Savelyev N.S.

Key words: South Urals, forest-steppe, 4th c. BC, early nomads, Anan’yino culture, Kara-Abyz culture, Gafuri cultural type, assimilation.
The article analyses pottery of the so-called Gafuri assemblage. Its presence in the forest-steppe of the South Urals is connected with the nomad bearers of the early Prokhorovka culture, who appeared among the sedentary population of the southwestern periphery of the Anan’yino community in the 4th c. BC. Studies of the Gafuri pottery from the Biktimirovo fortified settlement show that the bearers of that pottery appeared on the northern periphery of the Kara-Abyz culture in the middle of the 3d c. BC. The shape and ornamentation of the vessels from Biktimirovo allows connecting their origin with the sites in the southern part of the area of Kara-Abyz culture (Shipovskoye and Okhlebininskoye fortified settlements), where the Gafuri element prevailed until the turn of the eras. The small amounts of Gafuri pottery in the occupation layer at the Biktimirovo fortified settlement could signify marriages between the locals and people from the southern regions of the Kara-Abyz territory, and possible assimilation of the potters in the local milieu. The stratigraphic position of the Gafuri pottery assemblage in the stratum at Biktimirovo site allows using it as a secure chronological reference point in the study of Anan’yino antiquities and of the entire South Urals region in the Early Iron Age.