The Fur Trade

In the west, as Slavic tribes continued to raid the Eastern Romanian provinces, trade between the two seems to have been virtually non-existent. There was little incentive to invest effort and resources on commerce when warriors could obtain rich booty for dowries and earn “slava” (glory) through the manly pursuit of arms.

Most all of the trade conducted by the Slavs, however, lay to the east. Two events led to the establishment of a major trade network between the Caspian region and Persia: the defeat of the Antes in the lower Danube by the Sclavini and Avars in the middle of the 7th Centurywhich terminated Slavic trade in the region, and the Muslim conquest of the Persian Empire and the eastern Caucasus in the middle of the 8th century. The con­quests brought the Islamic world and advanced civilizations which it had inherited in direct contact with the Turkic and Sarmatian tribes to the north of the Caspian Sea. Members of the wealthy southern ruling classes placed great value on the high quality northern furs, as Observedbythe IOth century ge­ographer and traveler al-Masudi: “the kings of the Arabs and the barbarians (that is, foreigners)...

On taking power, the Abbasids in Baghdad also began to mint large amounts of high quality silver coins called dirhams, which soon became much sought after throughout northeastern Europe and Central Asia as well as other parts of the world. The furs and silver coins opened up a whole system of long dis­tance trade from the Baltic Sea to CentralAsia and the Middle East, which would transform all previous trade and greatly ex­pand artisan crafts in northeastern Europe.

Other major events were also taking place in the prairies. Turkic tribes emerging from Asia continued to invade and suc­ceed each other on the vast Eurasian plain. Following Attilas death and the breakup of Hun power the first development of the fur trade in Eastern Europe fell to three ethnic groups: the Ugrian Magyars, the Bulgars, and the recently arrived Khazars. The Magyars settled on the upper Donets River with their center at Verkhny Saltiv (todays northeastern Ukraine) which controlled the strategic Donets access to the southern trade routes. The Bulgars following their defeat by the Khazars es­tablished themselves to the northeast close to Lake Nero, the middle Volga and the Kama rivers. The Volga Bulgars as they were known became the main suppliers of furs to the Muslim world, themselves converting to Islam in the beginning of the IOth century. The area they occupied in the 7th century was of strategic importance. Firstly, it was rich in furbearing animals such as beaver, marten, fox, sable, and squirrel, and we know that by the 8th century pelts obtained by Bulgar hunters were reaching the Persian town of Rey. We also know that active hunting for pelts took place by this time, from the finds of blunted iron and bone arrowheads which were clearly designed to stun but not to penetrate the animals skin.^u The fur was then shipped south to the Khazars who as the middle-men exported the pelts from their capital Itil on the Volga delta to other Caspian ports such as Darband and Abaskun.

This was the strategic and second reason for the impor­tance of the middle and IowerVolga region—it lay on the cross­roads of the north-south fur trade and the east-west caravan route from China to western Europe. How old was the Volga fur trade? We do not know for certain, perhaps it could have gone back to the Sarmatian or Scythian days. Itwas already well on its way by the 5th century, as revealed by Persian Sassanid coins excavated in the Kama River region of today s east Euro­pean Russia. By the 8th century Muslim traders from Central Asia, Persia and the Middle East were bringing silk, brocades, spices, wine, perfume, jewelry and high quality weapons to the north and returning with wax, honey, slaves and furs. The Finno-Ugrian Burta people also provided much of the valuable black fox furs and the red and white fox skins which were as valuable as those of the much sought-after marten. The best skins sporting thick, winter furs came from the far north during the cold months. Bulgar merchants had developed contacts with the Ves, a Finnish people living between lakes Ladoga, Onega and Belo Ozero in northern Russia. In the early summer, after the breakup of the ice, the pelts were shipped south by boat along the Volga, while in the winter months sleds and skis were used on the frozen rivers which acted as natural highways. The destinations were the two main Bulgar clearing-exchange centers on the Volga at Savar and at the capital city of Bulgar. In exchange for the furs the Bulgar merchants offered the much­valued Islamic silver dirhams, which began to replace glass and amber beads as a common currency of exchange. By the early 8th century dirhams were flowing into Eastern Europe and began to make their way into the Baltic region.

Another Turkic-speaking people who were to play a major role in Eastern Europe were the Khazars, originally a nomadic group which had migrated from Central Asia.

The Khazars, however, were blocking the expansion of Abbasid power, and in 737 the Arab commander Marwan broke through Khazar defenses and began to raid the northern Cau­casus and the lower Don Valley. Hostilities ceased when the Emir ofArmenia (then UnderAbbasid rule) married the daugh­ter of the Khazar Kagan (king), and regular trade resumed. To attract trade the Khazars practiced tolerance of the various creeds and religions and allowed full autonomy to the non­Khazar subjects. A unique feature of the Khazar state was the conversion of the Kagan and the feudal aristocracy to Judaism towards the end of the 8th (or beginning of the 9th) century. RhodaniteJewish merchants were a regular part of long distance trade and the Khazars were well acquainted WithJudaism and its practices. By avoiding either Christianity or Islam their aim was clearly to maintain an independence from both and pass laws although they allowed foreigners their own legal proce­dures. Thus in the capital Itil there were seven judges; two for Judaic law, two for the Muslims, two for Christians, and one for the Slavs and other pagans.

An important concern was the security of the commercial high­ways along the lower Volga and the Donets-Don water net­works.

It is this trade system which the Slavs encountered on their eastern expansion, which was well under way by the beginning of the 8th century. This was the Volyntsevo-Romny culture which developed on the eastern edge of the Penkivka settle­ments in today s Ukrainian provinces of Poltava and Sumy. An eastern extension of the culture was the Borshevo settlements on the upper Don and Oka rivers in Russia. The Slavic expan­sion was caused by the need of new land rather than any sig­nificant increases in the population. Besides hunting and fishing the Slavs practiced forest agriculture, which required freshly cleared land every few years due to poor soil fertility. Excavated sites occur in small clusters of 3-4 settlements covering some 1000-3000 square yards and probably housed related kin. They were defended by ditches and palisades which were erected on dike-like mounds. Partially-sunken houses allowed about 4-5 individuals and were Usuallybuilt on high river banks or other inaccessible locations. The Volyntsevo village itself for exam­ple, from which the culture takes its name, was located on a sloping bank of the Seym River and was naturally protected by almost impenetrable bogs which surrounded it on three sides. Such natural features were essential to help defend small settlements from powerful neighbors such as the Khazars, Bulgars or the Magyars. Larger settlements were also built in the Romny-Volyntsevo area, which began to specialize in man­ufacturing and trade, such as the hilltop stronghold excavated at Novotroitske in the Psiol River valley in northeastern Ukraine. It contained about 50 sunken-floor huts dating to the early 8th century and yielded a major hoard of silver dirhams and other silver objects.

By this time the eastern Slavs were also involved in regular trade with their neighbors, as is revealed by the excavated ceme­teries. We find a rich array of glass beads, massive bracelets, belt decorations, earrings, diadems and silver wire pendants, as well as Greek dishes and silver spoons. A particular feature of the Volyntsevo-type settlements is the amount of Islamic silver rings and bracelets as well as dirham coins which are found, a clear indication that by the early 8th century Slavs were already connected to the Islamic silver trade and we begin to see large quantities of silver dirhams in Slavic sites. Along distance trade system is also indicated by Central Asian (Bactrian) two­humped camel bones excavated in Slavic settlements at Bolshoe Borshevo and Titchykha, as well as a Chinese bronze mirror found in a catacomb at Dmitrivske.¹⁴ The simple and uniform lifestyles of the Slavic settlements indicate an absence of a ruling elite or class, and so trade was probably conducted for personal decorations, dowries, or ceremonial functions. Slavic jewelry was made almost exclusively from silver and the metal played an important part in east European and Baltic society.¹⁵

Trade was not the only means by which valuable goods could be obtained from the Khazars and Volga Bulgars. Some of the silver was most certainly obtained by raids on Khazar lands and trading posts, particularly in the early stages of the Slavs contact with them. Excavations reveal a state of hostility between the kaganate and the forest Slavs, and much has been made at times of the tribute which the Slavs were alleged to pay the Khazars. The only original source for the view is the Kyiv Chronicle, according to which the Severiani tribe paid tribute of a white squirrel pelt from each hearth, while in 885 the Khaz­ars imposed a silver coin, the “shchiliag,” on the Radimichi tribe. This is unlikely to have been the case. Firstly, it is not clear why tribute was paid by a shilling, a western coin of a later date when high quality silver dirhams were abundant in the area. Secondly, Slavic forest settlements facing the Khazar lands were fortified, not a sign of a servile tribute-paying population. Palisade for­tifications or “grads” were so common in Slavic territory that Scandinavians referred to the area as “Gardariki,” or Land of Forts. Also nine out of the twelve Khazar limestone fortifica­tions were erected directly opposite Slav settlements as early as the 8th and 9th centuries. The strongholds were built in the middle Don and the upper Donets river valleys at the edge of Khazar territory and bordered on Slavic settlements. By the late 8th and early 9th century we see the rise of the Saltovo-Maiatsky outposts which marked the Khazar western and northwestern frontier with the Slavs, characterized by white limestone fortresses. Facing them were Slavfortified palisade settlements on the Seim, upper Sula, the Psiol and Vorskla rivers, as well as the fortified settlements along stretches of the upper and middle Don. To further strengthen his western frontier against the Slavs in 833 the Khazar Kagan asked Emperor Theophilus for engi­neers and skilled builders to construct a fort on the Don River, just east of the junction with the Donets. Both the Eastern Christian Empire and the Khazars had a common enemy in the Slavs and the Muslims, and had signed a military treaty in 711. Taking a squadron of the Imperial navy, Petronos Camaterus sailed up the Don, halting at Sarkel. There the Romanians built a brick fortress which became an important part of the Khazar western defensive system.

Not all Slavic settlements were confined to the northern boreal forest regions. Forested areas were not uncommon on the prairies at the time, and were inhabited by some of the northern migrants. The presence of Slavs in the prairie regions was not recent since we know they formed a part of the Cher- niakovian culture during the Gothic period, as confirmed by Procopius: “to the north (of the Utigur Bulgars) the countless tribes of the Antae are settled.”¹⁶

Procopius must have meant clans rather than tribes since archaeological evidence does not support “countless” prairie populations at the time. The Slavs are also known to have oc­cupied the Don basin and probably had settled on the shores of the Sea of Azov. The Muslim writers al-Baladhuri (9th cen­tury) and al-Tabari (10th century) describe general Marwans 737 Arab campaign. Marwans forces advanced across the Cau­casus Mountains, past the city of Samandar and attacked the Slavs who lived on lands belonging to the Khazar state along the “River of the Slavs” (as the Arabs called the Don River). With typical exaggeration, 20,000 homes were reportedly de­stroyed and many prisoners brought back. The Slav presence in the area is also confirmed by another Muslim writer, the ge­ographer al-Masudi (1st half of the IOth century) who observed that “its banks (the Don River) are populated by the numerous Slavic people and other northern people.”¹⁷

The Slavs who lived in the DonValley and around the Sea of Azov would have been a part of the Khazar state, to whom al-Masudi assigned an important role. Many Slavs served in the Khazar army as infantry, and the Kagans personal retinue was mainly composed of Slavs. The geographer Abu-al-Fida (13th, 14th century) reported that there were two distinct types amongst the Khazars, one dark, and one fair.¹⁸

The Volyntsevo-Romny settlements belonged to the Sev- eriani tribe, with the territory to their north around Borshevo occupied by the Viatichi. More to the west the Krivichi and Slovenians also began to expand north in what is today Belarus and northwestern Russia. These territories were inhabited by the Lithuanians and Finno-Ugric tribes which, like the Slavs, were indigenous to Eastern Europe. The Slavic clans were in­volved in cereal farming and animal husbandry to a greater extent than their neighbors, practicing the basic slash-and-burn method. Once the soil in a clearing was exhausted a new area had to be cleared, which often required displacing other inhab­itants. Farming was also made more feasible in the northern lands by the Little Climatic Optimum which raised average temperatures by about l^oC.¹⁹ The Slavs also introduced the silver trade to the new areas and the distribution of the first major wave of dirhams (during 770-833) follows closely the Slavic northwestern migration between the Dvina and Volkhov

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rivers.

It was the northern fur trade, however, which would begin to transform east European society. Following the Slavs’ arrival in the Lake Pskov (Peipus) and Velika River areas a century earlier, by the 7th century their settlements begin to appear on the edge of the Finnish Ves lands at Lake Ladoga. Besides the usual weapons and agricultural iron implements, excavations reveal pendants, belt buckles, and glass beads, items which were Commonlyused as barter in the fur trade. We also find tools for working in wood and metal which indicate that in the beginning of the 8th centurythe so-called Staraia Ladoga settlements were producing rivets and planks for boats. These were probably of Scandinavian design since Slavic boats or canoes were usually dug out from a single tree trunk and did not require either planks or rivets. The main activity was the production of amber and glass beads for the fur trade where the pelts were bought from local hunters and sold to the Bulgars and Khazars for valu­able silver dirhams. In fact, the Staraia Ladoga settlements were initially built as a manufacturing center and to conduct trade in the north and in the Baltic region. This is confirmed by silver dirham finds in some of the earliest log buildings constructed there, as well as womens broaches and a set of tools of Scandi­navian origin.²¹ The earliest excavated layers are from the 750s while the oldest coin found dates to 768, but the first settlement probably goes back several decades.²² The settlement of Staraia Ladoga was Strategicallylocated on the Volkhov River flowing out of Lake Ilmen, and upstream were rapids which allowed ex­perienced pilots passage but prevented any surprise attacks by raiders, while downstream lay Lake Ladoga which at the time was connected to the Baltic Sea through the Gulf of Finland. Being inland the settlement was hidden from marauding sea pirates while the boreal forest provided a shield from the land­side, allowing for easy access to the fur regions and to the south­eastern source of the silver dirhams. Starting from the Gulf of Finland a boat could enter Lake Ladoga by the Neva River, tra­verse the river Svir into Lake Onega, sail to the Beloozero set­tlement on Lake Beloye, head south on the Sheksna River, and thus reach the Volga and the Caspian Sea. Also once in Lake Onega a boat could easily reach the rich source of northern skins by the White Sea. Other settlements sprang up along the Volkhov, Volkhovets, and Veriazha rivers such as Khlopy Goro- dok, Sergovyi Gorodok, Vasilevskeye, Riurikovo Gorodishche, and others. In the Middle Ages the whole area would become known as Novgorod (Newfort), with the Citybuilt on a strategic site where the Volkhov and Msta rivers flow out of Lake Ilmen. Another city, Pskov, would also rise on the southern shore of the lake, on the delta of the Velika River.

Thus by the beginning of the 8th century we find a two- way system of trade linking the Finno-Ugrian hunters of the north, Slavs of Staraia Ladoga and other east European Slavs, the Bulgars along the upper Volga and Kama rivers, and the Khazars on the Caspian and Azov seas. The fur was brought down by Bulgar merchants and sold in the Caspian ports des­tined for the ruling elites of the Muslim world, while in exchange luxury goods and silver dirhams flowed to the north and west. While Bulgar merchants traveled to the northern tribes in search of sable and black fox pelts, much of the trade was conducted by Slavic tribes. We find consistent hoards of silver dirhams in the tribal areas of the Viatichi, Krivichi, Radimichi, the Severiani, and the Slovenians. In fact by the early 9th century there is a positive correlation between the distribution of silver dirham hoards and areas of Slavic ex­pansion and settlements.²³ By contrast relatively few dirham deposits are found in the non-Slavic lands along the Volga and in Khazar territory through which Islamic trade passed on its way north.

The injection of silver dirhams began to reach a high vol­ume, and was largely responsible for the creation of something approaching a currency-based manufacturing and trading sys­tem.²⁴ The expanded volume and standardization of trade is also indicated by the imports of foreign mass produced glass beads, which began to replace those made locally. The manu­facture of glass beads was a highly specialized craft practiced by a small number of individuals, with considerable local vari­ation in type and style which were replaced in the early 9th cen­tury by the standardized mass production. Easy to transport and in high demand by the northern hunters, the glass (and amber) beads played a key role in the fur trade and together with the silver dirhams formed the currency of exchange.²⁵ Amberwas another valuable commodity and by the 9th century we see amber objects being manufactured by the Baltic Slavs in Truso.

By the late 8th and early 9th centuries the silver dirhams begin to reach the Baltic Sea area, and we see the beginnings of a new type of production and exchange centers such as those at Staraia Ladoga. Known in archaeology as “emporia,” these centers become multi-ethnic ports of trade inhabited by mer­chants, craftsmen and men-at-arms hired for protection. All ex­cavated emporia are located on lagoons some distance inland, suggesting security from Viking sea raiders was an important consideration.

The first emporia to appear on the Baltic were amongst the Slavic tribes of the southern coast and it is here in western Pomerania that the densest concentration of silver dirhams are found. Several early 9th century dirham hoards have been un­earthed around the mouth of the Vistula at Truso, Reric, and Ralswiek. We are told in Frankish annals of808 that the Danish king attacked and destroyed the Slavic emporium of the Odo- brites at Reric and the craftsmen and merchants were taken to Hedeby near Schleswig where a center was built especially for them.²⁶ Evidentlytrade and crafts manufacturing was becoming an important source of revenue for monarchs and their men- at-arms. The main trade centers, however, were inland at Staraia Ladoga and the Bulgar city of Sarsky Fort, where we find the earliest and largest silver hoards. Here the trade activity also caught the attention of Scandinavian traders and adventurers where excavations reveal the presence of Scandinavian settle­ments on the eastern shores of the Baltic by the 6th century and beginning in the 8th century the eastern Baltic coast had been incorporated into King Ivers Danish and Swedish kingdom. The widespread introduction of rye into northern Europe had caused an increase in the population and by the 8th century Denmark, Norway, and Sweden had become overpop­ulated. The struggle for land and the resulting civil strife forced many armed men off the land and naval raiding parties resulting in the well-known Viking raids of western and southern Eu­rope.

The situation in Eastern Europe was somewhat different. With a lack of cities or major towns to loot, a cold climate and a wild hostile terrain, the main attraction was amber from the Baltic coast, slaves, and the fur of the interior. The fur could be traded with northern hunters for beads and metal tools obtained from the Baltic emporia, and the pelts in turn ex­changed for the precious silver dirhams which were beginning to reach the area. Northern slaves were also high in demand in both the Muslim and Christian civilizations of western Asia and southern Europe. Another valuable item of trade was dark­blue glass jewelry obtained from the south, such as the rare pen­dants found in Sweden and the northern Caucasus. The Scan­dinavians possessed a means of transport which the other in­habitants ofEastern Europe did not—maneuverable longboats. Powered by wind and oars these boats could easily negotiate both the Baltic Sea and the river systems of the interior. A typical Scandinavian longboat carried about 30 men together with supplies, and some could carry more. A boat excavated at Skuldelev in Denmark for example was 98 feet long, 12 feet wide and could accommodate 65 armed men!²⁷ The influence of Norse boat technology can also be seen from two rare Scan­dinavian words in eastern Slavic—“shigla” and “yakor” taken from the Old Norse, “sigla” and “akkari,” meaning “mast” and “anchor.”²⁸ Although the Norsemen did not originate the em­poria or the fur trade they became a part of the distribution sys­tem throughout the Baltic region, and many hired themselves as mercenaries to protect the trade.

A question often asked concerns the extent of Scandi­navian “colonization” ofEastern Europe. Norsemen are known to have been present in the main emporia and trading centers in Slavic and Bulgar territory as merchants and armed escort, who were often one and the same. Most Scandinavian presence was limited. Thus at the key trading emporia in the Ladoga re­gion excavations reveal only 30 out of some 700 burials can be considered to be Norse. Also the small Scandinavian settle­ments on the southeastern shores of Lake Ladoga on the Tikh­vin plain date to the 9th Centurywhen the fur trade was already in full swing. A rare example of a Scandinavian settlement has been found at Plakun on the right bank of the Volkhov River, where an excavated cemetery revealed some 60 Norse burials including 8 longboat cremations. The “settlement,” however, was a military outpost not far away from what would become known as “Rurikovo Gorodishehe,” or Ruriks Fort and then Novgorod.²⁹ The center of the Norse outposts occurs among the Finnish Ves people on the fringe of Slavic tribal territory and were mainly used as storage and clearing centers. Early Scandinavian artifacts also come from the Krutnik settlement to the northeast on the shores of Lake Beloozero, and further south in the Bulgarian Sarsky Fort and the fortification of Timerevo. Again these sites were exchange centers on the major trade routes leading to the Muslim world, and the only evidence of trade on the Dnipro River at this time was an emporium at Gnesdovo not far from Smolensk and Polatskin todays Belarus, indicating little trade was entering the Black Sea from these lo­cations.³⁰ Apartial clue as to the trading activities of the Norse can also be gleaned from coins found in Scandinavia, particu­larly Sweden. Finds from the 6th to the 8th centuries indicate trade was scant since no local coins were minted at this time, and there are only 18 eastern Roman coins found in Sweden from this period. Earlier, during the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries the only coin hoards found in Scandinavia are Eastern Roman, probably brought by soldiers serving in the imperial armies.³¹ The import of coins really begins in the 8th century, with the first Arab dirhams reaching Scandinavia at the beginning of the 9th which coincides with the expansion of the fur trade to the northern Baltic. Thus of the 250,000 coins found in Scandi­navia from the Viking Age, 35 percent were mainly Arab dir­hams. The largest hoards of dirhams were deposited in the mid­dle of the IOth century and were struck during 895-920. This is also the period when state power was being established by princes of Kyiv and the beginning of trade with Constantinople. Some of the hoards contained several thousand coins, particu­larly on the island of Gotland Strategicallylocated in the middle of the Baltic Sea.³²