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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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