Exhibition of samples of ornamental ceramics from various cultures of the New Stone Age, which are 12 - 13.5 thousand years old. Each object and fragment keeps a whole history of the era and human life. And each ornament is unique and bears an idea about the aesthetics of life of the Lower Amur Region people of the Neolithic Age.

Neolithic ornaments of Lower Priamurye | Museum of Archaeology, Khabarovsk, Russia

Middle Neolithic (Condonian Neolithic culture, 5600-5300 BC).

The ancient ornamented vessel, as a whole, is a "documented" idea of well-being and abundance. It concentrates around itself a huge sum of representations and acts in a variety of functions (cooking and storage of food, burial). According to researchers, in the mythopoetic system of ancient cultures the clay vessel is, among other things, a model of the universe. Its manufacture is thought as a reproduction of the act of creation and its parts are likened to parts of the world and man.
In this regard, the main semantic meanings of the background of clay vessels are the surrounding world, the space of existence, the background of human existence, which corresponds to the main elements of the universe - water, earth, air and fire.

Late Neolithic period (Voznesenov pottery, 3000-2600 BC)

Ancient masters created their creations using simple techniques, but achieving amazing perfection in shaping their vessels and decorating them. The composition of the ceramic dough of the ancient masters was characterized by two recipe schemes: "clay+inorganic (mineral) additives", "clay+organic additives". Each additive had a specific purpose.

Late Neolithic period (the Gorin stage of the Voznesenov Neolithic culture, 3000-2600 BC).

The process of clay pottery production was already limited to the warm season, which coincided, in addition, with the period of food preparation. Perhaps that is why even broken vessels continued to be used, carefully joining the fractures.

late neolithic period (voznesenov pottery, 3000-2600 bc)

Important in all these complex patterns was the filling of the space: comb impressions, covering it with ochre, leaving it empty. The comb could imitate water ripples, the empty space could imitate air, etc.

The first vessels were without ornamentation, later appears technical decor and then - ornamentation. It goes through the simplest solutions, becoming many times more complex, absorbing several techniques at once, gaining color and, sometimes, volume.

The exhibition presents textiles with ornaments of the indigenous peoples of Priamurye of the second half of the XIX - XX centuries.
The exact time of the appearance of the ornament is unknown. In the distant past, it combined symbolic and magical meanings, which were more important than the aesthetic one, as a person depicted "signs" which, in his opinion, protected from "evil forces" or the elements and helped in some matter. Ornamentation was applied to the most various objects and materials.