Medieval Russia hand-modeled ceramics in Rostov the Great (technological analysis)

To study pottery traditions of the Medieval Russia population in Rostovthe Great, materials retrieved from two excavation trenches in the city were used.The technological examination of the ceramics was based on A. A. Bobrinsky'smethodology with the use of the historical and cultural approach. Traditions of selectingoversanded clay and using the 'clay + broken stone + organic materials' formulapredominated. The tradition of using grog is recorded mainly in a mixed formula: 'clay +broken stone + grog + organic materials'. No chronological characteristics in the spreadof these traditions were identified. Gradual changes occurred only in the 'clay + brokenstone + organic materials' formula and consisted in a shift from coarse-grained brokenstone to fine-grained broken stone and from larger broken stone quantities to smaller gritquantities and can be traced in the ceramics from the Grigoryevsky excavation trench.Comparison of the materials from these two excavation pits identified some specific featuresof clay selection and also suggested that the lower layers of the Konyushenny excavationtrench had been dislodged. A certain linkage of traditions of making ornamented vesselsand using grog as temper was also established.