Economy and household life of Alanya in the V – XIII centuries. Cattle breeding

Introduction. The article examines livestock breeding as the most important sector of the economy of medieval Alania. Starting from the 5th century, there was a gradual revival of the political, economic, and cultural spheres of life of the people, which followed the invasion of the Huns. The development of Alania continued until the 13th century when the country fell under the blows of the Mongol conquerors. The Alans and their culture played a significant role in the historical destiny of Southern Eastern Europe in the early centuries of our era and in the pre-Caucasus during the medieval period. The problem of the Alans in historical science has existed since the late 16th century and continues to attract the attention of domestic and foreign researchers. The works on the Alans primarily cover issues of ethnogenesis, linguistic affiliation, political history of the settlement of tribal groups, description and chronological classification of household and burial monuments, highlighting local variants of Alanian culture, international relations, reading some written monuments, the issue of continuity of subsequent ethnocultures related to the Alans, questions of religion (paganism, Christianity), the problem of the Nart epic, and others. However, little is known about the internal history of the Alans. The literature poorly reflects the productive forces, economy, level of material culture, and daily life, and without knowledge of the peculiarities of the economic activity of a particular people, there remains a gap that complicates the possibility of deeply understanding various aspects of its historical life.

Materials and Methods. The methods of comparative linguistics, with the involvement of the Ossetian language – one of the ancient living languages belonging to the Iranian language group, which was spoken by the Alans, provide a convincing reconstruction of some aspects of household life. Important significance is attributed to the findings obtained during the excavations of archaeological sites on the territory of medieval Alania. The circle of sources also includes Nart tales in the Ossetian version. Much valuable information for the topic under consideration is also provided by ethnography.

Analysis. Literary accounts of ancient and medieval authors, material evidence from burial mounds and settlements, data from comparative linguistics, and folklore indicate that livestock breeding was one of the most important occupations forming the economic foundation of medieval Alania society.

Results. Livestock breeding occupied a leading place in the economy, primarily in the mountains, being the main prerequisite for a very dense settlement of the mountains in the medieval period

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