What «Slavic tribe» is? Answering the editorial questions of «Studia Slavica et Balcanica Petropolitana»

Abstract

The notions «tribe» and «tribal association» have been used by the archaeologists, including the author, for a long time to define the ethno-territorial communities (the Slavic ones of «antiquity» and Middle Ages as well), correlating with certain archaeological culture or its local branches. Meanwhile, these definitions do not cover the whole range of ethno-social and politico-potestary bodies, including synchrostadial tribes and their associations. The Slavic tribes can be associated with the segmental lineages, basing on the African materials. «Chiefdoms» can be of different forms, including tribal association and complex ethno-potestary tribes with different forms of government and organization of power. The mechanism of emergence of tribal and supra-tribal structures, which are essential for these bodies, are different, but limited (about ten) and range in various Slavic and Germanic groups. A retinue can be a consolidating factor, but on the supra-tribal level. In Ancient Rus’ it served as a tool during the period of the «early state» consolidation, which transformed local tribal associations — «Sklavinias» — into a new «supra-complex chiefdom» in the second half of the tenth century. The Slavic community of the Middle Ages was unified by the kindred languages and dialects, and by nothing else, except the consciousness of the educated highranked clergymen — the authors of the chronicles and annals.