THE MULYMYA CULTURAL TYPE OF THE EARLY NEOLITHIC SITES OF THE KONDA RIVER: TYPOLOGY, CHRONOLOGY, STRATIGRAPHY

Abstract

The culture of the population of the Konda River basin in the early Neolithic is represented by the large stationary settlement of Mulymya 3. One or two rooms dwellings were studied here, in which flat-bottomed dishes, stone tools and food residues were found. The features of the Mulymya cultural type sites are also complemented by exploration sources with typologically similar ceramics and stone products. The sites of this cultural type make up 10 % of the number of the known Neolithic sites in the Konda River basin. The preliminary results of the study were based on the results of 2019. The excavation of the eastern part of the site was completed in 2020, and 14C dating was obtained at the same time. The article aims at fully describing the excavation materials: the typology of structures, ceramic complex and stone inventory, justification of the chronological position. Special attention is paid to the problem of the correlation of the definitions “Mulymya cultural type of sites” and “Satygino type of pottery”. A comprehensive study of the materials suggests the presence of western and/or southern vectors of cultural contacts of the Konda population in the second half — end of the 7th millennium BC. The markers of these ties in the Late Mesolithic — Early Neolithic are probably the types of buildings (two-chamber semi-dugouts) and stone tools (retouched arrowheads on plates).