Late Bronze Age Ceramics From a Steppe Region Between the Ob and Irtysh Rivers as a Source for Reconstructing Ethnocultural Interaction Processes

Archaeological cultures formed at the end of the Bronze Age in the steppe area between the Ob and Irtysh rivers are characterized by a considerable level of variability. Under conditions, when stratigraphic observations fail to reliably differentiate archaeological materials, pottery can serve as an important cultural diagnostic indicator. The Rublevo 6 and Zharkovo 3 settlements having situated in a steppe region between the Ob and Irtysh rivers have long attracted the attention of researchers, because they feature all the archaeological cultures present in the region. Thus, during many years of studying various archaeological structures, the authors of the present work have gathered a significant collection of ceramics and other artefacts in this area. In this research, ceramic fragments collected in the Rublevo 6 and Zharkovo 3 settlements were analysed in terms of the forms of vessels, ornamental patterns and the methods used for ornamentation. The morphology and ornamentation of vessels was analysed using V.F. Gening’s method. In addition, the historical-cultural approach developed by A.A. Bob-rinsky was applied. The technical and technological analysis allowed the skills of ceramics production to be taken into account. As a result, all the ceramics fragments under investigation have been broadly distinguished into eight historical and cultural groups and their transitional forms: Sargary-Alekseevka ceramics, Dongal ceramics, Irmen ceramics, Irmen-Dongal ceramics, hybrid ceramics (Sargary-Dandybay), glazed pots with flutes on the neck, Dandybay ceramics, pottery made on a potter's wheel. A technical and technological analysis was performed on samples from 240 Late Bronze Age vessels, with 154 and 86 vessels being taken from Rublevo 6 and Zharkovo 3 settlements, respectively. For each settlement, a comparative analysis of raw materials and moulding compositions was carried out between the groups. It is found that ceramics from all the groups and both sites feature general and individual characteristics. It is established that both settlements shared a common tradition of adding chamotte (grog) to the moulding composition. The tradition of using grus was not local, but rather had been brought from outside. As a result of the research, it is found that societies having resided in the Altai steppe in the Late Bronze Age were influenced by the Sargary-Alekseevka and Irmen cultures. Thus, the Sargary-Alekseevka population brought the tradition of using grus in pottery making. At the final stage of the Bronze Age, representatives of the Dongal culture arrived to this land, thus stimulating the process of ethnocultural interaction between the Irmenskaya, Sargary-Alekseevka and Dongal cultures

Archaeology · Bronze · Bronze Age · Geography · Steppe · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Geology

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