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The article presents the results of a study of the Sokolny XVII camp-site (Republic of Mari El). The physical and geographical characteristics of the location of the site are given and a brief history of the study is given. Information about the stratigraphy and planographic distribution of finds is presented. The authors publish data on palynological analysis. A ceramic complex consisting of 52 vessels is characterized. A study of ceramics manufacturing technology was carried out based on a historical and cultural approach. An analysis of the elements and motifs of the ornament is carried out. The ceramic and flint complex of the Sokolny XVII site typologically and technologically finds the closest analogies in the materials of the Early Neolithic of the Mari Volga region. At the same time, the collection contains some local features. In ancient times, at the site of the site there were mixed broadleaved and coniferous forests with a predominance of pine; linden and oak also played an important role in the composition of the forests. Data on the technical and technological analysis of ceramics indicate the existence of several types of initial plastic raw materials with uniformity in the formulation of the molding mass. The obtained radiocarbon dates, as well as existing analogies, help determine the time of existence of the monument in the second half of the 6th millennium BC.

In the article the results of investigations of the Sokolniy VIII settlement located in the Zvenigovskiy district, Mari El Republic are presented. The topography of site, the history of its study, information about stratigraphy and spatial structure of archaeological material are considered. The characteristics of ceramic complex of site and technology of pottery making are discussed. The detail description of the stone inventory and the main types of tools are presented. At the Sokolniy VIII settlement any constructive components of the cultural layer except for one fireplace were not determined. This fact allows the authors to interpret the settlement as short time site. The most of the pottery shards belong to the Krasny Most ceramic type of the Late Neolithic in the forest Middle Volga basin and have the direct analogy in the materials of the reference site such as Krasniy Most II-III, Sosnovaya Gora III, Dubovskoe VIII. The technology of ceramics is characterized by the stablility of the main components. The silt organic clay was used as main raw source. As a temper grog and organic solution were added. The stone tool collection is impressive. The nuclei and morphological tools total consist of 45 items. The most of typological types of inventory have analogies to the artifacts from earlier studied assemblages. On the base of radiocarbon dating the period of the settlement exiting can be concerned to the last quarter of 5th millennium BC.

Tuskuduk site’s materials from the North Caspian Sea region are published in an article. A goal of this work is characteristics of material culture’s remains, which were found as a result of excavation of 2022 year. The tasks of research include: description of the site, ceramics and stone inventory, their cultural attribution and determination of the place within the Neolithic of this region. During the research of the site, spatial, typological, statistical, archeozoological and radiocarbon methods were used. The nature of the cultural layer distribution was determined on the results of spatial analysis. The typological analysis made it possible to identify the features typical in ceramics and stone artifacts, to establish their characteristics in comparison with other complexes within the area of the interest. The archeozoological method contributed to the determination of the species composition of animals. Radiocarbon analysis specified the absolute age of the site. Based on the analysis of materials from the Taskuduk site, the presence of a preserved cultural layer was established. Ceramic and stone inventory belong to the Tenteksor cultural type of the Late Neolithic period. The specificity of the design of the upper parts of the vessels is revealed. Polished and drilled items were identified among the stone tools. Animal bones belong to wild species. The complex dates to 6700–6500 BP on radiocarbon determinations.

Analysis of problematic issues of studying the Late Stone Age dwellings from the Northern Caspian to the Kama forest region is made in the paper. The dwelling is considered one of the composite components of the archaeological culture. Previously, researchers focused mainly on ceramic and stone tools. The dwelling issue as a cultural indicator in the Late Stone Age remained open. The background is defined by searching for a new cognitive capacity for a comprehensive analysis of the archaeological culture. Dwelling characteristics in various landscape zones are presented. Simultaneous dwelling complexes were compared, which made it possible to identify peculiar features for each territory. A comparison was made on the basis of a broad cultural and territorial background. Characteristic features for different periods of cultural development within the same region were revealed. Dwellings design features in semi-desert, steppe, forest-steppe and forest areas were identified.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the controversial issues of studying the Eneolithic of the forest Volga Region, Prikamye, and Trans-Urals. The main results of the study of the early metal epoch of the Middle Volga Region, articulated in the monograph by V.V. Nikitin, are considered. The conclusions of the author of the monograph are based on a considerable source base. The materials were analyzed both by individual housing structures and by complexes. A more scrupulous analysis is devoted to the pottery items, as a priority in distinguishing the Eneolithic cultures. Stone industries are more prone to the territorial specifics associated with raw material resources. The sections of the book allow researchers of the adjacent territories to envision the cultural specificity of the Middle Volga antiquities against the background of the Eneolithic cultures of the Volga-Kama region. The monograph proposes to distinguish a special Maidan Culture within the Volosovo historical and cultural community. The paper touches upon the aspect of the relationship between the cultural area and community. Peculiarities of the origins of the Early Eneolithic cultures in the Upper Volga region, Prikamye, and Trans-Urals are observed. Local and foreign components are taken into account. General and specific chronological boundaries of the appearance and development in different territories are identified, and their reasons are explained. Attention is drawn to the fact that the complexes preceding the Volosovо or Ayat structures belong to the Late Neolithic or Early Eneolithic. The processes of intercultural interaction between the Trans-Urals and Cis-Urals cultures are recorded both in the transition period from the Neolithic to the Eneolithic and in the later period. The significant influence of the bearers of the forest-steppe zone cultures on the northern neighbors is ascertained. A more mosaic cultural diversity is recorded in the southern territories when compared with the cultures of the forest belt. The question of whether the Eneolithic inhabitants of this region practiced agriculture or stock rearing remains controversial. The least developed are the aspects related to both the social structure and the further fate of the tribes of the early metal epoch. Reconstructions of components of the spiritual culture of the Eneolithic population are highly hypothetical.

In the article, the questions of the chronology of the Neolithic cultures in the Volga-Kama basin are discussed. This discussion is based on the significant series of radiocarbon dates obtained on the different organic materials in several last years. The dates were obtained as tradition scintillation technique, as well as AMS method. There was established the different age of cultural complexes on the same site and the time of transition from early to later Neolithic was determined in the Northern Cis-Caspian region. The beginning of the early Neolithic and the final of the later stage were clarified. The Neo-Eneolithic period in the Lower Volga region has been verified. The frameworks of the Early Neolithic and coexistence of Mesolithic and Neolithic societies in the forest-steppe zone of the Volga region were considered. The low border of the Neolithic period in the forest zone of the Middle Volga region was established. In the Cis-Kama region, the chronological frameworks of the Kamskaya culture were determined and the chronological ratio between complexes of unornamented, pricked and combed ornamented ceramics were explained.

Early pottery on the territory from the Eastern Caspian Sea and Aral Sea to Denmark reveals a certain typological similarity. It is represented by egg-shaped vessels with an S-shaped profile of the upper part and a pointed bottom. The vessels are not ornamented or decorated with incised lines, organized often in a net. This type of pottery was spread within hunter-gatherer ancient groups. The forest-steppe Volga region is one of the earliest centers of pottery production in Eastern Europe. The first pottery is recorded here in the last quarter of the seventh millennium BC. Its appearance is associated with the bearers of the Elshanskaya cultural tradition. The most likely source of its formation is the territory of Central Asia. Later, due to aridization, these ceramic traditions distributed further westward to the forest-steppe Don region. During the first half of the sixth millennium BC, groups associated with the bearers of the Elshanskaya cultural tradition moved westward. Significant similarities with the ceramic complexes of the Elshanskaya culture are found in materials from a number of early pottery cultures of Central Europe and the Baltic (Narva, Neman, and Ertebølle).

The review highly appreciates the monograph by E.L. Lychagina, which systematizes an extensive material, part of which was obtained as a result of field researches by the author. The importance of the work is due to the fact that the issue of the Kama region neolithization is still a matter of discussion. E.L. Lychagina connects the origin of monuments of the Kama and Volga-Kama culture with the migrations of different groups of the population. The appearance of the Volga-Kama sites is attributed to the VII millennium BC. Later the traditions of carriers of combed pottery prevailed in the region. The review challenges such an early date of unornamented ceramics of the Levshino settlement and the late date of existence of the Kama culture. The possibility of participation of antiquities of the Yetto type in the composition of the Kama culture is questionable. On the opinion of the review authors, the similarity between the flint industries of the Kama and Volga-Kama cultures testifies to their development on the local Mesolithic base. The author's arguments about the nature of the interaction of these cultures are the subject of discussion.

The paper presents the results of the study of the Sokolniy VII settlement (Zvenigovsky District, Mari El Republic). Information on the settlement history of study, topography, stratigraphy as well as finds distribution within the excavation area is given. The ceramic complex revealed at the settlement and pottery technology are characterized. The complex stone equipment and the main categories of tools are described. Based on the work undertaken, the following conclusions are made by the authors. The ceramic complex of the Sokolniy VII settlement typologically and technologically has the closest analogies in the materials of the Dubovskiy III and VIII, Otary VI, and Sutyri V sites, and can be associated to the early Neolithic of the Mari Volga region. A large number of artifacts within the excavation area, a significant amount of stone items with preliminary crust, a small number of morphologically expressed tools and the absolute predominance of production wastes give the grounds for the authors to treat the site Sokolniy VII as a settlement-workshop. According to palynological data, the mixed broad-leaved and coniferous forests with hazel in the undergrowth and thickets of lingonberry or blueberry grew in the area of the site. Linden and oak played an important role in the composition of forests. There are no herbage plants in the composition of meadow grass, and only various weeds are found. On account of a number of analogies as well as data of palynological analysis, the time of the existence of the settlement can be attributed to the middle – second half of the VI millennium BC.

The materials from one of the Neolithic sites of the Middle Volga Region are analyzing by the authors of the paper. Ceramic finds from the site corresponds to the ceramic tradition of the Neolithic Kama culture in terms of the technical and typological characteristics. The peculiarities of vessel rim shapes, pattern application techniques and the nature of ornamental compositions allow to characterize the local features of the ceramic complex. The results of technical and technological analysis of the initial plastic raw materials and molding masses of vessels confirm the typological attributes of this ceramics, reflective the interactions between the carriers of the combed (Kama) tradition and the population of the Middle Volga culture with pitted ceramics. The characteristic features of the stone inventory correspond to that of the Kama culture on the basis of a series of technical and typological attributes. According to the authors, the studied Neolithic materials of Balakhchino VIa site should be attributed to the period of transition from the developed to the late stage of the Neolithic on the basis of a series of attributes. The chronological position of the site corresponds to the mid-5th Millennium B.C. in calibrated values.

The paper contains the results of studying ceramics from Chekalino IV site located on the Sok River in the Samara region. It is a reference monument in the development of the issues of the Early Neolithic of the Volga region. The analysis involved materials of 1990s publications, as well as the new excavations of 2007, which have not been published in detail. The study was conducted with the use of a complex approach, including the morphological classification of ceramics; serial radiocarbon dating of complexes and groups of Neolithic ceramics; studying of pottery technology using the A. A. Bobrinsky's method based on binocular microscopy, traseology and experiment in the form of physical modelling. Ceramic materials from the following territories of Eastern Europe were analyzed within the framework of a unified research approach and the application of similar methods: Northern Caspian region, steppe Lower Volga region, Middle Volga region, Cis-Kama region, Sura-Moksha interfluve, and Mari Volga region. Of particular importance is the inclusion of materials from one of the main monuments of Elshanka culture in this source database. New radiocarbon dating results obtained on the basis of materials from the site are introduced into scientific discourse. The paper features an interpretation of obtained results and establishes the cultural and chronological position of Chekalino IV site within the system of Neolithic antiquities of the Volga region.

The article considers some debatable questions of cultural identity, origin and correlation between the different Neolithic sites in the territory of the Mari Volga region, located at the junction of forest-steppe Volga River, Sura River and Lower Kama areas as well as the Upper Volga. The Early Neolithic of this region is characterized by presence of pottery without ornamentation and stroke ware. In the Late Neolithic, the sites with the pottery of Kama culture and of pit-comb type were spread there. The author suggests his own version of development of Neolithic cultures in this region, based on typological approaches and the results of radiocarbon dating and technological analysis of the pottery. Spread of ware without ornamentation seems to be preceding the stroke ware, and both traditions in the Mari land were under the cultural impact of the forest-steppe Volga population.

The paper presents the results of a complex radiocarbon analysis of the Neolithic pottery, including its radiocarbon dating and a comparative analysis of data on pottery technologies used by the Neolithic population of the Lower and Middle Volga Region. The research is based on the data of the technological analysis of more than 4,000 pottery samples from 125 Neolithic and Eneolithic sites located in the studied region. Radiocarbon dates were obtained for more than 300 samples of the Neolithic vessels, and then the absolute dates were checked against radiocarbon analysis of other materials (bone, charcoal, charred organic remains). These data are then used to question the time of appearance of the early ceramic traditions in this region and their spread, and also to consider the mixing of culturally different groups of the ancient population in the Volga Region.

The Lower Volga region territory plays a large part in studying the origin of producing economy. It is particularly important to determine the time of this process commencement. The researchers assumed the coexistence of the late Neolithic and Early Eneolithic monuments in this area. On that basis they highlighted the Neo-Eneolithic period. The researchers dated it to the middle of the 5 millennium BC. They associated this period and the emergence of producing economy at the territory under discussion. The weak point of this hypothesis was a small number of radiocarbon dates on this issue. Obtained after 2007, the radiocarbon dates on the Neolithic and Eneolithic monuments in the Lower Volga region demonstrate a 500-year chronological gap between them. That is why the hypothesis of the Neo-Eneolithic period is not confirmed. At the same time there is a reason to believe that the Late Neolithic and the Caspian Sea region culture coexisted during 5800-5500 BC. However, the referring of the Caspian Sea region culture to the Eneolithic suffers from the lack of evidence that its carriers were familiar with metal. There is also no evidence that they had cattle breeding. The situation changed after studying the Oroshaemoye I archaeological site in the Lower Volga region in 2014-2015. Cultural layer with materials from only the Caspian Sea region culture was found there. This increases the significance of the monument. The bones of domestic sheep and goats were found in this cultural layer. This is the first significant evidence of producing economy existing among the population of the Lower Volga region. AMS radiocarbon dates 4800 and 4700 BC were obtained from domestic sheep bones from this site. Thus, it is possible to make a reasoned conclusion that producing economy had being formed in the Lower Volga region among the carriers of the Caspian Sea region culture. This process can be reliably dated to the beginning of the 5 millennium BC.

The results of typological and technological analysis and radiocarbon dating of the Neolithic ceramics in the Lower Kama region are presented in the article. The study was aimed at clarifying a number of issues related to the relationship and interaction character between bearers of different cultural traditions. The characteristic distinctive features of the Kama and Volga-Kama cultures ware have been defined, the specificity of these cultures at different stages of development has been traced/ The absolute dating of all periods of each culture has been checked, their synchrony at certain stages being proved. Reliable data on interactions between the bearers of the Kama and the Volga-Kama cultures in the Kama river region have been accumulated