas of historical and anthropological phenomena of the world-system(s) of the Old World in the 10th century”.

Received

25.06.2022

Publication date

17.10.2022

Number of characters

30025

Cite

GOST	Schavelev A., Fetisov A. The Map of a Chiefdom in the Upper Dnieper Area: Towards the Methodology of Spatial Reconstruction of Archaic Polities // ISTORIYA – 2022. – V. 13. – Issue 8 (118) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840022563-8-1 (circulation date: 18.05.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840022563-8
MLA	Schavelev, Aleksey, Fetisov, Aleksandr "The Map of a Chiefdom in the Upper Dnieper Area: Towards the Methodology of Spatial Reconstruction of Archaic Polities." ISTORIYA 13.8 (118) (2022) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840022563-8
APA	Schavelev A., Fetisov A. (2022). The Map of a Chiefdom in the Upper Dnieper Area: Towards the Methodology of Spatial Reconstruction of Archaic Polities. ISTORIYA 13(8 (118)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840022563-8

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 289

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Vlasov D. A. Opyt rekonstruktsii pogrebal'nogo obryada na primere kurgana Ts-2/Avd.-1950 i problema vydeleniya «bol'shikh kurganov» // Gnezdovskij arkheologicheskij kompleks. Materialy i issledovaniya. Vyp. 2. / Trudy GIM. Vyp. 215. M., 2021. S. 47—58.

2. Zharnov Yu. Eh. Pogrebal'nyj obryad v Drevnej Rusi po materialam Gnezdovskogo nekropolya. Dissertatsiya na soiskanie uchenoj stepeni kandidata istoricheskikh nauk. M., 1992.

3. Kainov S. Yu. Pogrebeniya s predmetami vooruzheniya Gnezdovskogo nekropolya // Gnezdovskij arkheologicheskij kompleks. Materialy i issledovaniya. Vyp. 1. / Trudy GIM. Vyp. 210. M., 2018. S. 211—339.

4. Kainov S. Yu., Novikov V. V., Akulov A. G. Ob'ektnyj sostav Gnezdovskogo arkheologicheskogo kompleksa // Gnezdovskij arkheologicheskij kompleks. Istoricheskij landshaft, kartografiya, sovremennye metody issledovaniya. M., 2021. S. 107—116.

5. Konovalova I. G. K voprosu o geografii Rusi IX — pervoj poloviny X v. // Vostochnaya Evropa v Drevnosti i Srednevekov'e. Vyp. XXIII. Rannie gosudarstva Evropy i Azii. M., 2011. S. 119—123.

6. Konovalova I. G., Mel'nikova E. A. Drevnyaya Rus' v sisteme evrazijskij kommunikatsij (IX—X vv.). M., 2018.

7. Korobov D. S. Alanskie «vozhdeskie» pogrebeniya i tsentry vlasti v Kislovodskoj kotlovine v rannem Srednevekov'e // Kratkie soobscheniya Instituta arkheologii. 2014. Vyp. 234. S. 95—114.

8. Kradin N. N. Proiskhozhdenie neravenstva, tsivilizatsii i gosudarstva. SPb., 2021.

9. Mikhajlov K. A. Ehlitarnyj pogrebal'nyj obryad Drevnej Rusi. Kamernye pogrebeniya IX — nachala XI v. v kontekste severoevropejskikh analogij. SPb., 2016.

10. Nefedov V. S. Smolenskoe Podneprov'e i Podvin'e v period formirovaniya drevnerusskogo gosudarstva po arkheologicheskim dannym // Drevnejshie gosudarstva Vostochnoj Evropy. 2010. Predposylki i puti obrazovaniya Drevnerusskogo gosudarstva. M., 2012. S. 270—299.

11. Androshchuk F. Vikings in the East. Essays on Contacts along the Road to Byzantium (800—1100). Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2013.

12. Bazelmans J. By Weapons Made Worthy. Lords, Retainers & Their Relationship in “Beowulf”. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 1999.

13. Carneiro R. Chiefdom in Evolutionary Perspective // Chiefdoms: Yesterday and Today / ed. by R. Carneiro, L. E. Grinin, A. V. Korotaev. N. Y.: E. Werner Publ., 2017. P. 15—59.

14. Carneiro R. The Chiefdom: Precursor of the State // The Transition to Statehood in the New World / ed. by G. D. Jones & R. R. Kautz. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. P. 37—79.

15. Constantine Porphyrogenitus. De Administrando Imperio. Vol. I. Greek Text and English Translation / ed. by R. G. H. Jenkins & Gy. Moravcsik. Washington D. C.: Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard University, 1967.

16. Earle T. A Primer on Chiefs & Chiefdoms. N. Y.: Eliot Werner Publ., 2021.

17. Earle T. K. The Evolution of Chiefdoms // Chiefdoms: Power, Economy, & Ideology / ed. by T. Earle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. P. 1—15.

18. Enright M. J. Lady with a Mead Cup. Ritual, Prophesy and Lordship in European Warband from La Tène to the Viking Age. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1996.

19. Jackson T. N. Eastern Europe in Icelandic Sagas. Leeds: Arc Humanities Press, 2019.

20. Kuleshov V. S. Coin Circulation in Early Rus & the Dynamics of the Druzhinas // Viking-Age Trade. Silver, Slaves & Gotland / ed. by J. Gruszczyński, M. Jankowiak & J. Shepard / Routledge Archaeologies of the Viking World. L.; N. Y.: Routledge, 2021. P. 155—182.

21. Pritsak O. The Origin of Rus’. Vol. I. Old Scandinavian Sources other than the Sagas. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1981.

22. Shchavelev A. S. Basic Features of Political Organization and Social Structure of Rurikid Polity in the Tenth Century // The Evolution of Social Institutions: Interdisciplinary Perspectives / ed. by D. M. Bondarenko, S. A. Kowalewski, & D. B. Small. Cham: Springer, 2020. P. 283—292.

23. Shchavelev A. Treatise De Administrando Imperio by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus: Date of the Paris. gr. 2009 Copy, Years of Compiling of the Original Codex, and a Hypothesis about the Number of Authors // Studia Ceranea. Journal of the Waldemar Ceran Research Centre for the History and Culture of the Mediterranean Area and South-East Europe. 2019. No. 9. P. 681—704.

24. Shepard J. Bunkers, Open Cities and Boats in Byzantine Diplomacy // Byzantium, Its Neighbors and Its Cultures / ed. by D. Dzino & K. Parry / Byzantina Australiensia, 20. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2017. P. 11—44.

25. Skalník P. Chiefdom: An Universal Political Formation // Focaal — European Journal of Anthropology. 2004. No. 43. P. 77—98.

26. Skre D. Towns & Markets, Kings & Central Places in South-Western Scandinavia c. AD 800—950 // Kaupang in Skiringssal. Kaupang Excavation Project. Vol. I / Norske Oldfunn XII / ed. by D. Skre. Oslo: Aarhus Unuversity Press, 2007. P. 445—469.