New evidence on the Kulaika community in the Tom river region

This article discusses cultural and chronological attribution of evidence from two sites of the Kulaika community in the Lower and Middle Tom River region, which were discovered in 2020 and 2022. Morphological, technical, and technological study ofpottery revealed common traditions of fabrics, such as use of shredded stone and organic solution, and methods ofpottery production, such as modeling the shape of the vessel by pasting together clay patches, for both assemblages. The majority of vessels showed high concentration of shredded stone (1:3-1:2), while it was lower (1:4-1:3) in two vessels from Basandaiskoe V. Differences in the choice of clays included weakly ferruginized clay for the majority of vessels from Basandaiskoe Vand more ferruginized clays for the Starochervovo site. Markers of interaction between the carriers of technological traditions - use of shredded stone and grog - have been detected. The evidence from the Starochervovo site was attributed to the Fominskaya culture, while the main assemblage from the Basandaiskoe V site was attributed to the late stage ofthe Kulaika culture. The chronological positions ofthe assemblages were presumably synchronous (3rd-4th centuries AD). An assumption was made concerning the earlier (the turn ofthe Common Era) and later (mid first millennium AD) vessels. Comparison of results of the technological analysis with scholarly observations about the pottery from the Tomsk-Narym Ob region confirms that in most cases potters from the Lower Tom River region would prefer weakly ferruginized clays. Clays of different levels offerruginization, addition of grog to the "traditional” fabric recipe with shredded stone and organic solution may indicate close contacts between the populations from two adjacent cultural areas.