Late Trypillian culture

This article is dedicated to the problem of the origin and spread of the Yamna cultural-historical community (YCHC) in the context of the hypothesis recently expressed by geneticists about the massive migration of population groups genetically related to YCHC and carrying the genetic determinants of the Iranian Neolithic agrarians and hunters and fishers of the North Caucasus from the Ponto-Caspian steppe to central and northern Europe at the beginning of the Bronze Age. Based on an in-depth archeological and genetic analysis, we propose that the genetic «invasion» of the Iranian-Caucasian genetic element into Europe at the beginning of the Bronze Age, recently proposed by paleogeneticits on the basis of a large-scale study of ancient DNA, was not the result of a large-scale migration of representatives of YCHC from the Ponto-Caspian steppes to central and northern Europe, but the result of global population and cultural changes in Eurasia at the end of the Atlantic climatic optimum. We further suggest that before the steppe genetics appeared in Europe at the beginning of the Bronze Age, central European genetic determinants appeared in the steppe in the Eneolithic, and that the movement of the steppe genetic element to Europe was at least in part the second phase of the «pendular» migration of European expatriates, returning to the historical area of habitation. We also come to the conclusion that the very concept of distinguishing YCHC as a monolithic entity is inappropriate, and that the groups of nomadic tribes of the Ponto-Caspian steppe most likely existed as discrete communities, although united by a common ideology and a genetic relationship that included both the Iranian-Caucasian (throughout the entire range), and European / Anatolian agricultural (locally) genetic elements.

The lithic material from the Late Trypolie culture settlement-site at Biały Potok (Ternopil Province, western Ukraine) is the base of our study. Chipped stone assemblages of Trypolie culture from this site consist of 4751 artefacts made of Cretaceous silicites (Volhynian flints). They have been documented within three Tripolye culture settlement structures called as a house no 1, 2, 3: 1004 in house No. 1, 3621 in house No. 2, 126 in house No. 3. Majority of these assemblages consist of wastes blade cores preparation and exploitations and blade blank. Much numerous (3621 implements) and differentiated (confirms all categories of waste, blank and tools) is chipped material registered within house No. 2. This assemblage can be strong base to the reconstruction of flint production in the site, both the core preparation, blade production and tools making. The presence of cortical flakes and flakes with natural ventral surface (both fully and partly covered by cortex or natural surface) and distribution of cortical and unidirectional flakes within a size classes (the larger dimension of flakes the smaller quantity of specimens) confirms supposition that all stages of core preparation took place in the area of house no. 2. The technological aspects of blade production (direct / indirect percussion, pressure technique including lever pressure) can be investigated on the base several basic features: regularity and curvature of the blades, length of blades, width of blades, thickness measured in a bulb portion and in mid part of blade, frequency of different kind of bulbs and butts, correlation of different kind of bulb and different kind of butts, relation of width to thickness measured both in mid part of the blades and in bulb portion, frequency of different kind of butts and bulbs within a group of blades of different width classes. Moreover presence of cracks on the butts and presence of the lips below butt can be suggestive in this respect. The chipped assemblage discovered within house No. 2 confirms two ways of flint production which took place here: (A) traditional domestic production of ordinary blades and (B) highly specialized production of large very regular blades. The ordinary blades were made of semi-globular relatively small nodules of Cretaceous silicite, the regular large blade were made of non-local Cretaceous raw material. Almost all the large blades discovered at Biały Potok are fragmented. Fortunately numerous proximal fragments with well-preserved butt and bulb portions allow for the technical diagnosis. This class of blades comprises the specimens from 20 to 57 mm in width. Moreover they are relatively thick both in bulb and mid portion. In this respect large blades from Biały Potok can be described as a large and / or massive. Majority of these blades have point-like or conical butts and flat bulbs. The butts are small and thin what confirms that the contact area was set close to the edge of striking platform and  flaking surface on the „top of the ridge” formed by flakes detached during the platform preparation. They are more or less regular, their curvature is slight to moderate but some of blades are clearly curved. Small cracks are clearly visible on the small butts. Some of the butts have a distinct arris. Some of the bulbs bearing ripples or / and a lip. The large blades produced here engaged probably two techniques: indirect percussion using copper tipped flaker, and pressure technique using copper tipped intermediary tools. The use of these techniques confirm features as follow: large length of the blades, clear but not extreme regularity of the blades, their differentiated curvature, relatively large thickness both in the bulb portion and in the mid part of the blades, semi-conical butts with small contact points located near the edge of platform and flaking surface, cracks on the butts and extensive or diffuse bulbs.

Search for plant prints on a burnt daub from Maidanetske Archaeologists often reporting, that during excavations of the settlements of Trypillia Culture they found "vegetable impurities" or "impurities of the hollow" on/in burnt daub. In this case, paleobotanical definitions of these findings by experts are usually not made. Some samples, time to time, stored at museums but never systematically studied. All this means, that some important information is lost forever. So, during excavations in Maydanetske in 2016, an expedition to the Archeology Research Institute of the Borys Grinchenko University of Kyiv began collecting this unique information in order to preserve it with the next transfer for studying specialists. In previous years, such work was not carried out because the main hope of working in the expedition of paleobotany was to study the remains of plants from flotation of soil from excavations, as well as the study of phytoliths (see Muller et alii, 2016: 64-74). In 2016, excavations of an extraordinary structure in the trench 111, probably a temple building (Ишвуйко та ін., 2016) were carried out. The obtained samples were photographed, including using a digital microscope (Fig. 2-11). From a part of samples with participation of doctor of botanical sciences G. Pashkevich removed the imprints using the plastic material on which the definition was made. Variety of plant impurities, which was detected after it, gives grounds for the conclusions about the probability of purposeful addition to the building mixture not only traditional impurities, in this case-barley, but also a variety of wild plants in the form of stems and seeds and fruits, as well as leaves, probably with some small branches. The samples were stored for further study by specialists. The performed work showed that obtaining samples of plant prints from a rubbing, which is a massive material in studies on settlements of Trypillia Culture. Марія Відейко, Пошук відбитків рослин на обпаленій обмазці з Майданецького У звітах про розкопки поселень трипільської культури археологи часто зазначають, що обмазка будівель містила " рослинні домішки " або " домішки полови ". При цьому палеоботанічні визначення цих знахідок фахівцями, як правило, не робляться, оскільки, як виявилось під час спілкування з палеоботаніками різних країн, між ними поширена думка про те, що відбитки надто фрагментарні і не є надто цінним джерелом для палеоботанічних студій. Як наслідок-до музейних або фондових колекцій час від часу потрапляють лише поодинокі зразки обмазки-при цьому переважно це частини якихось конструкцій, які зацікавили археологів. Отож подальше їх фрагментування з метою пошуку відбитків рослин виглядає проблематичним. Решта ж обмазки, а це по декілька кубічних метрів від пересічної споруди, залишається після розборки решток її на місці досліджень. Це означає, що важлива інформація або втрачається назавжди або потребуватиме у разі потреби повторних розкопок. Отож під час розкопок у Майданецькому 2016 року експедицією НДЛ археології Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка було започатковано збирання цієї унікальної інформації з метою її збереження з наступною передачею для наступного вивчення фахівцям. Головне призначення цієї статті продемонструвати різноманітність відбитків рослин на обпаленій обмазці з поселень трипільської культури, показати можливості цього масового матеріалу, а відтак-спробувати заохотити фахівців до їх подальшого вивчення.