INTERNATIONAL TRADE RELATIONS OF THE MIDDLE VOLGA REGION IN THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD THROUGH THE GLASS EVIDENCE

Highlighting the unquestionable priority of the Volga trade route in contacts between the eastern parts of Europe and the East from antiquity and in the Middle Ages in particular is a comprehensive source analysis, centering on the most informative of these, that is, coins, glass artifacts and glazed ceramics. The Author presents the significance and perspectives of source-oriented research on medieval glassware from the middle Volga region. The specific character of the region, its key importance in many ethno-cultural, political and historical processes, together with its massive source base of glass artifacts (which includes adornments, glass tableware, window glass) opens a broad perspective for historical reconstructions. Not only can the direction and dynamics of international relations be defined, but it is also possible to establish levels of craft and urban culture development, as well as more specific site chronologies, all of which help in stratifying the towns of Volga Bulgaria by their social status within the state.