Pages: 393-418

It is in the article that the material of different settlements with the pricked pearl pottery in the North Caucasian region is discussed in comparison with finds from the settlement of Yaseneva Polyana. As a result of this discussion three main conclusions can formulated. First of all, there are no sufficient data to build a detailed relative chronology of these sites since all of them contain a similar material. Second, it is possible to observe certain maintenance of earlier traits related to the 5th millennium BC which survive in the period of the Maykop culture (the 4th millennium BC). Third, the area of the culture with pricked pearl pottery of the 5th millennium BC completely coincides with the area of the later Novosvobodnaya culture. Moreover, this earlier tradition can be considered as a component in the emergence of the culture in question.