Ritual Ceramic Wares of the Kaunchi Culture (based on the materials from Kultobe settlement site)

As a result of research carried out to this day, it was established that the ancient tribes ruled at the state level in the south from the Fergana region, in the north to the Aral Sea from the II to the VI centuries AD and gave rise to cultures known as the Kaunchi, Otyrar-Karatau, and Zhetyasar cultures. The focus of our study, the Kultobe settlement, is located within the area associated with the Kaunchi culture. This culture was prevalent in the middle reaches of the Syr Darya River, including the valleys of the Kurkeles, Keles, Shyrshyq (Chirchik), and Ohangaron (Angren/Akhangaran) rivers; that is, this culture was formed by ancient tribes inhabiting the Tashkent Oasis. It is known that ritual clay vessels held significant importance in the worldview and religious-ritual beliefs of ancient tribes. Representatives of these ancient tribes deliberately depicted animals they observed around them on ritual vessels, using them as totems. Consequently, a large number of ritual clay vessels and cauldrons have been discovered at sites of ancient nomadic and sedentary tribes inhabiting the Eurasian continent. Unfortunately, the purpose, distribution range, chronology, and regional characteristics of ritual clay vessels remain insufficiently studied. This article introduces into scholarly discourse ritual vessels from the Kultobe settlement and the nearby burial grounds of Myntobe and Karatobe. Therefore, within this article, we aim to determine the period of manufacture, the purpose of the vessels used for ritual purposes, and their distribution range. Based on C14 analysis, the article establishes the absolute chronology of the ritual clay vessels.