92 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. IIO 



those from the Riazan cemeteries, and a characteristic clasp in the 

 form of a crossbow which probably originated in the south of the 

 Baltic region. 



Middle and second half of the first millennium A. D. — Tretiakov 

 describes several sites contemporary with that on the Sonochta and 

 others of a later date. Toward the middle of the first millennium, the 

 open site, without fortification, became the dominant type. Simul- 

 taneously with the change in form the layout of the sites was modified, 

 and they were no longer grouped as before. 



All this would indicate a social change in the Upper Volga region 

 after the middle of the first millennium. This was probably connected 

 with the disintegration of the ancient social order based on the patri- 

 archal clan. It would appear that it was at this time that the clan 

 territories began to disappear. The considerable increase, often 

 threefold or even fourfold, in the area of the sites indicated that by the 

 sixth-seventh centuries the localities were no longer inhabited by a 

 single patriarchal community. 



Important excavations have been made at : (a) a fourth-fifth cen- 

 tury site near the Krasnyi-Cholm Rest Home; (b) a fifth-sixth cen- 

 tury site at the mouth of the Iti River, near Uste; and (c) a sixth- 

 seventh century site on the outskirts of Kilino. 



These excavations have given a more factual picture of the his- 

 torical progression during the middle and second half of the first 

 millennium; certain characteristics having already been given above. 



At the beginning the inhabitants of every locality worked iron and 

 copper to make themselves tools and ornaments. After the middle 

 of the first millennium there were certain localities engaged in mass 

 production, destined not only for internal use but for purposes of 

 exchange. For example, the inhabitants of the Sonochta gorodishche 

 worked iron on a large scale and in the Krasnyi-Cholm selishche 

 numerous traces of copper working have been found. On the other 

 hand, the inhabitants of other sites appear to have been consumers. 



A second important characteristic of this period was the appearance 

 of agriculture on previously cultivated land, which replaced the 

 former system of cultivating only virgin territory. This is indicated 

 by the increase in the size of the localities and by changes that took 

 place in the methods of livestock raising which show the use of horse 

 traction in agriculture. Finally, there were changes even in shape and 

 size of the implements and tools bearing on agriculture, particularly 

 in the appearance of very large hand mills. This transition led to 

 the rise of a type of allotment economy. The development of trade 

 with neighboring and remoter regions also played a certain role in 



