Алексей Виноградов – Holy waters of the ancestral homeland of mankind (страница 3)

The Azov-Dnieper culture was gradually absorbed by the Trypillian and Sredny Stog cultures. The Kvitian culture (late 4th - early 3rd millennium BC) formed through contact between the Skelian culture (from Nadporozhye to the Azov coast and the Lower Don in 4750-4100 BC) and the Azov-Dnieper cultures. The Kvitian culture (3800-3500 BC) spread in both directions from the Dnieper tributaries of Samara and Orel, across the steppe to the lower reaches of the Don and Danube.

The Alekseevka culture existed in Crimea between 5000 and 3500 BC.

The Sura-Dnieper culture was widespread in the Dnieper Rapids region. It dates from the 5th to early 4th millennium BC. Settlements have been discovered on islands in the Dnieper. Sites of this culture are known in the Azov region (Kamennaya Mogila), on the Orel River and the Seversky Donets, in Crimea, and in the lower reaches of the Don. At the beginning of the 4th millennium BC, the Sura culture population in Nadporozhye was displaced by the Dnieper-Donets culture, who arrived from the more northern territories of the Dnieper region.

3. Trypillian culture

1.

The Bug-Dniester culture was succeeded by the Trypillian culture, also known as the Cucuteni culture. The Trypillian culture (5050–2950 BC) is an archaeological culture of southeastern Europe. One of the most vibrant cultural communities of the Eneolithic period, it stretched from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dnieper basin, encompassing significant parts of Ukraine and Romania. It also reached southern Poland and Belarus, covering an area of 350,000 square kilometers. The cities of this culture were the largest settlements in Eurasia, and possibly in the world. At its peak, the population of this culture may have exceeded several million people.

The roots of the Trypillia culture are found in the Starčevo and Vinča cultures (6th-5th millennia BC), and the Bug-Dniester culture. In its early period (in the 5th millennium BC), the Trypillia culture was influenced by the Linear Pottery culture from the north and the Boyan culture from the south.

It was part of a major center of highly developed agricultural and pastoral cultures in Europe, encompassing the Balkan Peninsula, Appulia, the Danube region, Romania, and Right-Bank Ukraine.

The Trypillia culture was familiar with metals—copper and gold. Scholars suggest that the Trypillia used wooden plows in agriculture and oxen as draft animals. Economically, socially, and spiritually, the society stood above the rest of Europe.

Comparing the socioeconomic development of Mesopotamia and Ukraine, N.A. Chmykhov argued that Ukraine was in no way inferior to the world's most ancient civilization, Mesopotamia. He believed that statehood in Ukraine arose at the beginning of the Bronze Age, as cities existed there as early as the Neolithic. The vast settlements of Trypillia surpassed the city-states of Sumer and Egypt in size. These settlements existed more than half a millennium before the Sumerian cities.

The Trypillia culture was distinguished by sophisticated ceramics made with modern kilns, advanced architectural technologies that allowed for the construction of large buildings, and sophisticated agricultural and metallurgy techniques. Evidence indicates that salt was extracted from salt-saturated water in Trypillia by briquetting around 6050 BC. The remains of a potter's wheel from the mid-5th millennium BC are the oldest pottery wheel ever discovered, predating evidence of similar wheels in Mesopotamia by several hundred years. The pottery has characteristic colors: red and white and red, white, and black. The main motifs are meanders, swastikas, spirals, circles, and sometimes images.

The economy was based on a complex system of agriculture (wheat and barley) and livestock raising (cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs). In the later period, livestock raising became more important, and horses also played a more significant role. Agricultural tools, evidence of weaving, woodworking, basketry, and hide tanning have been found.

The Trypillian culture possesses the oldest evidence of wheeled vehicles in the form of miniature wheeled models, which predate any evidence of wheeled vehicles in Mesopotamia (a wheeled bull figurine from the Trypillian culture in Ukraine has been dated to 3950-3650 BC). Archaeologists and historians argue that wheeled vehicles were invented in the Trypillian culture and spread from there to other regions. One hypothesis for the domestication of horses places them in the steppe region adjacent to the Trypillian culture at approximately the same time (4000-3500 BC), so it is possible that this culture was familiar with the domestic horse.

However, it is worth noting the discovery of a pendant depicting a horse at the Sunghir site (25,000-35,000 BC). Apparently, knowledge of this horse took a special form. This suggests a possible ancient connection with the idea of the chariot of the Sun drawn by horses, reflected in the Rig Veda and the presence of domestic horses.

Tools were made from deer or roe deer antler, boar tusks, and elk antler. These included hoe tips, plows, awls, and awls.

Paleobotanical research has shown that in the early Trypillian period, agriculture was a stable, long-established practice with a reliable seed stock. Wheat (einkorn, emmer, and spelt) and barley (hulled and hulled) were cultivated, as well as oats, rye, millet, and hemp.

Dogwood, wild pears, apples, and cherries were gathered in the forests and groves surrounding early Trypillian settlements. Apricot pits have been found. Gathering and fishing were closely linked to this economic activity. Catfish and cisco were caught in river channels, especially in the Dniester. During the Middle Trypillian period, the composition of cultivated plants during the Middle Trypillian period remained largely unchanged—emmer wheat predominated. Of particular interest is the discovery of grape seeds in the Middle Trypillian layers. They belong to a cultivated variety with small berries. Hunting continued to primarily focus on large ungulates—deer and wild boar, and less commonly, roe deer. Elk was also hunted, especially in the Dnieper region.

In the late period, the territory occupied by the Trypillian tribes expanded further. In particular, the arid steppe zone in the south was developed, which naturally led to an increased diversity of economic systems.

In addition to previously cultivated varieties of wheat and barley, the proportion of millet and legumes increased. Plum pits, believed to be a hybrid of cherry plum and apricot brought from Asia Minor, and seeds of large-berry table grapes have been found. Bees were kept. The inhabitants did not suffer from protein deficiency, as they consumed eggs and dairy products.

2.

The Trypillian culture is usually divided into early, middle, and late periods. A key point of contention is how these phases relate to radiocarbon dating data.

The Cucuteni culture in Romania developed from the Precucuteni culture. The following phases of the Precucuteni culture are distinguished:

Precucuteni I (5050-4950 BC)

Precucuteni II (4950-4750 BC)

Precucuteni III (4750-4550 BC)

The following phases of the Cucuteni culture are distinguished. Cucuteni A, Cucuteni AB, Cucuteni B:

Cucuteni A1 (4600-4550 BC)

Cucuteni A2 (4550-4300 BC)

Cucuteni A3 (4300-4150 BC)

Cucuteni A4 (4150-4050 BC)

Cucuteni AB (4050-3775 BC)

Cucuteni B (3775-3500 BC)

Gorodishtea-Foltești (3500-2650 BC)

According to another chronology, the following phases are distinguished:

Cucuteni A (5800-5000 BC)

Cucuteni B (5000-3500 BC) Horodisty-Foltești (3500-3000 BC).

The Trypillian culture in Ukraine is divided into the following phases:

Trypillian A (5800-5000 BC)

Trypillian B (5000-3500 BC)

Trypillian C (3500-3000 BC)

Usatovo culture (3150-2650 BC).

In later times, the Trypillian culture area underwent significant changes, resulting in a sharp decline in the number of sites, especially in the western part of the area. The Balkan "Dark Ages" began. Around 3100 BC, the climate became colder and drier than at any time since the end of the last Ice Age, leading to the worst drought in European history since the dawn of agriculture. The situation was reminiscent of the dust storms in the US Midwest in the 1930s. Under such climatic conditions, the agriculture on which the Trypillian culture relied would have collapsed.

The confusion surrounding the synchronization of Trypillian settlements and the construction of local chronological columns is primarily due to the unsatisfactory state of ceramic typology.

Radiocarbon dates allow for a fairly accurate dating of early period sites. The lower boundary is established by the age of the Linear Pottery culture settlement in Târpești—4220 and 4295 BC. This is supported by a large series of dates for other sites of this culture.

The upper boundary is based on dates obtained for the layer of the late Early Period in Târpești—3580 BC—and in Rusesti Noi—3620 BC.

The existence of Middle Period settlements (Cucuteni A2-A3) dates back to 3675, 3660, 3535, 3490, 3405, 3395, 3360, and 3150 BC.