Ceramic Complex of Zhigulevsk I Settlement of Imenkovo Culture

The paper aimes to the introduction into scientific circulation of the materials of the Zhigulyovsk I settlement excavation, which was explored in 2017 by the expedition of the Agency for the Preservation of the Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Samara Region under the leadership of V.A. Tsybin. The research presents the grouping of ceramics according to external signs and description of technological characteristics of some stages of the pottery process. The technical and technological analysis of ceramics included the determination of the characteristics of the raw material, the traditions of forming paste, the nature of the surface treatment and the firing of the vessels. The materials of settlement refer to the classical variant of the southern sites of the Imenkovo culture, but in the ceramic complex there are distinguished ceramics groups that differ in appearance (external culture of the vessels) and in the manufacturing technique (internal culture of the vessels). These differences are probably related to the chronological development of pottery of Imenkovo culture and reflect both the natural evolution of pottery skills in time and the infusion of certain components at different stages of this development.