On the Southern Border of the Forest and Forest-Steppe Cultures in the Urals in the Ist Millennium BC

Results of studies of “textile” ceramics of Mari Volga in the Bronze Age are represented in the article. The “textile” ceramics is regarded by the author as the key ethnic and cultural indicator of the Finnish community that populated forests of Eastern Europe during the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. In Mari region such vessels were found on 33 sites dated by the 14th – 8th centuries BC. To describe wares with “textile” prints, the author chose 3 standard sites with the most numerous ceramic complexes – 4 Kokshaysk, Sosnovaya Griva and the Akhmylovo settlements. All the complexes are similar, with prevailing thin-wall vessels with admixture of sand, with open or – rarely – closed neck and a smooth transition into body; with straight or rounded rim, with dominating spun chaotic prints, speckled arcuate and “rain”-like prints or their combinations; very common are patterns of irregular or round holes, arranged in horizontal lines. Generally, Mari Volga complexes of “textile” ceramics are very close to ceramic complexes from sites located in the forested areas of the Volga region – from the mouth of the Kama River to the Pleshcheevo Lake in Yaroslavl Oblast (table 1–3).