The Eighteenth-Century Ceramics from Archaeological Explorations of Tsaritsyn Guard Line

The research subject is the 18th century ceramics discovered in the course of the reconnaissance excavation at the Tsaritsyn guard line, the 18th century fortification monument, conducted in 2020. The object of study is the “Rampart of the Tsaritsyn guard line (Rampart of Anna Ioannovna)” which is a military engineering complex created in the Volga-Don interfluves in 1718–1720. Archaeological work with research purposes was carried out there at first time. Archaeological explorations led to the discovery of pottery fragments dating back to this period in a new location of the Tsaritsyn guard line. The research purpose is to present and characterize newly discovered 18th century ceramic materials found at the territory of the Tsaritsyn guard line. The research methods include description, typological analysis, statistical characteristic and comparison with the material found at the well-known 18th century archaeological complexes of so-called Cossack towns along the Don River. Identification of a new 18th century location of artefacts, statistical processing, archaeological drawings of found pottery fragments, graphic reconstructions of pottery forms are practical outcomes of the study. The main conclusion of the study is that the discovered ceramic complex in the new location of the Tsaritsyn guard line is similar in type, manufacturing technique, ornamentation and statistical ratio to materials from Cossack towns on the territory of the Volgograd region (Ilovlinsky, Kachalinsky, Starogrigorievsky) which are dated by coins of the first third of the 18th century. The new archeological materials are interpreted in the known data context and supplement the currently quite limited statistical framework of archaeological finds from the Volga-Don region of the early 18th century. The found pottery types can be used to further develop a typology of this period ceramics.