The Khazar Economy: Economic Integration or Disintegration? 207
the Saltovo settlements along the Don and the Severski Donets. It can plausibly
be argued that Khazaria had a well-developed domestic trade, driven by the
produce of its own population.155
Pottery and metallurgy centers with a production intended for the market
cropped up in almost every area of the Don Region. This is true for both the
more remote settlements like the Maiaki hillfort (one of the largest pottery
centers was located there)156 or the Oskol Valley area (known for its metal-
lurgical production), and the Sarkel area, located approximately in the center
of the western Khazar lands. Not all products were transported over long dis-
tances. The pottery was rarely spread beyond a radius of 100–150 kilometers.
For example, kitchen pottery, produced in the Lower Don area or the along the
middle reaches of the Severski Donets, was supplied to settlements along the
upper reaches of the river, as well as the upper reaches of the Oskol.157 Long-
distance trade from those days is mostly evidenced by amphora finds. The
centers that specialized in the production of amphorae in the Crimea and on
the Taman Peninsula traded with the whole Don Region. The spread of the
amphorae indicates the existence of dynamic ties between the bearers of vari-
ous versions of the Saltovo culture in the western part of Khazaria. Amphorae,
produced in the Crimea, can also be found in the Borshevo settlements along
the upper reaches of the Don.158
The discussion of the importance of international trade for Khazaria should
not be focused only on the custom duties that fed the Khazar treasury or the
security that the khaganate provided for the tradesmen and goods that passed
through it. Khazaria’s well-developed inner connections, economy and trade
made it a large and significant market for foreign merchants. Coin finds are not
always a reliable indicator for the state of the economy. Coins were relatively
sparse in the khaganate and did not have such a paramount importance for
155 Pletneva 1967, 116 and 1999, 22. So far, 82 settlements have been found on the Taman
Peninsula, encompassing its entire territory. The economy of the local population (mainly
of Bulgar origins) was mixed, consisting of stock-breeding and agriculture. It is also safe to
assume the existence of “vibrant and stable domestic economic ties, as well as ties with
the outer world” (Paromov 2003, 161).
156 Vinnikov and Pletneva 1998, 157.
157 Pletneva 1967, 107–108; Baranov 1990, 103. See also Flerov 1981.
158 Pletneva 1967, 129–131; Pletneva 1989, 144; Pletneva 1999, 22; Mikheev 1985, 98; Noonan
1995–1997, 175–176; Vinnikov 1995, 69 and 135. See also Tortika 2006a, 480–483; according
to Tortika, the peoples, inhabiting the Don Region, had commercial ties mainly with the
Crimea and the Taman Peninsula, and the roads along the Don and the Severski Donets
mostly had a regional (i.e. for the Khazar Khaganate) commercial importance and were
not associated with Eastern trade (Tortika 2006a, 479, 485–486 and 494–495).