Β the book explores the history of the Slavs during the period when they formed an ethnic and linguistic unity. The work covers a significant period of time - from the 1st millennium BC. e., when the Slavs, having emerged from the Drene-European community, began an independent path of development, until the early Middle Ages inclusive, when the Slavic unity, in conditions of widespread settlement and cross-breeding with other peoples, disintegrated, separate Slavic ethnic groups and languages began to form. In studying the problem of the origin and early history of the Slavs, the author focuses on an interdisciplinary approach, while the outline of the presentation is formed by materials from archeology and history.