During the three millennia, during which Noah managed to build an ark, and the inhabitants of the banks of the Nile built pyramids for their god-like pharaohs, people lived on the vast plain between the Danube and the Dnieper, who managed to achieve an unusually high level of development of crafts and agriculture. This piece of world history was called the Tripoli culture. Let us briefly dwell on the main information available about him.
Discoveries made at the end of the 19th century
The scientific world started talking about the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture at the beginning of the 20th century. The impetus for this was a number of archaeological finds. The first of these were made in 1884 by the explorer Theodor Burado. While excavating near the village of Cucuteni (Romania), he discovered terracotta figurines and elements of pottery, which made it possible to conclude that they belong to autochthonous, that is, original and characteristic of a particular region, culture.
However, in 1897, the Russian scientist Vikenty Khvoyko, excavating innear the village of Trypillya, Kyiv district, extracted artifacts from the earth that are very similar to those that his Romanian colleague discovered thirteen years earlier. In 1899, Khvoyko presented his findings at the XI Archaeological Congress, held in Kyiv.
Culture common to the environs of Trypillia and Cucuteni
In his report on the recent discovery, the scientist said that the artifacts he discovered allow us to speak about the existence of a special, so-called "Trypillian" culture during the Neolithic period. This term was introduced by him in accordance with the site of the excavations.
However, a number of researchers call it Cucuteni, in memory of the discovery of the Romanian archaeologist T. Burado near the village bearing this name. Even then it became clear that samples of a single culture fell into the hands of scientists. Later finds confirmed this assumption and made it possible to outline in more detail the region within which the peoples who created it settled.
The territory of the Tripoli culture in the VI-III millennium covered the entire Danube-Dnieper interfluve, and reached its peak between 5500 and 2740. BC e. Capturing the Right-Bank Ukraine, part of Moldova, Eastern Romania and Hungary, it has been developing for almost 3 thousand years.
Research by E. R. Stern
Shortly before the start of the First World War, the famous Russian scientist E. R. Stern continued the study of the Trypillia archaeological culture. He carried out his excavations on the territory of Hungary, near the city of B alti. Among the ones he discoveredThere were many examples of painted ceramics among artifacts, which prompted him to pay special attention to this section of ancient art, and to prepare a collection of materials dedicated to it for printing.
It was established that the Tripoli culture was founded by the tribes that inhabited the basin of the Dniester and Bug rivers during the Neolithic period (later Stone Age). Having gone through a long and difficult path of development for several millennia, by the middle of the 6th century BC. e. they already had fairly advanced tools.
Ancient farmers
The history of Trypillian culture chronologically coincides with the period when the climate in this part of the European continent was humid and warm, which greatly contributed to the cultivation of many agricultural crops. The data obtained by the researchers indicate that even at an early stage in the development of culture, agriculture was a well-formed and stable element in it.
So, unlike many of their contemporaries, Trypillians had a reliable seed fund, traces of which were discovered during excavations. Their main crops were wheat, oats, barley, peas and millet. However, ancient farmers also grew apricots, cherry plums and grapes. A characteristic feature of agriculture among the representatives of the Trypillia culture was the slash-and-burn system, in which wild forest territories were burned and then plowed up for agricultural land.
Success in animal husbandry
A very significant role in the life of Trypillians was played by animal husbandry, in which they also outstripped many of their contemporaries. They have made significant progress in breeding previously domesticated animals, primarily such as cows, horses, goats and sheep. Moreover, the latter acquired particular importance in the economic activities of the inhabitants of the southern region at the final stage of the existence of culture.
It is characteristic that in terms of horse domestication, the Trypillians in many respects surpassed their neighbors - the Scythians, Sarmatians and Aryans, whose culture was formed under the influence of the peoples inhabiting the Northern Black Sea region. They were almost one and a half to two millennia ahead of these steppe inhabitants in the arrangement of stall keeping of animals, which made it possible to avoid losses in the winter months, accompanied by frost and starvation. Thanks to the development of dairy production, if necessary, foals were fed with cow's milk, which significantly reduced the mortality of young animals.
Indigenous crafts of ancient people
At the same time, the tribes that were representatives of the Trypillian culture did not neglect the primordial occupations of ancient people - hunting, fishing and gathering. This is eloquently evidenced by the fragments of bows, arrows and harpoons found during excavations. It is characteristic that already in this early period of history the Trypillians used dogs for hunting.
The natural features of this region created the most favorable conditions for their crafts, which was also established on the basis of the excavations. It became known, for example, that in river channels,abounding in fish, catfish often came across, reaching two meters in length, and the surrounding forests were filled with wild pear, dogwood and cherry.
Thousands of Trypillian settlements
The successes achieved in agriculture, which made it possible to significantly increase food production, largely stimulated population growth in the territories where the villages of Trypil and Cucuteni subsequently appeared. It is curious to note that during the heyday of this peculiar culture, the number of inhabitants of individual villages reached 3-5 thousand people, which at that time was a unique phenomenon.
Ancient Trypillians preferred to settle on the gentle and convenient for farming slopes located near the rivers. The area occupied by them was very extensive, and sometimes included tens of hectares. It was built up with dwellings, which were both ground-based adobe structures and ordinary dugouts.
In both cases, their distinguishing feature was heating, carried out by stoves with pipes led through the roof. For comparison, it can be noted that the majority of residents of other regions, in which winter temperatures were low and, therefore, there was a need for heating, used primitive hearths located in the center of living quarters and heated "black", that is, without pipes.
Features of the way of life of Trypillians
According to studies, a significant area in their very spaciousdwellings were allocated for storerooms. Based on the measurements, archaeologists came to the conclusion that not individual families settled in them, but entire tribal communities. Obviously, this is due to the fact that collectively it was easier to solve household problems, and, if necessary, to protect your home.
Since agriculture was the main source of existence of the Trypillians, they periodically had the need to move their settlements to new places, as the land around them eventually became depleted and ceased to produce crops. For this reason, once every 50-70 years they left their homes and moved to neighboring areas, where the soil was more fertile. As a result, the products produced, and primarily bread, were enough not only to meet their own needs, but also for trade with representatives of other civilizations of that era, such as the inhabitants of the Caucasus, Asia Minor and even Egypt.
Pottery of Trypillia culture
Besides foodstuffs, the Tripoli people exported pottery, which was made at an extremely high artistic level for that time. Their distinguishing feature was the painting applied to the ceramic surface. A laboratory analysis of pottery found during the excavations showed that it was made from potter's clay and quartz sand with the addition of freshwater mollusk shells.
Since the potter's wheel was not yet known to the masters of that period, they made their products on a solid, motionless basis, which was reflected in their features. So, it was noted that in most samples of dishes withIn a very massive bottom, the walls have an uneven thickness and not always the correct shape. However, this shortcoming, caused by the imperfection of the technology of their manufacture, was more than compensated for by the beauty of the painting that covered the outer surface of the products. In it, the art of Trypillia culture has reached an unusually high level.
Flint tools
Besides the production of pottery, Trypillians have reached a high level in many other crafts. The foundations for future success were laid by them in the middle of the 4th century BC. e., when the stone tools produced earlier were replaced by products made of flint - a raw material widely used by craftsmen of that period. It was used to make sickles, arrowheads and axes, which were distinguished by their extraordinary strength and durability.
It is difficult to cover all aspects of this culture within the framework of this article, but two of them should certainly be considered. First of all, this is the use of bronze. Despite the fact that, according to researchers, its widespread development in the world began around the 3rd millennium BC. e., many bronze products created by Trypillya artisans are almost 2 thousand years older. At the same time, they do not have such shortcomings characteristic of the initial period as gas porosity and shrinkage defects.
In addition, a sensation in the scientific world was caused by a number of ceramic products dated to the fifth millennium BC. The fact is that they depicted carts equipped with wheels, while the birthplace of this most importantIt was customary to consider the south of Mesopotamia as an attribute of civilization, where it appeared no earlier than 3300 BC. e. Thus, the ancient Trypillians have every reason to be considered the inventors of the wheel.
Conclusion
Thanks to the research of scientists around the world today, the amount of knowledge in this area is unusually large. Suffice it to say that over the past hundred years, about one and a half thousand scientific works devoted to the Trypillia culture have appeared. The artifacts obtained as a result of excavations are collected by almost all the largest museums in the world. Two photographs taken in their halls are presented in this article. However, despite the efforts made, many questions remain unanswered and open wide scope for researchers to work.
