A ceramic vessel of a rare shape from the late bronze age in the middle don region

The paper explores a vessel of a rare shape from the Late Bronze Age coming from grave 5, kurgan 44, of the Kolbino I burial ground. The authors make attempts to determine its place among similar finds of tableware. Distinctive features of the vessel include a shape square in the plan, a flat bottom, vertical walls, ornament along the upper edge and molded projecting handles. To clarify the origin and changes over time in development of vessels of the discussed shape, earlier (starting from the Neolithic Age), contemporary and later evidence of ceramic production was used. The examined evidence is indicative of a special role played by these vessels in the funerary rites during arranging burials. The closest analogies regarding both specific elements and their combinations can be traced among platter trays originating from the Fedorovka cemeteries of the Late Bronze Age which is another evidence of close contacts between the Timber-Grave and the Fedorovka traditions.