UDK 94(477)”.../05”BBK 63.3(4Ukr)2

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Project leaders:A. V. Tolstoukhov — doctor of philosophy, corresponding member of Academy of Education of Ukraine,

the President of Strategic Policy Institute;V. A. Zubanov — the President of the Charity Fund “East—West together”

AuthorM. Yu. Videiko — candidate of historical sciences, senior research fellow

© Zubanov V. A., Tolstoukhov A. V., 2010ISBN 978-966-1658-48-5 © Videiko M. Yu., 2010

Videiko M. Yu. Ukraine: from Trypillia to Rus./ Mykhailo Videiko. — K.: Krion, — 2010. —

528 p.: pic.ISBN 978-966-1658-48-5

In ancient times this land, its forests, rivers and plains had different names: Cimmeria, Scyt hia,Sarmatia, Zamorya, Levedia, Dori, Arkheim, Rus, Borisfen, Danprastadir, Ister, Tiras, Hypanis... Allthese sometimes unintelligible and by now even unknown names were given in ancient times by repre-sentatives of peoples who lived on the territory of today’s Ukraine. What did these names mean, howdid people who invented and uttered those words live? Dozens of thousands of years of the ancient his-tory of the land which is now called Ukraine have been discovered thanks to field archeological inves-tigations for the last one hundred and fifty years. Every year numerous expeditions seek and find tracesof the past epochs and events in this land. The mosaic of the ancient history is based on these findings.This book represents its separate pages, episodes which cover the period from the Trypillian archeo-logical culture (5400—2650 B.C.) till the appearance of Rus with its capital in Kyiv (the 9th century).

Historical events described in this book are correlated with the territory of Ukraine with itspresent-day borders.

The book is intended for a wide range of readers.UDK 94(477)”.../05”BBK 63.3(4Ukr)2

V42

Різні імена в давні часи носила ця земля, її ліси, ріки й рівнини: Кіммерія, Скіфія, Сар -ма тія, Замор’я, Леведія, Дорі, Архейм, Русь, Борисфен, Данпрастадир, Істр, Тірас, Гіппаніс...Усі ці, часом незрозумілі, а то і взагалі невідомі нині назви було дано у давні часи представ-никами народів, що жили у нашому Краї. Що стояло за цими назвами, як жили люди, котріпридумали та промовляли ці слова? Десятки тисяч років давньої історії землі, що її сьогодніназивають Україною, були відкриті завдяки польовим археологічним дослідженням впро-довж останніх ста п’ятдесяти років. Щороку чимало експедицій шукають і знаходять у ційземлі сліди минулих епох і подій. Із таких знахідок і складається мозаїка давньої історії. Укнизі представлено її окремі сторінки, епізоди, які охоплюють період від трипільської архео-логічної культури (5400—2650 рр. до н.е.) до появи Русі із столицею у Києві (ІХ століття).

Історичні події, викладені в книзі, співвіднесено до території України у її сучасних межах.Розраховано на широке коло читачів.

A ll civilizations sooner or later are relegated to oblivion and become part of history forever. It happens in a dif-ferent way, but most often this process in ancient times is described as an invasion of cruel barbarians whosehordes burn, reduce to dust and ashes flourishing oases and towns. It is understood that there are views like

that concerning the epoch when the civilization of Old Europe disappears. Bellicose nomads from the Black Seasteppes are considered to be these aggressors by some scientists. However, these terrors, as it turned out, hardly haveanything to do with what happened really. Thanks to researches which were conducted by representatives of differentsciences – from paleogeographers to archeologists, an overall picture about the events which occurred on the continentmore than forty five centuries ago was obtained.

The twilight of Old Europe

Rehabilitation of “Steppe tribes”

The data which archeologists received about the pop-ulation of the steppe world of that epoch eventually led tothe rehabilitation of nomads, hunters and fishermen fromthe valleys of big rivers. Neither their quantity nor theirweapons allow considering them to be the possible destruc-tors of the flourishing world of grain growers. For instance,in order to attempt to conquer a Trypillian settlement-pro-totown like Maidanetske, the prehistoric prototype ofGenghis Khan would have to summon steppe tribes for amarch from the Volga to the Danube. And he wouldn’t sure-ly be able to do successfully both the former and the latter.

When with the help of the isotopic method theydated the skull of a stallion which had been considered tobe a battle horse of the age of the Serednyi Stih culture(the 5th–the 4th millennium BC) for long, it was determinedthat though it was really a battle horse, but truly itbelonged to… Scythians (or to other neighbors) who hadlived on this territory in the Iron Age. In addition, it wouldbe impossible to drive a battle horse in the age of theSerednyi Stih culture with those weapons which the mostancient residents of steppes could afford.

Thus the main “military trump”, the invincible caval-ry of nomads, turned out to be rather a phantom, a ghostwhich was strengthened by the facts of the early Iron Age

Fortifications built by Trypillians on the edge of Lysa Hora in Zhvanets. The general view and also the side view of

the rampart and the ditch which was made during excavations.This fortress situated in Dnister area, in the middle of the

Trypillian world, was supposed to protect its owners first of allfrom neighbors-Trypillians

61

Section 5

or the age of the great migration of peoples in researchers’imagination. In those really horrible times, when horsehordes of Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Huns, Avarsand their followers (till Mongolians inclusive) many timesdestroyed and robbed the wealthy and civilized, but some-times helpless Europe as regards their brutal force reachingsometimes not only the central areas of the continent, butalso penetrating to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean.

A little more different, but also dramatic scenario ofthe twilight and the decay of the civilization of OldEurope is more likely. It is quite possible that uniquenessand a high (for that time) economic potential in combina-tion with the absence of serious foreign competitionplayed a low-down trick with the ancient peoples of thecontinent. Further development stopped, the observanceof the traditional order consecrated by certain ideologicalguidelines became the main task. Trypillians’ prototownsnever became towns or states, besides neither real norsacral written language appeared here.

The Western outskirts of Old Europe withdrew intoitself with narcissism without paying attention to anything(or almost anything) in the surrounding world. The worldwhich seemed to have fallen behind in its developmentdesperately. Trypillians drank beer in the same quiet waywatching herds in pastures in a wide flood plain of theDnieper (the Dnister, the Southern Bug, the Prut…), wait-ing for the next caravan with Volhynia flint or copperproducts or salt from the foothills of the Carpathians.They were not interested in the lands hidden behind thehorizon, they didn’t care about those who lived there.

Trypillians’ neighbors didn’t have many chances tointegrate into such a prosperous community, but nonethe-

less, they gradually mastered the most acces-sible and useful achievements – farming, cat-tle-breeding, some of crafts (first of all – inthe field of military technologies) and magic.

However, there is a possibility that thecrisis was caused not by paying tribute toancient traditions and excessive (or indiscreet)ardor for magic or beer, but by the circum-stances and forces of which the residents ofprosperous Old Europe were completelyunaware. Even today the mentioned aboveforces and consequences of their actions cancreate serious problems which even at thebeginning of the third millennium AC cancause a lot of trouble for the humanity.

Civilization and global cooling

Nowadays the civilized world appliesgreat effort (and spends considerable resour -ces) in order to survive global warming.Howe ver, in the ancient history climatic

chan ges of other nature – cooling, occurred more thanonce or twice.

The findings of archeological excavations suggestthat approximately in the second half of the fourth mil-lennium the economic mechanism of Trypillia adjusted along time ago began malfunctioning. A bad harvest willnot result in anything good even today. However, now ifyou even have no money, you can get a loan and buy food-

The change of the climate in the sixth–the third millennium BC and the Trypillian culture

The last centuries of the Trypillian world: local variants and culturaltypes of the end of the 4th – the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC

Chapter 1. From Trypillia to the Antes

62

stuff somewhere abroad. Five thousand years ago theydidn’t give any loans and you could buy wheat nowhere.And it’s worth noting that nobody was in a hurry to theareas which suffered from natural disasters to deliverhumanitarian aid in order to save the starving ones.

So, the thunderbolt from a clear sky over prosperousOld Europe came approximately between 3199–3150 BC.The echo of this event was reflected in fossil ice ofGreenland and river circles of tree trunks which wereextracted from peat bogs for research. The studies showedabnormal content of methane in the atmosphere of theplanet of that period. And also evidence of the fact thatonly half a century later two enormous volcanic eruptionstook place in the Northern hemisphere. As a result of thisthe sky over the fields of Europe (and not only Europe!)was covered with clouds of volcanic dust which blockedthe access of sunbeams to the surface of the earth. It isunderstood that less sunbeams result in less heat. Acidrains became one more unpleasant event. In combinationwith cooling such “irrigation” inevitably led to a numberof lean years. The number of such evil years between3199 and 3150 must have been abnormal.

It is not very difficult to imagine the results of badgrain harvests for Old Europe – first hunger, then – warsfor the remains of foodstuff. Half a century of suchordeals could be enough so that a civilization which hadbeen developing successfully for many millenniumsdecayed under such conditions.

“Anti-crisis programs” of Trypillians

If you have a closer look at the diversity of variants ofthe Trypillian culture after 3200 BC, then you can see: dif-ferent groups of the population overcame a crisis in a differ-ent way. So, we can speak about a few “anti-crisis programs”implemented in ancient times by Trypillians who strived tosurvive desperately. Not all these programs appeared to be

100% successful (you can’texpect that even now), butperhaps thanks to them theTrypillian world existed for

another 500–600 years. In the interfluve of the

Southern Bug and the Dnieperprototowns existed for

another half a millen-nium or maybe even

more – the latest ofthem is dated to about

2750 BC. Per haps com-plexity and power of the

social organization workedhere, reserves of food for “the

Vessels made by Trypillians who lived in Middle Dnieperarea before and after the events of 3199—3150 BC

Vilkhovets in the Cherkassy region is one of the lastprototowns of Trypillians. The plan and the view ofexcavations of the remains of a typical Trypilliandwelling. The first half of the 3rd millennium BC

Section 5. The twilight of Old Europe

before

after

3199

—31

50 B

C

63

black day” created by powerful chiefs appeared to be veryuseful; it allowed them not only to survive, but also to resistthe raids of their hungry neighbors. Groups of warriors(well fed and organized and besides numerous) managed todefend the harvest in the fields. In any case, the residents ofprotocities in the Cherkassy region continued to makepainted pottery and perform a rite of abandoning settle-ments which was accompanied with an immense sacrificialfire till the end of their existence.

Real nomads appear in the steppe in those hardtimes. It happened not without the help of Trypillians. Inthe Usatove culture which was spread in the steppes main-ly between the Dnister and the Danube their presence israther noticeable. Here they found quite a lot of paintedpottery; statuettes of rather peculiar appearance were usedin rites. Another important component of the Usatovecommunity (if we judge by the same pottery) was the pop-ulation of the Cernavod| culture which had come from theWest, from the Danube. Probably the descendants of thetribe which had been ruled by a chief buried with his horsehead scepter in the Suvorove burial mound took part in theprocess of carrying out the steppe “anti-crisis program”(and creating a new culture).

The important thing is that bearers of the Usatoveculture were probably the first to create and use nomadiccattle-breeding as a special type of economic managementin the steppes of our Land. Their burial mounds with char-acteristic burial places are scattered on watersheds alongthe valley of the Dnister – from maritime estuaries tillTiraspol indicating the routes of ancient nomads. Only afew settlements are known and all of them are situatednear estuaries, in the South. Probably bearers of theUsatove culture spent winter here – closer to the warmsea. This system of economic management existed inthese lands till the 18th century.

It was also determined that residents of Usatove set-tlements continued to grow cereals – einkorn, hulless bar-ley, oats, peas, bitter vetch (forage plant) and a traditionalplant for nomads – millet. The latter prevails to a greatextent among the impressions on pottery and on anthro-pomorphous statuettes. However, grain growing couldn’t

Excavations of the Usatove settlement and burialmounds, research of 1940

Fragments of vessels which were found duringexcavations of the Usatove settlement probably reflectthe composition of the bearers of this culture:Trypillians are obviously outnumbered here. The end ofthe 4th – the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC

Chapter 1. From Trypillia to the Antes

64

be the leadingbranch of the

Usatove economicmanagement be cause

lots which could beused for sowing

were only in a flood-plain and there weren’t

so many of them.Numerous bones of domestic ani-

mals which had been found in these settlements duringexcavations and studied by paleozoologists became one ofthe arguments in favor of the conclusions regarding bearersof the Usatove culture-nomads. According to scientists, themain “breadwinner” of bearers of the Usatove culture musthave been their herds. Their composition was the follow-ing: almost 70% – sheep, the same amount (17–13%) –great cattle and horses. This range of domestic animals bothin terms of quality and quantity was ideally adjusted to

farm management in the steppe. Inwinter, when pastures are coveredwith snow, first horses were sentthere. Tall animals walked tramplingsnow and pastured, “trimmed” thetops of plant stems. They were fol-lowed by cows which “removed”the next layer of forage and alsotrampled snow. Sheep were thelast to be sent to the pastures, they

ate the rest of the grass whichhad been revealed from thesnow cover by previous big-ger animals.

This mechanism (bio -technology – if you want) of

feeding in the winter steppe cov-ered with snow worked without fail

for many millenniums. On the territo-

ry of Kazakhstan ethnographers found a correlation of thenumber of animals in a herd which was similar to theUsatove one in the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th cen-tury. There is one “but”: even according to the most perfectmodel of such economic management steppes could feednomads much less than grain growers. Since grain growingin the steppe was impossible at that timedue to ecological (and technological) rea-sons. First, it was cold and dry; sec-ond, it was impos sible to ploughvirgin lands without iron tools(it will happen only a fewthousand years later).

Moreover, they had tofight for the possession of thesepastures just like before for thepossession of fields. That’s whyit is not difficult to distinguish thegraves of military leaders amongUsatove burial places; they are distin-guished by their monumentality andthe presence of bronze weapons. Andamong “ordinary” bearers of theUsatove culture there are quite a lot ofmilitary graves with the traces ofinjuries which were received during theprotection of the herd.

The third way was chosen byTrypillians who went to the North, clos-er to the forests where lack of graincould be compensated for hunting andfishing, picking eatable plants and mush-rooms. This is how Trypillians appearedin the Volhynia and Zhytomyr at thebeginning of the 3rd millennium BC.

It’s their traces that were discoveredby V.V. Khvoika when he carried out excava-tions in Kyrylivska Street in Kyivin 1893–1895. On capes defendedfrom three sides by scarp slopesTrypillians left numerous dugoutsand even more pits with domesticwastes – fragments of broken ves-sels, bones of animals, ashes andburnt wood. So, the discovery of the Trypillian culture inDnieper area was started some day from the place of stay-ing of the latest, probably their last representatives.

A big Usatovedagger.

Bronze, the firsthalf of the

3rd millennium BC

Two components of Usatove: Cernavod| culture I (a polished vessel) and Trypillia – a painted coverwhich was found during the excavations of the burialplaces in burial mounds. The end of the 4th – thebeginning of the 3rd millennium BC

Usatove statuettes – probably the image of warriors. The beginning of the 3rd millennium BC

Section 5. The twilight of Old Europe

65

Judging by the appearance of pottery and weapons,these tribal groups already included not only Trypillians,but also some of other new western neighbors. For thenew community painted pottery was practically as exot-ic as for the bearers of the Usatove culture in the South.

At the most the surface of vessels was covered withred paint. However, during excavations fragments of

simple roughly made pots were found most of all.Thus these descendants of Trypillians knew

how to grow grain, to breed cattle, but almostnobody established permanent settlements(which amounted to two–three dozen buildingsnow) with big ground dwellings any more. Andthey seemed to have forgotten about the rite of

burning settlements at all. But at the same timethey chose places for settlements which were as high

as possible, on capes and hills with slopes as scarp as pos-sible. They chose a narrow cape; if necessary, it could beeasily blocked with a ditch or a rampart. This populationcontinued to use the deposits of Volhynia flint and evenmade great plates for tooth sickles of it. However, points ofarrows definitely dominate among the found flint products.

In the area of Kyiv a few necropolises with crema-tions of the late Trypillian culture were found. They werecalled as “the burial ground of the Sofiyivka type” afterthe name of the first find near the village of Sofiyivka. Allin all five of them are known now, however, there could be(and were) much more of them. Excavations showed thatquite a lot of warriors had been buried there includingthose who had died in a battle (among the ashes burntpoints of arrows had been found). A numerous (a few hun-dred specimens) collection of arrows was gathered by

The excavation of the burial ground of the Sofiyivkatype, the 1950s of the 20th century. In the picture – a general view of the necropolis and the remains ofburial places-cremations: vessels and heaps of burntbones, instruments and adornments of the lastTrypillians of Dnieper area

The skills to make high quality painted pottery werelost by the heirs of Trypillians who lived in MiddleDnieper area after 3000 BC. These fragments were found by V.V. Khvoika during excavations in Kyrylivska Street in Kyiv at the end of the 20th century

Chapter 1. From Trypillia to the Antes

66

priest Yanovskyi near the village ofVyshenky some time ago. We caneven try to reconstruct a few sets ofweapons of horse archers whichwere obviously made by different

fighters for them-selves. And again in

the collection thereare a lot of burntpoints of arrows.This very fact

allows assumingthe presence of a

big burial ground ofthe Sofiyivka type in

the area of the village.Judging by these

flint points, the same

Trypillians might as well be the enemy of the fighters whowere killed in the fight. In addition, quite an impressive col-lection of flint battle hammer-axes were found in burialplaces. Some of them have prototypes among the weaponsof their neighbors from Central Europe or were even made

The main weapon ofthe warriors of theSofiyivka group –hammer-axes ofstone which werefound during excavations of burial grounds inthe area of Kyiv.The first half of the3rd millennium BC

Flint points of arrows from the collection of O. Yanovskyi which were gathered near the village of Vyshenky in the area of Kyiv.

The beginning of the 3rd millennium BC

Copper bladesfrom the burialgrounds of theSofiyivka type.

The first half of the 3rd

millennium BC

Section 5. The twilight of Old Europe

67

of the raw materials which hadbeen brought from behind the

Car pa thians. Such hammer-axes are also among theweapons of some of thelast southern and easternDnieper Trypillians. On

the butt of some axes thereare splits due to blows,

some axes are broken. So,the found axes look like

weapons which were used ina battle not once.

The armory also includ-ed copper daggers of carvedconstruction. One of them was

put on the funeral fire of thedeceased together with a grindstone. The

analysis of metal products of the Sofiyivka bur-ial ground showed that just like before deposits

of copper explored more than a millennium ago within thelimits of Volhynia and Dnister area had been used. Nowwe can only guess for what reason and with what purposethe last “Trypillian wars” on the bank of the Dnieper werewaged almost forty seven centuries ago.

Where did Trypillians disappear, wheredid they go?

Everything is simple at first sight: if painted vessels,statuettes, wattle and daub dwellings disappear – it seemsthat people who created them, i.e. Trypillians, must disap-pear, too. But speaking about the disappearance of the cul-ture, about the decay and the twilight of the civilizationwe must understand that its bearers do not disappear any-where from this earth.

Thus really beautiful refined Trypillian painted pot-tery disappeared forever. Well, perhaps the society couldn’tafford such luxury any more and continue to feed the crafts-men who made beautiful pots. Because when you are hun-gry – you become indifferent to some jugs and ornamentson bowls. In addition, it is not that difficult to make a potfor preparing food yourself if you need one. And then youcan make lunch in it of cereals which you will not have togive to a potter in exchange for his work. In the same way

not only beautiful vessels but also a lot of other thingswhich appeared not that necessary disappeared.

No statuettes? But why make them, spend timewhen for some reason old gods stopped being defendersof people who perform rites in honor of them. And thereis no need any more to give away expensive instruments,food and sacrifice buildings – as this rite proved to beabsolutely ineffective, too. New gods and new rites inhonor of them, new sacrifice are necessary. And the timewhich is free from performing rites that used to be so vitalcan be used more effectively in order to find food, to buildfortifications, to train in archery or improve weapons.

It is also worth noting that according to calculationsof archeologists, at the late stage of Trypillia the number

A blade of the copper dagger and a whetstone from a burial place of the Sofiyivka type. The first half of the 3rd millennium BC

Pottery from the Trypillian settlements of Volhynia: proof of the decay of the potter’s trade and a diversity

of the cultural composition of the local population at the end of the 4th –the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC

Chapter 1. From Trypillia to the Antes

68

of people in the tribes of this community reached 120,000.However, what catastrophe befell this civilization isexplained by the comparison of this figure with the indexof the number of the population for the previous period:more than 400,000.

We can see that the number of Trypillians reduced bythree or four times. When in the Second World War some

regions and countries lost over 20% of the population, his-torians and politicians called it a catastrophe. Then howshould we call the decrease in the number of the residentsof the Land by 70%? In those ancient times a similartragedy happened almost to all the participants of the proj-ect called “The civilization of Old Europe”. Perhaps onlythe Cretan-Mycenaean civilization demonstrates the levelwhich could have been reached by the residents of Europeunder more favorable conditions. This is how an epochwhich lasted for more than two thousand years ended.

At the same time we shouldn’t forget that even in theperiod of the decay of Trypillia the number of the popula-tion of bearers of different variants of this culture evi-dently exceeded all the other population of the land, allput together. What happened then? Some 40 or 50 yearsago you could read that this land “had remained uninhab-ited for almost one thousand years”. In other words, from2750–2600 BC – the limits of the final of Trypillia let’sdeduct one thousand years and we get the date 1750–1600BC. Let’s agree that this picture is just horrible. But thegood news is that it does not correspond to reality.

A wonderful illustration, an argument against theconcept of a one thousand year post-Trypillian “desert”may be an example of the recent excavations near thevillage of Khodosivka and Lisnyky in the area of Kyiv.Here on a sandy eminence they found traces of the pres-ence not only of the late Trypillian period, but also of thebearers of the Globular Amphora Culture, the BabinoCulture, the Trzciniec culture who lived here afterTrypillians and also others, till the Middle Ages, withintervals in dozens, but in no way many hundred andsurely not a thousand years.

The first three of the above mentioned archeologicalcultures actually cover the biggest part of that very onethousand year period which used to be considered as theone thousand year “blank spot” in the post-Trypillian his-tory. It’s worth noting that there are more than one or twoplaces like Lisnyky between the Carpathians and theDnieper in the ancient “Land of Trypilliada”.

A fragment of a plate with the image of a man and ananimal, Usatove

Usatove plasticart does not looklike the Trypillianone at all. Thefirst half of the 3rd

millennium BC

A plate with theimage of a manand an animalwhich was foundduring excavationsof the Usatoveburial mound. Theend of the 4th – thebeginning of the3rd millennium BC

Section 5. The twilight of Old Europe

69

Judging by the findings of the excavations of ancientsettlements of the middle – the second half of the 3rd mil-lennium BC, in those times practically the same thing likeat the very beginning of the Trypillian history happenedthere: scarce representatives of tribes and clans which hadbeen very powerful before formed new communitieswhich are represented by archeological cultures of theearly Bronze Age. You can say with confidence that in thenext millenniums of the history of the Land such break-downs, reformation of clannish and intertribal coalitionshappened not once. Their traces are new archeologicalcultures.

In the early Bronze Age the mentioned aboveUsatove culture, the cultural groups along the banks of theDnieper, in Sea of Azov area, in the east of the Land areamong them. And almost everywhere you can find if notthe material traces of the Trypillian world in the form ofpainted vessels which were brought from some lastislands of this civilization, then at least the imitation of itsachievements – rough likeness of painted pottery. You canfind in burial places under mounds even statuettes madeby local sorcerers who performed rites which wereprobably similar to Trypillian ones in some way.

Enormous information from differentfields of knowledge and skills was preservedby heirs, but even more information has beenlost. And the information about the creatorsof the ancient civilization had been latercompletely erased from the memory ofgenerations which came back to their dis-tant heirs long millenniums later.

Did Trypillian prototowns have anychances to survive and their chiefs toclimb the summit of power like rulers of

Crete and to continue dom-inating in the Pontussteppes as the legendary

king Minos ruled in theMe di ter ranean? Pro bablyyes, they could, however,this chance was missedand all further attemptswere directed not toachieving delusivepower, but solely to

surviving. For millenniums

these lands appeared to be far from the frontiers of civi-lized communities of the Old World. Also it took entiremillenniums to approach the level which was reached inthe distant fifth millennium BC.

At the same time the “Trypillian experiment” clear-ly showed that the land which is now called Ukraine canprovide its residents practically unlimited possibilities.This is paradise for grain growers and cattle-breeders;there are plenty of mineral resources here. Here if youhave enough knowledge, skills and the most importantthing – will and desire, you can build a flourishing civi-lization which will arouse surprise and envy of neighborsboth the near and distant ones. However, the sweet fruit ofthe civilization may be in the same way lost by heirs of itscreators if they can’t face the challenge which will be sentby history and nature not once and not twice. What wascreated in these lands by the heirs of Trypillians and theirneighbors in the Bronze Age is one more clear proof thathistory has plenty of opportunities and factors which candetermine its further development.

Stone hammer-axes from the burial ground of theSofiyivka type. The first halfof the 3rd millennium BC

Statuettes of theSerezliivka type wereused when performingfuneral rites. The first half of the 3rd

millennium BC

Chapter 1. From Trypillia to the Antes

70