On the Cultural Attribution on the Panfilovo Site

Abstract

The authors analyze the materials kept in the collections of the State Historical Museum. According to the results of excavations of the site V.A. Gorodtsov singled out the Panfilovo archaeological culture, which he attributed to the Paleometallic period and dated to the second half of the III millennium BC. This conclusion was disputed by A.Ya. Brusov, who attributed the Panfilovo antiquities to the late stage of the Volosovo culture. His point of view, supported by other researchers, has long kept its relevance. V.P. Tretyakov divided Eneolithic pottery of the site into early and late stages. Author’s study of the Panfilovo site materials showed that only the ceramics of the early stage belongs to the Volosovo culture, attributed by V.P. Tretyakov to the early group. The rest of the pottery belongs to the Imerka culture, which accepted a certain influence from the Volosovo traditions. The radiocarbon dates of the Imerkа settlement of Volgapino indicate that the chronology of the site proposed by V.A. Gorodtsov is quite realistic.

Keywords

• archaeology
• eneolithic
• russian plain
• panfilovo site
• periodization
• volosovo culture
• imerka culture
• last third of the iii millennium