Some controversial questions of localisation and ethnical identification of venets, subdued by Armanarich

Yartsev Sergey Vladimirovich, Lebedinets Natalia Viktorovna

This research is devoted to the complex problems of the ethnical identification and territorial localisation of venets subdued by the goths governor Armanarich in the IV century. The VIc.author Iordan’s narration is the main source of the research, his message contradiction being the slavonicethnogenesis most important problem as well. Antique authors’ Pliniy, Tatsit and Ptolomey accompanying facts about the venets/veneds, including the Pevtinger map material, have contradictory data and don’t give the opportunity to locate exactly and to identify ethnically this nation. Butwhile identifying venets with archaeological memorials, the least of contradictions arise when we compare them with the population of posdnezarubinets culture chronological horizon and especially with the kiev culture memorials. The scientists agree that the starting point of eastern slavonic nations formation is undoubtedly the zarubinets culture crisis and disintegration. To the authors mind just at this time some forced migrant groups get from their new neighbours the archaic name of venets. Soon this denomination comes within eyeshot of romans being reflected in the sources. Through the name of venets, in all probability, was never the self-name of the people of posdnezarubinets and kiev culture settlements, as well as of later slavs, Iordan knew well that at his time the goths called the latter vandams. Just due to this reason he tried to explain this phenomenon in his work. But he had to transfer the VIc.events, when the slavs really existed, to the IVc., when there were no slavs and goths called venets some other neighbours. Such a transfer of venets-slavs from the VIc.to the IVc. was desperately necessary to Iordan because it showed the reader that in the past all the slavs, raging everywhere now, incompliantly obeyed to the Armanarich hold.

Keywords:venets, goths, slavs, Armanarich, zarubinets culture, pshevorsk culture, kiev culture