Neolithic ceramics with nail-shaped notches from the forest-steppe Volga region

The article presents the results of the analysis of Neolithic pottery from the forest-steppe Volga region, ornamented with nail-shaped notches. This group of ceramics is less representative in comparison with other (ringed and combed) ceramic complexes of the Middle and Late Neolithic of this region. At the same time, dishes with notches should be considered as an independent typological group. The source base of the study consists of 189 conditionally identified vessels, which were analyzed by the author at first-hand. When presenting the morphological characteristics of ware from the studied sites, the author singled out four microregions (the basins of the Samara and Sok rivers, Ulyanovsk and Kazan Volga regions) in order to identify local features. In the southern part of the forest-steppe zone, this ornamental tradition has been recorded in isolated cases and has the most archaic appearance. In the materials from the Sok basin, the studied group of ceramics is becoming more widespread. The complexes of the Ulyanovsk Volga region and the Lower Kama, undoubtedly, have analogies with the materials from the sites of the basin of the river Sok. At the same time, regional features of these complexes can be distinguished. The author discusses the origins of the ware with nail-shaped notches and the development of these complexes in the forest-steppe Volga region. According to the results of radiocarbon analysis, the time of existence of the studied complex can be attributed to a very wide chronological range from the beginning to the end of the VI millennium BC.