On the Ethnocultural Ratio of Settlements of the Scythian and Sarmatian Eras in the Don Forest-Steppe Region (Results of Comparison of Ceramic Complexes)

Introduction. The article compares the stucco clay pottery of kitchen use from settlements of the 5th – 3rd centuries BC and 1th – 3rd centuries AD, located in the forest-steppe part of the Don River basin. This is the first time such a study has been conducted to determine possible connections between societies from different periods. Methods. The analyzed sample includes 107 and 33 pot-shaped vessels. A computerized comparison of their scaling to the unified height of the profiles has been carried out; the similarity ratios of forms were determined. Petrographic data on the molding masses of 40 ceramic samples originating from the settlement of the Scythian and Sarmatian period near the village of Verhneye Kazachye were also compared. Analysis. It was established that 19 pots from the beginning of AD (58 % of those considered) have close analogies among 33 vessels of the Scythian period (31 %). The similarity coefficients of both range from 95 to 97 %. Most of the remaining pots are characterized by slightly lower coefficients. Multicomponent formulations of the molding mass composition were used in the production of both groups of ceramics. Two of them had similar compositions of artificial impurities, while five had different ones. Results. A comparative analysis of morphological and technological parameters showed a close connection between ceramic complexes of different periods. Pottery products of the Sarmatian time, in the vast majority of cases, were made in compliance with traditional proportions and based on ancient profiling technology. Existing archaeological evidence suggests that the transfer of ceramic production traditions was provided by groups of settled populations that lived in the Don forest-steppe region during the two or three centuries separating the eras.