Middle-Don Neolithic culture: problems of selection, chronology and periodization

The paper deals with the main results of the Middle-Don Neolithic culture study. The contribution of A.T. Sinyuk is noted. The paper also contains some evolution of his views on the content of the early stage of the culture. So, the first periodization, done in 1971 as a result of Universitetskaya III site study, was then adjusted, especially after the excavations of Monastyrskaya I site. The culture chronology according to modern concepts fits into the IV-V millennium BC. The origin of the Middle-Don culture is debatable. New absolute dating allows us to consider the early stage in the first half of the VI - third quarter of the VI millennium BC and associate it with the first monuments with stroke ceramics and plate stone inventory. The author notes that there was an interaction of the Middle Don population with the Karamyshevsky population at the early stage. During the last quarter of the VI - first quarter of V millennium BC stroke-ornamented-comb ware spread, ornament completely filled the outer surface of the vessels. Late stage - second quarter V - end V millennium BC, the syncretic types were formed. Vestigial stage - the beginning of IV millennium BC, there was an end of Middle-Don traditions, they were rare in the Rybnoozersky type of ceramics.