Trypillia culture

Geographic area of the Cucuteni-Trypillian archeological culture

Trypillia culture (Template:Lang-ro and Template:Lang-uk), is a Neolithic–Eneolithic archaeological culture named after the village of Trypillia in Kyiv region, Ukraine. The "extended" name of the culture also includes the name of the Romanian village of Cucuteni.

The Trypillya culture flourished between 5500 and 2750 BC. E., located between the Carpathians and the Dnipro river in the territories of modern Ukraine, Moldova and Romania with a total area of over 350 000 km². During the heyday of culture, it was one of the largest settlements in Europe: the number of inhabitants of some of them exceeded 15 thousand people.

Trypillia culture is one of the main ancient cultures of the Copper Age. The Trypillian tribes occupied the expanses of Eastern Europe from the Dnipro to the Carpathians, from Polesie to the Black Sea and the Balkan Peninsula. This culture developed in the 5th - 4th millennium BC. (during 2000 years) and has undergone three stages in its development - early, middle and late. In Ukraine, as of 2014, more than two thousand monuments of Trypillian culture have been discovered. They are grouped in 15 oblasts: the largest in the Middle Dnieper and Nadprutyni and Nadbudzhi regions, less in the Dnieper. Probably the density of the settlement of tribal communities.

One of the features of Trypillian culture was a huge territory of distribution (about 190 thousand km). During its heyday (at the end of the middle stage), the population throughout the Trypillian culture, according to various estimates, ranged from 400,000 to 2 million people.

The problem of the origin of Trypillians is not fully understood as yet. Most archaeologists are of the opinion that the basis of the early Trypillian culture was formed by the southern agricultural and pastoral tribes of cultures of Balkan origin, which, however, in the process of spreading to the new eastern territories absorbed elements of local Neolithic and Eneolithic cultures at different stages.

History of the research

Cucuteni Antropomorhic Vessel with Orant symbols

The territory of the Trypillian culture since its discovery to the present day belonged to different states, which led to the emergence of three names – “Cucuteni” in Romania, the culture of hand-painted ceramics in Galicia and Bukovyna, and the Trypillian culture in Podillia, Cherkasy and Kyiv region.

The first information about archaic culture with hand-painted ceramics according to the research on the territory of the Galician Podillia, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was obtained and published by Lviv archaeologist Antony Schneider in the 1970s. On that territory in Galicia at the end of the XIX century the first stratigraphic and chronological observations of the hand-drawn pottery culture were made.

In Romania, the culture was named after the village of Kukuteni, near which the first artifacts were found by the Romanian folklorist and ethnographer Theodor Burada in 1884. They were the fragments of pottery and terracotta figurines. In 1885 the first excavations were made by a group of intellectuals from Yass, and in the same year an article on the antiquity of Kukuteni was published by the poet Nicolae Beldichanu. The results of the archaeological work were announced in 1889 at an international conference in Paris.

An archaeologist Vincent Khvoika discovered the first Trypillia settlement on the territory of modern Ukraine in 1893-1894 at 55 Kyrylivska Street in Kyiv. Khvoika presented his findings in August 1899 at the XI Archaeological Congress in Kiev. The Trypillian culture in Ukraine is considered to be officially opened in 1893, the time when the excavations on Kyrylivska Street in Kyiv began. In the fall of 1897 a number of settlements with materials similar to the Kyiv findings were found by Vincent Khvoika in the vicinity of Trypillia town of Kyiv county (now - Trypillia village, Obukhiv district, Kiev region). In the Soviet Moldavian, Russian, Ukrainian and other publications on the sights on the territory of Ukraine and Moldova the name "Trypillian culture" is widespread.

Ceramic spindles. 4 thousand BC. Settlement of Zhvanets. From the collection of the Trypillian Museum of Culture of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve "Pereyaslav"

Over time, it became clear that the archeological culture of Cucuteni in Romania and the Trypillian culture in Ukraine belongs to one cultural complex. The name "Cucuteni-Trypillia" is now commonly used, although the names "Cucuteni" and "Trypillia" can also be used separately. The term "cultural and historical community" or "community" of Trypillia-Cucuteni (Cucuteni-Trypillia) is also used.

The field research

According to Tatiana Passek, the oldest time to find the Trypillian culture on the Dnieper land from the collections of the State History Museum in Moscow is 1854. However, there are reports that the first excavations to replenish the private collection took place in 1750 in Galicia, and the famous Verteba Cave with Trypillian antiquities was circumstancially opened in 1822. The studies of Trypillian culture were carried out at the end of the 19th century on the lands of Ukraine, which were the part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, by A. Schneider (Borshchiv, 1870s; Koshylivtsi, 1878), A. Kirkor (Bilche-Zolote, 1876; Kozachchyna , 1877), G. Ossovsky, V. Demetrykevych (Verteba, Bilche-Zolote), I. Kopernytsky and V. Pshebyslavsky (Gorodnytsia, 1877), R. Kaindl and J. Sombati (Shypyntsi) and others. In the writings of the above-mentioned archaeologists, the antiquities of the hand-drawn pottery culture found were identified as "domikenski", thus indicating their place among European antiquities. The first stratigraphic and chronological observations were made. The discussion on the interpretation of clay clusters as burial structures (G. Ossovsky) or dwellings (V. Demetrykevych, R. Kaindl, K. Gadachek) arose. The sources accumulated during the first excavations became the basis for further excavations and studies of the culture of hand-painted ceramics.

The archaeological studies in Podillia in the late XIX - early XX centuries are connected with the exploration works of Yu. Y. Sitsynsky and the creation of an archaeological map of Podillya. On the map, published in the 1920s 30 Trypillian monuments were marked (the total map consisted of about 2000 monuments). In 1891 the famous historian V.B. Antonovych together with Ch. Zborivski excavated a Trypillian settlement near the village of Krynychky in Podillia. The residues of dwellings, including hand-painted pottery and anthropomorphic figurines were investigated. From 1925 to 1929 investigations were conducted by V. Kozlovska, M. Makarenko, P. Kurinny, M. Rudinsky, S. Gamchenko, and M. Boltenko, who belonged to the Trypillian expedition organized by the VUAK Tripoli Commission. From 1924 to 1940 the research was conducted by the Trypillian expedition of the Archaeological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (the expedition chief was S. Magura, employees V. Petrov, N. Kordysh, V. Kozlovska, K. Korshak, M. Makarevych), to which T. Passek and Y. Krichevsky were invited. After 1945 considerable researches were conducted by the expeditors of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Yu. Zakharuk, M. Makarevych, A. Dobrovolsky, O. Lagodovska, V. Danylenko) and the Archaeological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences (T. Passek, K. Chernysh). Since the 60s of the twentieth century the researchers from the Archaeological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences have worked: S. Bibikov, V. Zbenovych, V. Kruts, E. Patokova, T. Movsha, M. Shmaglii, O. Tsvek and others. After 1971 the study of settlements-protomist of Trypillian culture began - Maidanets'ke, Talyanki, Dobrovody, Vesely Kut and others. Since the late 1960s V. Dudkin has conducted a magnetic shooting of about 40 settlement plans, including the largest - Maidanetsky (1971-1974) and Talianok. In the XXI century the research of Trypillian culture is being carried out by the staff of the Archaeological Institute of the NAS of Ukraine, as well as of many museums and universities: G. Buzyan, N. Burdo, M. Videiko, O. Diachenko, O. Corvin-Piotrovsky, E. Ovchinnikov, V. Petrenko, S. Ryzhov, V. Rud, N. Skakun, M. Sohatsky, T. Tkachuk, O. Yakubenko and others. International expeditions are being conducted with the involvement of the archaeologists from Great Britain (J. Chapman, B. Heydar), Germany (J. Müller, K. Rassmann, R. Ulrau, R. Hofmann, etc.). New geomagnetic settlement plans (2011-2016) were obtained, the remains of fortifications, public structures and pottery pots unknown previously were discovered.

The genetic research

In 2005 the first ever Trypillian culture samples from the Verteba Cave in Podillia (Ternopil region) were obtained by O. Nikitin for genetic analysis. The first results were presented in 2010. Three years later the findings were confirmed as a result of a comparative analysis of the phylogenetic origins of Neolithic Trypillian precursors in the Central European-Balkan region. It was found that Trypillians carried maternal genetic lines typical for the entire agricultural neolithic oecumene, which was established in Asia Minor - the ancestral home of the European agriculture. However, the Trypillians’ remains are dominated by the autochthonous genes of the pre-Neolithic population that existed in the region from the Carpathian Mountains to the Northern Black Sea before the farmers came there.

Chronology

Geography of archaeological sites of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture in Ukraine (2042 objects by description in the Register, published in the Encyclopedia of Trypillian civilization (Vol.1, Book 1. - K., 2004. - P. 563-700)

Traditionally separate schemes of periodisation have been used for the Ukrainian Trypillia and Romanian Cucuteni variants of the culture. The Cucuteni scheme, proposed by the German archaeologist Hubert Schmidt in 1932, distinguished three cultures: Pre-Cucuteni, Cucuteni and Horodiştea–Folteşti; which were further divided into phases (Pre-Cucuteni I–III and Cucuteni A and B). The Ukrainian scheme was first developed by Tatiana Sergeyevna Passek in 1949 and divided the Trypillia culture into three main phases (A, B and C) with further sub-phases (BI–II and CI–II). Initially based on informal ceramic seriation, both schemes have been extended and revised since first proposed, incorporating new data and formalised mathematical techniques for artifact seriation.^(p103)

The Cucuteni–Trypillia culture is commonly divided into an Early, Middle, Late period, with varying smaller sub-divisions marked by changes in settlement and material culture. A key point of contention lies in how these phases correspond to radiocarbon data. The following chart represents this most current interpretation:

• Early (Pre-Cucuteni I–III to Cucuteni A–B, Trypillia A to Trypillia BI–II):	5800 to 5000 BC
• Middle (Cucuteni B, Trypillia BII to CI–II):	5000 to 3500 BC
• Late (Horodiştea–Folteşti, Trypillia CII):	3500 to 3000 BC

Trypillian culture in the European context

Related archaeological cultures:

Hvar culture (Adriatic coast);

Butmir culture (Bosnia);

Vinča culture (present-day Serbia);

Tisza culture ( Tisa river basin);

Lengyel culture (entered on the Middle Danube);

Boian culture (along the lower course of the Danube);

Hamangia culture (between the Danube and the Black Sea);

Dnieper–Donets culture (north of the Black Sea).

Bibliography

Ukrainian

• Археологія України: Курс лекцій: Навч. посібник / Л. Л. Залізняк, О. П. Моця, В. М. Зубар, В. В. Отрощенко, К. Бунятян, Р. В. Терпиловський; за ред. Л. Л. Залізняка. — К.: Либідь, 2005. — 504 с. 966-06-0394-0.
• Бібіков С. Трипільська культура. Археологія Української РСР, т. І. Київ, 1971.
• М. Ю. Відейко. Трипільська культура // ЕІУ
• Енциклопедія Трипільської цивілізації, Київ, Укрполіграфмедіа, 2004, т. І-ІІ.
• Захарук Ю. Пізній етап трипільської культури. Археологія Української РСР, т. I. Київ, 1971.
• Пастернак Я. Археологія України. Торонто 1961.
• Магура Сильвестр Сильвестрович, Питання побуту на підставі залишків трипільської культури. «Трипільська культура на Україні», 1926, вип. 1;
• Магура Сильвестр Сильвестрович, Експедиція 1934 р. для дослідження пам'яток трипільської культури. «Наукові записки ІІМК УАН», 1937, кн. 2.
• Трипільська культура, т. І, АН УРСР, Інститут Археології. Київ, 1940.
• Черниш К. Ранньотрипільське поселення Ленківці на Середньому Дністрі. АН УРСР, Інститут Археології. Київ, 1959.
• Бунятян К. П., Мурзін В. Ю. та Симоненко О. В. На світанку історії. Том. 1. — К., 1998.
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• Толочко П. П. — Давня історія України, Кн. 1 — К., 1994.

German

• Schmidt H. Cucuteni in der oberen Moldau, Rumanien: Die befestigte Siedlung mit bemalter Keramik von der Steinkupferzeit bis in die vollentwickelte. Berlin-Leipzig: Gruyter, 1932.

Russian

• Археология Украинской ССР, Киев, 1985, т.1.
• Бибиков С., Раннетрипольское поселение Лука-Врублевецкая на Днестре. МИА н. 38. М. — П. 1953.
• Пассек Т., Раннеземледельческие (трипольские) племена Поднестровья, МИА, н. 84. Москва, 1961.
• Пассек Т. Периодизация трипольских поселений. МИА, н. 10. М. — П. 1949.
• Рыбаков Б. А., Космогония и мифология земледельцев энеолита // Советская археология, 1965, № 1—2.
• Рындина Н. В. Древнейшее металлообрабатывающее производство Восточной Европы, М., 1971.
• Хвойко В. Каменный век Среднего Поднепровья // Труды одиннадцатого археологического сьезда в Киеве. І. Киев, 1901.
• Гимбутас Мария, Цивилизация Великой Богини: мир Древней Европы, Москва, РОССПЭН, 2006.
• Черныш Е. К., К истории населения энеолитического времени в Среднем Приднестровье // Неолит и энеолит юга Европейской части СССР, Москва, 1962.

Romanian

• Dumitrescu, V. Arta culturii Cucuteni. Bucuresti: Editura Meridiane, 1979.

External links

• Media related to Трипільська культура at Wikimedia Commons
• Трипільська культура. Barbaricum
• Трипольская культура. Восточноевропейский археологический журнал Template:Ref-ru
• Трипільська цивілізація
• Трипільська культура на Київщині
• Навколонауковий сайт «Аратта—Україна»
• Світлини музею трипільської культури с. Трипілля
• Трипільська культура на території України. За книгою Семчишин М. "Тисяча років української культури. К., 1993.
• Леонід Залізняк. Про трипільців, семітів та нардепів-трипіллязнавців
• Сергій Гірік. Наук-поп як зброя проти псевдонауки // Історична правда
• Ігор Голод. Фальсифікаціям — ні. Про трипільську культуру та «арійство» // Історична правда
• Валентин Мойсеєнко. Трипільські протоміста і світова цивілізація
• Валентин Мойсеєнко. Це солодке слово — АМАРГІ, або Сага про демократію
• Ігор Каганець. Трипільські агроміста — перші міста-держави
• Енциклопедія Трипільської Цивілізації
• У Ватикані відкрилася виставка Трипільської культури // УНІАН, 17.09.2008
• Василь МОРОЗ Що несе Україні «час Жар-птиці»? Настав… 7522-й рік від початку трипільського календаря // Галичина 25.03.2014
• Богдан Скаврон. Енциклопедія Наддністрянських Помпей // Збруч, 18.04.2014