Pages: 63-79

At the turn of the V—IV millennia BC., the territory between the Dniester and the Dnieper rivers witnessed completion of some cultural transformation processes that had started 200—300 years before. The forest-steppe zone at the time housed up to 8 local groups of the Trypillia Culture. To the south, cultural unities of Dereivka and Nyzhnemykhailivka had also completed their formation. Since then and for a number of centuries, the Trypillian environment was characterized by a rather complex system, which included interconnected local groups. A very special role in it was played by some large settlements, i.e. political and economic centers with the highest concentration of the population. A study of the archaeological evidence shows that representatives of some other cultural complexes made a significant contribution towards formation of some of the local groups. Generally speaking, the turn of the millennia opened a long period of stability and prosperity of the societies inhabiting the territory between the Dniester and the Dnieper, apparently similar to the one in the first half of the V millennium BC in South-East and partly Central Europe.

Keywords: Eastern Europe, North Pontic Region, Copper Age, Trypillian culture, cultural complex, local groups, large sites, climatic oscillation.

Information about author:

Mykhailo Videiko (Kiev, Ukraine). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University. Bulvarno-Kudrjavska St., 18/2, Kiev, 04503, Ukraine
E-mail: [email protected]