Dolgov V.V.

 

Clan community of ancient Slavs: issues of theory and typology. Pp. 7–17.

UDC 94(47).01

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2025.89.4.001

 

Abstract. The article addresses the problem of the theoretical and terminological apparatus used for studying early forms of social organization among Eastern Slavs. The author provides a critical analysis of key concepts developed in Russian and foreign historiography (clan, blood kinship group, extended family community, zadruga, patronymy) and assesses their applicability in the context of modern archaeological data. Particular attention is paid to the discussions of the Soviet period, specifically the polemic between N. A. Butinov and Yu. I. Semenov regarding the nature of the clan community. As a result of the research, the author proposes a modern interpretation of the basic theoretical constructs, without the ideological layers of the Marxist paradigm and refined to take into account the recent ethnographic and archaeological findings. The proposed typology of forms of sociality (blood kinship group, patriarchal clan, extended family community, zadruga, patronymy) is presented as a platform for further interdisciplinary study of the early stages of Slavic history.

 

Keywords: clan community, Eastern Slavs, social organization, theory of the clan, patronymy, zadruga, extended family community, historiography, archaeology.

 

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