Igor Yu. Strikalov

Institute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow (igor.strikalov@gmail.com)

Key words: Ryazan land, landscape archaeology, high plains, settlement structure, dynamics and character of colonization, traditions and innovations in pottery production.

The aim of the publication is a comparative analysis of the structure of the colonization in the Steppe high plains of the southern Ryazan frontier in the 12th – 15th cc., characterized by contrast landscapes of zones of the medieval development. The comparison is based on the differences of the natural conditions, the dynamics of the colonization and geopolitical position of micro regions in the period of significant climate changes, foreign affairs and economic situation of the Southern-Eastern suburbs of Rus. Based on the analysis of mass ceramic material, its chronology and local pottery traditions and also the landscape confinedness of the settlements the features of the mechanism of Russian colonization of these territories have been defined. It has been showed in the movement of the population from the main territories of the development of the Pre-Mongol period to the East in the Golden Horde period, in the change of priorities in choosing the places of colonization.