THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE NEOLITHIC OF THE MARI VOLGA REGION

Abstract

During the Neolithic period, several ceramic traditions were developed on the territory of the middle Volga forest: unornamented, pin-pointed, combed, and pit-combed. The problem of their chronological correlation is very relevant at this stage of study. Currently, 29 radiocarbon dates have been obtained from Neolithic materials from 10 sites in the region. The presented work is devoted to their analysis. The Neolithization of the Mari Volga region is associated with the emergence of carriers of the tradition of making unornamented ware at the turn of the 7th-6th millennium BC. Starting from the middle of the 6th millennium BC. In the region, the tradition of ornamentation of ceramics with pin-pointed is spreading, which coexists with non-decorated dishes. With the beginning of the 5th millennium BC. the penetration of representatives of the Kama culture and pit-comb ceramics into the forest Middle Volga region may be related. Also radiocarbon dates allow confirming the coexistence at the beginning of the 5th millennium BC. in the region of all the ceramic traditions presented in the Neolithic period. At the same time, the time of extinction of the indicated Neolithic ceramic traditions is associated with the middle – third quarter of the 5th millennium BC.