Technological Analysis of the Earliest Ceramics from the Amur Region (13-10 Thousand Years BP)

This is the first technological analysis of the earliest ceramics from final Late Pleistocene sites on the Amur River (Khabarovsk Province). Principal stages of manufacture are reconstructed, from the selection of raw materials to the chemical and thermal treatment of the surface. Differences between technological traditions practiced at three sites include the choice of paste. The general technological level corresponds to stage 3 of proto-ceramic manufacture, characterized by the use of “alluvial” or “mountain” silt as the principal raw material.