Southern Boundaries of Osipovka Cultural Area

Abstract

The article concentrates on the Early Neolithic Osipovka culture of the Lower Amur and its southern boundaries. Due to the resumption of excavations at the Xiaonanshan site in the left bank of Ussuri River, Heilongjiang province, China, recently, it has become possible to conduct a comparative study of technical and typological characteristics of the ceramic material of these two territories. The following features were revealed: 1. Ceramics in both cases is loose, the composition of clay molding masses demonstrate the presence of additives: grus, sand, plant fibers, and crushed shell. 2. Prolonged low-temperature firing is typical of both territories. 3. Most common ceramic types are flat-bottomed vessels with a wide mouth of a truncated-conical shape. 4. The surface of the vessel was first covered with a reddish clay engobe, then with an ornament, and the authors also recorded the traces of smoothing the surface with grass. 5. Vessels were ornamented by narrow parallel grooves or grooves with a flat path between the edges made with a hard comb instrument. 6. The rim was ornamented with dissected narrow depressions or through holes. Among the investigated stone tools, bifacial spearheads and arrows as well as sinkers of various shapes prevail, which indicates that the economy of both Osipovka culture bearers and the inhabitants of the Xiaonanshan site were based on a combination of fishing and hunting. The revealed similarities probably indicate that these materials represent a complex of cultures of a single areal. Moreover, the artifacts found at the Xiaonanshan site show definite differences from other materials found in northern China and differ significantly from the traditions typical for the Middle Yellow River or the Yangtze Valley. Probably, the south-west of the Lower Priamurye, the wide-known autochthonous center of ancient pottery, could be a zone of contacts of this region and both more southern and more eastern territories. The Osipovka influence went beyond the Amur region, which is very important for understanding the processes of Neolithization in the North East Asia.