Areas and Locations of Feedstock Extraction for Bolgar Pottery: sources and identification issues (on the basis on analytical investigation materials)

Abstract

The article features the results of an research in a potential source of feedstock for Bolgar pottery production. The authors address the issues of history and techniques of studying certain aspects of Bolgar pottery. The article contains the results of the application of natural scientific and statistical methods in the field of identification of sampling areas and locations of feedstock for the production of unglazed ceramics. The chemical and mineralogical characteristics of feedstock and ceramic samples were used during identification. The investigation allows identify the sources of clay feedstock for the production of handicraft ceramics in Bolgar of the Golden Horde period. Of particular interest are the similarities with respect to ceramics from manufacturing complexes. A potential location of pottery feedstock extraction is the flood basin of the Melenka river (the aquatorium of Kuibyshev reservoir). The obtained results revealed considerable potential in the organization of investigations on the identification of feedstock sources. The authors outline the prospects of applying the proposed technique in the aspect of studying Bolgar pottery of the Golden Horde period.

Keywords

• archaeology
• Bolgar
• unglazed ceramics
• pottery trade
• feedstock sources
• natural scientific methods