The Dyakovo culture (russian: Дьяковская культура, from the excavated site at Dyakovo - Дьяково) is an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

culture which occupied a significant part of the Upper

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...

, Valday and

Oka River The Oka (russian: Ока́, ) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of it ...

area. The Dyakovo archaeological sites became the subject of interest in the early 19th century. The earliest phase of the culture was a colonization in the late 9th - early 8th century BC. These were small settlements situated on riverbanks close to water, like ''Tchyortov gorodok'' (Чёртов городок) on the Moscow River. The Kuntsevskoye, Troitskoye, Scherbinskoye and other sites are located in the territory of modern

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. These sites were fortified with moats and ramparts added frequently, with wooden structures, and show clear traces of dwellings. The 6-7th centuries was a time of crisis for the Dyakovo culture, for reasons still unknown.Железный век на территории Москвы и Подмосковья. Дьяковская культура
The Dyakovo culture was probably formed by

Finnic peoples The Finnic or Fennic peoples, sometimes simply called Finns, are the nations who speak languages traditionally classified in the Finnic (now commonly '' Finno-Permic'') language family, and which are thought to have originated in the region of ...

, such as the ancestors of the

Merya Merya may refer to: * Merya people The Meryans, also ''Merya'' (Russian: меря) were an ancient Finnic people that lived in the Upper Volga region. The Primary Chronicle places them around the Nero and Pleshcheyevo lakes. They were assimilat ...

Muromian The Volga Finns (sometimes referred to as Eastern Finns) are a historical group of indigenous peoples of Russia living in the vicinity of the Volga, who speak Uralic languages. Their modern representatives are the Mari people, the Erzya and th ...

Meshchera The Volga Finns (sometimes referred to as Eastern Finns) are a historical group of indigenous peoples of Russia living in the vicinity of the Volga, who speak Uralic languages. Their modern representatives are the Mari people, the Erzya and th ...

, and Veps tribes. All regional

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

s and

hydronym A hydronym (from el, ὕδρω, , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As ...

s stem from Finno-Ugric languages, for example Yauza River which is a confluent of the

Moskva River The Moskva (russian: река Москва, Москва-река, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river running through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through cen ...

, and probably the

itself.

References

History of Moscow Oblast History of Moscow Archaeological cultures of Eastern Europe Iron Age cultures of Europe Archaeological cultures in Russia Finno-Ugric archaeological cultures {{Russia-hist-stub