Pages: 220-234

The  article is devoted to the problem of characteristic features of ceramics found during the excavations at one of the largest Kolotchin sites Velikiye Budki (also named Khutor). The collection of pottery found at this site contains approximately a quarter of all Kolotchin vessels, so that Velikiye Budki is one of the most significant and important sites in Kolotchin culture, which dates from V to VII cent. A. D. The author of the article tries to analyze the complex of pottery from the settlement Velikiye Budki and such complexes from other Kolotchin sites, including collections of ceramics from both burial grounds and settlements. As an instrument of the analysis it’s offered to use new scheme of classification of Kolotchin pottery. It is divided into eight types of vessels and two types of ceramic discs. The author presents the results of comparative analysis of Kolotchin vessels found at different sites of the culture, including Velikiye Budki. According to these results several traditions in shaping the features of sets of pottery are discovered in Kolotchin culture. We can differentiate from each other early Seim sites (V cent. A. D.) and the latest ones of South-East of Kolotchin territory (VII cent. A. D.), the sites near river Desna and the sites of South Belorussia. Each of named groups has its own characteristic features in structure of pottery types in standard, average set of pottery. The correlation of types of vessels found at Velikiye Budki shows us two groups of pottery. The first one, - the pottery found in the second, (the lower) layer, - is similar to Early Seim Kolotchin pottery. The second group of vessels and discs, found in the first (the upper) layer, has the such correlation of types, which is more characteristic for the set of pottery at the latest South-Eastern Kolotchin sites. So we can see, that Velikiye Budki is the site, which existed a very long period of time - from V cent. A. D. to VII cent. A. D. But we could not say that Velikiye Budki is a typical site of South-Eastern Kolotchin culture with early and late elements in its set of pottery. The set of Kolotchin vessels from Velikiye Budki has rather specific structure, which demonstrates some elements unknown both at the early and the late stages of culture. These specific elements, like great amount of ceramic discs, vessels of type IV (ill.2), specific biconic vessels, may have been dating to the VI cent. A. D. Also some details in shaping of section of some vessel’s may demonstrate influence of Pen’kov culture. This statement must be proved during future research of Kolotchin culture and its pottery.