Technological Traditions of Ceramics Production of the Final Bronze Age Population in the Samara River Basin

In the article, the following aspects of pottery production technology at the Late Bronze Age settlements in the Samara River basin are analysed: the formation of clay pastes and the method of vessel formation, surface treatment, and firing. An attempt is made to interpret the data, in particular, to trace certain clusters of settlements and their microchronology based on changes in the range of recipes used across different stratigraphic horizons. The study also considers the existence and distribution of pottery with a special firing that gave the vessels a white colour. At the final stage of the Bronze Age, the Samara River basin area appeared to be relatively homogeneous in terms of the traditions of pottery production. With certain variants, the same recipes for clay pastes and methods of forming pottery were used. We can assume, with a high degree of probability, the existence of two chronological stages within the same culture, at least in one case stratigraphically and in one case planigraphically, and there are reasons to believe that some settlements have two horizons, the lower one containing a certain significant amount of ware with the addition of organic inclusions in the clay pastes, and the upper one without them. Settlements with similar recipe complexes form noticeable clusters when mapped, and at the same time show approximately equal distances between clusters of settlements, which allows for a better assessment of the settlements’ resource zones boundaries. The presence of unusual vessels with a white surface colour also allows us to trace the intensity of connections between clusters of settlements and the distances over which such products were distributed, although it is currently difficult to say how and for what purpose such pottery was distributed.