Russian-mordovian economic relations as the main factor of territorial integration in the early Middle Ages

Abstract

Background. The problem of Russian-Mordovian economic relations during the early Middle Ages on the territory of Penza Region in the last 30 years has not actually been touched upon by researchers. Although it is fundamental in understanding the mechanism of identity formation of both the Russian and Mordovian people, and also contributes to a detailed study of the processes of the emergence of interethnic integration in the territory of the Sura-Moksha. Materials and methods. Observing the principle of historicism, using the method of analysis and synthesis using the local research method, the author analyzes archaeological and written materials. Results. The results of archaeological research of Mordovian burial grounds, settlements and settlements, as well as documentary sources and factual material of special research by Soviet and Russian historians and archaeologists are analyzed. Some clothing complexes belonging to Slavic antiquities and objects characteristic of the Finno-Ugric peoples and their interpenetration are noted. Conclusions. The heyday of Russian-Mordovian economic ties falls on the 12th–13th centuries, but already at the end of the 13th–14th centuries they were undermined by the Mongol invasion. An extensive assortment of items: temple pendants, beads, moonlit bracelets, rings, buckles, arrowheads and spears were imported by the Russians to the Mordovian lands. On the other hand, among the monuments of the Slavs there are individual objects, and sometimes whole complexes with Mordovian things. The penetration of objects of material culture had a twosided character. Economic ties between two nations laid the foundations for territorial integration in the Sura-Oka region.

Keywords

• territorial integration
• ethnic identity
• peaceful infiltration
• acculturation
• archaeological monument
• crafts
• trade
• money circulation