Cultural borders of elshanskaya ceramic tradition

Elshansky type of settlements was distinguished in the 1970s and 80s years after researches of a number of the settlements with weakly ornamented ceramics with sharp bottom that have profiled brims in the forest-steppe of Zavolzh’e. Close analogues to elshansky type of ceramics in the materials of the next regions has not been found, but there were some parallels in the utensil of settlements of Strumel-Gastyatin type. It was already highlighted two types of elshanskaya ceramics: 1) with sharp bottom and profiled, 2) with straight walls and flat-bottomed. Later this lead to change the concept of «elshansky type of ceramics». Because the choosing analogues to two types of elshanskaya ceramics began to find on a number of early Neolithic settlements from the Urals to the basin of the river Don. Meanwhile, such features as the shape of the vessels, weakly ornamented walls, belong to the category of the elementary and their convergent appearance is very likely. Only the transfer of the set of complex signs which are not recorded between materials of elshanka-Strumel-Gastyatin-Artibelle could serve the argument of the succession, but which take place between the ceramics Yelshanka and materials of the Baltic settlement Swidze.