Pskov­-style earthenware in Estonia from the 11th to the 15th centuries: types, subtypes and their distribution areas

Pskov­-style earthenware was widely used in Estonia from the 11th to the 18th centuries, and it can be divided into six typo­-chronological types. The aim of this article is to examine the distribution of Pskov­-style earthenware types 1–4 in Estonia from the 11th to the 15th centuries. This type of pottery reached Estonia, specifically Tartu and areas bordering the Pskov Land, around the period of 1030–1061, when Tartu was a stronghold of the Grand Princes of Kyiv. A distinct variant of Pskov­-style earthenware, characteristic of the second half of the 11th cen­tury and the 12th century, spread in limited quantities, mainly in southeastern Estonia. In the 13th century, this type of pottery spread widely and over a broader area in Estonia, primarily in eastern Estonia. This was related to the presence of Novgorodians and Pskovians in the hillforts of Tartu (1223–1224) and Viljandi (1223), and later to the arrival of craftsmen from Pskov in Tartu and Viljandi in the 1230s and 1240s. In the 14th–15th centuries, this type of pottery spread throughout mainland Estonia, except in western Estonia. The Pskov­-style ceramics from these two centuries represent the Livonian variant of this ceramic tradition and were likely produced locally. The use of Pskov­-style earthenware in Estonia decreased to a minimum during the first half of the 16th century.