Nebelivka: From Magnetic Prospection to New Features of Mega-Sites

The international project at Nebelivka included three field seasons, funded by grants obtained by Prof. John Chapman (Durham University, UK).1 The Institute of Archaeology of NAS Ukraine, for its part, has provided researchers, obtained the necessary permits for excavations, organized the storage of finds and worked with them, and worked on the field reports. The Kirovohrad region provided administrative support, plus cooperation with the Vynnychenko University and the Kirovohrad Museum of Natural History. During four seasons at Nebelivka, several objects were investigated which changed the image of megasites. They were large public buildings (‘megastructure’), fortifications (symbolic ditch or real palisade), and a kiln (Figure 14). This ‘triad’ marked such wellknown features of urbanization, as monumental architecture and developed craft, which as some people still believe, were totally absent in Trypillia (see, for example, Tolochko, 2015: 32). Magnetic prospection discovered not only one large building, but also an impressive system of more than ten smaller objects, which later became common features for other mega-sites, like Dobrovody, Petreni, and Maidanetske. The kiln explored at Nebelivka is now the earliest of eight similar devices, discovered in 2013–2014 at Trypillia sites in Ukraine. The characteristics of the furnace put a stop to long discussions of whether there was a developed craft economy at large sites or not. Investigations of the households,which included houses and pits, were important for the reconstruction of different aspects of life at the large sites. New data obtained during excavations in Nebelivka substantially complemented data from large Trypillia settlements

Late Neolithic cultural elements from the Danube and Carpathian regions of Precucuteni – Trypillia A culture

The relations of Precucuteni – Trypillia A cultures with the cultures of the Late Neolithic/Early Eneolithic of South-Eastern Europe were primarily determined by two factors: origin and cultural contacts. Ideas about Precucuteni – Trypillia A formation appeared sixty years ago on the basis of typology and stratigraphy. The first part of the twentieth century was marked by numerous investigations of Neolithic cultures in South-Eastern Europe and excavations of Trypillia A sites in Ukraine. First, we present these materials. Precucuteni-Trypillia A complex was a multi-component formation which included components of different Southern and Western components originating from different cultures from the wide Balkan-Carpathian area. At different stages of T rypillia, some directions of contact became more important than others.Odnosi med kulturami Precucuteni – Trypillia A s kulturami poznega neolitika/zgodnjega eneolitika v jugovzhodni Evropi se določajo predvsem na podlagi dveh faktorjev: izvora in kulturnih stikov. Ideje o oblikovanju Precucuteni – Trypillia A so se pojavili pred 60 leti na osnovi tipologije in stratigrafije. Za prvo polovico 20. stoletja so bile značilne številne raziskave neolitskih kultur v jugovzhodni Evropi in izkopavanja najdišč obdobja Trypillia A v Ukrajini. Najprej predstavljamo ta material. Precucuteni – Trypillia A kompleks je večkomponentna formacija, ki vključuje različne južne in zahodne komponente, ki izvirajo iz različnih kultur iz širšega balkansko-karpatskega področja. V različnih stopnjah kulture Trypillia so nekatere smeri kontaktov postale bolj pomembne kot druge

Життя на східних рубежах Старої Європи

The concept of Old Europe defines its boundaries with the proliferation of ancient farming cultures. Its eastern boundary is designated by the districts of Trypillia Сulture, the Eastern part of Cucuteni-Trypillia Cultural Unity, which reached Dnipro valley at the second half of the Vth Millenium BC. At this time we see several local types of Trypillya Culture, each with some differences at material culture (mainly at pottery stylistics), some different features in the economy. Subsequently, this added to the difference in the public organization. These groups were completely autonomous, while there is a tendency for their active interaction, perhaps the subordination of the less powerful groups by stronger. Marked by complicated pottery assemblages ‘multiculturality” at Dnipro region developed around 600- 800 years and led to more cultural differentiation inside the area to North from Ros river. At the same time groups with painted pottery, located to South from this area still remained homogeneous. For nearly a millennium (from 4300 to 3400-3200 BC), we can observe the few different strategies of life at the Trypillia Culture Eastern frontiers. From one side here we have some large groups, resistant to external influences, and small groups of population, aimed at the formation of multicultural communities. At the same time, trade was always an important connecting factor at all times.Концепція Старої Європи визначає її межі оширенням стародавніх хліборобських культур. Східну її межу позначають райони Трипільської культури, східної частини Кукутень-Трипільської культурної єдності, які досягли долини Дніпра у другій половині V тисячоліття до нашої ери. У цей час ми бачимо кілька місцевих типів трипільської культури, кожна з яких має деякі відмінності в матеріальній культурі (головним чином у стилістиці кераміки), деякі різні особливості в економіці. Згодом це додало різниці в громадській організації. Ці групи були повністю автономними, в той час як існує тенденція до їх активної взаємодії, можливо, підпорядкування менш чисельних і слабших груп сильнішими. Характеризована різноманітними керамічними комплексами «мультикультурність» у Дніпровському регіоні розвивалася приблизно упродовж майже тисячі років років і призвела до значної культурної диференціації в районі на північ від річки Рось. У той же час групи з розписною керамікою, розташованої на південь від цієї області, як і раніше залишалися однорідними. Протягом майже тисячоліття (від 4300 до 3400-3200 рр. до н.е.) ми можемо спостерігати декілька різних стратегій життя на східних кордонах Трипільської культури. З одного боку, ми маємо деякі великі групи, стійкі до зовнішніх впливів, і невеликі групи населення, спрямовані на формування мультикультурних спільнот. У той же час торгівля завжди була важливим фактором, що сполучала різні культурні спільноти

Goddesses and the Moon: Images and Symbols of Сuсuteni–Trypillia

Maria Gimbutas devoted three fundamental monographs to the study of the religion of prehistoric Europe and the Goddess who, in her opinion, reigned in the sacred space of the population of Neolithic Europe. She believed that modern European civilization has its origins in the early agricultural societies of the Neolithic period from the 7th to the 3rd millennia BC, which corresponds to the term “Old Europe”. According to the researcher, the Great Triune Goddess, associated with the cycle of “birth, nurturing, growth, death, and regeneration”, played a dominant and all-encompassing role in the religion of Old Europe, the “goddess religion”. The analysis of the pictorial tradition of the Cucuteni–Trypillia cultural complex allows us to assert that, in addition to female characters, probably goddesses, the symbolism of the Moon, lunar cycles and sacred images related to the semantic field of the Moon were of particular importance during near 2000 years

Mega-structure from nebelivka – the largest temple of trypillia culture

Magnetic prospection has opened remains of the large objects, probably communal buildings at the sites of Cucuteni-Trypillya over the last decade. Some of them reached previously unprecedented sizes, from few hundred up to thousand square m. But only several such objects have been investigated. The largest of them comes from the settlement of Nebelivka in Ukraine. Its size is about 20 x 60 m. Part of the complex is a two-storey building. On its first floor were altar platforms, the largest of which was over four meters across. Unusual finds include a gold pendant and several dozen ceramic tokens. Probably this building was the main temple of the settlement. It could accommodate from hundreds to thousands of visitors at a time

Археологічні дослідження біля села Трипілля 2018 року

Summer 2018 archaeological expedition from Kyiv Borys Hrinchenko University explored remains of trypillia Culture site near the village of Trypillia. The main aim of investigations was to identify the eponimous site, dicscovered by Vikentij Khvoika in Autumn of 1897. Investigations based on dravings from XIX century dairy, which amrked places of excavations. Field season 2018 searches were successful. We managed to discover the territory of the spread of archaeological finds. In addition, an ancient pit found with mumerous fragments of Trypillia Culture BI-II stage pottery. Thus the location of the eponymous ішеу has been successfully established.У червні-липні 2018 року археологічна експедиція НДЛ археології історико-філософського факультету Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка проводила археологічні розкопки на поселенні трипільської культури біля с. Трипілля Обухівського району Київської області. Дослідження проводилися у рамках виконання планової теми та проведення археологічної практики. У складі експедиції працювали: співробітники НДЛ археології історико-філософського факультету та студенти першого курсу, які проходили археологічну практику. Головним завдянням польового сезону було знайти підтвердження, що поселення давніх хліборобів між селами Трипілля та Щербанівка є «тим самим Трипіллям», яке дало назву відомій археологічній культурі. Як виявилося, попри усю відомість цієї культури в України її епонімна памятка усе ще не поставлена на державний облік, тобто юридично – не існує. Для того, щоб зробити перший крок до реєстрації та постановки на облік державою мало старих публікацій. Слід було встановити на місцевості конкретні обриси поселення, а також отримати матеріальні підтвердження що перед нами саме те поселення

Nebelivka – rediscovered: A Lost City

In addition to Maidanetske and Talianki, Nebelivka belongs to the mega-sites, which have been excavated on a large scale. While detailed 14C analyses verify multiple phases at the first two mentioned settlements, this has not yet been the case for Nebelivka. A new analysis, which differentiates between termini post, ad and ante quem for the data from the site, documents the flourishment and the early breakdown of the settlement there. Instead of a mega-site, at which the settlement concept was used over a long-term, here we are dealing with a “lost city”. The reasons for this are still unclear. However, this is what distinguishes Nebelivka from Maidanetske and Talianki

Археологічні дослідження біля села Трипілля 2018 року

Summer 2018 archaeological expedition from Kyiv Borys Hrinchenko University explored remains of trypillia Culture site near the village of Trypillia. The main aim of investigations was to identify the eponimous site, dicscovered by Vikentij Khvoika in Autumn of 1897. Investigations based on dravings from XIX century dairy, which amrked places of excavations. Field season 2018 searches were successful. We managed to discover the territory of the spread of archaeological finds. In addition, an ancient pit found with mumerous fragments of Trypillia Culture BI-II stage pottery. Thus the location of the eponymous theу had been successfully established

Early Urbanism in Europe The Trypillia Megasites of the Ukrainian Forest-Steppe

For over 60 years, the accepted view of cultural evolution was that the world's first cities developed in the Fertile Crescent in the 4th millennium BC. This view overlooks the emergence of a much neglected class of sites—the Trypillia megasites of the Ukrainian forest-steppe. The megasites were in fact larger and earlier than the Mesopotamian cities and demonstrate an alternative pathway towards cities without strong central administration and any later urban legacy. In this book, a team of international authors examines the hypothesis of independent Eastern European urbanism using the evidence gathered from the multi-disciplinary investigation of the megasite of Nebelivka

Maidanetske 2016: excavations at a Trypillia Mega-site

The joint expedition of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (scientific-research laboratory of Archaeology) and the University of Kiel researched the settlement near Maidanetske village, Talne region of Cherkassy district, August 17 - September 30, 2016 (fig.1-4). The magnetic survey was performed on few new sections (fig.1,- 2), and two areas (110 and 111 trenches) were explored in order to verify earlier detected anomalies produced by the objects, which were previously related to fortifications, public constructions and to some stratigraphy cases (fig.1,-1)