DISTINCT CULTURAL TRADITIONS IN JUGS SHAPING: RESEARCH EVIDENCE FROM ALBANIAN-SARMATIAN AND EARLY MEDIEVAL SITES OF DAGESTAN

Authors

  • Evgenij Vladimirovic Suhanov Institute of Archaeology of RAS

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32653/CH11103-126

Keywords:

jugs, vessel shapes, cultural traditions, skill persistence of potters, Dagestan

Abstract

 The “History of Pottery” laboratory at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences has been conducting research on the persistence of various skills involved in shaping clay vessels. This research aims to identify the threshold within morphological diversity where random variations end and features reflecting the characteristics of past populations begin. This article presents new data on the stability of different vessel shape parameters, gathered from ethnographic and experimental studies. It focuses on jugs, the most common pottery type found in Albanian-Sarmatian and early medieval burial grounds of Dagestan. The article compares these sites and performs a quantitative analysis of their similarity based on various vessel shape parameters. The analysis revealed two distinct cultural traditions in jug shaping based on stable form parameters. The earlier tradition is represented by sites of the Albanian-Sarmatian located in the Caspian Dagestan, mainly in its lowland area and on the border of the lowland and foothill zones – in the Sirtich, Sharakun and Lvov burial grounds. The later tradition, common at sites of the 8th-10th centuries, is found on the border of the foothill and mountain zones – in the Agachkalinsky, Arkassky burial grounds. High similarity of shapes in early medieval Bezhta and Verkhnechiryurt burial grounds with materials from the later tradition confirms this distinction. Chronological and territorial differences between these material groups support the use of stable form parameters as a reliable marker for identifying distinct and unrelated pottery traditions in archaeological ceramics.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Evgenij Vladimirovic Suhanov, Institute of Archaeology of RAS
    Cand. Sci. (History), Researcher

References

Bobrinsky AA. Pottery of Eastern Europe. Sources and methods of study. Moscow: Nauka, 1978. (In Russ)

Tsetlin YuB. Random variations in the shape of clay vessels. Brief Communications of the Institute of Archaeology. 2016, 245-II: 265-274. (In Russ)

Sukhanov EV. On the stability of the functional parts of clay vessels (experimental study). “Istoriya Keramiki” Bulletin. 2019, 3: 116-143. (In Russ)

Sukhanov EV. On the stability of the parameters of the functional parts of clay vessels. “Istoriya Keramiki” Bulletin. 2023, 5: 8-28. (In Russ)

Davudov OM. Material culture of Dagestan of the Albanian era (III century BC – IV century AD). Makhachkala: DSC RAS, 1996. (In Russ)

Malashev VYu. Archaeological sites of the middle Sarmatian culture of the North Caucasian steppes and their traditions in the burial mounds of the North-Eastern Caucasus of the second half of the 2nd – mid 5th century AD. Moscow: IA RAS, 2016. (In Russ)

Magomedov MG. The formation of the Khazar Khaganate (based on the materials of archaeological research and written data). Moscow: Nauka, 1983. (In Russ)

Sukhanov EV. Pottery tradition of the early medieval population of Verkhny Churyurt. History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Caucasus. 2023, 19(2): 460-483. (In Russ)

Tsetlin YB. On the general approach and method of systematic study of the shapes of clay vessels. In: Tsetlin Yu.B, ed. Shapes of clay vessels as an object of study. Historical-cultural approach. Moscow: IA RAS, 2018: 124-179. (In Russ)

Telegin DY. The experience of statistical determination of the index of relatedness of Neolithic complexes by elements of ornament. In: Chlenova N.D, ed. Problems of archeology of Eurasia and North America. Moscow: Nauka, 1977: 59-64. (In Russ)

Downloads

Published

2024-03-15

Issue

Section

Archeology

How to Cite

1.
Suhanov EV. DISTINCT CULTURAL TRADITIONS IN JUGS SHAPING: RESEARCH EVIDENCE FROM ALBANIAN-SARMATIAN AND EARLY MEDIEVAL SITES OF DAGESTAN. ИАЭК. 2024;20(1):103-126. doi:10.32653/CH11103-126