Pages: 249-264

This article analyses ceramic artefacts from the Romny hillfort near Vodyanoye village in Kharkiv oblast (Ukraine). Here in the 10th – early 11th cc. there was a group of the annalistic Northerners close to the border of Khazar khaganate. Among the large amount of the ceramic materials, we have picked out three groups of artefacts: local (Romny), imported (Saltov archaeological culture) and syncretic one. The last group is represented by scarce fragments of vessels which are made in traditions of Romny and Saltov archaeological culture. In the paper we offer a classification and typology of different categories of the local pottery. The thesis that a pot was the main category of Romny pottery is proved in the article. The reason is polyvariant usage of a pot. The importance of this ceramic pottery is confirmed by its amount, gradual perfection (paste and form) and its variety. One more argument is the fact that the usage of potter’s wheel by the Northerners started with the production of pots. The article proposes possible stages and courses of Romny pottery development. Proper attention is paid to the pottery that was made in traditions of the Northerners and the Khazars: reasons of the phenomenon, ways of realization and meanings of syncretic artefacts for clarification of interethnic contacts in the Early Middle Ages.

Keywords: Pottery, Early Slavonic Hillfort, Khazar khaganate, Romny hillfort, Vodyanoye village, Saltov archaeological culture, Middle Ages