Perhaps the most sophisticated culture of the early Neolithic Period in Europe, the Tripilian culture existed on Ukrainian territories for over three millennia. During the 6th millennium BC, Trypilian tribes began settling in low-lying riverbank areas and on plateaus in the Dnieper River and Boh River basins. They were, most probably, primitive agricultural and cattle-raising tribes that migrated to Ukraine from the Near East and from the Balkans and Danubian regions. Scholars have identified three periods in the development of this culture--early (5400-3500 BC), middle (3500-2750 BC), and late (2750-2250 BC). The differentiation of periods is characterized by an increase in population and the geographic spread of the culture as well as by changes in settlement patterns, the economy, and the spiritual life of the people. (A detailed discussion of the Tripilian culture can be found, among others, in volume 1 of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's fundamental History of Ukraine-Rus'.) As a result of incursions by other cultures (particularly the Pit-Grave culture) into Ukrainian territory during the Copper Age in the mid-3rd to early 2nd millennium BC, many characteristic Trypilian traits changed, were absorbed by other tribes, or disappeared.
Neolithic Period. The closing phase of the Stone Age, lasting in Ukraine from ca 5000 to 2500 BC.
The NeolithicPeriod was characterized by the development of agriculture and pottery manufacturing, the establishment of sedentary agriculturally based settlements, the use of polishing techniques for stone tools, the emergence of increasingly complex systems of religious belief, and the growth of tribal social orders. This epoch was also marked by the existence of a greater diversity of cultures than in either the Paleolithic Period or Mesolithic Period. By far the most developed culture was the agrarian Trypilian culture, which existed throughout most of Right-Bank Ukraine until the Bronze Age. Other groups that existed during this period include the Pitted-Comb Pottery culture, the Serednii Stih culture, the Boh-Dniester culture, and the Tisza culture. The Neolithic Period ended with the introduction of metal technology during the Eneolithic Period or the Bronze Age.
The NeolithicPeriod was characterized by the development of agriculture and pottery manufacturing, the establishment of sedentary agriculturally based settlements, the use of polishing techniques for stone tools, the emergence of increasingly complex systems of religious belief, and the growth of tribal social orders. This epoch was also marked by the existence of a greater diversity of cultures than in either the Paleolithic Period or Mesolithic Period. By far the most developed culture was the agrarian Trypilian culture, which existed throughout most of Right-Bank Ukraine until the Bronze Age. Other groups that existed during this period include the Pitted-Comb Pottery culture, the Serednii Stih culture, the Boh-Dniester culture, and the Tisza culture. The Neolithic Period ended with the introduction of metal technology during the Eneolithic Period or the Bronze Age.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Danilenko, V. Neolit Ukrainy (Kyiv 1969)
Arkheolohiia Ukraïns’koï RSR, vol 1 (Kyiv 1971)
Danilenko, V. Neolit Ukrainy (Kyiv 1969)
Arkheolohiia Ukraïns’koï RSR, vol 1 (Kyiv 1971)
[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]
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