Barsova Gora I/23 Settlement of the Beloyarskaya Culture: Technology and Morphology of Ceramics

Abstract

Purpose. At the beginning of the second quarter of the 1st millennium B.C. in the Surgut Ob region, the beloyarskaya culture was formed based on the preceding cultures of the Late Bronze Age – the barsovskaya and atlymskaya cultures, and as a result of their interaction. The technical and technological analysis of Beloyarskaya culture ceramics from the Barsova Gora I/23 settlement, including a fragment of a wall with an anthropomorphic image on it, was carried out.

Results. The vessels were created using tin clay of low-sanded clay. The product with an anthropomorphic image is made of another clay selected from the river or floodplain. One recipe is defined for pottery of the beloyarskaya culture – Clay + Chamot + Organic solution. The product with an anthropomorphic image is made according to a different recipe – Clay + Broken stone. The anthropomorphic image on the vessel outer surface was made using a tool with a sharpened edge. It is determined that the anthropomorphic image was made on wet clay, after which the vessel was fired. This confirms the simultaneous creation of the vessel and its decoration with an anthropomorphic image. The stratigraphic and planning data allows us to synchronize the complex of ceramics of the beloyarskaya culture and the vessel with an anthropomorphic image on it, as all the analyzed ceramics was found inside one dwelling 1.

Conclusion. The vessel with an anthropomorphic image differs from other ceramics from the Barsova Gora I/23 settlement in its appearance and technology. This indicates that this vessel was made according to the pottery tradition uncharacteristic for the settlement of Barsova Gora I/23. Perhaps this vessel got there in the course of interaction with another population group of the beloyarskaya culture.