Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 39 (2) 2011

Annotation:  Three Scenarios of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition. Scenario 3: The Middle to Upper Paleo Use of Ulan-Khada Bay at Lake Baikal in the Holocene (Based on Fauna Remains) Mollusk Shells from Burials of Tuzovskiye Bugry-1 as Indicators of Ethno-Cultural Processes in Sout Silver Horse Harness Adornments from Suzukteh Burial Mound 20 (Noin Ula, Mongolia) Bystry Kulyogan-38 – Bronze Age Fortifi ed Dwelling in the Surgut Ob Area The Early Neolithic Pottery of the Volga-Ural Region (Based on the Materials of the Elshanka Culture The Technology of the Yamnaya (Pit Grave) Ceramic Production and its Relevance to the Population His Bakal Culture Dwelling at Settlement Ust-Tersyuk-1 Middle East Architectural Traditions in Golden Horde Mansion Construction ETHNOLOGY Brightness and Asceticism in the Clothing of the Uimon Kerzhak Women (20th and Early 21st Century) Who Are the Yakut Khorolors? (A Contribution to the Issue of Ethnic Identifi cation) Ethnic Demography of Western Siberia at the End of the 20th Century   

The Early Neolithic Pottery of the Volga-Ural Region (Based on the Materials of the Elshanka Culture)

I.N. Vasilieva.

This article deals with the technologies of pottery-making used by the population of the Volga-Ural region during the Early Neolithic. The analyzed assemblage includes 344 specimens of ceramics (conventionally regarded as separate vessels) from 12 sites of the Elshanka culture (end of the 7th–6th millennium BC). The research method elaborated by A.A. Bobrinsky is based on binocular microscopy, use-wear analysis, and physical modeling. The origins and evolution of the Early Neolithic ceramic traditions in the Volga-Ural region and the role of their admixture are discussed.

Keywords: Early Neolithic, Elshanka culture, Volga-Ural region, ceramic technology, cultural traditions.