I. R. VASILYEVSKY(Based on the archaeological materials of the Black Grave mound) Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS 17 Akademika Lavrentieva Ave., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia E-mail: vasilevsky@yandex.ru Introduction In the reconstruction of the world of people in different historical epochs, a significant place is occupied by the study of beliefs and cults characteristic of each individual community. One of the elements that reflect the state of society is the calendar as an expression of cycles that connect time, astronomical objects and the space around them. It is also consistent with significant events and holidays for this society, significant dates in the individual's life. The calendar counting system in pre-Christian Russia is practically unknown. Researchers call into question the complete lack of writing among the Slavs before the creation of Glagolitic and Cyrillic letters. The question of the religious views of the ancient Slavs, tribal unions in the territories between the Dnieper and the Volga, Ladoga and the Black Sea region in the period before the adoption of Christianity in Russia is poorly studied. Slavic vessels - "calendars" of the IV century with "lines and cuts" were found together with Roman coins of the same period, and as a result of the reconstruction of the calendar on these clay products, in some cases the beginning of the year is set in January, which corresponds to the Roman calendar. At the same time, as is known, the Slavs celebrated the beginning of the year close to the days of the spring or autumn equinox, so the question of the actual Old Slavic calendar remains open. Thus, at present, for the period of the V - X centuries, i.e., when the society was sufficiently developed, no traces of material culture have been found that allow us to get a complete picture of the counting systems and calendar of the Slavic tribes in the region under consideration. Describing the complexity of the problem, it is necessary to note t ... Read more