ORIENTAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OF CAULDRONSOF LATE BRONZE AGE

Weapon-shaped stone tools from the Russian Maritime Province have been used by Russian scholars to date the regional Bronze Age and Early Iron Age since they are thought to be mainly replicas of bronze items from the southern Siberian Seima-Turbino, Karasuk, and Tagar cultures. Although Russian archaeologists have paid some attention to the neighboring area comprised of the Korean Peninsula, northeast China and the Japanese archipelago, linguistic barriers have prevented them from a detailed investigation. Recent research in Korean archaeology has shown that there are very similar daggers to the Maritime Province’s Tagar-type replicas in Korea’s Late Bronze Age. They follow the tradition of stone daggers from the Early Bronze Age, which seems to be influenced by the first millennium BCE Upper Xiajiadian culture from northeast China. This example suggests that a direct influence from southern Siberia appears an unconvincing hypothesis. To reconstruct more precise relationships among various bronze and stone replicas, it is necessary to collect all related objects from the regions in question and to catalogue them for a comparative typological study.

The distribution area of the Pakhomovskaya culture is located in the forest-steppe region of the Tobol-Irtysh basin. The Pakhomovskaya culture represents part of the Andronovo-type community which originated in the northern periphery of the Andronovo world as a result of contacts existing between aboriginal and immigrant (Andronovo) groups. In the west, the Pakhomovskaya culture bordered on the Cherkaskul culture, in the south, the early Alekseyevka-Sargary culture, and in the east, the distribution area of Ordynskoye sites and those of the Novochekino variant of the Suzgun culture. The specific characteristics of the Pakhomovskaya culture are reflected in ceramic designs, artifact types, funeral rites, and settlements. Both producing and foraging economies were practiced. There is reason to suppose that the Pakhomovskaya people, along with other groups, introduced the producing economy to the taiga world, and that these contacts account for Indo-European borrowings in native languages. Given the ties that existed between the Pakhomovskaya, the Cherkaskul and the early Alekseyevka-Sargary cultures, the Pakhomovskaya culture is estimated to date to the 14th–13th centuries BC.

The work on which this study is based was originally undertaken with a view to examining the cultures of the geographical area usually comprised in the term ‘Wessex’ in the period immediately following the Beaker phase. For a great many years a remarkable series of grave-groups have been known, incorporating elements (often spectacular in their implication of material wealth) which were peculiar to the area under discussion, and loosely assigned to the Middle Bronze Age. It was clear from the outset that a study of these groups would throw a great deal of light on trade relations, both internal and overseas, and it also seemed likely that in them might be found a culture equivalent chronologically to the Food Vessel phase of northern England, intervening (in a ceramic sense) between the beakers and the cinerary urns and forming a final phase of the Early Bronze Age—a phase which had already been postulated in the typological series of bronze implements, but which had not reached the dignity of a definite culture. The evidence examined in this paper supports the existence of such a culture in Wessex in the final phases of the Early Bronze Age. It is a highly individual culture whose origin lies in an actual ethnic movement from N. France. The nature of the evidence,—finds from the richly-furnished graves of chieftains—presents us with a view of the material equipment of an aristocratic minority. The basic folk culture appears, from the slight evidence available, to have been similar to the food-vessel culture of the greater part of Britain north of the Thames at this time, but it becomes clear that in Wessex there was; superimposed on this somewhat uninteresting and unenterprising substratum, an intrusive ruling class whose delight in barbaric finery led them to open trade connections not only with their Breton homeland, but with central Europe and Scandinavia, and whose imports of bronze tools and almost certainly of actual craftsmen laid the foundations of the peculiarly individual metallurgical achievements of the British Middle Bronze Age.

The Nordic Bronze Age provides rich and well-preserved material, including large amounts of Central European bronze. It was the northern extention of the European Bronze Age cultures, and was included in this sphere rather late. But when it happened, Nordic societies got fully engaged in large-scale bronze metallurgy and adopted many elements of foreign symbolism. This book focusses on the earliest Nordic Bronze Age, at the outset of large-scale bronze import and metallurgy - when new forms of hierarchies and leadership were in the making. A specific category of objects, the bronze scimitars of Southeastern Scandinavia, provides the opportunity to explore the issues of scale, distance and context.

Linking the early historic cultures of Southeast Asia to their prehistoric antecedents has, despite some decades of research, proved difficult for a number of reasons. Until the 1960s, this did not seem to be an issue for scholars of the region. For George Coedès, the region was simply occupied by diverse and backward ethnic and linguistic communities, cultivators using stone tools, or at best, people using bronze with poorly developed social organisations until impacted by the expanding Han peoples during the third century CE: ‘There is very little direct information about the societies of South East Asia before they entered into contact with India and China.’

IntroductionTechnology is typically defined by the following sentence. integrated system of knowledge, skills, tools, and methods developed within or used by a culture to successfully carry purposeful and productive tasks. 1 Although many scholars date the advent of continuous technology and related scientific applications to early modern times, the groundwork was laid well before the modern period in 1400 C.E. 2This paper will focus on the role of technology and related applications of science that occurred in the world island of Eurasia (specifically in the Middle East, China, India, and Europe) with occasional reference to areas outside of the world island before this period.Ancient Times-Adjustment and Accommodation with Nature and the EnvironmentAncient history is usually dated from 8000 to 500 B.C.E. The products taken from the natural world subdivide the period. The Neolithic period begins in the first date wherein the tools that were used came directly from the environment-usually stone which gave its name Neolithic or new Stone Age to the period. In the latter half of the period, copper began to be used. When it was combined with other metals (chiefly tin), the Bronze Age began. Bronze was more durable than stone and was suited for a wide variety of uses. After 1500 B.C.E., iron gradually replaced bronze throughout the world.3If the technological conversion of raw materials gave its name to an age, it also forwarded trade since metals unlike stone were not available everyone. Therefore, some degree of specialization was required to trade products (usually farm produce) for the desired metals. Trading places were established, then markets, and then cities which grew up around them, then recognizable states when cities combined for protection. Most historical states were based on trade and fertility of soil that produced food (agricultural) to grow and led to a settled society as opposed to hunting and gathering.Therefore, environments that started the process were usually river valleys such as the Tigris-Euphrates valley in Mesopotamia (land between two rivers) and its extension westward to the Jordan River as part of the overall Fertile Crescent. 4Technological development was advanced in the last part of the period as iron produced iron weapons as well as iron tools, so that there were both craftsmen and soldiers who now became prominent. Iron hoes and later the iron plow competed with iron weapons as the exemplars of society at this time. This led to both expansions of populations due to greater farming output as well as military expansion. A classic example was the spread of Bantu- speaking populations from their original home in northern Cameroon/Nigeria (Nok) throughout much of central and southern Africa after 500 B.C.E.Iron had also been produced in the present-day republic of Sudan and also spread southward to what is now Ethiopia, which helped that country in later centuries preserve its independence from Muslim attacks.5Technology, especially the use of metallurgy in China, for example, allowed the Han Chinese to expand from their northern nucleus around the Hwang-Ho or Yellow River southward. Overall, the environment was important in ancient times and societies organized through dams and irrigation works to avoid extremes of too much and too little water.This age saw the beginning of technological use and a sociological subsystem as societies were organized into farmers, craftsmen, soldiers and related occupations derived from nature such as fishing and animal husbandry (developed in India to a 4-part caste system with occupational sub-castes by 1000 B.C.E.) 6 and as the agricultural revolution included the domestication of animals especially, along with the plow and eventually the concept of the wheel. However, the ideological system was unchanging.Nature and the deities that represented it were unknown, unknowable, and objects of fear and veneration. …

In the frame of the Nadlac-Arad Motorway project 12 graves were exca- vated from the Late Avar period near Nadlac. According to the analysis of the burial customs, various object categories of the material culture (lock rings, earring, beads, components of belts with mounts, knives, potteries) can be dated to the end of the late Avar era, which corresponds to the late 8 th or early 9 th century. It can firmly be stated that some of the finds were the products of the latest metallurgical horizon (e.g. the punched belt-hole guard mount and the belt mounts with pendants) so some of the types found here can be connected to the last horizon, which is very important concerning their dating. The identity of the micro-community in Nadlac and their self-identification with a political community were influenced by the fact that they were a primary group . For them their micro- and macro-community traditions and their values and traditions at a micro-community level coming from their way of life might have been much more important than their ethnic identity. According to the clusters of late Avar sites and the supposed location of the hypothetical ‘workshop circles’ in the Carpathian Basin, it is clear that the cemetery researched by us and its micro-region is situated outside the central territories. It seems to be supported by the heterogeneity of the belt sets, which shows that the members of this community had more difficulty obtaining the various decorations. The anthropological deformations indicating hard physical work also seem to underpin this ‘peripheral’ status. Its loca- tion seems to show clearly that this micro-region, and within this the cemetery of this animal breeding and agricultural pagan population, is on the periphery of the power centre(s) of the Great Plain. They were the common people of the late Avar Khaganate in the eastern region of the Great Plain. We can talk about the cemetery of a settlement from the late Avar period, which was on the periphery, under the Khagan or some other Avar chief or big man ( tudun, iugurus ).

Different finds from archaeological investigations in eastern Sweden show evidence of close contacts with the Baltic coastal area on the continent, and further towards the south-east. This is visible in the find material from the Bronze Age onwards. Swedish rescue excavations in the past few years have contributed with material for the study of such contacts. From the Bronze Age onwards, there are signs of contacts between eastern Sweden and areas in modern Poland and eastern Germany and also with areas in the Baltic states. This is evident in material from several sites in eastern Sweden. Pottery as well as special house types and graves show contacts with the Lusatian culture, but also with more distant areas. These cultural elements fit well into a pattern of long-distance cultural contacts during the Bronze Age, probably maintained by an elite in society. These contact routes across the Baltic sea seem to have continued in a similar way during the Early Iron Age. During this period, some grave structures and objects demonstrate cultural contacts between Scandinavia and the Wielbark culture in Poland. Such finds have traditionally been connected with Jordanes´ Getica, and its account of a migration of Gothic people from Scandinavia. In modern research, the theory of a massive migration has generally been abandoned. The Wielbark culture is generally believed to have developed from earlier cultures in the same area. Research of recent years have more often focused on questions regarding a Gothic identification with a Nordic origin, as possibly invented during the 4th century or as a genuine tradition in the form of a myth. However, this does not explain archaeological evidence for contacts during earlier periods. A reasonable explanation for similarities in the material cultures can be that they are products of long-term contacts, perhaps originating in connections between the Lusatian culture and other urnfield groups on the continent and eastern Scandinavia already during the Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age. Regular contacts between high ranking groups in different geographic areas could eventually have developed into a close relationship between certain groups of the Wielbark culture and groups of people in Scandinavia, visible in similarities in material culture, language and burial customs. The archaeological record could indicate that Jordanes´ history concerning the origin of the Goths was based on an oral tradition with some sort of real background

The transformations of the technologies of working copper and its organization during the period of the Chalcolithic, from the middle of the 6th millennium at the end of the 4th millennium, are incontestably observable. In the same way, a change of the system of production and the organization of work was necessary considering the multiplication of objects made in copper and a larger distribution. The origins of the copper in Ancient Middle East are multiple with sources in Anatolia, Iran, Transcaucasia and Arabia Peninsula. These modifications are also the consequence of an evolution of the society’s and permitted the development of new shapes of exchanges. During this period, the role of the metallic objects has been upset, their function and their value evolved to become symbol of prestige and power 2 . The exchanges of precious goods, as the objects made of copper and of bronze, characterize a new diffusion system that gradually substitute itself for an elder fashion of exchanges which did not satisfy the societies anymore at the end of the Chalcolithic. Some networks got in place and created important regional dynamics that the archaeological discoveries often noted on big axes as those of the valley of the Euphrates or the mountain of Zagros. To observe these zones of regional development where the metallurgy of the copper played an important role is an indication, an archaeological witness among others between Chalcolithic and Bronze Age on several sites as Arslantepe, Hacinebi, Husband, Susa and others. In this article, we will try to make a spatial analysis of this diffusion before and after these changes were observed in the transformation of the copper. All results evoked here, are

Culture-historical archaeology is based on a distinction between individual cultures with clearly determined geographic boundaries. These were mostly set out on the basis of material evidence, which was present at particular sites of the one or another geographic area. All artefacts which were found outside the boundaries of their original geographic culture have usually been interpreted as the so-called “imports” or “foreign influences”. Common everyday interactions between nearby regions were not really paid attention to. The aim of this paper is to try to identify long-term trends in the way of interactions for the territory of Moravia during the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. On the basis of new knowledge it becomes apparent that the boundaries between cultures are arbitrary and, at the same time, that the targeted separation of cultures can also lead to an intentional separation of chronology between regions which, however, developed in a close relation. The research which also reaches high intensity due to rescue excavations shows that we cannot speak of any clear boundaries between cultures but, on the contrary, that ceramic styles overlap and are often not connected with geographic area but rather with functional use of several ceramic forms for ceremonial purposes. At the same time, ceramic styles appear (“Atting ornament”, “Silesian pottery”) which were produced and used outside their so-called parental geographic regions, particularly in the milieu of large centres. The system of ceramic production, as it is studied, supplied the localities of central function mainly with products from their close hinterland (micro-region Blucina in the Early Bronze Age, micro-region Podoli in the Final Bronze Age). The extent of distribution areas in Moravia probably did not change until the beginning of the La Tene Period. Nevertheless, at the same time elements can appear which indicate a sort of otherness, for example in the form of burial rites and small imports (Mezocsat Group) which, however, mostly used elements of local ceramic production (Pohořelice). This remote interaction is also reflected in sharing of metal artefacts in highly supra-regional contexts. True long-distance imports play only a marginal role with regard to quantity and quality. Significant is the influx of raw materials, above all copper, and in several time periods amber as well.

The specific material culture of the elites during the later Bronze Age is a subject of interest over many years in Europe. Concerning the Atlantic zone, the studies are nevertheless more recent and, thefore, less numerous. Among the metallic production, if we know well the golden jewels, the defensives weapons (shields and helmets), the ceremonial vessels (cauldrons and buckets) and the associated feasting equipment (rotary spits and flesh-hooks), other objets belonging to the elites have seldom been studied by the specialists of the Atlantic zone : we would like to talk essentially about harness and chariot fittings, miniature models of 4 wheels wagons, balances and weights for precious metals, some musical instruments and importation of bronzes coming from the farest distances (exotica which the foreign origin gives a surplus of value). Most of these elements are often represented in hoards of northern and western France, then I will study them, first of all, from a typological and chronological perspective. After that, I would like to replace them in an historical context of the social practices of the atlantic elites and in the exchange systems connected with Central Europe, Iberia, central and oriental Mediterranea. We will see in particular the strong and decisive atlantic influences on the material culture of the hallstattian elites at the very beginning (8th c. BC) : the direction of spread of innovations was not always from southeastern to northwestern Europe.

The cultures of «valykova» ceramics occurred in the Great Eurasian Steppe during late Bronze Age. Its signature is a torus on the areola or the throat of clayey vessel. It is found on the crockery of the different cultures from Northern Balkans and Danube region to Altai. Scientists connect the spreading of this decorative element as well as some forms of metal products with Balkan-Carpathian influence. Such type of metalware as cauldrons are of particular interest, since they always and everywhere characterize the level of metalworking of cultures, workshops and masters. Since cauldrons were usually found outside the complexes, according to which chronology and cultural affiliation could be established. Therefore, until recently, they were not included in studies of metal products of cultures of the «valykova» community. But with the increase in the number of these products (40 copies are already known today), and the appearance of new finds of cauldrons in East Kazakhstan in the dated complexes of the Andronovo cultural community, provided scientists with an opportunity to study intercultural relations in the late Bronze Age. It should be noted that all metalware is a complex object for research. In addition to the morphological similarity of forged cauldrons to the forms of pottery in the cultures of the Late Bronze Age, it is necessary to take into account their production technology. The study of the shape of products, their manufacturing technology and ornamentation allowed us to trace the exchange of new ideas in the manufacture of cauldrons. As a result of detailed studying the individual technological methods used by the masters, it is possible to outline the direction of innovation and identify two impulses from east to west. The first is earlier. It began with the production of small cauldrons among the Sintashta and Petrovskaya (Early-Andronovo) cultures of East Kazakhstan, that is, before the addition of the cultures of «valykova» ceramics. It is characterized by the technology of connecting the frame to the pallet, called shrink-fitting, bottom insertion, smoothly processed surface and, sometimes, the absence of handles. Knowledge of this technology is observed from East Kazakhstan through the Volga region and the Don region, and then to the Right-Bank Ukraine. The second is later. This technology originated in the Volga region and spread to the west - through the Don region to the Right-Bank Ukraine. At this stage, the processing technology of the surface of its frame changes, the pallets are attached with rivets, and cast parts appear.

Different approaches of pottery making analysis are represented in this article. Major role is devoted to the description of technological traces, which can be observed on pottery of early-late neolithic in dnepr-dvina region, as well as to variety of methods that can be used in the analysis of ceramics manufacture techniques. different ethnographic evidences are discussed here, which allow interpreting changes occurred in technological sphere, that might not always be connected with cultural factors. description of operational sequences used for pottery making dated to early-late neolithic of this region, is represented in this article. characteristic features of these techniques, existed at different periods are analyzed, as well as changes occurred in different parts ofexisted operational sequences. it is supposed that similarity of decor, technology of pottery making, and vessels’ forms, typical for synchronous sites located in different parts of dnepr-dvina region, might be a marker of one society lived on this territory. Whereas local features in vessels’ form, decor, and technology of pottery assemblages located on definite sites within small microregions, might reflect cultural identity of society/societies lived there.

Elshansky type of settlements was distinguished in the 1970s and 80s years after researches of a number of the settlements with weakly ornamented ceramics with sharp bottom that have profiled brims in the forest-steppe of Zavolzh’e. Close analogues to elshansky type of ceramics in the materials of the next regions has not been found, but there were some parallels in the utensil of settlements of Strumel-Gastyatin type. It was already highlighted two types of elshanskaya ceramics: 1) with sharp bottom and profiled, 2) with straight walls and flat-bottomed. Later this lead to change the concept of «elshansky type of ceramics». Because the choosing analogues to two types of elshanskaya ceramics began to find on a number of early Neolithic settlements from the Urals to the basin of the river Don. Meanwhile, such features as the shape of the vessels, weakly ornamented walls, belong to the category of the elementary and their convergent appearance is very likely. Only the transfer of the set of complex signs which are not recorded between materials of elshanka-Strumel-Gastyatin-Artibelle could serve the argument of the succession, but which take place between the ceramics Yelshanka and materials of the Baltic settlement Swidze.

The Volga-Urals population always took part in forming ceramic complexes of the Bronze Age. However the contribution they made to the genesis of the following traditions was unequal, differed in its extent and importance and was unequally revealed in technology, form making and decorating. All these factors could be traced the local specifics and particular artifacts. The neighboring population, especially the steppe one, was involved in the cooperation system, but the directions and intensity of contacts were corrected according to different factors and characteristics of the historic periods. The cooperation between the local and neighboring groups culturally close to each other was complicated by long distance communications, which resulted in drastic changes in some traditions, destabilization of skills at form making, emergence of some characteristics irrelevant to the previous times. It caused new cultural standards. The involvement of the northern Volga-Urals population in the system of long distance communications found its reflection in the wide expansion of traditions; especially in the early and late Bronze Age. The paper contains not only traditional typological results but also the results of special methods appliance of ceramic analysis: reveal of natural structure of forms, structural analysis of ornament, definition of the degree of proximity of ceramic complexes.

Over the last decade, excavations at the late Neolithic to early Bronze Age site of Shimao in northern Shaanxi Province have transformed our understanding of the archaeology of early China. What was previously seen as an area that was peripheral to the development of early dynastic centers in northern China is now being heralded by some scholars as a precursor of Chinese civilization. However, despite incredible finds of large-scale stone architecture, bronze working, thousands of jade artifacts, and elaborate stone carvings, our overall understanding of the economic and political organization of the inhabitants of Shimao is still very limited. In this study we examine the most common artifact class at the site, pottery, using petrographic analysis, in order to explore production methods as well as potential production organization and exchange. As our results demonstrate, most of the pottery used at Shimao was likely produced locally, potentially by multiple production groups at or near the site, but the ceramics were not particularly standardized in regard to paste recipes. These results likely reflect that ceramic production was not tightly controlled or formalized, but instead took place in local households or workshops, much like ceramic production in many other parts of northern China at the time.

This paper focuses on the pins and earrings as the most popular and diverse type of Scythian jewelry. They are exactly the chronological and cultural markers used by researchers in the reconstruction of migrations and connections of the forest-steppe population.
 The adornments in ancient times, as well as nowadays, were one of the main cultural and social identity markers. First, they have been studied both in the context of the Scythian material remnants and the unique local variants. Vladimira Petrenko was one of the first who made the typology of these artifacts which led to the change in the field. Soon, new findings were discovered that developed the typology of the artifacts, which was based on the local variants and peculiar decorations, e. g. earrings. The common feature of the modern research is to lessen the number of taxa in the typological scheme and determine the precise and rare indicators of the type origin. Even though the adornment of Scythian Age were studied just as a part of the material culture, the consensus of the academia shows that jewelries can represent a wide range of social and cultural processes in ancient communities.
 Usually, the Scythian adornments are found in the burial and settled sites. Such material remnants combined with the anthropological data and certain fixation can enlarge our understanding of the usage and function of these artifacts. Furthermore, they give us knowledge of the possible popular costume of the time, the sex and age differences in fashion. In addition, new finds from the settlements widen the source base. The analysis of the jewelries in the context of the settlement structures gives a more precise chronology and modes of production. Today, it is sure that the main three technological methods were welding, casting, and smiting. Each method related to the distinct forms and metals the item was made of.

The paper is devoted to the Raiky culture in the Middle Dnieper. It reveals major issues of the phenomenon of Raiky culture and their possible solutions considering the achievements of Ukrainian archeologists in this field. The genesis, chronology and features of the development of material culture of the Raiky sites in the 8th—9th centuries of the right-bank of the Dnieper are analyzed. In general the existence of the Raiky culture in the Middle Dnieper region can be described as follows. It was formed in first half of the 8th century in the Tiasmyn basin. The first wheel-made pottery has begun to manufacture quite early, from the mid-8th century (probably at the beginning of the third quarter). At the first stage, the early vessels have imitated the hand-made Raiky forms as well as the Saltovo-Mayaki imported vessels. Significant development of the material culture occurs during the second half of the 8th century. At the same time, the movement of the people of Raiky culture and the population of the sites of Sаkhnivka type has begun in the northern direction which was marked by the appearance of the Kaniv settlement, Monastyrok, and possibly Buchak. This stage is characterized by the syncretism both in the ceramic complex and in the features of design of the heating structures. Numerous influences of the people of Volyntsevo culture (and through them – of Saltovo-Mayaki one) are recorded in the Raiky culture. It is observed not only in direct imports but also in the efforts of the Raiky population to imitate the pottery of Volyntsevo and Saltovo-Mayaki cultures, however, based on their own technological capabilities.
 The nature of the relationship between the bearers of these cultures is still interesting. The population of Raiky accepts the imported items of Saltovo-Mayaki and Volyntsevo cultures, tries to imitate high-quality pottery of them, and even one can see the peaceful coexistence of two cultures in one settlement — Monastyrok, Buchak, Stovpyagy. However, the reverse pulses are absent. There are no tendencies to assimilate each other. Although, given the number and size of the sites, the numerical advantage of the Volyntsevo population in the region seems obvious. There is currently no answer to this question.
 The first third of the 9th century became the watershed. The destruction of the Bytytsia hill-fort and the charred ruins to which most of the settlements of the Volyntsevo culture has turned, is explained in the literature by the early penetration of Scandinavians into the region or as result of the resettlement of Magyars to the Northern Pontic region. In any case, this led to a change in the ethnic and cultural situation in the Dnieper basin. According to some researchers, the surviving part of the population of Volyntsevo culture migrated to the Oka and Don interfluve.
 For some time, but not for long, the settlements of Raiky culture remained abandoned. Apparently, after the stabilization of situation, the residents have returned which is reflected by the reconstruction of the Kaniv settlement and Monastyrok; in addition, on the latter the fortifications have been erected. The final stage of the existence of culture is characterized by contacts with the area of the left bank of Dnieper, the influx of the items of the «Danube circle», as well as the rapid development of the forms of early wheel-made pottery. The general profiling of vessels and design of the rim became more complicated, the rich linear-wavy ornament which covers practically all surface of the item became characteristic. This suggests the use of a quick hand wheel which has improved the symmetry of the vessels, as well as permitted to create the larger specimens. The evolution of the early wheel-made ceramic complex took place only by a variety of forms, however, technological indicators (dough composition, firing, density and thickness of vessel walls) indicate the actual invariability and sustainability of the manufacture tradition. The discontinuance of the functioning of the latest Raiky sites (Monastyrok and Kaniv settlements) can be attributed as the consequences of the first stages of consolidation of the Rus people in the Middle Dnieper dating to the late 9th — the turn of the 9th—10th centuries.