The Samara Territory, located on the border of forests and steppes on the banks of the great Volga River, has long attracted people. Here, for many millennia, tribes of different origins lived in close proximity.

The question of the time of the settlement of the Middle Volga region by man has not been finally resolved. There is reason to believe that this happened in the Acheulean era of the Early Paleolithic (Ancient Stone Age) more than 100 thousand years ago, since the natural conditions of the region were very favorable. The glacier never reached the limits of modern Samara region, and the transgression (level rise) of the Caspian Sea reached only its southern margin. The flora and fauna were very diverse. In different parts of the region, bones of extinct animals of the Ice Age are often found: mammoths, woolly rhinos, bison, wild horses, cave bears. Traces of the activities of the most ancient people were found in the foothills of the Northern and Middle Urals adjacent to the Volga region. Nevertheless, no Early Paleolithic site is still known in the Middle Volga region. The only find of this time is a flint tool, chipped on both sides, which in shape and manufacturing technique does not differ from the classic hand axes discovered by archaeologists in France and the Caucasus. It was found in 1913 in the vicinity of Samara, but, unfortunately, the exact location remains unknown.

Approximately 100 thousand years ago, the Early Paleolithic was replaced by the Middle; the Moustier era is attributed to it, the name of which comes from the La Moustier cave in France. The beginning of this epoch coincided with the warm Mikulino interglacial. Much more Mousterian monuments have been discovered than early Paleolithic ones. They are known in the Crimea, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Russian Plain and Siberia.

In the Lower Volga region, in the Volgograd region, the Sukhaya Mechetka site dating back to the Mousterian epoch was investigated. It is located on a high terrace on the right bank of the Volga. Parking area approx. 1000-1200 sq.m. Ancient fireplaces were examined here and about 800 stone items were found. Of particular interest are tools made of flint, quartzite, and outflow sandstone: two-sided cutters, leaf-shaped points, knives, scrapers, small points and beak-shaped tools. Site materials are similar to those found at Mousterian sites in the Crimea and on the Russian Plain. In addition to stone items, bone anvils, pieces of ocher and bones of large animals were found: mammoth, bison, wild horse and saiga.

Locations of flint tools of the Mousterian era were also discovered in the Middle Volga region: on the territory of the Samara, Ulyanovsk regions and Tatarstan. One of them was found on the Tunguz sand spit near the village of Khryashchevka, Stavropol District, Samara Region, on the left bank of the Volga near the mouth of the Cheremshan River. Here, since the 70s of the last century, bones of fossil animals of the Ice Age have been found: mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, bull, bison, wild horse, giant and reindeer. Primitive flint tools were found next to the bones: flakes, cores, and points. Two other sites of Middle Paleolithic tools were discovered near the village of Undory in the Ulyanovsk region and in the Krasnaya Glinka tract near the village of Bessonkovo ​​in the Tarkhan district of Tatarstan.

Of particular interest is a flint point found at the mouth of the Barbashin ravine near the Frunze Polyana pier, on the outskirts of Samara. It is identical to the guns found at the Dry Mechet site.

The main occupation of the people of the Mousterian era was driven hunting for large animals. Gathering played an important role in their lives. Neanderthals lived in small groups - primitive communities in caves and in open parking lots. They knew how to make fire, sew clothes, build dwellings from poles, bones and mammoth skins. This helped them not only survive in harsh conditions ice age, but also constantly move northward, developing new territories.

The beginning of the next era - the Late Paleolithic (40-14 thousand years ago) was marked by the formation of a person of the modern physical type and the emergence of the tribal system. At this time, the technique of processing stone and bone was being improved, housebuilding was developing, fishing appeared, the most ancient religious beliefs and primitive art were born.

The era of the Late (Upper) Paleolithic in the Samara Territory is represented by monuments located on the territory of Samara. In the Podpolshchikov Ravine, 11 sites for finds of Late Paleolithic tools have been discovered. Two sites at the mouth of the Podpol'shikov Ravine were investigated: Postnikov Ravine I and II. By the nature of the materials, they are close to the Late Paleolithic sites found on the territory of Tatarstan: Kamskoustinskaya and Syukeevsky Vvoz, which, in turn, are close to the Paleolithic sites of the Russian plain: Timonovskaya, Karacharovskaya, Borshevskaya II.

On the territory of the Central Park of Culture and Rest in Samara, a Late Paleolithic workshop for the manufacture of tools was opened. Another location of flint items and mammoth bones was found under the Voskresensky descent at the foot of the Glory Monument. Of great interest is the find of two harpoons near the village of Kravtsovo, Neftegorsk region. One harpoon is made of mammoth tusk, the other is made of deer horn. In terms of material and shape, they are close to the Late Paleolithic harpoons from Siberia and Western Europe.

Despite the fact that the Late Paleolithic era coincided with the last Valdai glaciation and the climate was harsh, the Samara region was inhabited by humans at that time.

About 13 thousand years ago, global warming began, which entailed significant changes in all elements natural environment... 10 thousand years ago, the Ice Age - the Pleistocene - was replaced by the Holocene - geological modernity. The retreat of the glacier and the reduction of the area occupied by it to the present size caused significant changes in the natural and geographical conditions, especially in Eastern Europe. The masses of water formed as a result of the melting of ice changed the outlines of the ancient seas, created a new relief, and transformed the direction of water flow. New rivers, river valleys, lakes of glacial origin were formed, vast areas were swamped.

Vegetation changed due to warming. Natural areas gradually took on a modern position. Cold steppes were replaced by birch, spruce, pine forests, to the south of them broad-leaved forests stretched, even south of the forest-steppe and steppe.

The change in vegetation affected the development of the animal world. Even at the end of the Late Paleolithic, mammoths, woolly rhinos, musk oxen, and bison died out or retreated to the north. The fauna has approached the modern one. Elk, roe deer, wild boars, wolves, bears, foxes, and hares are widespread. Waterfowl abounded in lakes and swamps.

The end of the Ice Age coincided with the formation of a new era in the history of human society: 10-12 thousand years ago, the Paleolithic was replaced by the Mesolithic era. Changing fauna made hunting difficult, as the surviving animals were fast-footed, careful and often non-greedy. The driven collective hunting of herd animals lost its significance, and the leading role was taken by individual roving hunting. Throwing weapons became widespread: a spear thrown with the help of a spear thrower invented in the Late Paleolithic, and a bow and arrows that appeared in the Mesolithic. These tools made it possible to hunt small animals and birds. The role of fishing has increased, its techniques and tools have improved. The importance of gathering food and edible molluscs continued to be of great importance. The first attempts at domestication of animals and the first steps in the field of agriculture in the southern regions of Eurasia date from the Mesolithic era.

With the change in the economy, the way of life also changed. The life of Mesolithic hunters and fishermen becomes mobile: in search of prey, habitats often change. Therefore, the cultural layer of the Mesolithic sites is usually thin, and in terms of area they are inferior to the Late Paleolithic ones, apparently because communities are fragmented in the Mesolithic.

During the Mesolithic era, the improvement of stone processing techniques continued. Elongated knife-like plates, including very small ones called microlites, are widespread. They were inserted into the grooves of wooden or bone rods and served as the blades of knives and daggers. Arrowheads, end-scrapers, cutters and other tools were made from flint plates.

In the Samara region, about a dozen Mesolithic sites are currently known: Voskresenskaya, Monastyrskiy khutor, Konovalovskaya, Nemchanskaya, Nurskaya, Krasnoyarsk, Podgorskaya and Postnikov Ovrag III. Almost all of them were located on the dunes, near the rivers - the left tributaries of the Volga. The proximity of the camps to the water indicates the fishing predilections of their inhabitants. Most of the sites in the Samara Volga region belong to the 7th-6th millennia BC. The oldest of the Postnikov sites, Ravine III, was found on the territory of Samara. Large knife-like blades and cores were found here, but a significant number of tools were made on flakes. The nature of the items testifies to the preservation of the Late Paleolithic traditions.

During the Mesolithic era, the Samara Territory was a zone of contacts between groups of population of different origins. The sites of the Samara basin (Zakhar-Kalma, Nemchanskaya, Konovalovskaya, etc.) are characterized by the microlithic character of the tools; there are pencil-shaped cores, small knife-like blades, scrapers, scrapers and microliths of geometric shapes. These findings have many features in common with the materials of the Mesolithic sites of the more southern steppe and semi-desert regions of the Northern Caspian region.

The southern Caspian tribes apparently took part in the formation of the culture of dune sites on the Samara River. Their influence is felt in a later epoch: in the Neolithic, as in the Mesolithic, two main cultural communities can be traced in the Samara Territory - the southern one, with ceramics decorated with pierced-pricked ornamentation, and the northern, in which ceramics with comb ornamentation prevails. Another group of sites (Postnikov Ovrag III, Staro-Tokskaya on the Tok River, the right tributary of the Samara River in the west of the Orenburg region) is similar in materials to the Mesolithic sites of the Southern Urals, which may indicate the Ural origin of the inhabitants of these sites. In general, the Mesolithic of the Samara Territory has been poorly studied and answers to many questions of the history of the Mesolithic tribes have yet to be found.

The Neolithic, the last stage of the Stone Age, dates back to the UNU millennium BC. In this era, a number of significant changes took place in the economy and the technique of making tools. Agriculture and cattle breeding are developing in the southern regions of Eurasia. Along with the traditional methods of stone processing by chipping and retouching, new methods are spreading: grinding, drilling and sawing. Axes, adzes, chisels appear, which contributes to a more perfect processing of wood. An important achievement of the Neolithic is the ubiquitous pottery making and weaving; this era corresponds to the late clan community.

A number of Neolithic sites are known in the Samara River basin: Vilovatovskaya, Maksimovskaya, Bolshoy and Maly Shikhany in the Bogatovsky district of the Samara region, Ivanovskaya and Staro-Elshanskaya in the west of the Orenburg region. As a result of the study of these sites, it was possible to trace the main stages of the development of the Neolithic cultures of the Samara region. "

By the beginning of the Neolithic, there are monuments of the Elshan type, named after the Staro-Elshan site in the Buzuluk district of the Orenburg region. Within the Samara region, the Yelshan type ceramics are presented at the sites of the Samara River basin. These are weakly profiled vessels with a pointed bottom, usually without ornamentation; only some of them have pits or carved lines. Silicon microlitoid objects made on plates are associated with the Elshan ceramics complex. Of particular interest are the horned trapeziums, which are very characteristic of the Aral Sea region. The vessels of the Elshan type are similar to the ceramics of the Caspian and Aral regions. This proximity of the materials of the Elshan sites to the Caspian and Aral sites testifies to the close cultural ties of the population of these regions, and, possibly, to the migration of southern tribes to the forest-steppe Volga region, however, the Mesolithic tribes were the basis for the formation of the culture of the Elshan-type monuments.

Elshan tribes lived in the Samara region in the 6th millennium BC, when Mesolithic communities still lived in the more northern regions of the Middle Volga region.

At the next stage of the Neolithic, in the forest-steppe Volga region, monuments with ceramics with carved-pricked ornamentation appeared. The population to which it belonged, apparently, is genetically related to the tribes that left the monuments of the Elshan type. Ceramics with prickly ornaments are presented on the dunes: Zakhar-Kalma, Vilovatovskaya, Maksimovskaya, Ivanovskaya, Bolshoy and Maly Shikhany. These sites belong to the Volga-Kama Neolithic culture, which is part of a vast zone of cultures with prickly ceramics, covering the forest-steppe of Eurasia from the Dnieper to the Caspian Sea. This zone, along with the Volga-Kama, included the Caspian, Seroglaz, Rakushechno-Yarsk and Sursk Neolithic cultures. The tribes of these cultures were already familiar with animal husbandry and agriculture. The basis for the addition of cultures with pricked ornamentation could be Mesolithic cultures with microlithic blade tools.

To the north of the region where the Volga-Kama culture with pricked ceramics was spread, the region of the tribes of the Kama culture with ceramics decorated with comb patterns extended. These tribes maintained close contacts with their southern neighbors and, perhaps, sometimes lived with them in the same settlements, this explains the coexistence of ceramics with both comb and prickly ornamentation at the sites of the Samara River - Vilovatovskaya, Maksimovskaya, Ivanovskaya.

In this way. In the developed Neolithic era, the Samara Territory was the borderland of two large cultural communities - the northern Kama and the more southern Volga-Kama.

At the turn of the 5th and 4th millennia BC. man learned to process copper. Since that time, a new era begins - the Eneolithic. In the early Eneolithic era, tribes of the Samara culture lived on the territory of the Lower and southern parts of the Middle Volga region, which received its name from the Samara River, where the first monument of this era was studied - a burial ground near the village of Sezzhee, Bogatovsky District, Samara Region. The Samara culture is characterized by a burial ritual without a burial. The dead were placed in the graves in an extended position on their backs, sprinkled with red paint - ocher, and accompanied by rich burial implements: polished stone adzes, chisels, flint knives, bone daggers, bone ornaments, boar tusks, and shells. Near one of the graves on the sacrificial site were two horse skulls, crushed vessels and a bone harpoon.

A characteristic feature of the vessels is a thickening at the rim - the so-called "collar" and a rich ornament consisting of waves, zigzags, ovals, applied with a jagged or smooth stamp. Fragments of such vessels were found at the Vilovatovskaya, Maksimovskaya, Ivanovskaya sites on the Samara River, as well as at the Belozerskaya site in the Krasnoyarsk District of the Samara Region.

The tribes of the Samara culture were sedentary. Their small villages were located on the sandy coastal dunes in the floodplains of rivers. The basis of the economy of the tribes of the Samara culture was cattle breeding. This is evidenced by the finds of horse skulls on the sacrificial site in the burial ground near the village of Sezzhee, bone pendants - figurines of a horse and a two-headed bull found in burials, as well as animal bones at sites in layers with ceramics of the Samara culture. Bone analysis indicates a particularly important role for horse breeding. There is reason to believe that the tribes of the Samara culture were familiar with agriculture and mastered the methods of metal processing.

The burial ground near the village of Sezzhe dates back to the first half of the 4th millennium BC. It is still impossible to accurately determine the boundaries of the Samara culture due to insufficient knowledge of the Eneolithic of the Urals, Western Kazakhstan, the Lower Volga region and the Volga-Don Mesopotamia. At the sites of the Lower Don and the Caspian region, vessels were found that are close to the ceramics of the Samara culture.

To the south and west of the Samara culture lived the tribes of the Caspian, Lower Don, Azov-Dnieper Eneolithic cultures, which together with it constituted a vast historical and cultural region, named Mariupol after the most explored burial ground in the Azov city of Mariupol. The similarity of these cultures is due to close contacts, as well as the movement of the population along the steppe zone, which is associated with the development of cattle breeding and copper metallurgy. The formation of large cultural communities was facilitated by the similarity of natural conditions and forms of economy. Despite the territorial remoteness of the Samara culture from the Mariupol burial ground, one cannot fail to note common features in their burial ritual and material culture.

To the north of the Samara culture, the tribes of the Kama Neolithic culture lived, the level of development of which was much lower than that of their southern neighbors: they did not know cattle breeding, agriculture and copper metallurgy.

The question of the origin of the Samara culture has not yet been finally resolved, but there is reason to believe that the tribes of the Seroglaz culture of the Northern Caspian region and the forest-steppe Neolithic population, which belonged to cultures with comb ceramics, took part in its formation.

The next stage in the development of the Chalcolithic on the territory of the Samara Territory dates back to the second half of the 4th millennium BC. It is represented by a burial near the village of Krivoluchye on the Chagra River. The deceased lay on his back with bent legs, was sprinkled with ocher and was accompanied by six stone darts, scrapers, a drilled stone ax, two stone bracelets, beads, piercings and pendants made of bone, animal teeth and shells. This burial is close in ritual and inventory to the burials of the Khvalynsky burial ground in the Saratov region, from which the Khvalyn culture of the developed Eneolithic era (second half of the 4th millennium BC) was named. The tribes of this culture were engaged in cattle breeding and were familiar with copper metallurgy. Khvalynskaya culture was formed on the basis of the Samara and Caspian cultures of the early Eneolithic era.

In the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. the tribes of the forest-steppe and steppe zones of Eurasia entered the Bronze Age. In the second half of this millennium, vast areas from the Urals in the east to the Dniester in the west, from the borders of the forest zone in the north to the Black and Caspian Seas in the south were occupied by the tribes of the Yamna cultural and historical community, in which 9 local cultures stand out. The Middle Volga region was part of the Volga-Ural Yamnaya culture, which was formed on the basis of the Khvalynian Eneolithic culture.

The main branch of the economy of the Yamnaya culture tribes was cattle breeding. They raised horses, cattle and small ruminants. Bulls were used as transport animals. Bull carts appeared in the southern Russian steppes from the Dnieper to the Urals in the 3rd millennium BC. In the Volga and Ural regions, the settlements of the Yamnaya culture are unknown, since the life of the tribes, apparently, was nomadic. The transition to a nomadic lifestyle was due to a number of reasons, first of all, the change of the warm and humid Atlantic period to the drier subboreal period. At this time, the steppes moved northward. With the growth of the livestock population, the need for fodder increased, while the steppe vegetation became increasingly scarce due to climate change. The need for pastures led to frequent changes in habitats. In winter, the cattle had to be driven south, to the lower reaches of the Volga and the Urals, where the snow cover was less abundant and the animals got their food from under the snow. In the west, in the Northern Black Sea region and the Dnieper region, due to the milder and humid climate, the tribes of the Yamnaya culture led a sedentary lifestyle and, along with cattle breeding, switched to agriculture. The tribes of the Yamnaya culture were familiar with metal and used tools made of metallurgically pure copper: knives, awls, adzes.

Among the tribes of the Yamnaya cultural and historical community, there was a process of disintegration of the clan system. Archaeological materials testify to the identification of powerful tribal leaders. In the Neftegorsk district of the Samara region, the Utevsky I burial mound was investigated, dating back to the end of the 3rd - the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. It consisted of four mounds, one of which, the largest, belongs to the Yamnaya culture. Under the mound, in the grave pit, lay the skeleton of a man, accompanied by a set of copper items, gold earrings, a stone pestle and a large vessel. An article made of meteorite iron was found in the grave. Finds of items made of copper, gold, and especially valued meteorite iron, the grandiose size of the burial mound and the burial pit - all testify to the fact that the buried person belongs to the tribal elite of the Yamnaya culture society.

Along with the grandiose mounds of tribal leaders in the Middle Volga region, mounds of ordinary members of society are known. They, as a rule, are small in size and poor in grave goods. With the deceased in the graves, there are single clay vessels, occasionally small copper items: knives or awls. Such mounds were discovered near the villages of Pokrovka, Vladimirovka, Kashpir, Lopatino.

The decomposition of the tribal system and frequent military clashes is evidenced by the presence of fortified settlements among the Dnieper group of tribes of the Yamnaya culture: the Mikhailovskoye settlement in the Lower Dnieper region was surrounded by ditches and stone walls up to 3 m high.The language of the tribes of the Yamnaya culture belonged to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.

At the turn of the III-II millennium BC. The Yamnaya culture of the Volga-Ural region is experiencing the ever-increasing influence of the tribes of the catacomb culture, who penetrated from the right bank of the Volga into the Trans-Volga steppes. As a result, a new culture was formed, which was named after the village of Poltavka in the Saratov region, where the burials of this era were first studied. According to a number of researchers, the Poltava culture spread not only in the Lower Volga region, but also in the Southern Urals and Western Kazakhstan.

The basis of the economy of the Poltava tribes was cattle breeding. They led a very mobile lifestyle, their settlements are few in number and thin-layered. The culture was studied mainly on the basis of burials under the mounds, which were also found on the territory of the Samara region: near the villages of Utevka, Vladimirovka, Abashevo, Prepolovenka and near the village of Kashpir. Like the tribes of the Yamnaya culture, the Poltavkinians have a very noticeable property and social stratification. Along with the poor burials of ordinary members of society, there are huge burial mounds of the tribal nobility. In the above-mentioned Utevsky I burial ground, three burial mounds belonged to the Poltavkin culture. In the burials of one of these mounds, copper and silver items were found, the other two mounds were plundered in antiquity.

The tribes of the Poltava culture were familiar with metallurgy. It developed on the basis of the local cuprous sandstones of the Volga region. The products of the Yamno-Poltavkinsky metallurgical center are found in the Lower and Middle Volga regions and on the Don. In a burial mound near the village of Kalinovka, Volgograd Region, the burial of a caster with molds for casting axes, crucibles, tube nozzles and other items related to metallurgy was found. In the Poltava burials, copper tools are often found: knives, awls, etc.

In the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. on the territory of the Lower and Middle Volga regions, another group of tribes lived, which led a sedentary lifestyle. The basis of their economy was hoe farming and pastoralism. The settlements of this group of tribes were located on the hills and high capes near the Volga: on the top of Tsarev Kurgan, near the village of Lbische, the village of Vinnovka in the Samara region, on the Stenka Razin cliff in the Saratov region. The danger of an attack from the steppe neighbors forced them to settle in hard-to-reach places, protected by nature itself. This type of settlement was named Lbischensko-Volsky.

Judging by the settlement near the village of Lbische studied in the Samara region, stone axes, hoes, maces, arrowheads, grain graters, and pestles were widespread in the life of its inhabitants. Bronze tools were also used: knives, adzes, fish hooks.

Due to the poor knowledge of the Lbische-Volsk settlements, the question of the origin and further fate of their inhabitants is still open.

In the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. On the territory of the Middle Volga region, tribes of the Abashev culture lived, occupying a vast area of ​​the forest-steppe from the Middle Don in the west to the Trans-Urals in the east. The culture got its name from the burial mound near the village of Abashevo in Chuvashia, investigated in 1925 by VF Smolin. Settlements of the Abashev culture have also been opened on the territory of the Samara region: Surush in the Isaklinsky district, Krasnye Peski, Tochka and Glubokoe lake in the Pokhvistnevsky district. The Abashevskoe burial was found in one of the burial mounds of the VI Utevsky burial ground in the Neftegorsky district.

The basis of the economy of the tribes of the Abashev culture was cattle breeding and agriculture. The Abashevites bred large and small cattle, pigs and horses, cultivated wheat, millet and other cereals. In the settlements, there are hoes, bronze sickles, grain graters and pestles.

The Abashev tribes of the southern Urals owned copper mines, so metallurgy reached a high level of development among them: traces of metallurgical production were found at the Balanbash settlement in Bashkiria and in other Abashev settlements. The Abashevites knew not only copper and bronze, but also gold and silver.

The question of the origin of the Abashev cultural and historical community has not been finally resolved. Some researchers believe that it was formed on the Don, others suggest that in the South Urals. There is a point of view about its genetic relationship with the Yamnaya culture. The further historical destinies of the tribes of the Abashev culture are also not entirely clear. There is reason to believe that the Abashev tribes, along with the population of the Poltava culture, took part in the formation of the Timber culture of the Late Bronze Age.

In the last decade, in the Samara region, another type of monuments has been identified, which was named Potapovsky after the most studied burial ground near the village of Potapovka, Krasnoyarsk region. Along with it, the Utevsky VI, Davydovsky, Lopatinsky II burial mounds were investigated. More than 50 burials have been identified in them; under each burial mound there are from 1 to 15 burials. The largest burial pit with a double or triple burial is usually located in the center of the mound. The rest of the burials are around her or in a row with her. The dead were placed in the grave in a crouched position on their left side or stretched out on their backs. In all burials, there are skulls and limb bones of sacrificed domestic animals: horses, cattle and small ruminants. Two burnt horse skeletons lay under the mound of one of the burial mounds of the Utevsky VI burial ground. The buried were accompanied by earthenware and metal products: knives, awls, adzes, bracelets, temple pendants, plaques, copper beads. Most of these items are made of copper from the Ural and Priuralsky deposits; there are also items made of copper sandstone from the Volga region. The burials contained flint arrowheads and bone disc-shaped cheekpieces.

Settlements of the Potapov type are still unknown. The burial rite and the inventory of the kurgans make it possible to attribute these finds to the range of Sintashta-type monuments of the Ural-Kazakhstan region, which, in the opinion of most researchers, belonged to the ancient Indo-Iranians. The level of development of these tribes was very high. In the Chelyabinsk Region, a number of their fortified settlements - fortresses - were opened, the area of ​​which exceeded 2 thousand square meters. The fortification system consisted of ramparts and ditches up to 3 m deep.

The cemeteries of the Potapov and Sintashta types are distinguished by the richness of burial implements and by the presence of the remains of sacrificial animals under the mounds. In the burial ground, on the Sintashta River, the remains of ancient chariots, a large number of weapons and clay vessels were found. The economy of these tribes was based on cattle breeding. Metallurgy has reached a high level of development. In connection with the sharp increase in labor productivity, the process of social stratification has accelerated. The military nobility stood out, who owned the rich burials, accompanied by sets of weapons, and sometimes chariots.

Srubnaya cultural and historical community was formed in the Lower and Middle Volga regions by the 16th century BC. with the participation of the Poltava, Abashev, Lbischen-Volsk and Potapov tribes. A well-known influence on its appearance was exerted by the Western culture of multi-roll ceramics. As a result of the rapid population growth, the tribes of the Timber culture quickly spread east to the Belaya River and west to the Dnieper and Dniester rivers, north to the Trans-Kama and Volga-Oka interfluves. In the Middle and Lower Volga regions, the population density at that time was higher than in any other era, excluding, of course, the modern one.

Srubnaya cultural and historical community, one of the most extensive in the Late Bronze Age, is represented by a huge number of burial mounds and settlements. The settlements of the Timber tribes were usually located on the low banks of rivers and streams, often in groups at a short distance from each other. The settlement usually consisted of one or more dwellings surrounded by utility pits, buildings, hearths and wells. The dwellings studied at the Kirov, Shigonsky and Shelekhmet settlements are divided into ground and semi-earthen, the base of which is deepened into the soil up to 1 m. The gable roofs of the dwellings rested on 2 rows of pillars running parallel to the long walls. The area of ​​one such dwelling sometimes reached 120-150 sq.m.

The basis of the economy of the Timber tribes was cattle breeding of the shepherd type. Bred cattle and small ruminants, horses and pigs. The cattle were grazed on flood meadows in summer and kept in stalls in winter. Agriculture, the cultivation of cereals played a lesser role. The harvest was harvested with sickles; stone grain grinders and mortars were used to grind the grains. Hunting, fishing and gathering were of secondary importance for the economy.

The metallurgy of copper and bronze was further developed. The tribes of the Srubna culture used imported raw materials, and also developed cuprous sandstones of the Middle Volga region. In the Pestravsky district of the Samara region at the Mikhailo-Ovsyansky settlement, deep mines for the extraction of copper ore have been investigated. Pits for melting copper were found in a neighboring settlement. The high development of metallurgy is evidenced by numerous finds of bronze tools: knives, sickles, adzes, awls, as well as jewelry.

Among the tribes of the Srubna culture, the rite of burial under barrow embankments prevailed; barrow-free burial grounds are less common. At the early stage of the Srubna culture, one, sometimes two, burials were traditionally performed under the burial mound. The large graves contained many objects and skeletons of sacrificial animals, in particular horses. Of the things in burials, weapons are usually found: daggers, axes, arrowheads. Apparently, these are the burials of military leaders. Sometimes, under the mound, large graves are found, but without the remains of those buried, these are the so-called cenotaphs: mounds poured in honor of soldiers who died in a foreign land during distant campaigns.

At a later time, the number of burials under the burial mound increased to several dozen, for example, near the village of Kaibela in the Ulyanovsk region, about 100 people were buried in this way. With the development of religious ideas, the funeral rite changes: the burial grounds of the developed Srubna culture, as a rule, are rather poor and are accompanied only by clay vessels. The lack of weapons in the burials may be explained by the calmer situation during this period. It is important to note that in the Timber culture, along with the corpse ceremony, the corpse burning rite was widespread, probably associated with the development of the cult of fire. The combination of the two burial rites can be explained by the different social status of the buried.

The tribes of the Srubnaya culture maintained close contacts with their eastern neighbors - the tribes of the Alakul culture, who owned copper and tin deposits in the Southern Urals and Kazakhstan, from which they received raw materials and finished bronze products. At the log settlements, ceramics of the Alakul tribes of the Southern Urals are often found. The tribes of the Srubnaya culture are classified as Caucasians by physical type, and Indo-Iranians by language.

In the final period of the Bronze Age, in the second half of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, descendants of the Srubnaya culture tribes lived on the territory of the steppe regions of the Middle Volga region and the Urals, who owned the Ivanovo-type settlements, named after the studied settlement near the village of Ivanovka, Saratov region ...

Inhabitants of the Ivanovo type settlements made vessels with molded rollers below the rim. Monuments of the Ivanovo type are distributed mainly in the steppe regions. They are part of a wide range of cultures with roll ceramics, stretching from the Danube to Eastern Kazakhstan and Altai. The settlements of the Ivanovo type were studied by Samara archaeologists near the villages of Yakovka, Maksimovka, Grigorievka, as well as within the boundaries of Samara: in the Podpolshchikov Ravine and near Brick Sarayev.

The economic foundation of the Ivanovo tribes was cattle breeding and agriculture. In the settlements, there are animal bones and tools associated with agriculture: mowers, sickles, stone grain grinders.

In the forest-steppe regions of the Middle Volga region, a group of monuments of the Suskan type has been identified, named after the most studied settlement on the Suskan River in the Stavropol region. They arose as a result of the movement of tribes of the Andronovo culture from the Trans-Urals, Western Siberia and Kazakhstan to the forest-steppe Middle Volga region. The newcomers settled along the Volga tributaries: Soka, Kinel, Kondurche, Cheremshan and Samara, mixing with the local Timber population. Their settlements were studied: Suskanskoe I, Russkaya Selitba, Chesnokovskoe I, Lebyazhinskoe I. In the culture of the Suskan tribes, eastern Andronovo traditions were clearly manifested, especially clearly visible in ceramics. The metalworking of the Suskan tribes is different from the previous log cabin. Completely new types of bronze tools appeared: socket chisels, socket arrowheads, sickles. Many of them are made of metal of Ural origin. Bone and horn tools are widely used. Monuments of the Suskan type date back to the XIV-XII centuries. BC.

In the forest zone of the Volga and Ural regions at that time there lived tribes of the Prikazan culture, the southernmost monument of which is located in the Samara region - the settlement of Grivka in the Pokhvistnevsky district. In the 1st millennium BC. on the basis of the Prikazan culture, an extensive Ananyin cultural and historical community was formed.

Thus, in the XIV-XII centuries. BC. In the Samara Volga region, at least three groups of the population, different in origin, lived: people from the steppes, the forest-steppe Trans-Urals and the forest Volga-Kama, and each of these groups retained its specific characteristics.

The period of transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age has been least studied. In the steppe regions of the Samara region, on the dunes near the villages of Tsarevshchina, Belozerka, Tolkai, Borskoye, Nemchanka, Konovalovka, Sezzhee, Maksimovka, fragments of rough vessels with notches on the rims are found. This type of ceramics was named Nur by the dune near the village of Nur, where it was first found. It is not yet possible to accurately date the ceramics of the Nur type, only the similarity with the ceramics of the Savromat monuments allows us to attribute it to the very end of the Bronze Age, to the time of the formation of the Savromat culture.

The invention of a method for obtaining iron from ores was one of the most important discoveries in the history of mankind, it made a real revolution in the economy and technology. "Iron made possible field cultivation on larger sites, clearing forest areas for arable land, it gave the artisan tools of such hardness and sharpness that none of the metals known then could withstand."

For the first time on the territory of Eurasia, iron appeared in Transcaucasia in the X1-X centuries. BC. It became widespread in Eastern Europe three or two centuries later. Iron tools quickly supplanted stone and bronze ones. Metallurgy and metalworking, earlier than other industries, separated into crafts.

The spread of iron contributed to the acceleration of the rate of decomposition of the primitive communal system. The onset of the Iron Age coincided with the transition of the pastoral pastoralist and agricultural tribes that lived in the steppes of Eurasia from the Danube in the west to Mongolia in the east, to a semi-nomadic way of life. This process began in the Bronze Age, but was completed only by the end of the 8th century. BC. Not only the internal development of the steppe population, but also the drying up of the steppes due to gradual climate change contributed to the establishment of nomadic cattle breeding. At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. under the influence of economic shifts unknown today, as well as due to the limited possibility of obtaining a surplus product, the complex pastoral-agricultural economy could not satisfy the needs of the ever-growing population. The constant search for new pastures led to frequent military clashes, the emergence of large alliances of tribes, designed to resist numerous opponents.

In the era of the early Iron Age, tribes of the Scythians and Savromats, related by origin, lived in the southern Russian steppes, whose languages ​​belonged to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. The Scythians lived to the west of the Don, the Savromats to the east.

The Savromat culture took shape by the end of the 7th century. BC. on the territory of the Volga-Don interfluve, Trans-Volga, Southern Urals and Western Kazakhstan. Numerous tribes of the Bronze Age took part in its formation, including the descendants of the tribes of the Timber and Andronov cultures. K USH-UP centuries. BC. burials belong to the transitional period from the cultures of the Bronze Age to the Sauromat culture. Such burials were discovered in the Samara region in the mounds near the villages of Yagodnoye, Stavropol region, and Neprik, Borsky region. This indicates that the southern part of the Middle Volga region was part of the formation of the Savromat culture.

According to the peculiarities of the funeral rite, two local variants of the Savromat culture are distinguished: the Volga-Don and Samara-Ural. The first of them is associated with the Sauromats proper, the second with the related tribes of the Issedones, Massagets, and Dakhs. The Samara Trans-Volga region was the distant northeastern edge of the Savromat world. Burials of the 6th-4th centuries were found here. BC. in the mounds near the villages of Novopavlovka, Andreevka, Neprik, Komarovka, Utevka and near the Istomin farm near Samara. All of them belong to the Samara-Ural version of the Savromat culture.

The Savromats did not have permanent settlements, since their whole life took place in frequent migrations. The economy was based on cattle breeding. The Savromates were at the stage of decomposition of the tribal system. Plundering wars and raids on neighbors have become their daily business. In the V century. BC. Sauromats participated in the war of the Scythians with the Persian king Darius. Greek historians Herodotus, Pseudo-Hippocrates, Ephor, describing in detail the life of the Sauromats, highlighted the active role of Sauromat women in public life, their participation in military campaigns. This information of ancient Greek authors is confirmed by archaeological finds. In rich female burials, akinaki swords and bronze arrowheads are often found. Sometimes, along with them, stone altars are found in the graves, suggesting that women performed priestly functions.

By the beginning of the IV century. BC. on the territory of the Southern Urals and Western Kazakhstan, the Prokhorovka culture was formed, which got its name from the burial mound near the village of Prokhorovka in the Orenburg region; it was formed on the basis of the Samara-Ural version of the Savromat culture with the participation of the population who came from the Trans-Urals, Kazakhstan and the Aral Sea region. The Prokhorovka culture is called early Sarmatian. In the IV century. BC. it existed only in the Southern Urals and Western Kazakhstan. The Savromats continued to live in the Lower Volga region at that time. By the end of the same century, the Prokhorovka culture covered the Lower Volga region. There is a scientific hypothesis about the military invasion of the tribes of the Prokhorov culture into the territory of the Lower Volga Savromats and about the inclusion of the latter in the confederation of the early Sarmatian tribes.

In the III-II centuries. BC. in the Volga and Ural regions, the early Sarmatian Prokhorovka culture prevailed. The basis of its economic structure was nomadic cattle breeding. The early Sarmatians were in a process of disintegration of the clan system - a rich and warlike clan nobility stood out. The role of women in public life has diminished, and female burials with weapons are much less common than in the Sauromatian period. The oldest of the early Sarmatian burials discovered in the Samara region was investigated in a burial mound near the state farm named after V.I. Kirov, Krasnoarmeisky district. It belongs to the 4th century BC, that is, to the time of the transition from the Savromat culture to the Prokhorovka one. Similarly dated burials were also discovered near the village of Krasnye Peski, Pokhvistnevsky district, near the villages of Novopavlovka, Krasnoarmeisky district, and Utevka, Neftegorsky district. By the III-II centuries. BC. burials near the villages of Utevka, Tambovka, Androsovka, Vilovatoe belong.

Since the III century. BC. among the Sarmatians, powerful alliances arise, led by the tribes of the Yazygs, Roxalans, and Aors. At the beginning of the 1st century. BC. on the basis of Prokhorov's, the Middle Sarmatian culture was formed. By the time of its formation, the Sarmatian tribes went beyond the Urals and the Volga region, crossed the Don and reached the Ciscaucasia and the Northern Black Sea region. In the 1st century. BC. - I century. AD the Sarmatians represented an active political force in the vastness of Eurasia. At the end of the II century. BC. they acted as allies of the Scythians in the struggle against the troops of Diophantus, took part in the internecine battles of the Bosporus kingdom. A century later, in an alliance with the king of Pontus Mithriad VI, they fought against Rome. Scythia from that time began to be called Sarmatia. From the 1st century. AD the Sarmatians repeatedly made military campaigns in Transcaucasia, later appeared on the Danube, from where the Sarmatian tribes of the Yazygs and Roxolans often attacked the borders of Rome.

Throughout the vast territory inhabited by the Sarmatians during this period, the culture was distinguished by uniformity, local differences were gradually erased. The Sarmatians maintained lively trade relations with Tanais and the cities of the Bosporus. In the burials of this time, imported products of the Bosporan and Kuban production are often found. Despite the movement of a significant part of the Sarmatians to the west, their original territory remained densely populated, but the center of culture moved from the Urals to the Lower Volga region.

On the territory of the Samara region, Middle Sarmatian burials were discovered near the villages of Andreevka and Vilovatoe, Bogatovsky district. Guardsmen, Borsky district, Prepolovenka and Sosnovka, Bezenchuksky district, Khryashchevka, Stavropol district, near the Istomin farm, Volzhsky district, and near the Bereznyaki state farm, Kinel-Cherkassky district. Most of the Middle Sarmatian burials in the Samara region are inlet, that is, they were found in mounds of mounds of earlier eras. The shapes of the graves are very diverse: narrow rectangular, with a lining in one of the long walls, square, in which the buried person lay diagonally. The deceased were placed in an extended supine position with their heads facing south. Fire played an important role in the funeral ritual: coals and pieces of substances symbolizing it are found in the graves: realgar, sulfur or chalk. In male burials, there are earthen vessels and weapons: swords and daggers with a ring top, iron arrowheads. Female burials contain mirrors and ornaments, mainly beads and beads. In the female burial of a burial mound near the village of Gvardeytsy, weapons were found, therefore, the custom of burying women with weapons is preserved until the Middle Sarmatian time.

In the II-IV centuries. AD the culture and funeral rites of the Sarmatian tribes have changed significantly. The dead began to be buried in narrow grave pits, sometimes with lining. The southern orientation of the buried changed to the northern one. The custom of deformation of the skulls became widespread: this was achieved by tightening the child's head with a cloth. All these changes are associated with the influx from Central Asia of the Iranian-speaking Sako-Massaget tribes. Perhaps, together with the Central Asian population, tribes from Western Siberia and Steppe Kazakhstan penetrated into the Volga region. The reasons for the displacement of these tribes are not yet entirely clear. Some researchers see them in the strengthening of the activity of the Huns, others explain the intensification of the activity of the Kangyui state, which lost its influence in the southern regions of Central Asia due to the strengthening of the Kushan kingdom. The relationship between the newcomers and the local Sarmatian population in the Lower Volga region was not always peaceful, which influenced the withdrawal of a part of the Lower Volga Sarmatians to the Volga-Don interfluve. The Sarmatian population remaining in the Volga region assimilated immigrants from Central Asia and Siberia.

The territory of the Samara Territory in the late Sarmatian time was inhabited by the Sarmatians, as evidenced by the presence of burials of this period in the Bereznyakovsky, Gvardeisky, Osinkovsky, Chernovsky III, Maloalekseevsky, Andreevsky and Vilovatovsky burial grounds. In contrast to the previous period, in the late Sarmatian time, the dead were not buried in earlier burial mounds, but individual mounds were poured under each grave. The graves are rectangular, sometimes with lining in one of the long walls. The buried lie stretched out on their backs with their heads to the north. They are accompanied by long swords without a crosshair or pommel, earthen vessels, bronze mirrors, fibula clasps, beads, spinning wheels. The increase in the number of burials is connected, possibly, with the defeat of Tanais by the Goths and the displacement of a part of the Sarmatians to the east.

At the end of the IV century. AD the Sarmatians were defeated by the Huns. Some of the defeated, having joined the Huns, went with them to Western Europe, reaching Spain and even North Africa. Those who remained in the southern Russian steppes mixed with other peoples and dissolved in their mass.

After the invasion of the Huns, numerous groups of nomads continued to live in the Lower and southern parts of the Middle Volga region. Their rich burials have been discovered on the territory of the Samara region in a mound near the village of Vladimirovna, Khvorostyansky district and near the village of Fedorovka, in the former Buzuluk district. Nomadic burials of the 6th-5th centuries investigated in the kurgans near the villages of Novopavlovka and at the state farm. Kirov.

To the north of the nomadic Iranian-speaking Sarmatian world stretched the possessions of the Finno-Ugric tribes of the Ananyino culture, which was named after the burial ground investigated in 1858 by P.V. Alabin near the village of Ananyino near the city of Elabuga (now Tatarstan). Ananyin culture from the 8th to the 3rd centuries BC. was distributed on the territory of the Kama region and the part of the Volga region adjacent to the mouth of the Kama. Samarskaya Luka looked like the distant southern outskirts of the Ananyin tribes. On the territory of the southern regions of Tatarstan, the Ulyanovsk and Samara regions, a special southern version of the Ananyino culture has developed, called Belogorsk after the most explored settlement of Belaya Gora near the village of Podgory, Volzhsky district. The tribes of the Belogorsk branch of the Ananyino culture belonged to fortified settlements-fortified settlements on Samarskaya Luka: Lysaya Gora near the city of Zhigulevsk, Zadelnaya Gora near the village of Zhiguli, Kamennaya Koza, not far from the village of Vinnovka on the left bank of the Volga, and a settlement near the Koptev ravine higher along the left bank of the Volga, near Samara. Ceramics of the Belogorsk type was found at the top of Tsarev Kurgan.

The basis of the economy of the Belogorsk tribes was the local shepherd cattle breeding and hoe farming. They bred mainly horses, as they knew how to get their food in the winter from under the snow. The Belogorsk tribes were familiar with the metallurgy of iron and bronze, with bone processing and weaving.

The only burial ground of the tribes of the Belogorsk branch of the Ananyino culture was investigated on the Utka River in the Staromainsky District of the Ulyanovsk Region near the village of Zelenovka on the Gulkinsky Bugr. In terms of the funeral rite and grave goods, it is close to other Ananyin burial grounds. A vessel of the Belogorsk type was found in one of the burials. By physical type, the Belogorsk tribes are Caucasians with a slight admixture of Mongoloid. Monuments of the Belogorsk variant of the Ananyino culture date back to the 7th-4th centuries. BC.

No later than the end of the IV century. BC. On the territory of Samarskaya Luka from the west, from the Oka basin, the tribes of the Gorodets culture, which got its name from the settlement investigated by V.A. Gorodtsov near the village of Gorodets, Spassky district, Ryazan province, advanced. The Gorodets culture was spread over a vast territory from the upper Don in the west to the Volga in the east; its monuments were found in Lipetsk, Voronezh, Penza, Saratov, Samara (Samarskaya Luka) regions and in Mordovia.

Gorodets tribes lived on fortified settlements and unfortified settlements. The basis of their economy was herding cattle and hoe farming, hunting, fishing and gathering played an important role. They knew the metallurgy of iron, but they still had very few metal tools. Bone products were much more widely used in everyday life. Earthenware is represented by pots and jars, the entire outer surface of which was covered with imprints of a stamp resembling a mat or net. The burial grounds of the Gorodets tribes have not been found by archaeologists.

With the arrival of the Gorodets tribes, the population of the Belogorsk settlements left Samara Luka. Apparently, it went to the northeast, where tribes of the Ananyin culture, related to them, lived. On the settlements of Lysaya Gora, Zadnaya Gora and Belaya Gora, life ceased, and they were no longer inhabited by humans. Other settlements, for example, the Stone Goat, continued to exist, but the Gorodets tribes now lived on them. During this period, new settlements arose: the fortified settlements Tornovskoe and Lbische, the village of Novikovskoe, Vinnovskoe, etc.

Most researchers dated the Gorodets culture to the 7th century. BC-V century AD However, one cannot agree with such a framework: the Gorodets culture retains the main characteristic features only until the end of the 1st century. on the. In the next century, great changes took place in it: dishes with matting and mesh patterns were replaced by non-decorated ones, burial grounds with an ordinary arrangement of graves appeared, numerous tools made of iron and jewelry made of bronze were widely distributed. Such significant changes in material culture and funeral rites could not have occurred as a result of the internal evolution of the Gorodets tribes - they are due to the influx of post-Zarubinets tribes from the west and Pianobor tribes from the east, from the Kama region.

Cultures of the Finno-Ugric peoples of the 1st millennium AD - Mordovians, Muroms - formed, thus, with the participation of three groups of the population: Gorodetsky, Pianoborsky and post-Zarubinets. In the southern part of the Gorodetsky area, on the territory of the modern Ulyanovsk, Samara and Saratov regions, the Pyanobor tribes did not penetrate. Western elements played a much larger role here. In the Sergievsky district of the Samara region, the Slavkinsky settlement was investigated. Its topography, layout, type of dwellings and the nature of ceramics find close analogies in the materials of post-Zarubinets settlements and the Pshevorsky settlement of Podbereztsy in the Upper Dniester region. Monuments of the Slavkin type have also been found in the Ulyanovsk region and Tatarstan.

The next stage in the development of the population of the Samara Territory is represented by the monuments of the Lbischensky type, named after the site of the settlement investigated in Samarskaya Luka near the village of Lbische, Stavropol region. The remains of more than 30 above-ground dwellings with hearth pits were found here. The basis of the economy of the inhabitants of the settlement was agriculture, probably already arable land, and cattle breeding. Bred cattle and small cattle, pigs, horses. The bones of wild animals were not found on the site, apparently, the abundance of products of agriculture and cattle breeding made it possible to do without meat of wild animals. The material culture of the settlement testifies to the western origin of its inhabitants. The layout of the settlement and the type of dwellings find analogies in the monuments of the Chernyakhov culture of the upper reaches of the Dniester and the Western Bug. Ceramics also have common features with the ware of Western cultures: post-Zarubinetskaya and Chernyakhovskaya. The similarity lies in the technology of making dishes, the use of two types of vessels, different in the nature of the surface treatment: rough, bumpy and polished. Many forms of bowls and pots coincide, as well as the absence of ornamentation, with the exception of notches and pinches on the rims of some vessels. Metallic items of Western types were found at Lbische: brooch-clasp, belt buckles, bucket-shaped pendant, bracelet, etc.

The economic structure of the lischen tribes has common features with the economic structure of the tribes of the Chernyakhov culture, where arable farming also emerged early, and cattle breeding played a leading role in cattle breeding. Burial grounds of the Lbischensky type are still unknown. Their discovery will help to more accurately establish the initial migration area of ​​the tribes to whom the Lbischen-type monuments belonged.

In the V century. Imenkov culture developed in the Middle Volga region. The question of its origin is one of the most controversial in the archeology of the Middle Volga region. Presumably, the descendants of the tribes who left the monuments of the Slavkin and Lbischen types, as well as a new wave of newcomers from the west, from the Dnieper region, and, possibly, the Dniester region, took part in the formation of the Imenkov culture. The Imenkovo ​​culture stretched from the middle Sura in the west to the Belaya River in the east, from the Trans-Kama region in the north to the mouth of the Samara River in the south, dating back to the 5th-7th centuries. AD On the territory of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Ulyanovsk and Samara regions, hundreds of settlements and dozens of fortified settlements of the Imenkov culture have been identified. The settlements were located in groups near rivers. The main type of dwellings were semi-dugouts with open hearths, studied at the Imenkovsky and Maklashevsky settlements in Tatarstan, in the villages of Vypolzovsky and Osh-Pando-Ner II, near the village of Shelekhmet, on Samarskaya Luka. Along with semi-dugouts, the Imenkovites erected long ground-based houses of frame-and-pillar construction with foundations slightly deepened into the ground. Inside the dwellings there were open fireplaces, and there were numerous utility pits nearby.

The basis of the economy of the Imenkov tribes was arable farming. In settlements, openers, sickles, millstones, charred grains of cereals are often found: wheat, barley, rye, oats, millet, spelled, peas, hemp. Cattle breeding played an important role: large and small ruminants, pigs and horses were raised. They were engaged in fishing and hunting. The Imenkovites achieved significant success in the metallurgy of iron and non-ferrous metals. The level of development of these industries was much higher than that of the neighboring Finno-Ugric tribes.

Our knowledge of the religious beliefs of the Imenkov tribes is still very limited. There are known sanctuaries and religious buildings; the ritual purpose was clay figurines of animals and people, cakes - "bread", as well as metal anthropomorphic figurines. In three burial grounds of the Imenkovsk culture, investigated on the territory of Tatarstan, the rite of corpse burning reigned supreme.

Achievements in the development of the economy, primarily arable farming, accelerated the process of decomposition of the primitive communal system among the Imenkov tribes. The main unit of society was a large patriarchal family. Long houses and square semi-dugouts with an area of ​​50-80 sq.m., which can be considered as the habitat of numerous patriarchal families, have been studied at the Staro-Maini settlement. Near each dwelling, numerous pits-cellars were set up for storing grain and other products. Apparently, each large patriarchal family ran an individual household.

The question of the origin of the Imenkovo ​​culture has not been finally resolved. Some features of her burial rite and material culture have parallels in Slavic monuments. The absence of things in the burials, their extreme poverty distinguish Imenkovsky burial grounds from the Finno-Ugric and Baltic ones and bring them closer to the Slavic ones. The same affinity is evident in material culture and in economics. It should be noted that in the Middle Volga region, in the area of ​​the Imenkov culture, there are many Slavic names of rivers: Sok, Sulitsa, Cheremshan, Utka, Maina, Abyss - many of them are very ancient, since they were mentioned by Ibn-Fadlan, who visited the Middle Volga region in 992.

The outcome of the Imenkov culture falls on the end of the 7th century. and is associated with the appearance in the Middle Volga region of the nomadic tribes of the Bulgarians from the Azov region. They own the burial mounds found in Samarskaya Luka and in the north-east of the Samara region. According to the most studied monument near the village of Novinki, they were named the monuments of the Novinka type.

The newcomers led, in all likelihood, a nomadic lifestyle and were engaged in cattle breeding. Their tribal system was in the stage of decay. A rich and powerful clan nobility emerged from among the ordinary members of the community. The central burials in the mounds usually belong to male warriors. Their graves contain sabers, bows, quivers with arrows and rich belt sets consisting of buckles, pads and belt ends. Women's and children's burials are usually admission ones, they are accompanied by decorations and tools.

The burial inventory of the Novinka-type burial grounds finds analogies in the monuments of the Crimea, the Caucasus, and the Azov region. A number of peculiarities of the burial rite of these burial grounds bring them closer to the Early Bulgarian burial grounds of the Northern Black Sea region, the Don region and Danube Bulgaria.

In the middle of the VIII century. new waves of the Bulgarian population penetrate into the Middle Volga region. They own the Kaibelsky, Bolype-Tarkhansky and other Bulgarian burial grounds of the 8th-9th centuries. Around the same time, groups of the population from Prikamye moved to the Middle Volga region. Their appearance is clearly recorded thanks to the finds of ceramics with an admixture of shells and with corded ornamentation. Similar ceramics were found in burials from the second half of the 8th-9th centuries. near the village of Khryashchevka, Stavropol region.

In the IX century. in the Middle Volga region from the east, from the Urals, the tribes of the Kushnarenko culture of Ugric origin penetrate. On the territory of Tataria, they left a burial ground near the village of Bolshiye Titany, and on the territory of the Samara region, a burial near the village of Nemchanka, Borsky district. The Bulgarian, Kama, Kushnarenkov tribes, as well as, apparently, the descendants of the Imenkov culture tribes, became part of the feudal state of Volga Bulgaria.

The history of the population of the present Samara Volga region goes back centuries. The natural resources of this territory have attracted people for a long time. It appeared in the Middle Volga region in the Paleolithic era at least 100 thousand years ago. The glacier never reached the limits of the modern Samara region, and the transgression (level rise) of the Caspian Sea reached only its southern margin. The flora and fauna were diverse. In different parts of the region, bones of extinct animals of the Ice Age were found: mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, bison, wild horses, cave bears.

In the Paleolithic era, people went from ape-like ancestor to man modern type... They learned how to make stone tools, mastered fire, and settled in the vast expanses of Europe and Asia up to the Arctic Circle.

On the territory of the region there are about two thousand archaeological monuments of different eras. These are traces of the life and activities of long gone generations: ancient settlements, industrial workshops, rock carvings, burial sites - ancient burial grounds. The oldest settlements dating back to the Stone Age are called camps. They are usually located on the banks of rivers and lakes. The settlements of the Bronze Age are called settlements, which indicates the emergence of productive sectors of the economy: agriculture and cattle breeding. Unfortified settlements of the Iron Age are also called settlements. In the early Iron Age, along with settlements, fortified settlements - fortified settlements - appeared. Archaeological sites include ancient mines and mines where people mined flint and copper ore to make tools, as well as manufacturing workshops where tools were made. A special category of monuments is made up of ancient burial grounds, which are divided into kurgan and non-kurgan ones. All these categories of monuments are represented in the Samara region. Among them there are very valuable scientifically, containing the richest information about antiquity and the Middle Ages. Let's name just a few of them.

One of the most ancient archaeological sites of our region is located in the city of Samara on the high bank of the Volga, at the mouth of the Podpolschikov ravine (former Postnikov ravine). The site dates back to the Late Paleolithic (Ancient Stone Age). Later, the site was populated by people more than once: during the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age), Eneolithic (Copperstone Age), Bronze Age and in the Middle Ages. The most interesting is the layer of the Late Paleolithic epoch, because it is the only monument of such a distant era in the region.

Near the village of Hyp, Kinelsky region, there is a site of the Mesolithic Middle Stone Age (IX-VI millennium BC). At this time, man invented a new hunting weapon - a bow and arrows. The dwellings of the Mesolithic people were light and resembled the plagues of the northern peoples. A large number of flint tools have been collected at the Nur site: knife-like plates, scrapers, cutters, arrowheads. Apparently, the site was the habitat of a tribal community of fishermen and hunters.

Near the village of Vilovatoe, Bogatovsky district on the left bank of the river. Samara is a site of the New Stone Age (Neolithic) and Copper Stone Age (Eneolithic). There are collections of fragments of vessels belonging to five different cultures of the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods. Most of the vessels were ovoid. Numerous flint items were also found: arrowheads, scrapers, knives, drills, small plates that fit into the grooves of wooden rods and made up the blades of knives and daggers. Fragments of polished adzes and chisels were found. Bone crafts are interesting - points, punctures, harpoons and a figurine of a horse. The population of the site was engaged in hunting, fishing, collecting mollusks and plants. Neolithic and Eneolithic tribes lived in a clan system.

One of the most outstanding monuments of the region's archeology was the 1st Utevsky burial mound. The burial ground was located on the eastern outskirts of the Utevka village of the Neftegorsk region and consisted of four mounds of significant size. Burials in three burial mounds were robbed in antiquity, so all the things that accompanied the dead were stolen. Kurgan 1 was not disturbed. Under its embankment, in a spacious grave pit, lay the skeleton of an elderly man, thickly painted with red paint - ocher. He was accompanied by rich grave goods: a copper ax, an adze, an awl, a knife, and a stylet-like object with an iron top. All these objects were made of copper. A stone pestle lay next to him. At the buried skull, gold earrings were found in the form of open rings, cast in shape. At the head was a large ovoid vessel with a flat bottom and a small diameter. The burial dates back to the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 2nd millennium BC.

The discovery of such a rich set of copper tools is an exceptional phenomenon. The iron object in general caused a sensation, tk. it turned out to be meteoric iron, which is extremely rare.

The huge size of the mound and the unique set of things testify to the high social status of the person buried in it. This was probably a tribal leader who possessed great wealth and power during his lifetime.

Near the village of Mikhaylo-Ovsyanka, Pestravsky district, there is a settlement of the Timber culture of the Bronze Age (mid-II millennium BC). This is not only a settlement, but also a place where copper ore is mined. About two dozen well-shaped mines were discovered, dug for the purpose of ore extraction. And in a neighboring village, a pit was found for melting copper.

From VI to IV c. BC. the territory of the Samara region was a distant outskirts of the Savromat possessions. One burial of that era was discovered near the village of Andreevka, Bogatovsky district. In a narrow burial pit, a woman's skeleton lay stretched out on its back, its head turned to the west. A bronze mirror with a handle decorated with a panther was found nearby. These mirrors were made in the Greek city of Olbia. Next to the mirror was a bronze needle and a wheel-shaped amulet. On the chest of the deceased lay a gold plaque with the image of a mountain goat. The burial dates back to the 5th century. BC.

A feature of the social system of the Savromats and Sarmatians was the honorable position of women. They were armed, took part in military campaigns, and were also priestesses. A burial of a Sarmatian woman was found near the village of Guards of Borsky District. In the grave, along with beads and a clay spindle, an iron dagger and arrowheads were found.

At a time when the Sauromats and later the Sarmatians roamed in the steppe regions of the Samara Volga region, sedentary tribes of Finno-Ugric origin lived on Samarskaya Luka. They own a number of fortified settlements - fortified settlements and unfortified settlements. The most famous of the settlements are Belaya Gora near the village of Podgora, Zadlnaya Gora near the village of Zhiguli and Lysaya Gora near the Zhigulevsk pier.

In the III century, numerous tribes came to the territory of the Middle Volga region from the West, from the Upper and Middle Dnieper regions. It is possible that these were Slavic tribes. They brought with them new methods of iron processing and arable farming. On their settlements there are iron plowshares, blacksmith's tongs, hammers, axes and many other tools. Cattle breeding played an important role for them. The culture of the descendants of these tribes was named Imenkovskaya after the most explored settlement in Tatarstan. In the Samara region, settlements of this culture are grouped on Samarskaya Luka near the villages of Shelekhmet, Tornovoe, Vypolzovo, Sosnovy Solonets and other places. Among the tribes of the Imenkov culture, there was a custom to burn the dead at the stake, and pour ashes and unburned bones onto the bottom of small pits and place clay vessels next to them.

The Imenkovo ​​culture existed until the end of the 7th century, that is, until the arrival of the Bulgarians from the Azov region. The Bulgarians quickly mingled with the local population, passing on their culture and language to it, and under their influence they themselves ceased to lead a nomadic way of life and moved on to a settled way of life.

Along the southern tip of Samarskaya Luka from the village of Podgora to the village of Brusyany, there are burial mounds belonging to the Bulgarian tribes who came to the Volga region from the south at the end of the 7th century. AD

The archaeological expedition of the Samara University excavated 20 burial mounds. The central burials belonged to male warriors. Weapons in the graves are represented by sabers, bows and arrowheads; horse harness - bits, stirrups and bridle pads. The burials of women and children were located around the main male burial. Bronze, silver and gilded earrings, bracelets, beads were found in female burials; in children's burials - rough clay pots, made without a potter's wheel.

In more detail, the reader can get acquainted with the most ancient past of the region from the books indicated above and in the archaeological museums of Samara University, the regional museum of local lore named after P.V. Alabina, in the Museum of the Pedagogical University and the Institute of History and Archeology of the Volga Region of the Samara Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The peculiarity of the natural conditions of the Samara Territory - the borderland of steppes and forests on the banks of the Volga - also determined the peculiarities of the historical development of the population of the Middle Volga region. It became a zone of contacts between sedentary and nomadic tribes. The settlement of the region by humans dates back to the Middle Paleolithic (100 thousand years ago). And all eras: stone, bronze and iron - are represented by archaeological monuments, testifying to the complex processes of interaction of various cultural communities.

In the X century. in the Middle Volga region, the early feudal state of Volga Bulgaria arose. Samarskaya Luka was its southern border, which was under the protection of the fortress Murom town (X-XIII centuries) - the center for the development of crafts and trade relations with the inhabitants of the steppes. From the XIII century. the population of Volga Bulgaria, like Russia, fought for a long time against the rule of the khans of the Golden Horde. However, as an independent state, Volga Bulgaria was never revived. The descendants of the Bulgarians in the Middle Volga region are the modern Tatars and Chuvash.

Almost 100 years after the collapse of the Golden Horde as a result of the capture of the Kazan Khanate (1552), the Astrakhan Khanate (1556) and the recognition of the Nogai Horde's dependence on Russia, the entire Volga region became part of the multinational Russian state.

Period XVI-XVII centuries. in the history of the Samara Territory - the time of the development of new lands: the establishment of good-neighborly relations with the Nogai and Bashkirs in the Trans-Volga steppes, the subordination of the Cossack freemen, the construction of the Zakamsk defensive line and fortresses such as Syzran and Kashpir. The first mention of the Samara district dates back to the 1630s, and in 1688 Samara received the status of a city.

In the XVIII century. Samara from an isolated stronghold on the Volga route becomes part of a system of border fortifications. Under its protection were the settlements of the eastern and western parts of the Samarskaya Luka. The oldest Russian settlements of the region - Rozhdestveno, Podgory, Ilyinskoe, Vypolzovo - were founded by fugitive Russian peasants, and Mordovian and Chuvash settlers founded the villages of Shelekhmet, Borkovka, Tornovoe, Churakaevo.

To control the free development of land beyond the Volga, the government forcibly resettled palace and state peasants here, attracted schismatics and foreign colonists. Noble land tenure expanded as a result of royal grants, sales and unauthorized seizures. The landlords transferred their peasants to new lands from less fertile regions.

In the XVII - XVIII centuries. Simultaneously with the development of new territories in the Middle Volga region, a system of feudal ownership of land was taking shape. But due to its location in the outlying border territories, it had its own characteristics. The emergence of feudal landowners was hampered by the dangerous proximity of the nomads. The safest place was Samarskaya Luka and until the 1680s. the owners' attention was drawn to the distribution of the Volga water area with its rich fishing. The church and monastery businessmen have succeeded here. By the end of the 17th century. in the Samara Volga region from the mouth of the river. Bolshoi Irgiz to the mouth of Bolshoy Cheremshan, a huge fishing area belonged to Moscow monasteries: Novospassky, Chudov, Voznesensky, Novodevichy, Savvo-Storozhevsky. Monasteries were also the first landowners on the territory of the region. Church and monastic land - and water ownership was abolished after the complete secularization in 1764 of monastic estates in favor of the state. State peasants in our region were the largest group of the rural population. But the largest private land ownership in 1768 became the estates of the Orlov counts.

After registration in Russia in the 17th century. system of serfdom feudal-serf relations also penetrated into the newly developed areas. This led to an increase in social contradictions that grew into peasant wars. A characteristic feature of the peasant wars in Russia is that the centers and the largest territory of their spread fell on the outskirts, which included the Samara Territory. The inhabitants of the Samara region took part in the war under the leadership of Stepan Razin (1670-1671) and Emelyan Pugachev (1773-1775). The latter, with its scope and power, shocked the Russian state and pushed Catherine II to begin reforms of the administrative system, which led to the strengthening of local power.

On September 15, 1780 the Simbirsk viceroyalty was formed. It included the main part of the Samara Territory. Samara became a district city, and the Samara district was again formed. In 1781, "offices" were opened (governing bodies and courts). At this time, the city consisted of only five quarters with a population of 4 thousand people.

XVIII - early XIX centuries - "Age of Enlightenment". With his fresh ideas and deeds, he touched our region as well. The activities of the Orenburg expeditions (1736 - 1743) are associated with Samara, prominent scientists - I.K. Kirilov (initiator of the Orenburg expeditions), V.N. Tatishchev (one of the leaders of the expeditions), P.I. Rychkova.

The scientific study of the nature and history of the region was continued by the academic expeditions of 17668-1769, in which P.S. Pallas, I.I. Lepekhin, N.P. Rychkov.

From among the local nobility came people who made a great contribution to Russian culture: the poet I.I. Dmitriev, writer S.T. Aksakov, historian P.P. Pekarsky.

On January 1, 1851, a new Samara province was formed, consisting of 7 counties (Samara, Stavropol, Bugulminsky, Buguruslansky, Buzuluksky, Nikolaevsky and Novouzensky). The creation of the province contributed to the rapid development of the economy, education, health care, and culture. And as a result of the development of the Volga shipping company and construction railways Samara has become a major trade center and a transshipment point for transit cargo.

The heyday of the Samara merchants belongs to this time. It mastered various areas of activity: trade, industry (mainly enterprises for the processing of agricultural products and minerals), Agriculture(including the purchase of land). Among the large merchant families are the Shikhobalovs, Kurlins, Arzhanovs, Subbotins, etc. As a result stormy activity merchants Samara has changed. He built the best mansions and apartment buildings, temples and hospitals, shops and marinas.

Of particular importance in the social and political life of Samara in the second half of the 19th century. It had the creation of the Samara banner. Russian and Bulgarian volunteers fought under it during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. And it was it that became the symbol of the Slavic brotherhood.

History with geography

The history of the Samara region. And what is this - the Samara Territory? To many, this question will seem strange. Every more or less inquisitive Samara at such words will immediately present a somewhat irregular heart of the Samara region familiar to our eyes. Everything that is inside this heart is our native Samara region. And, probably, everyone will be amazed, having got to an unusual school lesson.

The teacher : Vasechkin, please name the largest cities in the Samara region.

Vasechkin (briskly jabbing the pointer at the map): Ulyanovsk, Orenburg, Uralsk, Kazan, Penza, Saransk, Orsk, Ufa ... (Did your eyes widen in surprise?)

The teacher : Well done, Vasechkin, great! Sit down. Now, Utochkina, show us the borders of the Samara region.

Utochkina : In the north, our region borders on the Gorky region, Chuvashia, Mari El, Udmurtia, Perm, Sverdlovsk regions, in the south - on the Tambov, Astrakhan, Kustanai, in the west - on the Ryazan and Moscow regions, in the east - on the Omsk region. (Did your mouth open in amazement?)

The teacher : Very good, Utochkina! And now Petechkin will list to us those settlements that were not part of the Samara Territory.

Petechkin : The cities of Pokhvistnevo, Sergievsk and Sernovodsk, Isaklinsky, Kinel-Cherkassky, Borsky districts, the cities of Togliatti, Syzran, Zhigulevsk, the districts of Syzransky, Shigonsky, Khvorostyansky, Pestravsky, Neftegorsky, the villages of Usolye, Zolnoe, the villages of Podgory. (Your blood has probably boiled in your veins from indignation: what is left for our land?)

Teacher (just as affectionately) : That's right, Petechkin, clever girl! And who can tell which territory our native city Samara?

And the children are vying with each other to call: Ulyanovsk Territory, Orenburg Region, Astrakhan, Tatarstan. One even shouted: "Syzran district!" And the teacher only has time to confirm: “That's right! Well done! Right! Okay! Excellent!"

What nonsense, you will be indignant. Well, children are famous dreamers, they can look for Alaska in Africa. But the teacher! Such blatant illiteracy! What the wild geography?! And I agree with you - the geography is really wild. And if this is not geography, but history? Then this is not such nonsense. Or rather, not entirely nonsense. Rather, not even nonsense at all. After all, the Samara region, to which we are so accustomed, which we accept as an eternally existing given, is not even 70 years old. Samara (until recently Kuibyshev) region within its current borders was approved only in 1943. And before that, the territory concentrated around the city of Samara was repeatedly changed, redrawn, sometimes acquiring rather bizarre and even ugly forms. Here is a 1939 map of the Kuibyshev region. Its eastern border is well known to us. And the southwestern one, up to the Volga, is also ours, dear! But where is the heart so familiar to us?

And what is this huge, clearly not ours, hump beyond the Volga? Compare with the current maps - but the whole Ulyanovsk region is attached to ours. This means that Ulyanovsk of the Samara region and the border with Chuvashia are not such nonsense. But in this form, our region existed for a short time, from 1936 to 1943. Prior to that, Samara was the center of an incomprehensible education called Kuibyshev, and even earlier, the Middle Volga region.

Let's take a look at the 1933 map of this region. As you can see, the current Samara region occupies only an insignificant part of the region. Here are the Ulyanovsk and Penza regions, and even Mordovia, and from the east the narrow and long Orenburg region is annexed. All this together looks so awkward that it resembles a headless herring about 1250 kilometers long. And most importantly, it has so little to do with Samara that no one dared to call all this the Samara region. In 1928, this territory was named the Middle Volga region, and from 1929 to 1935 it was already called the Middle Volga region. From January 27, 1935 to December 5, 1936, the Middle Volga region was called the Kuibyshev region.

Although this name is rather contrived. What kind of Middle Volga is there in Penza or, say, in Orsk? But the fact remains. Our region included the capital of Mordovia, Saransk, and Penza, and the distant city of Orsk. In the west, the region bordered on the Moscow region, in the east - on the Chelyabinsk and Kustanai.

Until 1928, Samara was the center of the province, formed in 1851, and the borders of the Samara province were much wider than the present region. Here is a map of the province of 1883. As we can see, this included many lands of the Ulyanovsk, Orenburg, and Saratov regions, and even a part of Tataria. Melekess, Bugulma, Buguruslan, Buzuluk, Nikolaevsk (Pugachev), Novouzensk, Balakovo, Yekaterinenshtadt (Marks), Pokrovskaya Sloboda (Engels) - all these are the cities of the Samara province. But the western border of the province passed strictly along the Volga, therefore the entire right-bank territory of the present Samara region - Syzran and Shigonsky districts, as well as Samara Luka - was part of the Simbirsk province. And, no matter how paradoxical it sounds, but Zolnoye and Shelekhmet, and even Rozhdestveno at that time were not Samara.

There was an amazing, albeit very brief moment in the life of Samara when the city was the capital of a whole "state". From June 8 to October 7, 1918, during the seizure of the city by the White Czechs, a bourgeois government was created in Samara - the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch) - an alternative government of Russia, organized on June 8, 1918 in Samara by members of the Constituent Assembly, who did not recognize the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee January 19, 1918. Komuch took part in the organization of the Provisional All-Russian Government (the so-called "Ufa Directory"), and in November-December 1918 its structures were finally liquidated as a result of a military coup that transferred power to the Supreme Ruler, Admiral A.V. Kolchak. In reality, the power of Komuch extended only to a part of the territories of the Volga region and the southern Urals. The first order of Komuch declared the liquidation of Soviet power and, in the future, the denationalization of factories and plants. Having emerged as a city, then a regional power, Komuch gradually subjugated more and more territories. And from June to September - he claimed the role of the all-Russian "state". Thus, for three months Samara was indeed the capital.

I. M. Brushvit, P. D. Klimushkin, B. K. Fortunatov, V. K. Volsky (chairman) and I. P. Nesterov

The new "state" included: Samara, Simbirsk, Kazan, Ufa, part of the Saratov provinces. Its power was recognized by the Orenburg and Ural Cossacks. Unfortunately, they did not manage to issue the map of the new "state". But the Committee of the Constituent Assembly managed to print paper money. There was no equipment, no paper, no paint, no time to issue their own currency. But the government cleverly got out of the predicament. When the White Czechs took Kazan there, the Bolsheviks took away the gold reserves of the Russian Empire - thousands of poods of gold, silver and many millions of securities of the tsarist government - bonds, bank notes, canceled by the Soviet government back in December 1917.

Komuch decided to save the gold and silver, and put the securities into circulation as money. Each bill was stamped with a mastic stamp. The text on all papers was the same: "It is circulated on a par with State credit notes at a nominal price with a present stamp and a special punch mark" VF Samara Office of the State Bank ", and the signatures of the head of the department of credit institutions, manager and cashier. Indeed, in addition to this stamp, each bill had a special punching mark, but not the same for all. On most of them the sign "71GB" is understandable - this is the serial number of the Samara Office of the State Bank. But then number 54 flashed - this is the serial number of the Orenburg office, 91 - the Ural office, 92 - the Ufa office.

Thus, Kazan, Ufa, and Uralsk, albeit for a short time, were part of our Samara Territory. And the borders with the Perm, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinenskaya regions, the Mari and Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics are also a reality. Moreover, the Samara "state" bordered on another, the same temporary state formation, the capital of which was Omsk.

The longest territorial entity, the center of which was Samara, was the Samara province. But she was not eternal either. It existed for only 78 years - from 1851 to 1928. But Samara existed long before 1851, at least since 1586. What was the Samara Territory like over 250 years before the formation of the province? The answer to this question can be found in the very interesting book, published by the Kuibyshev Book Publishing House in 1985 for the 400th anniversary of the city. It is called “Samara - Kuibyshev. Chronicle of events. 1586-1986 ". This is a collection of well-known documents about our city from the time of its foundation. From it we learn that Samara, built as a guard fortress, remained so until 1688, when it was renamed a city. But even in the title of a city, she did not have any environment that can be called a land. On the contrary, Samara, like a ball, was thrown into various territorial formations.

Since 1708, during the first division of Russia into provinces, counties, volosts, Samara was assigned to the Simbirsk district of the Kazan province. Then, in 1717, with a new redistribution of the provinces, Samara, as part of the Simbirsk district, entered the Astrakhan province. In 1764 it was assigned to the city of Syzran. And in 1768 - to the Stavropol district, together with which she was transferred to the Orenburg province. In 1775, Samara again became part of the Kazan province.

As you can see, the students who were looking for our city in different regions, up to the Syzran and Stavropol regions, were not so wrong. And only in 1780 the Samara district was officially formed, which included 127 villages around the city. For the first time Samara became the “capital” of even a tiny one, but of its own “state”. True, this "state" was limited to the territory of the present Volzhsky, Krasnoyarsky and parts of the Kinelsky, Krasnoarmeisky, Bezenchuksky districts. A little later, the lands of Koshkinsky and parts of the Volga and Sergievsky districts passed to the Samara district.

So how do you navigate such fickle historical and geographic boundaries? What is really considered the Samara Territory? Historians and ethnographers agreed conditionally to consider the entire pre-revolutionary history of the region within the boundaries of the Samara province, the post-revolutionary history - within the boundaries of the present Samara region. We will adhere to these boundaries in our further descriptions.

L. V. Edidovich