Experience of Studying Vessel Forms of the Nikolayevskiy Burial Ground of the Bronze Age Using the ‘Envelope’ and Geometric Morphometry Methods

Abstract

The article considers the possibilities of the ‘envelope’ and geometric morphometry methods exemplified by the analysis of 47 whole forms of vessels from the Nikolayevskiy burial ground of Srubnaya culture from Bashkir Fore-Urals.
Purpose. The purpose of this work is to reveal the morphological characteristics of the ceramic complex of the necropolis with the isolation of the reference forms of vessels using the ‘envelope’ method and methods of geometric morphometry. Consideration of their possibilities will allow for the further construction of a general typology of the vessels of Srubnaya culture of the Urals. The authors are convinced that only the publication of the results of the study of the morphology of the vessels of individual complexes, processed according to a unified technique, will make it possible to proceed with the study of ceramics of the Late Bronze Age cultures of the entire Southern Urals. The use of the ‘envelope’ method proposed by Clive Orton made it possible to highlight the leading forms of the considered collection. The obtained classification scheme includes six groups of pot-shaped vessels and four groups of jar-shaped vessels.
Results. The results of the principal component analysis allow for the conclusion that the majority of the sample vessels are similar to each other in general proportions. A small group of vessels of Srubnaya culture low in heigh and a number of vessels with a foreign cultural component, in particular those with features characteristic of Alakul culture, stand out from the rest. There is no clear connection between the distribution of pottery groups among burials and mounds. Only two points stand out. The finds of vessels of the first group of pots prevail in the embankment of mound 1, while pots of the second group appear only in burials of mounds 3 and 5. In mound 3, the finds of these vessels are concentrated in the burials of the northwestern sector, which probably reflects a certain stage in the functioning of the burial ground.
Conclusion. The studied variations of pot forms in the analyzed collection, the presence of vessels with the so-called early-Srubnaya signs, and their mutual occurrence with the vessels of the Srubno-Alakul appearance, reflect the processes of the influence of the Alakul pottery stereotypes on the dominant Srubnaya component of the Urals.