Древнейшие псалии Среднего Поволжья и региональные особенности технологии изготовления подобных изделий
The Most Ancient Cheek-Pieces of the Middle Volga River Basin and Regional Peculiarities of their Production

Summary/Abstract: There are almost 300 shield-shaped and channelled cheek-pieces found on the territory of the forest steppes and steppes of Eurasia so far. The use-wear analysis was conducted on 115 cheek-pieces (100 shield-shaped and 15 channelled ones) (Fig.1). The analysis of use-wear data of cheek-pieces from the Middle Don River Basin and the South Urals as well as of those from the Volga River Basin near Saratov was conducted earlier. The paper deals with the analysis of use-wear information of 17 shield-shaped cheek-pieces from the Middle Volga River Basin (Utiovka-VI, Potapovsky, Uvarovka-II, and Krasnoselkovsky burial grounds).The use-wear information about the most ancient cheek-pieces from the Middle Volga River Basin together with the ones from the Middle Don River Basin, the South Urals, and the Volga River Basin near Saratov permits to draw some conclusions:– The impression is that a search of different efficient methods of cheek-piece making (first of all shield-shaped ones) followed separate ways in the Middle Don River Basin and the South Urals.– The cheek-piece production technique in the Volga River Basin generally combines traditions of the Middle Don River Basin and the South Urals but with some differences depending on the Volga River Basin’s parts, i.e. artisans of the Middle Volga River Basin used the complete technique whereas those of the Volga River Basin near Saratov tended to simplify (to make more efficient?) the cheek-piece making process by neglecting some production operations.– The technological aspects of studying of shield-shaped cheek-pieces make it possible to distinguish two stable technological traditions in production of the mentioned objects, i.e. the Middle Don River Basin tradition and the South Urals one. In spite of the wide variety of peculiar forms, the main types of shield-shaped cheek-pieces of the forest steppes and steppes of Eurasia are of the Staroyurievo type and the Sintashta type.

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