Landscape conditions for the development of early Russian cities in the medieval period in the Upper Volga region of the Volga-Caspian route

Abstract

The main goal and objective of the work performed were to study the landscape conditions that shaped the Old Russian cities in the Upper Volga region in the medieval period. A paired comparison analysis of historical, archaeological, and geographical materials, along with the compilation of a series of medium-scale maps of the landscape, provincial and zonal allocation of early Russian cities, made it possible to identify the landscape characteristics of the early Russian city development and the establishment of a settlement structure in their immediate vicinity in the Old Russian period, as well as the development and the specific features of the establishment of first urban cultural-landscape complexes. The work was carried out at two hierarchical levels: for the entire Upper Volga segment and the key areas. For the key sections of the Old Russian Upper Volga cities, original maps of Restored Landscapes, Edaphotopes were compiled; and based on this data, the periodization of the formative processes and development of urban landscapes was identified (from both, the historical and the landscape perspective), and the structure of the urban (cultural-historical) landscapes during main chronosections was mapped. The most detailed research was performed for the city of Yaroslavl, selected as a model territory for the entire region.