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Mesolithic sites on the territory of the modern Pskov region. Already in ancient times, vast areas of the forest belt of Russia were inhabited by people. Cultural areas and archaeological cultures

Nuclear physics
13.12.2020

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    The cultural and historical period, covering the time of the appearance of ape-like people-archanthropics (2 - 2.5 million years ago) and the beginning of metal processing (about 6 thousand years in the Ancient East and about 4-5 thousand years ago in Europe). During this period, the main tools and weapons were made of stone, wood and bone were used. Characteristic features period are the process of anthropogenesis (the emergence and development of "Homo sapiens") and the domination of the primitive communal system. Scientists divide the Stone Age into the Ancient - Paleolithic, Middle - Mesolithic and New - Neolithic. As a result of research carried out by the archaeological expedition of the State Hermitage under the leadership of A.M. Miklyaev in the 60s - 80s of the 20th century, it was established that the development of the territory of the modern Pskov region by man began in the late Paleolithic era (about 10 - 12 thousand years ago) when, after the retreat of the glacier (about 10 thousand years ago), conditions favorable for human habitation began to develop here. The finds of archaeologists in the southern part of the region, where the edge of the glacier was located (the villages of Lukashenki, Antropovo, Kozlov in Usvyatsky, Yukhovo in Kuninsky, as well as in other areas) indicate that people at that time used chipped stone tools, were engaged in hunting, fishing , gathering, and their settlements were located on sandy hills along the shores of postglacial lakes and rivers. In the Mesolithic era (VII-VI millennium BC), people moved to the north. Archaeologists have studied only one site of this time, which was located 6 kilometers southeast of the village of Palkino (a regional center in the Pskov region). In the south of the territory of the modern Pskov region, scientists have found only isolated finds of Mesolithic tools made of stone and bone. Archaeologists find the explanation for this in climate change: it became drier, lakes and rivers became shallow, people moved closer to the water, and then the reservoirs again overflowed and flooded the Mesolithic sites. The most thoroughly studied settlements of the Neolithic period (V - II millennium BC). In the south of the territory of the modern region, ceramics were discovered. It was found that at that time people were already using more advanced methods of stone processing: sawing, grinding, drilling. The appropriating branches of management continued to dominate: hunting, fishing, gathering. The most interesting were the sites related to the Middle Neolithic: near the modern village of Usvyaty, near the village of Naumove in the Kuninsky district and near the village of Dubokrai in the Nevelsky district. At the end of the 3rd millennium BC, people began to breed domestic animals: cows, goats, sheep, pigs. Until the II millennium, human settlements were located near the water. People lived in pile buildings. In the II millennium, due to the rise of water in rivers and lakes, they began to build dwellings along the high banks of rivers and lakes. The importance of animal husbandry has grown. Items related to the Neolithic era (flint tools, fragments of ceramics decorated with impressions of a comb, and others) were also found in the Izborsk region (the village of Lezgi on the left bank of the Bdekhi River). According to archaeologists, in the Neolithic time the territory of the Pskov region was completely inhabited.

    Source: Pskov Encyclopedia. The chief editor is A.I. Lobachev. Pskov, Pskov Regional Public Institution - Publishing House "Pskov Encyclopedia", 2007 | →

    Stream. Flowing through the Mayevskaya and Okny volosts, the source to the south of the village of Metalnikovo, flows into the river. Bolshoi Udrai near the village of Vasyutino. Received the name for the rifts with a large abundance of stones. Such boulders rolled in water have long been used in saunas for "heaters" - they "hold" steam well and are resistant to temperature extremes, and last much longer than usual.

    The history of Pskov has been studied quite well. And what happened before Pskov itself was founded? When did the first people come to the Pskov land? How did they live? And when did the Slavic foot first set foot on the ground of their future homeland?

    When did the first settlements of the Pskov region? It is difficult, of course, to give exact dates. Archeology is both an exact science, and at the same time does not give precise answers, because archaeologists have to collect data literally bit by bit, carefully studying the smallest particles of the distant past.

    Settlements of the Pskov region before the Slavs

    It should be borne in mind that the first settlements of the Pskov region did not belong to the Slavs - they came here only in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. The first people in the future Pskov region were representatives of the Baltic-Finnish tribes.
    Although some evidence of archaic people living in this area dates back to the Early Paleolithic, real settlement began in the Late Paleolithic, after the final retreat of the glacier - about 12 thousand years ago. Glaciation has left in the memory of the earth its characteristic landscape, dug by numerous lakes and. On their shores, settlements and sites of ancient people were located. Moreover, according to archaeologists, the area of ​​settlement was extensive, based on the area of ​​finds of flint tools.
    The settlements of the Mesolithic era have survived little. Presumably, due to climate change - general warming, an increase in forest cover, a change in fauna, an overflow - this, most likely, hid old camps under water, and people left for other places.
    But the settlements of the Neolithic era have been studied quite well. The early Neolithic is interesting in that during this period constant climate changes continued to occur, which in the lake region was almost a disaster, since the water level in lakes and rivers constantly changed after the climate. This led to the need to master pile construction. Apart from this problem, the rest of the ancient population had nothing to complain about - they were surrounded by dense pine and deciduous forests full of wild animals - elks, wild boars, bears - and useful edible and medicinal plants, and the lakes and rivers were teeming with fish. The numerous remains of the bones of wild animals and fish found in settlements of that period "told" about all this to archaeologists. As a result of all this, cattle breeding and agriculture did not develop for a long time as unnecessary, until the end of the late Neolithic.
    But around the 2nd millennium BC, a sharp climate change occurred again. Sharply colder, the water in the Baltic Sea and associated water bodies rises strongly. Pile structures become more uninhabitable, and hunting and gathering ceases to fully meet the needs of the tribes. The development of cattle breeding begins (which is also known from the finds of the remains of the bones of domestic animals). It is curious that, despite the belated transition to a manufacturing economy, development proceeded at a very fast pace, which also affected crafts, in particular, the ancient tribes mastered the production and manufacture of tools from iron by the end of the 2nd century BC.
    But life was still not the easiest, until a new, this time fertile climate change broke out at the turn of two eras. It became warmer again, vast fertile meadows appeared from under the water. Active development began Agriculture... The region, which means that the people inhabiting it began to grow richer. More complex and comfortable houses were built, thanks to a more prosperous and well-fed life, there appeared time and, most importantly, strength to improve crafts, began to divide people by type of occupation. The first settlements began to appear. All this attracted settlers from other places. So, in the middle of the 1st century AD, the Slavs came to the future land.

    Slavic settlements of the Pskov region

    The alien Slavs (according to historical science - the Krivichi tribes) created in the new place a new, special culture, called by archaeologists the culture of the long Pskov barrows. They practiced collective burials, placing low, but long, up to 100 meters or more mounds above them. Interestingly, in some of the burial mounds were found calculations of stones, which are believed to be evidence of the assimilation of the Baltic-Finnish tribes by the Slavs. And it was the Slavic settlers, many of whom fled from the floods, that the Pskov tradition of building settlements on a hill was laid.
    Energetic newcomers actively developed, either forcing the former inhabitants to leave towards the Baltic states, or to mix with the Slavic tribes. By the 8th century, the Krivichi began to move from settlements to settlements. These fortified settlements of the Pskov region and today attracts tourists - this is the well-known Truvorovo settlement near Izborsk or the settlement of Kamno. Long burial mounds give way to hemispherical, with individual burials. The Krivichi became Russian, and by historical standards there was nothing left until the founding of Pskov.

    Distance learning

    Set of tasks for test

    Part-time students choose one option test and prepare answers in the form of a detailed outline(up to 12-15 typewritten pages). The works are handed over to the teacher personally in hands. The test should contain a title page, a table of contents, the text of the synopsis itself and a list of references and sources used ( Annex 1).

    Works in an inappropriate form will not be accepted.

    Possibly a small interview according to the content of the topics of the completed abstract on the test.

    *****

    Option 1.

    1. The first settlements of the Paleolithic era in the Pskov region.
    2. The language of the population living in the territory of the modern Pskov region.

    Option 2.

    1. Human development of the territory of the modern Pskov region.
    2. Mesolithic sites on the territory of the modern Pskov region.

    Option 3.

    1. Fortified settlements of the Neolithic era, specific features.
    2. Changes in natural and climatic conditions as a factor in the development of the Pskov region by people.

    Option 4.

    1. The cult significance of pagan stones in the Pskov region.

    2. Pagan names in modern toponymy of the Pskov region.

    Option 5.

    1. Varieties of cult stones that have survived in the Pskov region to this day, their semantic meaning for the ancient Slavs.
    2. Iconic stones during the period of Christianity.

    Option 6.

    1. The location of the most famous monuments of pagan culture on the territory of the modern Pskov land.
    2. Pagan names in Pskov toponymy.

    Option 7.

    1. Izborsk settlement. Toponymy of the word "Izborsk".

    Option 8.

    1. Urban development of Izborsk IX-X centuries. Stages of construction of the Izborsk fortress. Military history Izborsk.
    2. Pskov monasteries, history of origin, specific features

    Option 9.

    1. Pskov Kremlin. The history of the creation of the Trinity Cathedral.
    2. Political, military and economic factors affecting the development and specifics of the Pskov region.

    Option 10.

    1. Urban development of Pskov in the XI - XIV centuries, the main monuments of military and civil architecture.
    2. Toponymy of the word "Izborsk".

    Option 11.

    1. Political and economic factors affecting the development and specifics of the Pskov region.
    2. Fresco painting of Pskov, the most famous cultural monuments that have survived to this day.

    Option 12.

    1. Pskov icon painting, stages of development and specific features.
    2. Urban development of the 16th and 17th centuries

    Option 13.

    1. Medieval Pskov in the Notes of Foreigners.
    2. The main architectural features of the Pskov temples.

    Option 14.

    1. Formation of the Pskov school of architecture, the work of Pskov masters outside the Pskov land.
    2. The most famous monuments of icon painting culture that have survived to this day.

    Option 15.

    1. Life and everyday life of the Pskovites of the 15th - 17th centuries.

    2._ The military-political history of the Pskov land as a factor in the development of defense architecture.

    Option 16.

    1. Urban planning of Pskov late XVIII- the first half of the 19th century.
    2. Monuments to the Great Patriotic War on the territory of Pskov.

    Option 17.

    1. Influence of the Great Patriotic War on Pskov cultural heritage and post-war reconstruction Pskov region.
    2. Urban development of Pskov at the beginning of the twentieth century (pre-revolutionary period).

    Option 18.

    1. The first World War and its influence on the appearance of the city and daily life townspeople.

    Option 19.

    1. Pskov land in the Northern War of 1700-1721
    2. Urban development of Pskov, the second half of the 19th century.

    Criteria for evaluation

    - rating "passed" exhibited to the student if the questions of the test are covered sufficiently deeply, in detail and comprehensively, with the presence of their own analysis and independent attitude to the presented material with knowledge of special terminology and conceptual apparatus, with knowledge of not only the lecture material, but also additional sources;

    - rating "not validated", is given to the student in the absence of an answer to the questions posed, or in the case when the available answers do not correspond to the posed questions.

    Annex 1

    Cover page decoration

    Pskov State University

    Faculty_______________________________________

    The final test by discipline

    "Historical and cultural heritage of the Pskov region"

    Completed(a): Full name student (ka),
    group number,

    Checked: Associate Professor of the Department of Russian History,

    Candidate of Historical Sciences, M.V. Vasiliev

    Pskov

    200__year

    Main literature

    1. ⁠Vasiliev M.V. Historical and cultural heritage of the Pskov region [Electronic resource]: tutorial for students of non-history faculties. Saratov: IP Er Media, 2018.
    2. Beletsky V.D. Dovmont city. L., 1986.
    3. A. A. Bologov Pskov, Guide. L., 1988.
    4. Kulikova I.A. Pskov Kremlin. L., 1972.
    5. The culture of ancient Pskov. Pskov, 2008.
    6. Lagunin I.I. Buildings XVII - 1st half of the XIX v. in Pskov - architectural monuments // Archeology and history of Pskov and the Pskov land. Pskov, 1987.
    7. Okulich-Kazarin N.F. Satellite in ancient Pskov. Pskov, 1913.
    8. Pskov through the centuries. Monuments of Pskov today. SPb., 1994.
    9. The Pskov Territory in the history of Russia / compiled and scientific editor Academician of the Academy humanities, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, E. P. Ivanov. Pskov, 1996.
    10. Pskov icon of the XIII - XVI centuries. L., 1990.
    11. V. V. Sedov Pskov architecture of the XIV-XV centuries. M., 1992.
    12. V. V. Sedov Pskov architecture of the 16th century. M., 1996.
    13. Spegalsky Yu.P. Pskov. Historical and artistic sketch. Art, 1946.
    14. Spegalsky Yu.P. Pskov. L., 1978.
    15. Spegalsky Yu.P. Pskov. L.-M., 1963.
    16. Spegalsky Yu.P. Pskov stone residential buildings of the 17th century. M.-L., 1963.
    17. Yamshchikov S.V. Ancient Pskov: History. Art. Archeology. New research. Pskov. 1988.

    additional literature

    1. Artemiev A.R. Cities of the Pskov land in the XIII - XV centuries. Vladivostok, 1998.
    2. The architecture of the provincial Pskov - XVIII-XX centuries // http://www.pskovcity.ru/arh_xix.htm.
    3. Beletsky S.V. Pushkin Territory according to archeology // Distant past of Pushkinogorie. Issue 2.SPb., 1998.
    4. Brochure "Pechora". Publisher: "Cantilena", Smolensk, 2009.
    5. Vasiliev M.E., Filimonov A.V. Velier. Pushkinskie Gory, 1992.
    6. Velikie Luki. 800 years / Comp. N.P. Korablev, photo by V. Somchinsky. L., 1966.
    7. Cities of Russia: an encyclopedia. Moscow: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1994.
    8. History of the creation of the museum //http://museum.pskov.ru/istoriya_muzeya.
    9. Kirpichnikov A.N. The fortress of ancient Velia // Antiquities of Pskov: archeology, history, architecture. Pskov, 1999.S. 127 - 142.
    10. Kurchavov I. Town on Sheloni. L., 1989.
    11. Lagunin I.I. Historical and urban planning sketch of the city of Sebezh and its environs // http://gorod-sebez.narod.ru/istorija.html.
    12. Lebedev E.E. Porkhov and its surroundings. Historical sketch. - Novgorod: Provincial Printing House, 1915.
    13. Melnikov S.E. Bottom. L., 1989.
    14. Mikhailov A.A. Pskov during the First World War, 1914-1915 Pskov, 2012.
    15. Museum in the XX-XXI centuries. //http://museum.pskov.ru/istoriya_muzeya/istoriya.
    16. Orlov V.V. A window to a disappeared world. Velikie Luki. City tours. V. Luke, 2012.
    17. Orlov V.V. Travel to the past. Velikie Luki: a book to read on history. V. Luke, 2005.
    18. Monuments and memorable places of Pskov associated with the events of the Great Patriotic War //http://bibliopskov.ru/war3.htm.
    19. Panchenko I. Ya. Porkhov. L., 1979.
    20. Petrov S.G. Velikie Luki antiquity. Historical and local lore mosaic. V. Luke, 1999.
    21. Porkhov and his district. Collection of pre-revolutionary publications / Comp. N.F. Levin. Pskov, 2005.
    22. Pskov and its suburbs. Collection of the Moscow archive of the Ministry of Justice. T. 5. Book. 1.M., 1913.
    23. V. V. Sedov Novgorod architecture at Shelon. Introduction and first chapter. M., 2001. Novgorod antiquities. Issue Vi. Society of Architectural Historians. Archive of architecture. Issue XIV. //http://archi.ru/files/publications/articles/sed_shelon1.htm.
    24. Spegalsky Yu.P. Variant of the Pskov Church of the 16th century: The Church of Elijah the Prophet in the former churchyard of Toroshino // Old Russian Art. Art culture Pskov. M., 1968. // http://spegalsky.narod.ru/biblioteka/pogost_toroshino.html.
    25. Spegalsky Yu.P. Civil architecture of ancient Pskov // History of the USSR. Magazine. Issue 1. M., 1969. // http://spegalsky.narod.ru/biblioteka/gr_arch.html.
    26. Spegalsky Yu.P. On some methods of constructing heating furnaces in the 17th century. (based on finds in Pskov) // Brief messages Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Issue 113. M., 1969. // http://spegalsky.narod.ru/biblioteka/ystroistvo_pechei.html
    27. Spegalsky Yu.P. Sketch of the development of Pskov architecture // http://www.rusarch.ru/spegalsky1.htm
    28. Spegalsky Yu.P. Pskov ceramic icon cases // Brief reports of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, vol. 81. M., 1960 // http://spegalsky.narod.ru/biblioteka/pskov_keram_kiot.html.
    29. Spegalsky Yu.P. Pskov chapels-burial vaults // Brief reports of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Issue 99. M., 1964. // http://spegalsky.narod.ru/biblioteka/chasovni_ys.html.
    30. Spegalsky Yu.P. Treasures of ancient architecture. Sights of the Pskov region. Lenizdat, 1977. // http://spegalsky.narod.ru/biblioteka/sokr_arch/xii_v.html.
    31. Spegalsky Yu.P. Church Vasily on Gorka in Pskov // Soviet archeology. Magazine. M., 1970, No. 2. // http://spegalsky.narod.ru/biblioteka/ch_vng.html.
    32. Filimonov A.V. Velje and its districts. Pskov, 2012.
    33. Filimonov A.V. Pages of the history of the Pushkin Territory: Essays. Pushkinskie Gory, 2007.

    It is allowed to use any other literature and Internet sources that reveal the main content of the academic discipline.

    Human development of the territory of the modern Pskov region began in the Stone Age. Northern regions of Europe for a long time were covered with a thick layer of ice. It is known that during the last glaciation - Valdai (80-10 thousand years ago) - the thickness of the ice sheet on its outskirts, for example, on the territory of the Pskov Territory, reached 500 - 700 meters. Only after the retreat of the glacier begin to gradually develop conditions favorable for human habitation.

    The settlements of the Stone Age and Early Metal Age in the south of the Pskov Region have been studied over the past thirty years by an archaeological expedition of the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg). The work of the expedition was directed by A. M. Miklyaev. During archaeological excavations and exploration, interesting data were obtained about the nature of the region in antiquity, about the economy of its inhabitants, about their dwellings, way of life, and beliefs.

    In the southern regions of the modern Pskov region, where the edge of the glacier passed, there are a lot of lakes. This is a real Lake District. In Pustoshkinsky, Sebezhsky, Nevelsky regions, lakes occupy 6 - 8% of the surface. There are more than 500 lakes in the Sebezhsky region, and about 370 in Pustoshkinsky. In total, geographers currently count more than 4000 lakes on the territory of the Pskov region. These reservoirs, as well as large and small rivers, had a very great importance... Natural and geographical factors influenced the choice of a place for settlement, and human economic activity.

    Archaeologists have established that in the late Paleolithic era, about 10-12 thousand years ago, settlements were located on sandy hills along the shores of post-glacial lakes. The inhabitants of these settlements were engaged in hunting and fishing. Finds of tools of the Late Paleolithic are known near the villages of Lukashenka, Antropovo, Kozlovo (Usvyatskiy district), Yukhovo (Kuninskiy district) and some others.

    During the Mesolithic period (VII-VI millennia BC. In the Pskov region: archaeologists have studied in detail only one site of the Mesolithic era. It was located in the Palkinsky region, 6 km southeast of the village of Palkino, on the shores of the small lake Belaya Struga. This lake is connected with the Great River Struglitsa. Here, on the sandy hills, an archaeological expedition led by N.N. Turin discovered Mesolithic tools made of flint .

    Why are there no Mesolithic sites in the southern regions of the Pskov region, well studied by archaeologists? Perhaps such an explanation: in the VII - VI millennia BC. e. the climate changed, the lakes became shallow, and people either left their usual habitats or moved closer to the water. Later, when the reservoirs flooded again, the Mesolithic sites were flooded and are now under water. Therefore, in the Kuninsky, Nevelsky and some other southern regions of the Pskov region, only isolated finds of Mesolithic tools made of stone and bone are known.

    Archaeologists have studied in detail the settlements of the Neolithic era. A gradual transition to a new era begins in the 5th millennium BC. e. In general, the Neolithic period takes about four millennia and includes the II millennium BC.

    During the Neolithic period, ceramics appeared in the south of the Pskov region, new, more advanced methods of stone processing were used in the manufacture of tools - sawing, grinding, drilling. A feature of the economy of the ancient population is the domination of appropriating industries - hunting, fishing, gathering. According to the famous archaeologist A.M. Miklyaev, this was due to the fact that the south of the modern Pskov region in the Neolithic time was very rich in animals, fish, and various vegetation. Only at the end of this era there were signs of a transition to a productive economy - the breeding of domestic animals.

    Of the Neolithic sites, those that are attributed by archaeologists to the Middle (developed) Neolithic period (end of the 4th - 3rd millennium BC) are especially interesting. These settlements are located near Usvyat, near the village of Naumove (Kunyinsky district), near the village of Dubokrai (Nevelsky district), as well as in some other places. The climate during this period was very warm and dry. The level of reservoirs dropped by 2 - 3 m. The sites were located near the water, and then, when lakes and rivers flooded, these places turned into swamps. Therefore, archaeologists sometimes call these sites peat bogs: the layers associated with the life of people in these places are covered with peat.

    The Usvyaty IV camp is located on a low promontory near the northern shore of Lake Usvyatskoye. It was excavated by archaeologists in the 60s. It was very difficult to excavate, because the layers of the Neolithic time were located 10 cm below the current water level in the lake and the excavation was constantly flooded with water. At this site, archaeologists managed to study the remains of dwellings. These were pile structures. Directly in the coastal part of the lake, where the depth ranged from 30 to 70-80 cm, piles were made of pine and oak logs with pointed ends. They served as the basis for the log flooring on which the houses were erected. On average, from 100 to 150 people lived in a pile settlement like Usvyatsky. At the site of Usvyaty IV, a huge number of bones of fish, birds, wild animals, shells of hazelnuts, acorns were found. There are many fragments of ceramic vessels, as well as stone and bone tools.

    A little later than the settlement at Lake Usvyatskoye, a camp arose near the village of Naumove (Kunyinsky District). It was studied by archaeologists in the first half of the 70s. The people who lived in this settlement were engaged in hunting, fishing, gathering. Only at the end of the III millennium BC. e. here they begin to breed domestic animals - cows, goats, sheep, pigs.

    Lake pile settlements are also known in Central Europe, for example, in Switzerland, in South-West Germany. But there the Neolithic population was already engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. In an effort to preserve more areas suitable for farming and livestock raising, people built pile dwellings in the coastal part of the lakes. The appearance of pile settlements in the southern districts of the modern Pskov region should find another explanation. Maybe their inhabitants wanted to protect themselves from the attacks of numerous forest animals?

    In the II millennium BC. e. the climate changed dramatically, it became colder and drier. In the middle of this millennium, in addition, the water level in rivers and lakes rose. The pile settlements were flooded. The water level in the reservoirs of the southern regions of the modern Pskov region became by the end of the II millennium BC. e. about the same as at present. The inhabitants of the pile settlements began to live on the high shores of lakes and rivers, the construction of dwellings on piles ceased. Climate change has brought about important shifts in the economy. The importance of cattle breeding has increased: a large share of the collected during archaeological excavations in settlements of the 2nd millennium BC. e. bones of animals already make up bones of domestic animals (from 1/7 to 1/3 at different sites of the late Neolithic). Archaeologists believe that the Late Neolithic settlements discovered in the basin of the Western Dvina and Lovati were left by a population akin to that which spread at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. throughout Northern Europe, from Jutland to the Volga. The characteristic features of these archaeological cultures are pottery decorated with rope (cord) prints and stone boat-shaped battle axes.

    Finds dating back to the Neolithic era are known not only in the south of the Pskov region. Thus, flint tools and fragments of ceramics decorated with imprints of a comb were found near Izborsk, near the village of Lezga on the left bank of the Bdekhi River (Pechora region). Apparently, in the Neolithic time, the territory of our region was already completely inhabited.

    The transition to the Iron Age begins at the end of the 2nd - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. During this period, tools made of flint were still used. But gradually objects made of iron and traces of iron-working production begin to be found in the settlements: slags, remnants of forges.

    In the 1st millennium BC. e. fortified settlements appeared - fortified settlements. People choose high hills for settlements. The dwellings that are built on these hills are protected by earthen defensive structures- shafts. Often a ditch is dug in front of the shaft. In the south of the Pskov region, in Northern Belarus, in the Smolensk region, there are many such settlements left by a related population.

    Important changes are taking place in economic life. 1st millennium BC e. - the era of the manufacturing economy. The leading role belongs to cattle breeding. So, at the Mikhailovskoe settlement, located at the confluence of the Visech River into Lake Zhizhitskoe (Kunyinsky district), already 3/4 of the bones of animals found during excavations belong to domestic animals, and 2/3 of them are from cattle. Livestock grazed on rich floodplain meadows, along the banks of rivers and lakes. Hunting and gathering still retained an important place in the economy. It is possible that the inhabitants of the settlements were also engaged in agriculture. Archaeologists believe that in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. and in the first half of the 1st millennium A.D. e. handicrafts gradually emerged. It is known that in this era iron was mined from bog ore, and blacksmiths made tools and weapons from it. There are traces of iron production in many places. It is known, for example, the settlement of Chornaya Gora near Sebezh.

    Excavations of settlements of the early Iron Age (I millennium BC - first centuries AD) were carried out in almost all areas of the southern part of the Pskov region.

    In the works of archaeologists, settlements are characterized near the village of Anashkino (on the shores of the bay of Lake Zhizhytskoye in the Kuninsky district), near the village of Nespo (on a sandy hill on the right bank of the Nespitsa River at its source from Lake Nespo in the Usvyatsky district), near the village of Rudnya (on Lake Uritskoye in Velikolukskoye district), near the village of Staroselie (on the shores of Lake Dvinye in the Kunyinsky district), near the village of Osyno (Sebezhsky district) and others.

    Why did the inhabitants of the Pskov Territory begin to live in fortified settlements? First, they defended themselves against probable enemy attacks. Secondly, it was important to preserve areas convenient for cattle breeding and farming along the banks of rivers and lakes.

    What languages ​​did they speak ancient population the edges? After all, the Slavs appeared here no earlier than the middle of the 1st millennium A.D. e., i.e. in the VI - VII centuries. Moreover, many archaeologists believe that the resettlement of the Slavs-Krivichi along the shores of Velikaya, in the basin of the Pskov-Peipsi Lake, on Lovati took place even later, in the VIII-IX centuries. In the southern regions of the modern Pskov region, before the Slavs, the Balts lived, akin to modern Latvians and Lithuanians. In this part of the region, many geographical names originating from the language of the ancient Balts. This language began to take shape back in the II millennium BC. e. The central and northern regions of the Pskov Territory were inhabited by the Baltic-Finnish tribes, akin to modern Estonians. Now the descendants of the ancient Baltic-Finnish tribes - Setos live in the Pechora region. In Russian chronicles, these tribes are called Chudyu, hence the name of Lake Peipsi.

    "The Pskov Territory in the History of Russia". - Pskov, 1994