Pottery from the Hlyboke Ozero 2 Settlement

Abstract

This paper is a part of a broader investigation aiming to systematize and interpret the materials of multi-layered settlement Hlyboke Ozero 2 (Berezhnivka-Maivka Zrubna, XV—XIV BC, and post-Zrubna cultures, late XIII—XII BC) in the middle reaches of the Siverskyi Donets River. The authors have developed a morphological classification of pottery from the settlement based on the method previously applied by Yakiv Gershkovych on the materials of the Subotiv fortified site in the Middle Dnieper region. In this way, it was possible to compare data from these sites and to test a simple method of creating inter-cultural classification. Comparison of typological structure showed expected difference of the assemblages. Hlyboke Ozero 2 special feature is the prevalence of jars (61 %) with the lower amount of pots (31 %) and cups (7 %). Composition of Subotiv’s assemblage is wider than those of Hlyboke Ozero 2. Four out of 11 pottery categories and only 7 out of 55 types are shared, which can be explained by cultural, spatial and temporal specifity of the sites being compared. Stratighraphic interpretation of the developed scheme was made by the comparison of relative frequency of morphological taxa in layers and horizons of the site. Thus, dynamics of chronological change was identified. With the general predominance of uninflected vessels (mostly jars), their percentage grows from 60 % in layer I to almost 70 % in layer II and falls again to 50 % in layer III. The inverse dynamics has been revealed for inflected ones (mostly pots): layer I — 40%, layer II — 30 %, layer III — 50 %. Verification of these observations was made by the Pearson’s chi-square test. Its results showed significant difference in distribution of inflected and uninflected forms between horizons belonging to different layers and non-significant changes in horizons within one layer. Further investigations suggest the analysis of pottery decoration and its possible correlations with morphological classification.