Cucuteni-Trypillian culture

Метою цієї статті є огляд подій та досліджень, пов’язаних із вивченням трипільської культури, які мали місце у період, починаючи із виходу двотомної «Енциклопедії трипільської цивілізації» (далі — Енциклопедія) восени 2004 року до початку
2012 р. Зараз можна сказати, що ці вісім років були часом цікавих досягнень, неочікуваних результатів і надій, які не завжди справджувалися. Спробуємо скласти їх ретроспективу: організаційні заходи, наукові форуми, підготовка кадрів, польові дослідження, видання тощо. Для повноти картини спробуємо розглянути їх усі, нехай подекуди і у скороченому вигляді

Fully deserved, this anniversary volume is dedicated to Mrs. Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici, who has devoted her entire career to the study of Prehistory in Romania and Southeastern Europe, succeeding, through remarkable contributions, to place her name among the well-known representatives of this field of Romanian and European archeology. The name of Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici is today a reference for those who are addressing major themes such as the chronology and evolution of the Cucuteni culture, the symbolism of various pieces of plastic art, the forms and the decoration of ceramics, the everyday life of that period, illustrated by household implements or architectural accomplishments. Some biographical data are essential for understanding the stages of Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici's intellectual and scientific development. Cornelia-Magda Istrati was born on 1 March 1953, in the old and always young Iași, the center of spirituality and Romanian culture. He grew up in a family environment favorable to the development of interest in humanities, his father being a remarkable scholar of the documents from the beginning of the modern age, with numerous and valuable specialized publications. Both parents, Maria and Corneliu Istrati, came from families with many children, so that even though she was her parents' single child, Magda grew up with numerous cousins, in a community characterized by warm and lasting relationships. After the primary and secondary studies in her hometown, she followed, in 1972-1976, at Alma Mater Iassiensis, the courses of the History Department of the Faculty of History and Philosophy of the oldest University in Romania, bearing the name of its founder, the prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza-the maker of modern Romania. After graduating, she worked for a few years (1976-1980) in Vaslui, initially as a museographer with the County Museum (1976-1977), then as head of the County Cultural Heritage Office (1977-1980). During this period, she carried out excavations in several paleolithic sites in Vaslui (Măluşteni IV, Oțetoaia) and Botoşani (Mitoc-Valea lui Stan) counties, research whose results were utilized in scientific publications. At the same time, she is carrying out research on Neolithic sites, in Măluşteni-Via Schineni (Starčevo-Criş) and Poieneşti (Starčevo-Criş and Cucuteni cultures)-alone or as a member of archaeology research teams. Țurcanu), which reviews the essential data on Cucuteni civilization, in the form of an album with representative sites and pieces. She has also been involved in many other projects, being a team-member of research projects funded by the National Scientific Research Council. Among these, we mention "Geoscientific view of ceramic technology: evolution from Neolithic to Byzantine times within Romanian territory" (2012-2014, Project manager Corina Ionescu) and "The Ethnoarchaeology of Salt in the Inner Carpathian Area of Romania" (2017-2019, Project manager Marius Alexianu). One of the extremely ambitious, yet unfinished projects, on which Magda Lazarovici is involved with the scientific coordination team, is the Encyclopedia of Cucuteni-Trypillia Civilization, which will systematize relevant information throughout the area of the famous painted pottery civilization. Another project-organized together with Lăcrămioara Stratulat-still in its early stage, involves the investigation of a Cucutenian settlement together with specialists from the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, given that there is a Neolithic culture in this country with a painted ceramics similar to the Cucuteni type. Along with the monographic work on prehistoric settlements in Poieneşti (published in 2015 together with Mircea Babeş), Magda Lazarovici has two other great works in preparation. One presents the results of the research carried out in the caves of Cheile Turzii area, and the second is the monograph of the Cucutenian settlement in Scânteia. Plenty could be said about the life and activity of Magda Lazarovici, about her projects! However, we would stop here! Magda shall certainly continue! On her anniversary day, we wish her, together with all our friends, colleagues and collaborators, health, strength to work and best results, to the measure of her tenaciousness and her dedication to Archeology! Happy birthday, dear Magda!

In Kozavchyn on the Southern Bug, an Early Copper Age settlement surrounded by trenches was explored by means of field surveys and magnetic prospection. In addition to the enclosing trenches, the magnetogram revealed a palisade trench and remains of pits and burnt houses, which covered a contiguous area with archaeological findings of almost 4 ha situated on a spur with the field name “Kozachyi Yar”. The settlement belongs to the Trypillia BI local group Sabatynivka, as does the nearby site Kamyane, “Kamyane-Zavallia 1”, also surrounded by ditches, which was investigated a few years ago and dated to the last third of the 5th millennium BC. The Sabatynivka group is documented in a narrowly confined area on both sides of the Southern Bug River and may have once been a jointly acting political entity. Internal conflicts or external threats from the steppe area to the east are often considered as reasons for the enclosure of CTCC settlements. It seems conceivable, however, that the apparently once much more numerous enclosures had less of a protective than merely a delimiting character.

Chapman, J, Gaydarska, B, & Hale, D, (2016) In Müller, J, Rassmann, K, & Videiko, M, (eds.) ‘Trypillia Mega-Sites and European Prehistory 4100-3400 BCE’. Themes in Contemporary Archaeology Volume 2, 117-131, European Association of Archaeologists

The agricultural revolution in Eastern Europe began in the Eneolithic with the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture complex. In Ukraine, the Trypillian culture (TC) existed for over two millennia (ca. 5,400–2,700 BCE) and left a wealth of artifacts. Yet, their burial rituals remain a mystery and to date almost nothing is known about the genetic composition of the TC population. One of the very few TC sites where human remains can be found is a cave called Verteba in western Ukraine. This report presents four partial and four complete mitochondrial genomes from nine TC individuals uncovered in the cave. The results of this analysis, combined with the data from previous reports, indicate that the Trypillian population at Verteba carried, for the most part, a typical Neolithic farmer package of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages traced to Anatolian farmers and Neolithic farming groups of central Europe. At the same time, the find of two specimens belonging to haplogroup U8b1 at Verteba can be viewed as a connection of TC with the Upper Paleolithic European populations. At the level of mtDNA haplogroup frequencies, the TC population from Verteba demonstrates a close genetic relationship with population groups of the Funnel Beaker/ Trichterbecker cultural complex from central and northern Europe (ca. 3,950–2,500 BCE).