Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Abstract
Since the discovery of the huge dimensions of Trypillia BIVCI mega-sites, estimations about their
population size have mainly resulted magnitudes which
are as extraordinary for European prehistory as the
dimensions of the sites themselves. A variety of population calculations is known, usually (e.g. for Taljanky
and Maidanetske) focusing on around 7500-25,000
inhabitants per site (Shmaglij, 1982; Shmaglij &
Videiko, 1987; Kruts, 1989; Ohlrau, 2015). A basic
assumption for these population estimations is the contemporaneity of the majority of houses in each megasite, which might be problematic.
Also, for the reconstruction of the overall population density in the Southern Buh and Dnipro
Interfluve, the question of the contemporaneity, or
alternatively a sequential appearance, of mega-sites is
very important. In many views, the mega-sites Nebelivka-Dobrovody-Taljanky-Maidanetske are described
as a chronological sequence of about 15,000 people,
moving after about fifty years from one site to the
next, at a distance of about 20 km (Kruts, 1989). In
other views, a contemporary existence of some of
the mega-sites is supposed (MUller et al, in print). In
such an argumentation, no less than about 30,000
people were projected as living contemporarily in
mega-sites of the Volodymyrivsko-Tomashivska
group
