Neolithic materials from the settlement of Staevo 10 in the Upper Don basin

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to publish ceramic and stone collections of artifacts from the Neolithic era, obtained along with the materials of the early Middle Ages at the settlement of Staevo 10. The settlement is located on the Voronezh river within the Michurinsky District of the Tambov Region. It is part of a narrow hillock of a high floodplain on the right bank of the Voronezh River 2-2,5 m high from a low floodplain. The surface is turfed, but previously subjected to plowing. The work on the settlement of Staevo 10 continued the study of the surroundings of the trade and craft settlement of the early Middle Ages. The settlement of Staevo 10 is the largest of those known in its vicinity. In the settlement, 436 m of its area was explored by five excavations and 10 exploration pits were additionally laid to determine its boundaries. At all excavations, finds from the Neolithic era were found at the base of the cultural layer. Materials of the Neolithic Karamyshevskaya, Srednedonskaya and Lyalovskaya cultures of the second half of the 6th-5th millennia BC were identified. The stone inventory from the Staevo 10 site does not form stable series due to the small number of the collection. Most of the stone tools of the presented collection should still be attributed to the early Neolithic Karamyshevskaya culture; its ceramic materials are the most dominant at this site.