The comb tradition of ceramics ornamentation of the Srednevolzhskaya Neolithic culture in the forest-steppe Volga region (general characteristics)

The paper presents the result of the analysis of tableware, decorated with a comb stamp, of the Srednevolzhskaya Neolithic culture in the forest-steppe Volga region. To determine the characteristic features of the considered ceramic complexes, their statistical processing was carried out in order to systematize information on most of the Late Neolithic sites in the region. The source base of the study includes 836 conventionally identified vessels of the Srednevolzhskaya culture, which were directly analyzed by the authors. It should be noted that due to objective reasons the given quantitative indicators may slightly differ from those in the corresponding publications. In order to identify the local features of the ceramic complexes, the monuments considered in the work can be geographically divided into two microregions – the basins of the Samara and Sok rivers. The analyzed materials were also graded according to the representativeness of the collections. To determine any significant patterns of development, the leading role is played by highly and fairly representative complexes of the sites Lebyazhinka IV, Vilovatoe, Lebyazhinka I, Ivanovka, Luzhki II, the rest is of secondary importance. Due to the high fragmentation of the material, the authors do not insist on the absoluteness of the data presented, the quantitative and percentage indicators may change slightly, however, as for the complexes of the representative sites noted above, the adjustments will not be significant.