Ceramic complexes of the Neolithic site of Luzhki II: morphology and technology (preliminary results of the study)

The article presents preliminary results of a study of ceramics from the recently discovered and studied Neolithic site of Luzhki II, which is located in the Sok river basin in the Krasnoyarsk district of the Samara Oblast. This site can be positioned as a relatively “homogeneous” archaeological object of the Middle and Late Neolithic era of the forest-steppe Volga region (Srednevolzhskaya culture). The analysis is based on materials from excavations of 2020-2022 years, which include 2,769 fragments of Neolithic ceramics. The study was carried out using an integrated approach, including morphological grouping of vessels; technical and technological analysis of pottery according to the methods by A.A. Bobrinsky (binocular microscopy, traceology and experiment in the form of physical modeling); methods of soil science and geology. Neolithic vessels were divided into main typological groups: post-Yelshan ceramic complex; pricked (with receding and sparse pricking); comb (with smooth and comb stamp); a “mixed” group of ceramics decorated with different ornamentation techniques was identified; one vessel with frame ornament was discovered. The article presents the characteristics of pottery technology within the identified ceramic complexes, the results of their comparative analysis, and conclusions of a historical and cultural nature.