Olga Sherstobitova

The article is based on the analysis of a specifi c pottery assemblage of the Krasnoozerki culture. The pottery comes from settlements in the pre-taiga zone of the Middle Irtysh. Analysis of the pottery showed that its characteristics do not correspond to either the early Khutor-Bor or the late Inberen’ stage of Krasnoozerki culture, and that the pottery thus belongs to a transitional type. The development of the transitional type of Krasnoozerki ware followed two main directions: 1 – modifying Khutor-Bor elements while keeping the Khutor-Bor ornamental schemes; 2 – including the autochthonous Late Bronze elements into the evolving Krasnoozerki ornamental canon. Using the characteristics of the transitional Krasnoozerki ware, the author studies the mechanisms and conditions of the transformation of Krasnoozerki antiquities from one stage to another. The fi nal evolution of the Inberen’ ornamental canon took place in the forest-steppe, whereas the pretaiga zone played the role of a certain “buffer area” (territorially and chronologically). In the author’s opinion it is the Inberen’ stage that refl ects in full the specifi c characteristics of the archaeological culture. Hence the Krasnoozerki culture as such can be correlated with the late Inberen’ stage, whereas the Khutor-Bor stage and the transitional group which is the subject of the present article show the evolution of the original Krasnoozerki ornamentation in the evolving culture.