Maikop pottery in archaeological context – collecting basic data

• Applicant: Privatdozent Mark Iserlis, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: from 2020 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 441980591

The subject of the proposed research is Maikop “culture”, a phenomenon that emerged and existed in the 4th millennium BC (ca. 3950-3100 BC) between the Black Sea in the west to Chechnya in the east, from the Kuma and Manych Rivers in the north into the northern slopes of the Great Caucasian Mountains in the south. The appearance and existence of the phenomenon is explained by theories about migration, cultural emulation and participation in exchange networks/”networks of transmission”, to mere migration of artisans. Focusing on the metal objects or very special feature, prestigious finds and burials of the phenomenon neglected the main subjects and information sources. Scholars have been dealt with the Maikop phenomenon without analyzing its basic components.Maikop settlements remained in the shadow of kurgans and prestigious finds and most studies are characterized by a circular reasoning, exacerbated by a poor understanding of material culture and contexts. The material culture of the inhabitants of the Maikop settlements should be described before the discussion about contacts, influences, migrations and social stratification. Such discussions can not be based on fragmentary studied settlements and dozens of published kurgans. Theories on migration, long-distance trade and chiefs does not supply a sufficient description of the Maikop phenomenon, nor does it explain what does it mean to be Maikop.Systematic, high-resolution excavations, along with environmental and technological studies of various aspects of Maikop settlement material-culture are necessary for further discussion of the period. The proposed project is intended to address this gap through typo-technological definition of the pottery assemblage, based on high-resolution excavation, contextual analysis, and full publication of a key-site of the phenomenon. High-resolution, well-controlled research and excavations of Sereginskoe in the Kuban Valley form a procedure necessary to get out of the vicious circle of theories, built on a vague understanding of the material culture. A “thick” description of the Maikop material culture in its settlement context, based on close examination of various aspects of the material culture, will allow to identify basic behavioral traits of the Maikop people and to start telling the story of the phenomenon.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Israel, Russia
• Cooperation Partners: Privatdozentin Dr. Olga Brileva, until 3/2022; Privatdozent Dr. Kirill Denprovskii, until 3/2022; Privatdozent Lior Weissbrot