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In 2023, during the study of the Odoevsky hillfort, a zoomorphic figurine made of bone was found. It was discovered in a layer together with ceramics of the Vyatka-Vetluzh culture of the Ananyinsky cultural and historical region (AKIO). The individual finds identified in the cultural layer of the Odoevsky hillfort are not original, and are widespread throughout the territory of the AKIO. The attribution of this product made it possible to define it as a partial image of a horse's head to the shoulders. According to the manufacturing technology, the figurine belongs to relief images and is a non-utilitarian object, most likely a pendant that was sewn on clothes. According to a combination of features: iconography, analogies, accompanying finds in the cultural layer and radiocarbon dating, the time of production of this product was established – the end of the V – middle of the IV centuries BC. And this is not accidental, since it was in the late period that the tradition of depicting a horse in AKIO flourished.

The paper deals with the analysis of materials from the Vodoba II settlement that demonstrates a complicated process of development of Late Kargopol antiquities nearby Lake Beloye. The discovered pottery assemblages are syncretic. Several types of ceramics are distinguished: textile, brushed, smoothed with impressions of a comb stamp, ceramics of the Vyatka-Vetluga culture of the Ananyino cultural and historical area (ACHA) and hybrid. It is this combination in ceramic sets from ancient settlements that determines the specificity of Late Kargopol antiquities. Two major stages in the development of settlements in this region are identified: the first one corresponds to the first half of the I millennium BC, the second one is accompanied by the spread of the bearers of cultural traditions of the VyatkaVetluga culture ACHA and the development of hybrid shapes of pottery in the settlements (up to the 3rd century BC) in these areas in the middle of the I millennium BC. At the second stage Lake Beloye area settlements are included in a large "hybrid world" with ceramics of close types, having a certain originality in different regions, which is primarily associated with the traditions of pottery assemblages formation in the previous periods.

Results of the technical and technological study of samples of mesh ceramics (with pockmarked and flamentous prints) from the excavations of V.I. Smirnov in 1927 are considered in the paper. The data obtained showed the similarity of the analyzed vessels in the technology of their manufacture at the preparatory stage of pottery production. Differences in the nature of the treatment of the external surfaces of the vessels did not reveal the presence of relationships with the recipes of the molding masses. Molding masses were mainly prepared on the basis of sanded clays with the addition of artifcial impurities in the form of wood and organic components. The soil was prepared by crushing granite-gneiss rocks of stone to a predominant particle size of 1-2 mm. An organic solution in the fractures of ceramics with pockmarked prints has been tentatively identifed as a squeeze from the manure of ruminants. Such a determination of an organic solution for ceramics with flamentous prints causes diffculties. The combination of mineral and organic inclusions in the composition of the molding mass of mesh ceramics from the Umilenye settlement, in all likelihood, dates back to the Bronze Age. The combination of mineral and organic impurities in the molding mass is observed even among the bearers of the Fatyanoid ceramic traditions. Under the influence of the Fatyanoid technological traditions, mesh ceramics could be formed in the area of lake.

The paper addresses the reticulated ceramics discovered in 1927 by V.I. Smirnov during the excavation of Umilenie settlement located in the vicinity of Lake Galichskoye. The characteristics of reticulated ware are provided, their local features are outlined, and the specifics of ceramic complexes is determined. The collection includes reticulated ceramics with speckled and thread imprints, smoothed and shaded; ware decorated with speckled prints is predominant. The most common molding compound recipe is sandy ferruginous clay with debris. The ceramics was ornamented only with imprints only, and the edge of the pot was often decorated. A characteristic feature in the ornamentation of reticulated ceramics is outlined, which is a zigzag of pits, sometimes consisting of two rows, in the upper part of the vessels. Low-profile pot forms prevail; profiled ceramics with a prominent ribbed shoulder and jar-shaped ware are present in smaller numbers. Umilenie settlement is an important site, and the study of its ceramic material makes it possible to raise urgent questions concerning the formation of reticulated ceramic traditions at the turn of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age in the Kostroma Volga Region.

This paper presents the results of human remains study from the necropolis on Tekstilschiki street (Kostroma city, Russia), dated back to XVI–XVIII centuries. The authors provide data on the craniology, postcranial skeleton, describe the pathologies on the teeth and bones. The study was conducted according to standard protocols of Russian anthropology. Studied sample comprises human remains of 77 individuals, including 41 belonged to women. This ratio can be explained by the fact that there was a nunnery necropolis on this territory in the late Middle Ages. Presented study revealed a number of features of the male part of the sample, associated with mesocrania and sharp horizontal facial profile. A comparative analysis of craniological data showed the proximity of the studied population to the medieval population of the Old Ryazan city (Russia). The female part of the sample differs from the male one in its tendency to brachicrania. A morphological analysis of the postcranial skeleton revealed the relative shortening of the shin and forearm of women. The reconstructed height for men turned out to be above average, for women, on the contrary, it is below average. Most often pathologies of the studied population are dentition pathologies and bruises of the bones of the limbs, which most likely had a civilian character.

The authors publish archaeological fi ndings from the Unorozh hillfort (Galich District, Kostroma Oblast, Russian Federation), which belongs to the Finno-Ugric antiquities. This multi-layered site occupies special place among other settlements found in Kostroma Volga Region and has a rich history embracing many chronological stages and cultural contexts (Mesolithic – 7000 BC, early Iron Age – 1000 BC, fi rst centuries AD, Middle Ages and the New time – 9th – 11th, 12th – 14th, 15th –18th centuries). The dig of 2014 yielded some materials, which defi ne cultural features of the site in the Early Iron Age; two wooden buildings of the 10th – 11th centuries were investigated, traces of the Early Medieval ironwork production were fi xed, burials of the ground necropolis of the 13th – 14th centuries were studied, a rich collection of artefacts was collected to witness participation of the local population in the international fur trade in the 9th – 11th centuries.