POTTERY FROM CULTURE II, NORTH KURGAN. 133 
as group x) are to be distinguished. The remains of this pottery were found on 
the surface of the top of the hill in terraces 1, 1, Iv, and v, as well as in the upper 
layers of terraces I to vir, down to an average level of +25 feet. 
TECHNIQUE, 
Red monochrome vessels—In the fracture the fragments show a clay which 
in the interior is gray or earth-colored, and towards the outside light-brown or 
reddish, or mixed gray and light-brown, according to the firing. Very thin vessels 
are burnt red throughout. In the washing the clay was strongly impregnated with 
mica and particles of quartz. The surface was covered with a thin-colored clay 
slip and polished after the firing. This slip became generally light-red in firing, 
but not uniform in tone. Brown vessels also occurred. The characteristic 
feature of the whole family, however, is the flame-blackening or flame-spotting 
(Flaemmung) which shows 
itself in large black 
blotches on the surface. 
This flame-blackening may 
have had its origin in the 
method of firing and its 
imperfection, but it was 
clearly regarded as a deco- 
ration and may at last 
have been produced inten- 
tionally. The interior of 
, the vessels is, as a rule, 
not flame-blackened (plate 
20, fig. 2). 
Gray monochrome 
ware.—The technique of the gray 
monochrome ware corresponds to the 
Gy red, but is generally better. The clay 
‘ is light or dark-gray, well washed for 
the most part, and much impreg- 
nated with white particles. The 
covering consists of a light or dark- 
gray clay slip and is in many instances darker than the color of the clay. 
Both groups of vessels were made by hand. In isolated examples of the 
gray ware with the very well-washed clay and hard burning, there is combined 
a semblance of wheel-work, but it is impossible to determine this with certainty. 
106 107 108 


112 
Forms. 
Red monochrome.—Small, delicate vessels, dishes, and deep cups are the pre- 
dominating forms of the red ware, though larger, thick-walled forms are not lacking. 
From the lip profiles selected from the great mass of fragments the following series 
of forms has been compiled. 
