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TheNovgorod Slavs,Ilmen Slavs (Russian:Ильменские словене,Il'menskiye slovene), orSlovenes were the northernmosttribe of theEarly Slavs, and inhabited the shores ofLake Ilmen, and the riverbasins of theVolkhov,Lovat,Msta, and the upper stream of theMologa in the 8th to 10th centuries. The Slovenes were native to the region aroundNovgorod.[1] There is a belief among researchers that Novgorod is one of the regions which were the original home /Urheimat of theRussians and the Slavic tribes.[2]
Like all Eastern Slavs in Russian lands, the Ilmen Slavs had unique characteristics. Ancestors of the Ilmen Slavs who settled inFinnic areas descended from theSeverians and thePolabian Slavs, as evidenced by language and traditions (seeold Novgorod dialect andGostomysl for examples). They settled in mostly Finnic areas in Northern Russia, moving along the major waterways, until they met the southward expansion of theKrivich in the modern-dayYaroslavl Oblast.[3]
They left a fewarchaeological monuments of the 6th–8th centuries, such asagriculturalsettlements, and tall cone-likekurgans withcremated bodies in theLadoga region. The mostancient settlement is dated to the 7th or 8th centuries. Numerous archaeological finds, such as a metal tip for a woodenplough, indicate that the Ilmen Slavs had a well-developed agriculture.
They were not a particularly warlike state, but evidence of their unique weaponry, dating back to the mid-8th century, has been found around the city of Novgorod. The weaponry consisted ofspears,maces,swords,bows,javelins, andwar hammers.
The principal cities of the Ilmen Slavs wereStaraya Russa andNovgorod, the center of theNovgorod Republic, which had developed in the 9th–10th centuries.[3]
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