How our ancestors lived. Old Russian village
Let's remember how our ancestors lived, what they ate and what they dressed in.
If someone thinks that life was sweet at that time, then they are greatly mistaken.
Before that, the life of a simple Russian peasant was completely different.
Usually a person lived to be 40-45 years old and died already an old man. He was considered an adult man with a family and children at the age of 14-15, and she was even earlier. They did not get married for love, the father went to woo the bride to his son.
There was no time for idle rest. In summer, absolutely all the time was occupied by work in the field, in winter, logging and homework for the manufacture of tools and household utensils, hunting.
Let's look at the Russian village of the 10th century, which, however, is not much different from the village of both the 5th century and the 17th century...
We got to the Lubytino historical and cultural complex as part of a motor rally dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Avtomir group of companies. It is not for nothing that it is called "One-storied Russia" - it was very interesting and informative to see how our ancestors lived.
In Lyubytino, at the place of residence of the ancient Slavs, among the barrows and graves, a real village of the 10th century was recreated, with all outbuildings and necessary utensils.
Let's start with an ordinary Slavic hut. The hut is cut from logs and covered with birch bark and turf. In some regions, the roofs of the same huts were covered with straw, and somewhere with wood chips. Surprisingly, the service life of such a roof is only slightly less than the service life of the entire house, 25-30 years, and the house itself served 40 years. Considering the lifetime at that time, the house was just enough for a person’s life.
By the way, in front of the entrance to the house there is a covered area - these are the very canopies from the song about "the canopy is new, maple."
The hut is heated in black, that is, the stove does not have a chimney, the smoke comes out through a small window under the roof and through the door. There are no normal windows either, and the door is only about a meter high. This is done in order not to release heat from the hut.
When the stove is fired, soot settles on the walls and roof. There is one big plus in the "black" firebox - there are no rodents and insects in such a house.
Of course, the house stands on the ground without any foundation, the lower crowns simply rest on several large stones.
This is how the roof is made
And here is the oven. A stone hearth mounted on a pedestal made of logs smeared with clay. The stove was lit from early morning. When the stove is heated, it is impossible to stay in the hut, only the hostess remained there, preparing food, all the rest went outside to do business, in any weather. After the stove was heated, the stones gave off heat until the next morning. Food was cooked in the oven.
This is what the cabin looks like from the inside. They slept on benches placed along the walls, they also sat on them while eating. The children slept on the beds, they are not visible in this photo, they are on top, above the head. In winter, young livestock were taken into the hut so that they would not die from frost. They also washed in the hut. You can imagine what kind of air was there, how warm and comfortable it was there. It immediately becomes clear why life expectancy was so short.
In order not to heat the hut in the summer, when this is not necessary, there was a separate small building in the village - a bread oven. Bread was baked and cooked there.
Grain was stored in a barn - a building raised on poles from the surface of the earth to protect products from rodents.
Barrels were arranged in the barn, remember - "I scratched the bottom of the barn ..."? These are special board boxes in which grain was poured from above, and taken from below. So the grain was not stale.
Also, a glacier was tripled in the village - a cellar in which ice was laid in the spring, sprinkled with hay and lay there almost until the next winter.
Clothes, skins, utensils and weapons that were not needed at the moment were stored in a crate. The crate was also used when the husband and wife needed to retire.
Barn - this building served for drying sheaves and threshing grain. Heated stones were piled into the hearth, sheaves were laid on the poles, and the peasant dried them, constantly turning them over. Then the grains were threshed and winnowed.
Cooking in an oven involves a special temperature regime - languor. So, for example, gray cabbage soup is prepared. They are called gray because of their gray color. How to cook them?
To begin with, green cabbage leaves are taken, those that did not enter the head of cabbage are finely chopped, salted and placed under oppression for a week, for fermentation. Even for cabbage soup you need pearl barley, meat, onions, carrots. The ingredients are placed in a pot, and it is placed in the oven, where it will spend several hours. By the evening, a very hearty and thick dish will be ready.
The life of any person strongly depends on his environment, natural conditions, climate. The life of the ancient Slavs was no exception. In general, it was very simple, original. Life went on as usual, measured and at ease. But, on the other hand, I had to survive and look for food for myself and my children every day. So how did our ancestors live - the Slavs?
Agriculture
They lived near rivers and other bodies of water. The reason for this is the need for a large amount of water, and the lands there are very fertile. The southern Slavs could especially boast of such lands. Therefore, one of their main occupations was agriculture. The main crops grown were millet, buckwheat, and flax. There were special devices for cultivating the land: hoes, harrows, plows and others. The Slavs had several types of agriculture (for example, slash-and-burn). It differed in different regions of residence. Most often they burned trees in the forest. The resulting ash was used as fertilizer. After the land "got tired" (usually after three years), they moved to new territories.
dwelling
The Slavs tried to settle in such a way that there were steep slopes around. This could save them from enemy attacks. For the same purpose, a palisade was placed around the dwellings. It was made from logs.
As you know, on the territory of modern Russia and Europe there are frosty winters. Therefore, the Slavs insulated their dwellings (huts) with clay for this period. A fire was kindled inside, special holes were provided for smoke. Later, they began to build real huts with a stove. But initially, such a resource as logs was available only to the Slavs living near the forest.
As for household items, they were also made from different types of trees (these are dishes, tables, benches, and even children's toys). And clothes were sewn from flax and cotton, which they themselves grew.
Way of life
Over time, the Slavs formed a tribal system, tribal relations. The unit, or cell, was the genus. This is a collection of people united by family ties. Today it can be imagined as if all the children of their parents live together with their families. In general, the life of the Slavs was characterized by cohesion, they did everything together and together. When difficulties or disputes arose, but they gathered at a special meeting (veche), where the elders of the clan solved problems.
Food
If the Slavs are basically what they raised and caught themselves. They prepared soups (shchi), cereals (buckwheat, millet and others). From drinks they drank kissel, kvass. From vegetables used cabbage, turnips. Of course, there were no potatoes yet. The Slavs also prepared various pastries. The most popular were pies and pancakes. Berries and mushrooms were brought from the forest. In general, the forest for the Slavs was a source of life. From there they took wood, and animals, and plants.
Hunting and cattle breeding
It is important to note that along with agriculture, our ancestors were also engaged in hunting. 
Many animals lived in the forest (foxes, hares, elks, wild boars, bears). They benefited twice. First, the meat was used for food. Secondly, wool and animal fur - for clothes. To hunt, the Slavs built primitive weapons - a bow and arrows. Fishing was also important.
Over time, cattle breeding also appeared. Now you don’t have to run after the animals, they lived nearby. Basically, the Slavs had cows and pigs, as well as horses. Cattle also brought many benefits to humans. This is delicious meat and milk. And large animals were used both as labor in the fields and as transport.
Leisure of the Slavs
You also need to know how to rest! How did our ancestors have fun? First, they carved various pictures from wood, then giving them a bright color. Secondly, the Slavs also loved music. They had harps, pipes. All musical instruments, of course, were also made of wood. Thirdly, women weaved and embroidered. After all, all the clothes of the Slavs have always been decorated with fancy ornaments and patterns.
Finally
Such was the life of the ancient Slavs. Although it was not filled with simple household amenities, but it was. And it was no worse than that of other tribes that developed in parallel with the Slavs and often had better conditions. The Slavs were able to get comfortable, were able to step over to the next step. It is unlikely that modern man could survive at that time without all his amenities, which he no longer notices. Therefore, let's respect and honor the memory of our ancestors. They did what we could not have done. We owe them what we have today.
Special Report - Alone in the past.
One in the past - Features of Old Russian food.
The first mention of the bath is found in Herodotus of Halicarnassus in the 5th century BC. The ancient Greek historian described in great detail the first baths of the Scythians. They were nomads, so they "built" portable baths from 3 poles stuck into the ground, covered with felt around the perimeter.
Scythians steamed with hemp
Inside the primitive bath - "soap" - there was a red-hot vat with stones that created heat. The room was very cramped and squat. You had to literally climb into it, bending over. Hence the second name of the bath - "vlazna".
Water was splashed on the hot stones, as now. So she warmed up for washing and at the same time filled the vlazni with wet steam. To make the heat even steeper, hemp seeds were sprinkled on wet stones. The Scythians sweated profusely, scrubbing their bodies with ashes or wet leather straps.
Washing our ancestors was something between the process of soaring and wallowing in the ashes and own dirt. But in field conditions, these bath procedures were indispensable. Later, when the ancestors of the Slavs began to lead a more sedentary lifestyle, they began to build squat wooden huts.
Sauna in black, or how to wash in soot
Wooden baths were first built without a chimney. The "hood" was the cracks in the windows, covered with a bull's bladder. All the soot from the burnt coals under the vat of stones filled the washing room. The walls inside were black with soot.
This is what the "black bath" looked like. Despite the exotic device, she coped well with the hygiene requirements of that time. Only around the 9th-10th centuries baths began to be equipped with a pipe, along with which soot also left. So the Slavs learned to wash in a clean room.
How did you wash then?
Public baths began to be built much later and only in large cities. Initially, washing in the bath was a purely family affair. We all washed together: men and women, adults and children.
It never even occurred to anyone to flood the bathhouse separately for women and men. The Slavs did not associate the concept of a bath with shame. Wash-steam all together was in the order of things. Yes, and this is more practical: not so much firewood is needed to kindle a bath for everyone.
The steam room and the washing room were also combined. Washing, brushing with birch brooms and enjoying the hot steam were one continuous, continuous process. In winter, it always ended with diving into the snow or an ice hole (if there was a river nearby).
sacred action
Foreigners considered the Russian banya to be an abode of depravity. The Slavs themselves loved "soap" for the health and purity that it gave. The concept of hospitality was also associated with it. A decent owner of the house always flooded the bath for a dear guest.
In the same buildings, women gave birth to children. Before an important event, only women, and only those who were respected, heated the bathhouse. Men were not allowed to participate in the sacred act. When the room was not occupied, the women gladly used it for divination.
Sometimes this place was also used for covert murder. In the bath, they could lock up the enemy and burn him along with the wooden building itself. This is exactly what Princess Olga did with the Drevlyansk ambassadors, who offered her to become the wife of their leader.
"Unclean Place"
Since the bath was associated with such mysterious processes for the ancestors as conception, the birth of children and divination, it was considered an “unclean” place. Here “sins were washed away”, the body was cleansed, therefore, something bad remained within these walls.
According to the beliefs of the Slavs, a spirit lived in the bathhouse - a bannik. He was considered an evil being, capable of killing a person who disrespects him. Bannik was supposed to be coaxed with special sayings and persuasion. In importance, he was even more important than the brownie.
Is there any benefit from the Russian bath
In Russia, it has always been believed that the bath gives health and strengthens the spirit. Modern medicine warns that hot wet steam is only good for healthy people. For hypertensive patients and core patients, the entrance to the bath is closed, since it creates an increased load on the heart and blood vessels.
Do not bathe and those who have varicose veins. Bath procedures can only exacerbate the problem. It is highly not recommended to visit the steam room and pregnant women, especially in the first and third trimester of pregnancy. A bath is too severe a test for the body of a future mother and fetus. Even a short stay in a hot, humid environment can lead to miscarriage.
But if a person does not have the listed contraindications, he should visit the bath once a month or two. For a healthy body, a Russian bath is comparable to an hour-long exercise session on an exercise bike or a run. However, you should not bathe more often: the body gets used to the load and stops responding to it.
There are many theories about how man originated. How did our ancestors live? Who were they? There are a lot of questions, and the answers, unfortunately, are ambiguous. Well, let's try to figure out where man came from and how he lived in ancient times.
origin theory
- There are several theories about how man appeared: he is a creation of the cosmos, a creature from another world;
- the creator of man is God, it was he who laid down everything possible that man possesses;
- man appeared from the monkey, evolving and entering new stages of development.
Well, since most scientists still adhere to the third theory, because a person is so similar in structure to animals, let's analyze this version. How did people live in the deepest antiquity?
First stage: parapithecus
As you know, the ancestor of both humans and monkeys was a parapithecus. If we say the approximate time of the existence of parapithecus, then these animals inhabited the Earth about thirty-five million years ago. Despite the fact that scientists know too little about such ancient mammals, there is plenty of evidence that great apes are evolved parapithecus.
Second stage: driopithecus
If you believe the still unproven theory of the origin of man, then Driopithecus is a descendant of Parapithecus. However, a well-established fact is that Driopithecus is the ancestor of man. How did our ancestors live? The exact life time of Dryopithecus has not yet been established, but scientists say that they lived on Earth about eighteen million years ago. If we talk about the way of life, then, unlike parapithecus, which settled exclusively on trees, driopithecus already settled not only at height, but also on the ground.
Stage Three: Australopithecus
Australopithecus is the direct ancestor of man. How did our Australopithecus ancestors live? It is established that the life of this ancient mammal originated about five million years ago. Australopithecus already looked more like modern man in their habits: they calmly moved on their hind legs, used the most primitive tools of labor and protection (sticks, stones, etc.). Unlike their predecessors, Australopithecus ate not only berries, herbs and other vegetation, but also ate animal meat, since these same tools were often used for hunting. Despite the fact that evolution was clearly moving forward, Australopithecus was more like a monkey than a man - thick hair, small proportions and average weight still distinguish them from modern humans.
Fourth stage: a skilled person
At this stage in the development of evolution, the human ancestor was no different from Australopithecus in its appearance. Despite being skilled, he was distinguished by the fact that he could freely make tools, means of protection and hunting on his own. All the products that this ancestor produced were made mainly of stone. Some scientists are even inclined to believe that in his development a skilled person reached the point that he tried to transmit information to his own kind using certain combinations of sounds. However, the theory that it was at this time that the beginnings of speech already existed has not been proven.
Fifth stage: Homo erectus
How did our ancestor, whom today we call "upright man" live? Evolution did not stand still, and now this mammal very much resembled a modern person. In addition, already at this stage of development, a person could make sounds that served as certain signals. This means that we can conclude that there was already speech at that time, but it was inarticulate. At this stage, the volume of the brain has increased greatly in humans. Thanks to this, a skilled person no longer worked alone, but the work was collective. This human ancestor could have hunted large animals, as hunting tools were already sophisticated enough to kill a large game.
Sixth stage: Neanderthal
For a very long time, the theory that Neanderthals were the direct ancestors of man was considered correct and accepted by many scientists. However, studies have shown that Neanderthals did not have any descendants, which means that the branch of this mammal was a dead end. Despite this, in their structure, Neanderthals are very similar to modern humans: a large brain, lack of hair, a developed lower jaw (this suggests that Neanderthals had speech). Where did our "ancestors" live? Neanderthals lived in groups, making their homes on the banks of rivers, in caves and between rocks.
The last stage: a reasonable person
Scientists have proven that this species appeared 130 thousand years ago. External resemblance, the structure of the brain, all the skills - all this suggests that a reasonable person is our direct ancestor. It is at this stage of the revolution that people begin their own cultivation of livelihoods, settle not just in groups but in families, run their own households, keep their own barnyard and begin to explore new crops of plants.
Slavs
How our people lived This is the finally developed ancestor of modern man, who is characterized by division into racial groups. Human ancestors living in the Middle Ages were mostly Slavs. In general, this race appeared in the Baltic lands, and soon, due to its large number, it settled throughout Western Europe and northwestern Russia. In addition, the Slavs fought constant battles, were distinguished by a special technique for owning weapons and stamina in battle. Slavs are the ancestors of specifically Russian, German, Baltic and other peoples.
The life of the peasants consisted not only of the labors of the righteous. The village knew how to relax. They prepared for the holidays ahead of time, not only adults, but also children were waiting for it. Children - even especially. And not only for the sake of gifts or plentiful treats, although it is probably appropriate to say here that any festive table was very desirable for everyone because of the frequent and long exhausting fasts. For a peasant, many, if not all, folk and church customs, traditions, rituals naturally and naturally fit into the circle of his economic activity and spiritual life, serving as a kind of reward for hard, sometimes exhausting everyday life.
How did our ancestors relax?
Girls came to parties with spinning wheels, but they did it, as they say, to divert eyes: how much can you spin if the accordion is so flooded that the legs themselves ask to dance. They danced most often a four-knee quadrille. During breaks, they sang songs, ditties, had conversations, cracking nuts (later seeds appeared). Guys used to indulge in wine at parties, but they indulged, not got drunk. Having spent an evening or two in this way, they moved to another village, got acquainted, looked at neighbors and neighbors, lingering where they found personal interest for themselves.
Festive, and indeed any ordinary parties, usually dragged on well after midnight.
Visit the open-air museum Small Karely on a weekend or a holiday, and you will see firsthand how our ancestors rested.
However, the youth did not get bored during the day either. They arranged ice slides and rode from them in special sleds-chunks. The slides were built on the high bank of the river, the sleds flew from them over the ice for 300-400 meters. Every guy, if he started to get married, had to roll his girlfriend down such a hill. That was some kind of game - with a squeal, laughter, if a couple flew into a snowdrift, which was sometimes done intentionally.
Celebrations on Maslenitsa
And on Maslenitsa, in addition to riding on chunks, sleigh rides around the village were arranged, and not alone, by whole trains. It was a wonderful sight. In the village - there was a real amateur holiday, your own action, in which you are both a spectator and an artist, having fun yourself and making others happy. Their owners wove bright ribbons into the mane of each horse, a ringing Valdai bell was attached to the arc, and the sleigh was decorated - whoever was. Such a train rushes through the village - thirty or forty sleighs at a time - it takes your breath away! Even frail old people came out to see this fun. And the train flew through the village, stopping for some time at the ice hill, where they again rode in chunks, and rushed to the next village of the society. And so on - until it travels around the whole district, it jumps with noise, ringing, uproar, with songs and merry music. An unforgettable sight...
Patronal feasts
The old village also celebrated holidays in the summer, even during the days of suffering. These were mostly patronal feasts - in honor of one or another saint, to whom the village church was dedicated. So every village, if it had a temple of God, had its own patronal feast. 
On patronal days, beer was brewed in every house, snacks were prepared and feasted for two or three days. Adults usually spent holidays at home, while young people chose a place for themselves in a meadow by the river. As a rule, guys and girls from four or five surrounding villages gathered for such parties. They danced the same quadrille to the discordant accordion, sang songs in companies, in a row, walked through the meadow. The festivities began at noon and ended late in the evening, but it often continued the next day. Older people also came to the meadow in the evening, but not to sing and dance, but, above all, to look after a bride for their son.
Christmas holidays
But the main holidays - the joy and decoration of village life - fell in the winter. And the first among them in terms of seniority and reverence was Christmas. It was some kind of bright and joyful holiday, expected by the whole family. Of course, a religious beginning gave it an unusually strong, capital, one might say, coloring: after all, the date of the birth of Christ is still the starting point of our chronology. But at the same time, the popular consciousness, guided by the echoes of some vague, even more ancient ritual customs, associated with this day the completion by the peasant of the eternal cycle of laborious work on the ground, and the desire to predict whether the next year will be favorable for the farmer or not.
On this day (or the eve of it), the peasant took note of many things in natural phenomena: is there frost on the trees, is it a clear day or is a snowstorm blowing, is the sky starry, is the sledge track good, believing that thick frost promises abundant bread, snowstorm - swarming bees , and the stars are the harvest for peas. This whole system of signs and beliefs endowed Christmas with a special meaning - mysterious, enigmatic, going back to inexpressibly hoary antiquity and full of obscure hopes.
But on the other hand, the general desire to finally have a tasty meal and take a walk after a dull, boring and exhausting fast completely deprived him of any mysticism, made him close and understandable in an earthly way, and even how close and understandable.
Try it, sit week after week on jelly and zatiruha, if you don’t want to, remember how your grandmother used to swear at you: “Wait, fasting, he will tighten your tail!”
What is true is true, the post was running out of tails, although both the barn and the crate were not empty. But with the onset of the holiday, both yesterday's bread on the table and the boring potatoes in the pot came to an end. The meat conspiracy allowed everything: the long-awaited cabbage soup with meat, and buttered lush pies, shangi. But before you sit down at the table, you had to go to church, take communion.
Village weddings
Weddings in the countryside were most often played in spring or autumn. In order to ensure the happiness of the young, resistance was shown throughout the wedding. Until the very wedding day, the bride resisted what was happening, even if she married with her own desire. Hence her lamentations, which have always been an improvisation that does not violate strict traditional forms. Lamenting, the betrothed girl “shouted loudly”, flailing her hands on the bench and the floor. And everyone took it for granted, they told her: “you won’t cry at the table, you’ll cry at the post.”
Resistance to the wedding came not only from the bride, but also from the "comers" - fellow villagers, who on the wedding day saw off the bride from their native village. They blocked the road to the wedding train, sang the so-called reproachful songs, in which they reproached “the groom, scolded and ridiculed the “matchmaker” (or the “master”, if he rode a horse, leading the wedding train”).
matchmaker, matchmaker
Yes, the sly devil matchmaker,
Yes, the sly devil matchmaker,
Everyone went and was cunning,
Not by way, not by way,Oh, not by way, not by road -
Sidewall,
Sidewall,
Yes, dog pathsOh, all dog paths,
Yes, animal standards
All animal burrows
Everyone went and praisedEveryone went and praised
Alien far side
Alien far side.
All the villain is unfamiliar,
Oh, evil - the miracle of the father's son
It is impossible to imagine an old village without songs. There were a great many songs: round dance, play, love, wedding. Under lullabies they rocked a cradle with a baby, under funeral services they said goodbye to the deceased.
Used sources:
(According to the books by Plotnikov N. “Exhibition Restrictions” and Arinian E.I. “Religion Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”, as well as the memoirs of old-timers).
