Use of multidimensional scaling method for identifying groups of sites of the Maykop culture

Qualitative and quantitative methods are used for identifying the groups of Maykop sites belonging to its different local variants. A.D. Rezepkin elaborated one of the most recent typologies of this culture using statistical analysis of data on pottery complexes from the Maykop settlements. He suggested two "territorial areas” (or variants) - Ust-Dzhegutinskoe andPsekups - depending on the percentage distribution of pottery types at eight settlements (Chekon, Psekups, Pkhagugape, Belyaevskoe, Sereginskoe, Bolsheteginskoe, Ust-Dzhegutinskoe, and Galugaevskoe I). The effectiveness of his quantitative research is problematic due to initially disproportionate samples ofpottery complexes from settlements, continuous updating ofthe initial data on pottery samples andfinal results of typology for the Maykop culture variants, different approaches to typology ofpottery, and discrepancy between the groupings of sites based on categories of rims in bowls and vessels. This article attempts to tests and clarify the division of eight sites ofthe Mykop culture proposed by A.D. Rezepkin. Non-metric multidimensional scaling using the chord metric demonstrates that in fact, it is possible to distinguish four groups of settlements: 1) Bolsheteginskoe and Ust-Dzhegutinskoe; 2) Psekups, Pkhagugape, Belyaevskoe, and Chekon; 3) Galugaevskoe I, and 4) Sereginskoe. Considering their geographical localization, the former three groups constitute three separate "territorial areas” of the Maykop sites. The Sereginskoe settlement, which is geographically close to group 2, differs from other settlements of this group in distribution of pottery types. It seems desirable to include statistical information on pottery from the settlements close to Galugaevskoe and Sereginskoe to form an additional justification/denial base for their division into independent groups.