ABSTRACT
From ancient times the northern sub-Urals has been the territory of the Permian branch of Finno-Ugric community formation: the Udmurt, the Komi-Zyryan and the Komi-Permyak peoples. An interesting and complicated period in the genesis of these peoples is the Bronze and Early Iron Ages, when mass migrations are observed in the region. This chapter follows these migrations and their reflection in Bronze and Iron Age archaeological materials, linguistic and folklore data. Across the European north-east in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC there are marked changes in ceramic forms. Vessels with a half-egg form of the Eneolithic (=Chalcolithic) period gave way to those with well-profiled necks. These sequences do not represent internal evolution but are the result of multiple migrations across the vast expanses of Eurasia in the Bronze Age in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. This chapter1 describes these pottery sequences and attempts to interpret them both in terms of house-forms known from excavation and some of the extensive folklore of the region.
