A Group of Late Comb Ware from the Karelian Isthmus

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to characterize a group of Late Comb Ware (Ka III) from archeological sites on the Karelian Isthmus: its technology, morphology, chronology, distribution and origin. The Karelian Isthmus is probably the eastern periphery of the Uskela Ware area and a group of ceramics was found that fits most of the main criteria, proposed for the materials in Finland, but with some peculiar features. Uskela-like ceramics in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland is one of the earliest groups of porous ceramics, which coexisted with the Typical Comb Ware and has much in common with it and with the Eastern Swedish Pitted Ware. Due to rather limited area and chronology, for the north-western regions of Russia the existence of Uskela-like ceramics seems to be a rather local episode, while the main area of this ceramics is on the territory of modern Finland. Finally, such pottery on the Karelian Isthmus can probably serve as one of a few evidences of the influence on this area from the territories situated far to the west.