Early Neolithic Pottery on the Kola North: Typology and New Data on Chronology

The article presents the results of the study of the Early Neolithic pottery from the territory of the modern Murmansk region. The literature on this pottery usually refers to the Säräisniemi 1 type. This paper is the first attempt to develop a detailed typology of this pottery taking into account all the accumulated materials. Materials from 41 sites were studied, 503 vessels were identified on the basis of the unique elements of their ornamentation. Studying coincidence of different features on the vessels helped identify two groups of pottery. Their differences are traced in morphology, ornamentation and partly in manufacturing technology. It is proposed to consider these groups as two variants of Sär 1 Ware and to designate them by the names of eponymic sites: Chavanga (flat-bottomed ware) and Varzina (round-bottomed ware). Also, several vessels of the Pit-Comb Ware and a category of small “cups” were identified. In order to define the timespan of this ware, the author undertakes the first attempt for the Kola North materials to date some soot samples by the AMS method. The earliest dates refer to the second half of the 6th millennium BC, which points to the simultaneous appearance of pottery in the Kola North and the neighboring regions of Fennoscandia. A small number of dates does not allow us to make any chronological distinction between the identified variants of pottery. But it can be noted that the oldest dates are obtained for the Varzina vessels, while the Chavanga vessels are dated slightly later.