Ceramics from Taldinsky-1 burial site (Central Kazakhstan): Results of technical and technological analysis

Abstract

The article presents results of a study of ceramics production technologies from Taldinsky-1 burial site (Central Kazakhstan). A total of four structures were excavated on the site, and three of them belong to the early Alakul culture, one — to the latest Bronze Age. Materials and Methods. A total of 16 vessels have been studied through the use of the MBS-10 binocular microscope according to the A. Bobrinsky method. Results. The research obtained data on characteristics of the raw material, compositions of molding compounds, methods for constructing seed and hollow forms, and surface treatment. The paper reveals the main cultural traditions of Alakul ceramics, namely: the raw material is medium ferruginous and medium plastic clay; the composition of the molding compound — medium-sized grus + manure in low concentration; the seed form — bottom-to-wall and patch-lumpy; the hollow form — single-layer and patch-lumpy. The discovered differences in manufacturing technologies make it possible to presume some of the vessels had actually been imported. Moreover, two of the discovered vessels proved to belong to the Fedorovo culture, one of them having been located in the same burial as the Alakul ones. This attests to the coexistence and mutual contacts of the Fedorovo and Alakul populations already at some early stage of development of the Andronovo cultural and historical community. All the three vessels found in the same latest Bronze Age burial were made by potters to have followed different cultural ceramic traditions. Conclusions. Thus, the data of the technical and technological analysis of the ceramics from Taldinsky-1 burial site reflect the processes of cultural interaction in the Bronze Age which took place both at the level of direct contacts between representatives of different cultures (Andronovo burials) and at the level of product exchanges (Bronze Age burial).