Майданецьке 2013. Нові розкопки на трипільському мега-поселенні

In 2013 the first excavation campaign took place in Maidanetske by a joint interdisciplinary Ukrainian/ German team. Many aspects of the environment, economy and household organisation of Maidanetske and Trypillia mega-sites (Russian “Tripolye”) in general can now be discussed based on a new range of data. There are new arguments for an anthropogenically-induced transformation of the original forest steppe into steppe vegetation during the existence of Maidanetske. Numerous radiometric dates and typochronological discussions demonstrate that it is most probable that the houses of the concentric rings existed contemporarily, resulting in population calculations of approximately 15,000 inhabitants. Important new information on subsistence economy was gathered, especially through the analyses of botanical macro-remains and phytoliths. The excavations also revealed the spatial organisation of one “normal” domestic house(hold) and its “house place”, while two pits also indicate feasting and ritual activities, probably not within a single household, but a different ‘political’ supra-household level. In chronological terms the burning of houses around 3700 BCE is one ‘story’; burnt remains in pits (dating to the 39th century BCE) is a different ‘story’, perhaps linked to the deliberate (also ritual) deposition of earlier house remains