Attribution and cultural interpretation of the collection of ceramics of the saka era from the funds of the State historical and cultural reserve-museum «Issyk»

Abstract

Сurrently, the definition of the chronology and cultural analysis of Saka ceramics is based on analogies of ceramic complexes and on the typology of other artifacts. There is no uniform form and method of describing ceramics, including in the state language, which greatly complicates the work with collections and their systematization. The authors believe that the description of ceramics is more necessary to rely on the geometry of the vessel, and not on the associative series, which is outdated or changing. At the moment, the number of ceramics found by archaeologists is large enough and for statistical analysis there is a need, eventually, to work on the unification of standards for its description. In the article the authors argue their theses concerning the collection of ceramics from the funds of the reserve-museum “Issyk”. Of great interest is the Saka pottery from the Ornek burial ground, which has yielded a large number of archaeologically intact vessels form not previously found in the Issykmicro region. The variety of nomenclature and quality of ceramics found there, allows to draw a conclusion about a kind of specialization in this area of local tribes. The collection of Saka ceramics of the reserve-museum is annually replenished with new finds and is open for study.