Findings on the local version of Elshanskaya culture

The article deals with the problem of the local variants allocation of Elhanskaya culture. The question of the local variants allocation was first raised and substantiated in the dissertation of K.M. Andreev. Based on the analysis of ceramic traditions, he distinguished two variants of the Elshanskaya culture: the east and the west. To the east variant he attributed the settlements of Samara-Volga, the Middle Posur and the basin of the Sviyaga, to the west - the settlements of the Upper Primokshanye and Prihoperya. The uniting of elshansky monuments of Samara-Volga and Central Posur seems inappropriate. Pottery from these settlements has a number of significant differences in the ornamentation of the vessels and the technology of preparation of clay dough. By its appearance ceramics of Prisursky settlements are closer to the Antiquities of Primokshanye. Primokshansky settlements materials should be seen as a part of one-time pulse at the end of the VII Millennium BC. The further development of the local population traditions, apparently, was no longer associated with the «classical» antiquities of the Elshanskaya culture. The late materials of the Alatyrsky Posur settlements, related to the mid-VI millennium BC, apparently, should be considered in the context of the cultural tradition of the Lugovoye III - the Krasny gorodok settlements.