The Golden Horde Ceramics of Pulzhai

The article is devoted to the analysis of the ceramics assemblage of the Golden Horde period from the 2004-2005 and 2012 excavations on the Pulzhai (Puljai) medieval settlement (Republic of Karakalpakstan). The settlement was located in the northern peripheral area of the Khwarezm State on the Ustyurt plateau. The initial stage of its existence refers to the pre-Mongolian time (the 9th through to the 11th centuries), and the second to the Golden Horde period. Various types of the Golden Horde period ceramics and their analogies are described. Unglazed ceramics comprises early three-quarters of the pottery assemblage. Glazed pottery is also encountered, as well as imported samples of red-clay glazed pottery, luster and celadon. The author makes a conclusion about the development of Pulzhai ceramics, and material culture as a whole, under the influence of Khwarezm in the 13–14th centuries.