CULTURAL TRADITIONS OF JUG SHAPES AMONG DON ALANS

Abstract

Jars are the most extensive category of earthenware from catacomb burial grounds of the Saltovo-Mayaki culture. They have greatest variety of shapes among others categories of ceramics. Thе article is devoted to the study of the 211 jars shapes from six catacomb burial grounds of the Saltovo-Mayaki culture. The research is based on the historical-and-cultural approach to the study of the vessels shape, developed by A. A. Bobrinsky and supplemented by his modern followers. The aim of ceramics study in this approach is to reconstruct specific cultural traditions of manufacturers and consumers of pottery, as well as to study the history of the population in ancient times based on data about these cultural traditions.
 The catacomb burial grounds studied here are divided into two groups. The core of the first group is Dmitrievsky and Nizhnelubyansky burial grounds. Podgorovsky burial ground has many similarities with sites listed above. The second group consisted of Starosaltovsky, Rubezhansky and Yutanovsky burial grounds. These groups is fully consistent with the grouping based on burial traditions of the Saltovo-Mayaki culture. According to G. E. Afanasiev these burial traditions are associated with different tribal groups of the Don Alans.
 The main conclusion is that the various mass traditions of the jars shapes mark the differences in the skills among potters from different Alans tribal groups who settled in the middle - second half of the VIII century in the Middle Don basin. They show the connection of different cultural traditions with specific ancient human collectives.