Specific features of the pottery assemblage from the late bronze age in the steppe zone of the Southern trans-Ural region

The author presents the investigation of the pottery assemblage of the Tim-ber-grave-Alakul population of the Late Bronze Age. On the basis of materials from the Bolshaya Berezovaya 2 settlement, a classification of clay vessels has been worked out. It is based on the study of the techniques used for manufacturing vessels and the examination of the significance of their structural parts. Four types of vessels have been identified: Type 1.1 - Early Alakul pottery; Type 1.2 - Alakul pottery; Type 1.3 - syncretic TimberGgrave - Alakul pottery and Type 1.4 - Timber-grave pottery. The distinguishing characteristic of the syncretic Timber-grave - Alakul type of pottery is the abandonment of Alakul technology for the manufacture of vessels. Disruption of the technological process went hand in hand with failure to position decorative areas as before (which meant they did not coincide with structural zones), non-adherence to the Alakul tradition regarding decorative techniques and a limited range of decorative elements.