Veps Heritage in the Toponymy of the Southeastern Lake Onega Area in Сorrelation with Archaeological and Historical Sources

The article focuses on toponyms of Veps origin on the territory of Southeastern Lake Onega region. The linguistic, archaeological and historical evidence made by the author indicate that the Veps language was brought to the territory of the Southeastern Lake Onega region from the Souththwestern Lake Ladoga region by bearers of the Ladoga burial mound culture in 10–13th century and was maintained during the migrations of Veps population from Olonets Isthmus (16th century), and also from adjoining territories of Southwestern Lake Ladoga region and Northern Lake Beloye region, that lasted till the beginning of 20th century. In addition, the quantity of Veps population remained very high for a long time. The process of language shift (from Veps to Russian) and ethnic identity in different settlements was not simultaneous, extended for a long period of time and ended, presumably, in 18–19th centuries.