Смольянинов Р.В., Ранний неолит Верхнего Дона

__________________________ Summary population o f the Middle Volga region. The territorial framework o f Karamyshev culture is quite clear, although its monuments are known to us only in the Voronezh River basin. In 1971, in the forest-steppe Don region, A.T. Sinyuk high­ lighted the Neolithic Srednedonskaya culture, mainly based on the material o f the Middle Don monuments. To date, we know o f 79 settlements o f Srednedonskaya cul­ ture in the Upper Don. I.N. Vasilyeva comes to the conclusion that, in general, there is a significant similarity between the mass pottery traditions o f the population o f the Srednedonskaya and Kara­ myshev cultures: 1) selection o f silt clays as raw materials, among which thin varieties prevailed (sometimes with a natural shell); 2) mass distribution o f pottery paste recipes, with only one organic solution; 3) the formation and dissemination o f the tradition o f adding an artificial admixture o f coarse sand to pottery paste; 4) the presence o f pottery paste recipes with grog temper-fired clay. Noteworthy is the more significant homogeneity o f the traditions o f the Karamyshev culture population: 98% o f the vessels are made o f silt clay, and only 2% are made o f silts. It should be noted that for the materials o f the first stage o f the Srednedonskaya culture, dated from ceramics to the VI millen­ nium BC Upper and Middle Don, are characterized by clean layers with prick ceramics (without prick-comb). These were identified in the materials o f the Monastery site in Pobityuzhye, the lower layer o f Cherkasy site (excavations 1979-1981), and the Shchuchye site, as well as Inyasevskaya, Shapkinskaya 6, and Plautinskaya 2 (in Pohoporye). In the Upper Don, similar ceramic complexes were found only in the lower layers o f tlie settlement o f Yarlukovskaya Protoka and the mixed sites Dobroe 4 (point 385), Universitetskaya 3, and Karamyshevo 9. The beginning o f the Srednedonskaya cul­ ture in the Upper Don was associated with the appearance o f com­ plexes characterized by the presence o f predominantly un-profiled, sharp-bottomed vessels. The compositional elements o f the orna­ ments on them arc very diverse. First o f all, it’s important to note the triangular figures, usually combined with horizontally stitched rows; the latter are, by themselves, often the only pattern technique present on a vessel. Angular figures and skew-mesh compositions appear, as well. A certain role is played by the vertical-diagonal arrangement o f ornamental zones. On the whole, the geometric style o f the ornament and its horizontal zoning are prominent. 187