Археология евразийских степей (Jun 2025)
Ancient Russian Pottery from Bagaevka Settlement
Abstract
The article examines Ancient Russian pottery from the Bagaevka settlement, located on the Saratov right bank of the Volga River and dated to the second half of the 13th–14th century. Finds of Ancient Russian ceramics at trench I at the Bagaevka settlement make up 28.7% of all pottery. In 19 out of 52 of all the pits studied (nearly a third of them), Ancient Russian pottery quantitatively predominates over the Golden Horde ceramic ware. The colour of the pottery is brown, gray or white. Evenly-fired pottery is slightly less common than ceramics with a dark layer in the middle of the fracture. The assemblage convincingly demonstrates the presence of a significant Ancient Russian component in the population of the site. Statistical data on bulk finds from the excavations of the Bagaevka settlement are provided. Materials are given in comparison with similar assemblages from synchronous settlements. Morphological systematization of the material follows the classification by M.D. Poluboyarinova to simplify comparison with the neibouring regions. For objective reasons, this does not reflect the diversity of the entire assemblage. The statistics of technological features are presented in a simplified format, as the recording of a significant number of characteristics was not conducted from the start of the excavations. Pottery from moulding masses similar in composition to the Golden Horde wares can be considered as locally made. Also local may be the most common moulding mass with an admixture of gruss The most common local moulding mass likely contained an admixture of grit. Potters who produced local ceramics most likely came from the territory of the Principality of Nizhny Novgorod and neighbouring regions. For a part of imported Ancient Russian pottery, probable sources of origin are established with a high degree of confidence: Upper Don, Opolje, Tver and Torzhok.
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