The article provides ethnographic information about the archaic pottery production in the village of Balkhar in the Akushinsky district of the Republic of Dagestan. An assortment of products and tools used at various stages of pottery production is given. Issues related to raw materials, manufacturing technology of vessels, their further processing and decoration are considered. It describes in detail the firing of products in a forge, conducted jointly by several female potters. Folklore data about the origin of pottery in the village are given, as well as information about some ritual actions related to the process of making dishes.

Keywords: ethnography, Balkhar village, women's pottery, hand-made potter's wheel, ceramics, construction technology, potter's forge, firing.

To date, very few pockets of archaic pottery production have been preserved, which could help archaeologists correctly understand the relevant material from the archaeological site. In February-March 2006, I managed to get acquainted with one of them in the Lak village of Balkhar, Akushinsky district of the Republic of Dagestan. Previous studies devoted to Balkharian ceramics were related to the study of changes in the painting on vessels, their shapes, as well as sales markets [Kilchevskaya and Ivanov, 1959; Magomedova, 1986; etc.]. Important is the work of E. Schilling, which also provides information on the technology of manufacturing ceramic products [1936]. The purpose of this article is to describe in as much detail as possible the current technological traditions of pottery production in Balkhar village. Unfortunately, not all of its aspects were found out in sufficient detail. In addition to the data collected during the trip, a video recording of the vessel firing process sent to me by A. K. Gazimagomedov was also used, since I was not able to see it personally*.

Balkhar has long been famous for the production of ceramic products, and until recently, pottery production flourished in it. In the 1930s, the researcher of Dagestan crafts E. Schilling wrote: "... if you look more closely at the mass of buildings that unfolded in front of you, you will distinguish in it, in different places, at least 25 - 30 scattered domed structures resembling the domes of Shiite mosques in Derbent. This is exactly what, in fact, is deeply interesting and peculiar to Balkhar. Each dome is a chara-furnace for firing pottery " [Ibid., p. 3]. According to R. G. Magomedov, back in the 1960s, women and men carried Balkharian ceramics to the villages of Dagestan on horses and donkeys, and so that children would not throw stones at the products, they gave each of them a whistle. Making clay toys has also been practiced in Balkhara since ancient times. According to legend, the pottery industry appeared here thanks to a local resident named Kal-kuchi, who accidentally discovered

* I would like to express my gratitude to A. K. Gazimagomedov, the head of the pottery factory, R. G. Magomedov, a leading employee of the Institute of History and Archeology of the DNC RAS, and my husband D. V. Petrov for their assistance in studying modern pottery in the village of Balkhar. Wherever this is not particularly noted, the terms in the Lak language are written from the words of A. K. Gazimagomedov.

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the necessary properties of clay for this purpose [Ibid., pp. 4-6], which is still described by local residents.

According to E. Schilling, in the 1930s there were "about 360 households with a population of up to 1,500 people. The main occupations are agriculture with an agricultural bias and artisanal ceramic production, which covers almost the entire female part of Balkhar, which, of course, is not exempt from ordinary domestic and field work" [Ibid., p. 6]. Currently, Balkhara is home to a factory for the production of pottery, which is managed by A. K. Gazimagomedov. In the village, both at the factory and at home (but not permanently), ceramics are made by approx. 30 female potters. Traditionally, here pottery is a purely female occupation, for men it was considered shameful [Ibid.]. In Balkhara, girls were taught by their grandmothers from the age of seven or eight. Now you can learn pottery at the plant. Training lasts 14-15 years. Modern potters of different ages: there are both very young and quite old. A. K. Gazimagomedov, a local resident, graduated from an art school in Moscow, returned to the village, studied pottery, despite the traditions, and devoted his whole life to reviving the gradually dying production.

Dagestanis themselves rarely use ceramic products in everyday life, replacing them with more modern ones. Therefore, the production of ceramics is mainly designed for tourists, and there are not many of them in Dagestan now, for obvious reasons. Another incentive for production is the personal orders of rich people, whose tastes are not always distinguished by refinement. As a result, bulky products are made, their artistic qualities leave much to be desired, which the vessel manufacturers themselves state with regret. Sometimes craftsmen bring their wares to craft fairs in Moscow.

The range of ceramics produced in Balkhara is quite diverse (Fig. 1). Many traditional types of tableware are still produced: Nakirishchu - a jug for storing milk and churning butter (milk was poured into the vessel, covered with a lid and shaken for a long time); kutkya - a jug for storing liquid, which was also used to carry it on the table. fields of water and bread kvass to the workers there; kuk'u - a vessel for storing bulk products and milk; kalla-a container for milk, buza and cottage cheese; ursha - a jug for transferring water from a spring; kyunari - a vessel for washing and drinking water; chajin and Kiarttashi - jugs used for storing buza and razli-

Figure 1. Traditional vessels made in the village of Balkhar and some signs of potters. 1-nakirishchu; 2 - kutka; 3 - kuk'u; 4-ursha; 5 - kyunari; 6 - chazhin; 7 - kI arttashi; 8 - kutcha; 9-signs of potters.

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kutch - a milk vessel used during milking; Hiyallaritu-a container for filtering elderberry. An innovation is the production of decorative vases and flower pots, and a special area of production is the production of various toys and souvenirs. About ten years ago, foreign equipment was brought to Balkhar in order to improve the process of making ceramic products, since the Balkhars still have a lot of archaic features in the technical equipment of production. But this innovation did not take root.

Raw materials. According to A. K. Gazimagomedov, there are more than 15 types of clays in the Balkhara region. Mostly clay is mined 2 km from the village in the valley (glina-arshi, glinishche-kunariyalu). To give the molding mass the necessary properties, various types of clays are introduced into its composition: lean and fatty. Then it is soaked and mixed with your feet. According to A. K. Gazimagomedov, earlier in the village there was an opinion that " you should marry a woman with a big foot, because she will knead clay better."

Tools. The following tools are used for making vessels (Fig. 2).

1. Manual potter's wheel (zhullag). Its height is approx. 30 cm, and while working behind it, the potter sits on pillows. Circles with both dynamic (rotating) and static centering axes are used. The working disk is made of wood, the centering axis and the central bearing are made of metal. The remaining parts of the circle can be either metal or wood. The disc is 4 cm thick and 36 cm in diameter. Until recently, a potter's wheel was used, which was so low that it was rotated not only by hand, but also by "soft thrusts of the right foot" [Ibid., p. 16]. According to the testimony of gonchar H. A. Alibecheva, this method of rotation was abandoned, because "it is harder this way." The similar potter's wheel I fixed with a height of about 18 cm was completely wooden (except for the bearing), had a static centering axis and a disk 3 cm thick, with a diameter of approx. A similar circle described by E. Schilling revolved simply "around a wooden nail (vertical axis)" [Ibid., p. 15].

2. Simple iron and wooden (tannulchilya) knives [Ibid., p. 16]. They are used for planing the walls of the vessel; cutting it from the potter's wheel; making notches to better connect the parts of the manufactured product; removing clay residues from the potter's wheel.

3. A wooden tool in the form of a rod with a sickle-shaped end (palchan) [Ibid.]. It can be of different sizes and is used to give the product the desired shape, mainly to expand the walls of the vessel.

4. Carnelian, mounted on a metal rod with a handle, for polishing the product.

5. A piece of felt for smoothing the vessel, giving the final shape to its individual parts.

6. Hair from the horse's tail, used to cut the edge of the corolla.

7. A pointed wooden stick with a clay stopper for constructing the spout of the vessel.

8. A container with two sub-triangular slots on the sides (kuts), used as a stand in the manufacture of a pallet, as well as painting a vessel.

Fig. 2. Tools for making vessels. 1 - old low potter's wheel; 2-modern potter's wheel; 3-wooden and iron knives, carnelian on a rod with a handle and a tool for shaping the vessel; 4-a tool for forming the spout of the vessel.

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9. Donkey mane hair brushes. They paint products. Potters make these brushes themselves.

3). Before starting work, the potter's wheel is wetted with water and the remains of clay left over from the previous work are scraped off with a knife. Then ash from the home oven is poured into the center of the circle, so that it is easier to remove the product from it later.

Clay drawing techniques are not used. In the hands of a lump of clay, a round billet is made for the bottom (Chian). Then it is placed in the center of the circle on the ash and leveled with a fist. The bottom is attached to the surface of the circle and centered: with one hand, the circle turns, and with the other finger, the excess clay is cut off along the edges. Then the beginning of the container is squeezed out (bottom-container filling). To it, the first bundle is built up in a spiral from the inside (its length is 15-20 cm, thickness is 2-4 cm). The joint is immediately covered up, but only from the inside of the vessel. Then the subsequent bundles are also built up. When creating a closed form, they are built up only from the inside, but the potter simultaneously presses on the walls of the vessel, expanding them. When the construction of the body (chur (ku)) is completed, the walls are planed with a knife and the entire body is smoothed with a piece of felt. Before building up the narrower upper part of the vessel (neck - ssurssu), notches are applied to the surface of the edge of the lower part from the outside with a knife. The corolla (bart) is leveled by cutting its edge with either a knife or a hair and also smoothed with a piece of felt. After that, a wooden tool with a crescent-shaped end is inserted into the vessel and with its help, pressing on the walls from the inside, the product is expanded. A more complex shape is given to the vessel by modeling its profile with a piece of felt while slowly rotating the circle. Similarly, the corolla is bent outwards.

In place of the future handle (kei), notches and a small indentation are made on the vessel wall. Then a bundle is rolled out of clay, a cone-shaped protrusion is made at its end, which is inserted into the recess on the wall, after which the handle is given the necessary shape.

To create a spout, a cone-shaped piece of clay is taken and pierced in the center with a special pointed stick equipped with a limiter. On this stick, the spout is given the final shape. A round hole is cut out in the vessel wall with a knife, a spout is attached to it and attached from the outside.

At the end of the work, excess clay is cut off from the bottom of the vessel with a knife and the product is removed from the potter's wheel. Only a day later, a pallet is attached to the partially dried vessel. To do this, the product is placed upside down in the cuz container so that the protruding parts (handles, spout) fall into its slots, and fixed with clay. The container itself, in which the vessel stands, is also attached to the circle. Then, the upper dried layer of clay is cut off from the bottom part of the product. Notches are made on the bottom with a knife. In this place, a new harness is applied and attached, from which the pallet is formed. Then the pallet and bottom part of the product are smoothed again with felt.

Vessels are dried only indoors. During the drying process, they are rotated. After one or two days, the slightly dried surface is subjected to polishing.

After the vessel is completely dry, it is painted with white and red finely ground clay. But if the product must have a handle, then its upper part is painted immediately after manufacturing, and only then the handle is attached. This is clearly visible on

3. Potter's workplace and some technological operations. 1-workplace; 2-whittling the vessel with a knife; 3 - shaping the vessel using the palchan tool; 4 - making a pallet using the kuts container.

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all products. Painting dishes is purely traditional. The sign of the craftswoman is drawn on the inside of the corolla.

Roasting dishes. It is produced both at the plant and in the furnaces located in the potters ' yards next to the houses (Fig. 4). The plant has two slightly sunken horns (chara). The first-according to the explanation of A. K. Gazimagomedov, "Balkharsky" - is traditional, with the vertical movement of hot gases (its height is 240 cm, diameter is 210 cm). At the bottom there is a furnace chamber (luvalu), which is separated from the firing chamber (yalavu) by a heat-conducting separation block (bottom-CHIAN). The furnace is made of bricks coated with a mixture of clay and straw (the wall thickness is 50 cm). The brickwork is covered with clay from the inside. The heat-conducting dividing block, supported from below by a post, according to the master, is made of rods that fit like the spokes of a wheel at the time of the construction of the furnace, after the construction of the furnace chamber. The rods were smeared with a thick layer of clay, then the intermediate spaces were closed in such a way that only holes remained-blowouts (kutru) for the passage of hot gases from the furnace chamber to the firing chamber. The central holes are round, with a diameter of 10 - 15 cm, and the side semicircular - 20 cm. The master called the heat-conducting and separating block a grate. There is no chimney outlet or viewing hole. These functions are performed by a hole (55×54 cm) for loading ceramics (hullu), which is not completely closed during firing. Strictly below it in the furnace chamber is a loading hole (46x37 cm) for fuel. One wall of the furnace is integrated with the wall of the plant.

A similar bugle is located in the courtyard of the house of a female potter and is directly adjacent to the stone fence. It is built of stone, the outside is smeared with clay mixed with straw. At the top of the firing chamber, at the point where its narrowing passes into the flat roof of the furnace, there is a small hole with an insert in the form of a metal plate with curved edges,

4. Preparation of dung fuel for roasting and potteries. 1 - preparation of dung; 2-traditional" Balkhara " bugle in the yard of the plant; 3-bugle in the yard of the house of a female potter; 4 - potter H. A. Alibecheva at the toy firing bugle.

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acting as a chimney drain. Similar in design, but a small stone furnace with a vaulted roof, designed for firing toys, is located on the edge of the village.

The second furnace on the territory of the plant, according to A. K. Gazimagomedov, is improved (height 280 cm, diameter 390 cm). It differs from the first one by the presence of a pipe for removing smoke, located in the center of the furnace dome, and an observation hole for observing the firing process. In addition, the firing chamber has double walls, in the space between which hot gases from the furnace chamber enter. They enter the roasting chamber due to the numerous square holes (kutru) in the inner wall. The outer vault is made of rebar (iron grating bent into an arc), smeared with a mixture of clay and straw. The walls of the furnace, as well as the inner vault of the firing chamber, are made of bricks. The brickwork is covered with clay on the inside and clay mixed with straw on the outside.

Next to the existing furnaces are the remains of the old one, the bricks from which were used to build new ones. Over the "Balkhar" mountain there is an unfinished canopy. Additionally, the furnace is covered with polyethylene. The service life of the forge is 20-30 years, during which it is repeatedly smeared with a mixture of clay and straw. Previously, all forges were made of stone, and they reached 4 m in height [Ibid., p. 19]. They were built by the same people who built the houses.

The production of ceramic products is carried out from September to May, i.e. during the period free from field work. According to A. K. Gazimagomedov, roasting is usually better in winter than in spring. It is made by several women at once (6 - 7 people) in one large forge, the owner of which is paid in vessels - 7-8 pcs. per person. The furnace is started at 5-6 o'clock in the morning, and firing continues until 12 o'clock in the morning. There is a division of labor: more experienced craftsmen perform the most important operations. The oldest one lays out the items in the forge. To do this, it climbs inside. The others serve her their wares, of which there are probably hundreds. Vessels are stacked on top of each other - first large, then smaller. Products of the same craftswoman are added together. First, the vessels are placed around heat-conducting holes, which are then gradually closed with new vessels. Then the senior craftswoman is selected from the forge, and the younger (but not the youngest) finishes laying the products, after which the senior one closes the loading hole of the firing chamber with shards of broken vessels about half the height.

Before lunch, the furnace is heated with dung, as a result of which it becomes very hot. Then the dung is replaced with straw, hay and branches of shrubs, because, according to the potter H. A. Alibecheva, the vessels do not withstand too high a temperature and crack. The primary kindling is done by one of the older women, but not the one who laid the vessels. In the future, the younger ones are responsible for maintaining the fire in the forge. They load a large amount of straw and shrub branches into the furnace. To do this, use a special iron device in the form of a plate with a handle length of approx. 2 m and pitchfork.

Dung is pre-prepared in a special way. It is either scattered on the roof of the house and trampled underfoot, and when it dries, cut into squares, or fresh pieces are molded on the walls of houses. Moreover, dung is harvested in winter, because, according to H. A. Alibecheva, it freezes, and by spring it becomes softer and better suited for the furnace.

A. K. Gazimagomedov said that earlier, before firing, ritual actions were performed: the main woman (an elderly woman responsible for firing) took a pinch of salt, spat on it, then went around all the craftsmen present, who also had to spit there, and threw this pinch into the fire. In addition, the craftsmen had to relieve themselves before firing in front of the forge. A ram's skull was hung from the horn. What these customs are based on, it was not possible to establish.

In conclusion, I would like to note that in the 70 years that have passed since E. Schilling visited Balkhar village, little has changed in the technological methods of ceramic production. The methods of processing raw materials, firing products in furnaces and, what is especially interesting, the skills of designing vessels remained the same - the stick-on technology of making dishes without using methods of pulling on a potter's wheel was preserved. The changes mainly affected technical devices: the potter's wheel was enriched with metal parts, including a bearing; the design of the forge became more complicated. The given ethnographic data can help in the interpretation of archaeological material related to pottery production.

List of literature

Kilchevskaya E. V., Ivanov A. S. Khudozhestvennye promysly Dagestana [Art crafts of Dagestan]. cooperative Publishing House, 1959, 176 p.

Magomedova S. G. Household ceramics of Dagestan: (On the question of the addition of regional artistic traditions in folk art): abstract of the dissertation of the Candidate of Science. art History, Moscow, 1986, 25 p.

Schilling E. Balkhar: Women's art crafts of the Dagestani village of Balkhar. Pyatigorsk: North Caucasus. regional state Administration publishing house, 1936. - 23 p.

The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 13.01.10.

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