To understand what the native Muscovites were like, you need to imagine Vyatichi. This tribe became the basis of the Moscow population of the "first wave". With the Vyatichi, not everything is so simple. It is not even clear to the end whether they were pagans or Jews.
From Vyatko
The Vyatichi belonged to one of the largest East Slavic tribes in Russia, which inhabited the current Moscow, Kaluga, Oryol, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tula, Voronezh and Lipetsk regions from the 8th to the 13th century. It is known for certain that up to the end of the 11th century, the Vyatichians managed to maintain their own independence.
The name of the tribal union came from the name of the ancestor of the tribe - Vyatko, or Vyachko. The chronicle describes the occupation of the nationality in agriculture and cattle breeding. The last written mention of them dates back to 1197.
"Living" trees
The Vyatichi believed that every tree contains a living soul, so they selected the type of wood for their log cabins with special care. It was believed that the sacred, damned and violent trees should not be used in housing construction, as they bring misfortune with them. The same was true for trees that “fell at midnight,” or fell north. If the tree when felling and falling touched the branches of the nearest neighbors, then together with the "injured" it was considered unsuitable. Vyatichi believed that these trees could cause the death of residents. Logs with knots were also not used in construction - they were believed to bring trouble to the owner. In general, it was not so easy for the Vyatichi to find the building material for the future home.
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Where to build a house?
Particular attention was paid to the choice of location for the construction of the future home. The fact is that places, like trees, were divided into happy and damned. I built a hut in a cursed place - expect trouble. These places included roads, as well as lands with previously standing baths. Lands with bones found there, spilled blood, an overturned wagon and traces of a lightning strike also fell into the zone of special danger.
Places inhabited were the happy places, as well as those where the cattle lay down to rest. To determine whether a place was suitable for construction, folk fortune-telling was used. So, in the evening at the designated place, the future owner of the hut poured heaps of grain in the four corners. If in the morning all of them remained intact, it means that the place is correct and safe.
Diseases
Based on the remains of skulls, archaeologists were able to restore not only the external appearance of the Vyatichi, but also to find out that they suffered from caries, as evidenced by their teeth. In addition, from the remains of the skeleton and marks on the bones, scientists were able to determine that the East Slavic tribe was susceptible to diseases of the spinal column and connective cartilage, as well as various chondrosis and arthrosis. There were frequent among the Vyatichi and benign and malignant tumors, often there were fractures and other injuries, as well as anemia.
Religion
It is believed that before the conversion of the Vyatichi to Christianity by the saints of Kuksha, they were pagans. However, the jewelry found in the graves gave rise to serious discussions on this matter - some scholars say that the Vyatichi professed Judaism before baptism. This is evidenced by the excavated temple rings with a six-pointed star as a pendant. As you know, it is the six-pointed star that is the Jewish symbol. Scientists are wondering whether the Vyatichi could have accepted Judaism before baptism, or whether the jewelry found is in no way connected with it, since no other manifestations of this have been noted. However, the Vyatichi are East Slavic tribes, where did this six-pointed star come from, and what could it mean? Further research will show.
Racial mixing
The discovered remains of skulls in the burial mounds of the Vyatichi help to understand what these people looked like. It turned out that the features of their appearance are similar to the Mordovians - Erzyu, which was part of the Finno-Ugric group of peoples. This group also includes Hungarians, Finns, Estonians, Mari, Udmurts. Therefore, it can be assumed that nationalities have similar external features due to common roots or confusion.
In addition, when examining the skulls, it turned out that the upper lip clearly protrudes in the Vyatichi. This led scientists to the idea that Vyatichi could mix with people of various anthropological groups, which is clearly evidenced by dental prognathism (jaws protruding forward). On the basis of the data obtained, a version appeared that in ancient times, during wanderings or already during the time of a sedentary lifestyle, Vyatichi had mixtures with representatives of the Negroid race.