Eneolithic pottery complex of the settlement of Pyakupur 3 (north of Western Siberia)

Abstract

In this paper, a unique pottery complex of the Eneolithic period from the settlement of Pyakupur 3, located along the upper course of the Pur River in the sub-zone of the northern taiga, has been analyzed. The aim of this research is to establish cultural traditions of the population who left the settlement behind and to determine the place of the materials within the current system of historical and cultural types identified in the north of Western Siberia. The material for the research is represented by morphological traits of the pottery and by some elements of the pot-tery technology as a manifestation of the cultural traditions of the populations who inhabited the headland of the terrace of the Pyakupur River in the Eneolithic period. In total, 38 vessels have been included in the analysis, most of which are represented by fragments of the original walls and bottoms; only eleven containers had a collared rim. For the purpose of this work, conventional methods of archaeological research were employed: morphological, statistical, and typological. Furthermore, technical and technological analysis of a part of the collection was carried out with the aid of a binocular microscope MBS-10 following the method of A.A. Bobrinsky. The pottery features the following basic traits: decorated, smaller, and thin-walled vessels. Among the shapes, a significant proportion of cymbiforms stands out, with the rest of the vessels being round-bottomed and one pot — a cup with a ridge. As the ornamentation tools, crested (predominant) and smooth stamps were used, rarely profiled (wire staple), although they practically are not found side by side on the same vessel. The main technique of the ornamentation was embossing. At the level of elements and motifs, presswork and horizontal rows predominate; a significant percentage in the compositions is represented by geometrical patterns. The compositions are more often complex, combining several motifs. It has been found that the pottery of the settlement of Pyakupur 3, exhibiting considerable idiosyncrasy, closely resembles the wares of forest-tundra and tundra settlements, rather than the complexes of the northern-taiga Yasunskaya Culture or antiquities of the middle taiga of Western Siberia, suggesting some cultural affinity of the populations inhabiting these remote from each other territories. However, chronologically, Pyakupur 3 precedes the sites of Gorniy Samotnel 1, Salekhard 1, Ust-Vasyegan 1, and the later, still Eneolithic, settlement of Vary-Khadyta II. The paucity of the source base from the territories of the basins of the rivers Pur and Taz yet does not allow one to answer multiple questions following from this conjecture.

Keywords

• ceramic vessels
• traditions
• eneolithic
• north of western siberia
• pyakupur 3 settlement