Relative stability of ornamental pottery traditions (based on bronze age materials)

This paper is a follow-up of the earlier research carried out by the authorto study the degree of relative stability of ornamental pottery traditions. The previousstudy of five Fatyanovo burial grounds identified that the most stable tradition is a typeof the ornamental tool, then comes an «ornamental image», while the most variableattribute is an «ornamental motif». The historiographical database of this study covers allavailable Fatyanovo and Balanovo pots as well as Late Volosovo vessels from a numberof sites in the Upper and Middle Volga Regions. This study is used to revise the earlierconclusion made by the author regarding the degree of relative stability of ornamentaltraditions; for example, it is now believed that the most stable ornamental tradition wasan ornamental image rather than the motif. Besides, the paper describes new importantdistinctive features of mixed ornamental traditions developed as groups with extremelydifferent cultural ornamental traditions mingled together.