East Slavic tribes before the formation of Kievan Rus, their origin, customs and way of life

Many historians today are concerned about the origin of the Eastern Slavs. Modern science can not answer the question, when exactly the Slavic nation was born and where its roots come from. Our knowledge of the possible ancestors of Russian people is limited to 4-5 centuries of our era, a time when the Slavs have already settled the territory from the Black to the Baltic Sea.

According to the theory of some historians, the ancient Slavic tribes formed their first state in 622 on the territory of modern Bohemia, called Moravia at that time. By the eighth century they had settled the territory of the Balkans. At the same time, the tribes of the Eastern Slavs set off to conquer the lands, which later received the name of Kievan Rus. By the way, some scholars associate the birth of the Slavic people directly with Trypillian civilization. Tripolye is considered one of the earliest centers of human development. There was a given state at the turn of the 3-4 millennium BC. On the territory of modern Ukraine. Therefore, it is quite natural to regard this people as an ancestor of Ukrainians. However, this issue is very controversial. The origin of the Slavs from the Trypillians has not been proven to date.

The ancient East Slavic tribes were very numerous. The name of most of them comes from the place of their main residence. Bright representatives of the Eastern Slavs are Vyatichi, Buzhany, Dregovichi, Drevlyane, Krivichi, Glade, Northerners, Tivertsy, Ulitsa, etc. These peoples were settled from south to north between the two seas (Baltic and Black) and very often fought among themselves.

The first East Slavic tribes settled on the shores of lakes and rivers. So, the Buzhans occupied the banks of the Bug River, where, in fact, their name came from, the Volhynians occupied the territories located at the sources of Pripyat, the Vyatichi lived on the banks of the Oka and Moscow rivers . Slavs led a sedentary lifestyle and initially settled in dugouts - dwellings similar to the burrows of some animals, then they began to build wooden houses for their residence. In the center of these dwellings a hearth was built, the smoke from which went out through the hole in the roof. Near each house there were necessarily additional wattle constructions. For greater security, the Slavs united their houses (5-6 each) and updated them along the perimeter with an earthen rampart.

The main occupation, through which the East Slavic tribes survived, was farming. Cultivation of the land allowed them to grow a crop of wheat, rye, barley, turnip, cabbage, which did not allow to die of hunger in the cold season. It is also known that the Slavs actively cultivated hemp and flax. Depending on the place of residence, the East Slavic tribes were engaged in cattle breeding, beekeeping, hunting and fishing.

As for the spiritual component of life, our ancestors worshiped the forces of nature. All the Eastern Slavic tribes preached paganism as their religion (until the 10th century). They were especially revered: the god of the Sun - Dazhdbog (in some tribes Horse, Yarilo), the god of the storm - Perun, the god of the sky - Svarog, the god of the wind - Stribog. The ancient Slavs believed that the souls of the dead people can return and wander in the living world, while accomplishing various atrocities. By the way, the heroes of many Russian folk tales came to us precisely from the beliefs of our ancestors. Slavs believed in the existence of mermaids (drowned women), woodpeckers (forest spirits), water (marshes and rivers spirits), kikimor (evil spirits dwellings). It was believed that to protect yourself from tricks of evil can be with the help of special amulets and amulets, which could be used as canines of animals, figurines carved from wood, dried bunches of plants, etc.

The basic customs and holidays of the Slavs are also directly related to the cult of nature. Their main holidays were the Carols (Christmas), Pancake week, Ivan Kupala, which reached us. Most of the customs and rites of the Eastern Slavic tribes were forgotten after they joined the Russian state and accepted Christianity, some of them preserved in the form of fairy tales and beliefs.