Trade and Economic Contacts Between the Volga and Kama Rivers Region and the Classical World

Though the Silk Road has long fascinated writers and archaeologists, its northern-most branch has been comparatively neglected in ancient and modern times. This timely volume about the route between the Volga and Kama Rivers Regions and the classical world, rectifies this imbalance. It provides a reader of literary sources regarding trade between these two regions, written by Greek and Roman authors, but also a catalogue of the archaeological remains of transit trade in the Volga and Kama Rivers Regions. As such, it contains a more rounded view than all previous accounts, as it does not only rely on Classical, literary perspectives on this trade network, but is able to examine its effects on both groups of traders. It also carefully traces how these trade relations changed over time as the societies at both ends of it constantly evolved, treating this subject over the course of thirteen hundred years, from the sixth century B.C. to the seventh century A.D. The value of this book lies in the fact that the comprehensive and thorough archaeological, and textual, analysis will allow a more precise and complete examination of the main mechanisms of trade and economic relationships between societies which occupied different levels of socio-economic and political development.