Chronological correlation of the early Neolithic in the forest zones of the Middle and Upper Volga regions

This paper considers the questions of chronology and features of the Early Neolithic period in the Upper Volga River and forest zone of the Middle Volga River regions. It focuses on the most valid radiocarbon dates obtained from charcoal, animal bones, and charred food crusts, adjusted for the absence of a reservoir effect based on δ¹³C values. The early stage of the Upper Volga (Volga-Oka) culture is dated from the end of the 7th millennium to the first third of the 6th millennium BP. In the forest zone of the Middle Volga River region, the beginning of Neolithization can be dated to approximately 6800 ¹⁴C BP, coinciding with the appearance of the Elshanian culture. The greatest cultural similarity between these regions is observed during this earlier period. Around 6500 BP, the pricked and toothed decoration tradition appears in the pottery ornamentation of the Upper Volga culture. At this time, groups using ceramics decorated with subtriangular/suboval pricks migrated into the forests of the Mariisky region. Pottery with toothed and dotted line decoration was absent in the Dubovsko-Otarskaya culture. Beginning around 6300 BP, combed, drawn line, and pitted ornamentation, including the belemnite technique, became widespread in the Upper Volga culture during the final stage of the Early Neolithic. In the forest zone of the Middle Volga Region, the pricked tradition of pottery ornamentation spread even before the 5th millennium BC (6000 BP) until contact with the Lyalovo and Kama cultures. Therefore, we can conclude that there were two distinct chronological and cultural stages in the Early Neolithic of these regions.