The article examines cultural contacts, cultural exchange and cultural transmission on the eastern fringes of medieval Europe, where the interaction of various cultures of European and Asian origin over the centuries has formed a unique cross-cultural zone. Since ancient times, these territories have been the western part of the Eurasian migration route of the population of Central Asia, which became the most important factors in the formation of states in medieval Europe. The article suggests that the intersection of cultures was mainly due to the Slavic migration in the eastern direction and the southern expansion of the Varangians. Arguments are given in support of the fact that the concept of cultural exchange is not precise enough to explain the process of adaptation and assimilation of cultural values in this zone, which can be conditionally called Slavia Asiatica. A more comprehensive approach is needed to understand cultural interaction in the Middle Ages, which included many cultural subsystems such as language and writing, law and religion, knowledge, values and norms, practices, and socio-political institutions. Keywords: cross-cultural contacts, cultural transmission, medieval Western Eurasia, Pechenegs, Polovtsians, Slavs, Tatar-Mongols. Introduction When analyzing the phenomena of cultural assimilation in the eastern periphery of medieval Europe, Slavia Asiatica can be considered as a contact zone characterized by multi-faceted cultural exchange and transmission. Using the concepts developed for the eastern European borders (Stokl, 1953; Goehrke, 1981), I mean the territory that stretches from the Danube to the Middle Volga region and goes far beyond the area that is traditionally considered in connection with the tense relations between Kievan Rus and the Steppe. Thus, my approach to the research space will differ from those usually applied in the context of Central Europe and the Caucasus (Korolyuk, 1972; Arutyunova-Fidanyan, 1999; Udaltsova et al., ... Read more