Certain Problems of the Early Neolithic in the Middle Volga Forest Zone

Abstract

The cultural identity of the Early Neolithic assemblages of flat-bottomed stroke-ornamented pottery, discovered in the territory of the Mari Volga region is contested. A number of problems concerning the process of the Middle Volga region Neolithization are identified, namely: 1) whether the differences in the use of raw materials (silt and clay) and temper types for ceramic fabric can serve as cultural and chronological features; 2) the problem of fixing the lower chronological limit of the process of Neolithization; 3) the role of the social factor in the process of Neolithization; 4) the problem of the culture determining features identification; 5) the role of primary sources and the problem of their fully fledged use; 6) the problem of identifying the original Early Neolithic culture in the region. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the material culture of the flat-bottomed stroke-ornamented pottery people who had inhabited the Mari Depression, it is possible to identify the Dubovskoye-Otary culture that is similar with the Samara and the Upper Volga ones and genetically related to the forest-steppe Yelshanka formation.

Keywords

• the Middle Volga river region
• the Early Neolithic
• the Samara culture; the Upper Volga culture
• the Yelshanka culture
• the Dubovskoye-Otary culture
• flat-bottomed ceramics
• stroked and incised ornamentation