Technological Features of the Ceramics of the Barsovo Culture in the Late Bronze Age (By the Materials from the Archaeological Sites of the Barsova Gora)

Abstract

Purpose. Barsova Gora is a unique archaeological and landscape site located in the Tyumen Region (West Siberia) of the Russian Federation. The source base for the study consists of the ceramics vessels of the Barsovo culture from the following archaeological sites: Barsova Gora I/50 (20 vessels), Barsova Gora I/43 (8 vessels), Barsova Gora III/4 (10 vessels), and Bartsevka IV (15 vessels). The aim of the study is to reconstruct the pottery production stages of the Barsovo culture by the Barsova Gora archaeological sites.
Results. It has been established that ferruginized natural clays were used for the vessels production at all the analyzed archaeological settlements. It was revealed that at the archaeological sites of Barsova Gora I/50, Barsova Gora I/43, and Bartsevka IV several clay pots were used by potters. On the archaeological sites of Barsova Gora I/50, Barsova Gora I/43, and Barsova Gora III/4 the main recipe for clay paste is clay + chamotte. In the Bartsevka IV archaeological settlement the dominant recipe for clay paste is clay + chamotte + organic solution. The use of various organic solutions was recorded at this site. At all the archaeological sites, the construction of the vessels beginning was carried out according to the bottom-capacitive program; the design of the vessels body was carried out using patchwork molding on the form-base. Mainly mechanical smoothing with various tools processed the vessels surfaces at the archaeological sites of Barsova Gora I /50, Barsova Gora I /43, and Bartsevka IV. At the Barsova Gora III/4 site, burnishing of vessels surfaces was used more frequently than at other analyzed sites. At all the archaeological sites, the vessels could be fired in two modes: in a reducing and reducing-oxidizing environment.
Conclusion. The similarity in the skills of making vessels, processing the vessels surfaces, and firing modes makes it possible to assume a commonality of traditions of the population that left the sites in question. Pottery traditions are especially close to each other at the Barsova Gora I/50, Barsova Gora I/43, and Barsova Gora III/4 sites. The pottery of the Bartsevka IV site stands out. Various organic solutions were often added to it. This picture may reflect the existence on Barsova Gora of two close groups of the Barsovo culture, differing in individual pottery skills, or a chronological difference between the sites.