THE USE OF OCHRE IN CERAMIC PRODUCTION IN THE NORTH OF WESTERN SIBERIA

Abstract

A lot of evidence to the use of ochre in the manufacture of neolithic, eneolithic ceramics of the Urals and Western siberia are accumulated. the article discusses the cases of red ochre use as an inclusion in the clay and paints for ceramics. the main problem was to learn to distinguish between accidental and intentional use of ochre in ancient times. this problem was solved through a series of experiments. the focus of the study was the means of obtaining the ochre from limonite, methods of staining pottery and modeling of ochre as an inclusion in the texture. Besides, clay from various sources from the territory of Western siberia was investigated in order to determine the presence of limonite, which is ochre in its natural state. this allowed to identify archaeological sites where existed the tradition of using ochre for the manufacture and decoration of pottery. Based on the analysis of 35 samples of clay from russia and the results of experiments were identified criteria for distinguishing natural and artificial ocher impurities in the texture. as a result of technological analysis of ceramics from 50 archaeological sites north of Western siberia, it was found that there was a tradition use of ocher as inclusion in clay. it could be incorporated into the texture in the form of crushed fired limonite or hematite and dried red clay in the neolithic. these recipes are not mass, so the question about the function of ocher in the clay is very interesting, but this is a task for future research.