Ceramics of the Old Bering Sea Culture from the Kozhevnikov Cliff Site (Cape Schmidt): Features of Pottery Technology

Abstract

During the excavations of a dugout at the Kozhevnikov Cliff site (Cape Schmidt), N.N. Dikov obtained a collection of pottery vessels of the Old Bering Sea culture (fourteen specimens). The technology of ceramic production was analyzed using the methodology developed by A.A. Bobrinsky. It was determined that potters selected iron-rich clays of two subtypes, differing in the amount of natural sand content, for pottery production. Five recipes for the molding clay were identified, including three unmixed: 1) clay + sand (7 specimens); 2) clay + wool (3 specimens); 3) clay + organic solution (2 specimens); and two mixed – 4) clay + sand + organic solution (1 specimen); and 5) clay + sand + wool (1 specimen). The vessels were made in a base form, and the shape was additionally formed by paddling. On the outer surface of one artifact, a strap handle with an ear for threading a cord was made, and the remaining hole on the inside was patched with a cloth scrap. The surfaces of the vessels were treated by mechanical smoothing with a hard-smooth tool and/or fingers. Firing took place at temperatures above clay calcination and could be done in bonfires or hearths. The heterogeneity of pottery traditions was found among the population living in the dugout. The two identified two-component recipes for molding clay were formed as a result of mixing the adaptive pottery skills of bearers of different traditions of making unmixed recipes for molding clay. This indicates the beginning of cultural integration processes among bearers of different pottery skills that began to occur under the dominance of the tradition of using low-sanded clay of the first subtype and artificial sand addition in a 1 : 1 concentration.

Keywords

• chukotka
• cape schmidt
• kozhevnikov cliff
• old bering sea culture
• ceramics
• technical and technological analysis