Ceramic Complex of the Neolithic Camp Ekidin 24

Abstract

The camp Ekidin 24 is located in the southern part of the Turgai Depression (Northern Kazakhstan, Kostanay region). The monument was explored by the Turgai archeological expedition in the 1989 field season. The present research featured the ceramic complex of camp Ekidin 24. The research objective was to study technological aspects in the manufacture of ceramic vessels of the Ekidin potters. An important aspect of the work is the generalization of all currently known camp data. The ceramic collection of the Ekidin 24 camp consists of 48 fragments, including 6 fragments of the upper parts of vessels with a grooved neck, one fragment of a vessel bottom, and 38 fragments of vessel walls. All fragments of ceramics from the Ekidin 24 camp were subjected to a technical and technological analysis. The study employed petrographic analysis and binocular microscopy. The initial raw material of the Ekidin potters was iron clay (iron hydroxides, such as hematite and magnetite), or hydromica. A formula of molding mass was revealed: clay + organic (wool) + chamotte. The Ekidin 24 camp is the reference monument of the Mahanjar culture of the Turgai Depression. The age of Mahanjar finds is determined primarily on the analogies with early Neolithic monuments of the Central Asian interfluves as late 7,000 – 5,000 B.C. The obtained radiocarbon dates indicate 6,000 B.C. Mahanjar-like Ceramics are still  represented by single fragments outside the Turgai Depression and, as a rule, are not recognized by researchers as Mahanjar. We can confidently say that the Mahanjar culture is not an isolated phenomenon, and the identification of new Mahanjar sites in different regions of the steppe and forest-steppe Eurasia is only a matter of time.