Ancient Finno-Permic Related Settlements
in the Oka River Source Region
The map shows ancient Perm-Finnish
Settlements in the Oka River source and middle Dnieper River areas in Russia.
The hatched areas are the forest meadow areas opening toward the Steppe
grasslands. The forest ends completely at the circle line. The place names
(except the names in brackets) are ancient Finnish in origin (P.I. Jakob,
Russian geographer, St. Petersburg, 1907). Some of these people eventually
made their way along the forest edge southward, thus spreading their influence
in that direction. Many of the women's folk costumes of these areas still
carry the stamp of the early inhabitants, such as the Votjaks (Udmurts)
and Mari who had moved West.
The west side of the Oka River source
was populated by Votyaks, and the east side by Mordvinians. These people
did everything they could for hundreds of years to retain their identities,
but eventually they were absorbed by the overwhelming numbers of Slavs.
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