Смольянинов Р.В., Ранний неолит Верхнего Дона

_________ Смольянинов Р.В. Ранний неолит Верхнего Дона ________ With а certain degree o f conventionality, they can be divided into two stages. Moreover, at most o f the monuments, ceramic ma­ terials o f Karamyshev culture are present at different stages. The early stage includes materials from the settlements o f Karamyshe- vo 5, Karamyshevo 1, and part o f the collection at sites Kara- myshevo 9, Ivnitsa, Savitskoye 1, Dobroe 4 (point 385), and Stu- denovka 3. In shape, the pots are divided into straight-walled, closed, open, and profiled. Several vessels have a rib. The edges o f the pots are mostly suspended, with rounded ones appearing less often, and flattened edges being rare. The bottoms revealed in the settlement are sharp, showing influence o f the earlier stages o f El- shanskaya culture. The vast majority o f these ceramics either did not have an ornament, or were decorated in the upper part with a horizontal row o f prick or pearl prints. In isolated cases, ceramics were ornamented with horizontal rows o f oval, triangular, sub- angular, rhombic, or dot prick. Rarely, drilled holes are found in the walls o f blood vessels. All ceramics are single-layered in kink, light-browm in color, made o f mud silt clay. Most o f the vessels are glossy. fhe design o f the vessels o f the Karamyshev culture was car­ ried out using patch building with various forms/models. Flaps 2 -3 cm long served as building elements (small fragments from a long bundle, 1-1.5 cm thick). Signs o f the use o f the fonn-models were manifested in the presence o f folds, wrinkling, and - rarely - static prints o f animal hair on the inner and outer surfaces o f the vessels. Microscopic study o f the lines o f junctions and patchwork systems in the fractures o f vessels, as well as the presence o f static prints on the inner and outer surfaces o f the vessels, showed the possibility o f using both fonn-containers and form-bases. The techniques o f a zonal spiral patch-building, or manufacturing o f a vessel in parts, are recorded. Beating was used as an additional method o f shaping; therefore, the vessel wall thickness sometimes reaches only 4 -5 mm. We can note the trend o f enlargement in size and thickening o f the walls o f blood vessels o f this type at a late stage. Stone arti­ facts are presented only in the site lot o f Karamyshevo 5; the stone complex is characterized as flake. The beginning o f the first stage dates back to a similar time, or a little later, to the materials o f Elshanskaya culture at site Go- rodok 1. For the materials o f this stage, a series o f radiocarbon dates on ceramics and carbon deposits on ceramics were obtained 184