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
