Neolitization of the Forest Steppe and Forest Middle Volga Region: different expressions of the same process
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2024.4.69.79Keywords:
archaeology, Mesolithic, Early Neolithic, forest steppe Volga region, Mari Volga region, neolithization, ceramic traditions, stone tools, dwellingsAbstract
This article deals with a systematic analysis of the process of transition to the New Stone Age in two adjacent regions. The characteristics of natural and climatic conditions and flint complexes of the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic periods are given. For the forested Middle Volga region, a description of dwelling structures characteristic of both periods is given. A search for analogies to the early pottery of the regions is also carried out and the probable sources of its borrowing are determined. The latest developments in the field of absolute dating of the complexes of interest and the results of analyzing the technology of ware production are taken into account. The differences in the material culture of the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic population of the forest steppe Volga region are turned out to be quite significant. The presented circumstance allows us to assume direct migration of the population to the region from areas familiar with ceramic production, which contributes to its neolithization. The continuity in the tradition of flintworking between the Middle and New Stone Ages is characteristic of the Middle Volga forests. A certain closeness is recorded in the house-building techniques of both periods. The innovation – pottery – is probably related in its origin to the population of the forest steppe zone. Taking into account a number of the above-mentioned circumstances, it is acceptable to consider the neolithization of the forested Middle Volga region as a result of the diffusion of some groups of the southern population (Еlshanka culture). They do not have a significant influence on the material culture of the aboriginal population, and the tradition of making pottery is transformed as a result of adaptation by the local population.
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