The Early Slavs : Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe

More than 270 million people in Europe speak one of the many Slavic languages and dialects, but the origins and development of Slavic culture are still among the most difficult problems facing archaeologists. P.M. Barford's book is a remarkably comprehensive and accessible synthesis of the most recent archaeological discoveries, linguistic research, and literary-historical evidence about the origins of the Slavs. Much of this evidence, gleaned in the wake of recent political changes in Eastern Europe, has been unavailable in English.During the early medieval period, the Slavs expanded from their original homeland in the Ukraine to colonize vast areas and to found most of the modern nations in Eastern Europe. With first-hand knowledge of the archaeology and other research, P. M. Barford vividly portrays daily life in Eastern Europe from the early fifth to the end of the tenth century A.D., a period of profound transformation. Barford's rich and accessible survey provides the latest thinking on issues central to ongoing and sometimes fierce debates about the origins of various Slavic nations. For example: Was the first Russian state Slavic or Scandinavian? Was the first Bulgarian Empire Turkic or Slavic? Newly compiled maps and a generous number of illustrations chart the main cultural changes that took place over six centuries in the Slavic regions of Europe. List of Maps I-XII ... vi Preface ... vii Chronological Summary ... xvi ◦ Introduction ... 1 — The sources ... 3 — The geographical background ... 20 ◦ 1. The Formation of a Slav Identity ... 27 — Who were the Early Slavs ... 27 — The crystallization of a Slav identity ... 35 ◦ 2. Expansion and Assimilation: the Sixth Century ... 45 — Phase I: c. 500-550 ... 47 — Phase II: c. 550-600 ... 55 ◦ 3. Consolidation and Social Change: the Seventh Century ... 67 — The reflux ... 80 — An end to austerity ... 82 ◦ 4. Decisive Decades: the Eighth and Ninth centuries ... 89 — The South Slavs and Byzantium ... 91 — The East Slavs ... 96 — The West Slavs ... 104 ◦ 5. Daily Life ... 113 — The people ... 113 — Dress and hygiene ... 115 — The family home ... 119 ◦ 6. The Order of Things: Social Structure ... 124 — Big men and chiefs ... 125 — Settlement patterns and social organization ... 129 — The role of the strongholds ... 131 — States and nations ... 133 ◦ 7. Warfare ... 139 — Inter-group skirmishes ... 140 — Organized force ... 142 — Military role of strongholds ... 144 — Imposition of will ... 147 — Prisoners of war ... 148 ◦ 8. Production, Consumption and Exchange ... 150 — Agricultural production ... 153 — Craft products ... 159 — The slave trade ... 166 — Trading places and production centres ... 167 — Trade routes ... 171 — The merchants ... 172 — Media of exchange ... 174 — The origin of towns ... 183 ◦ 9. Pagan Ideologies ... 188 — Demons and the spirit world ... 189 — The gods ... 193 — Burial rites ... 199 — Concepts of time ... 208 ◦ 10. Towards a Christian Europe ... 210 — Missionaries and bishops ... 213 — From pagan leaders to Christian princes ... 218 — Christianity and the people ... 223 ◦ 11. State-formation: the South and East Slavs ... 227 — The Bulgar khanate and its neighbours ... 227 — The Kievan state and its neighbours ... 232 ◦ 12. State-formation: the West Slavs ... 250 — The Bohemian (Czech) state ... 251 — Polabia and Pomerania ... 257 — Poland ... 261 ◦ 13. The Early Slavs and the Modern World ... 268 ◦ Notes ... 286 Select Bibliography ... 320 Figures and Maps ... 325 Index ... 406 "During the early medieval period the Slavs expanded from their original homeland to colonize vast areas and to found most of the modern nations in Eastern Europe. With first-hand knowledge of the archaeology and other sources, the author creates a vivid picture of daily life in early medieval Eastern Europe from the early fifth to the end of the tenth century AD, a period of profound transformation. The final chapter sets the early medieval developments into the perspective of the history and culture of modern Europe. A series of specially compiled maps chart the main cultural changes taking place over six centuries in this relatively unknown part of Europe."--Jacket