Life on the Eastern frontiers of Old Europe

The concept of Old Europe defines its boundaries with the proliferation of ancient farming cultures. Its eastern boundary is designated by the districts of Trypillia Сulture, the Eastern part of Cucuteni-Trypillia Cultural Unity, which reached Dnipro valley at the second half of the Vth Millenium BC. At this time, we see several local types of Trypillya Culture, each with some differences at material culture (mainly at pottery stylistics), some different features in the economy. Subsequently, this added to the difference in the public organization. These groups were completely autonomous, while there is a tendency for their active interaction, perhaps the subordination of the less powerful groups by stronger.

There were two groups of Trypillia BI-II stage farmers who came near to Dnipro after 4300-4200 BC; the first one – to Krasna river valley, the second – to lower Ros river basin. At this moment both groups practiced farming and held livestock, used large settlements as centers of social formations. At the same time, new settlers adopted some pottery traditions from Stog Culture. Probably it means that local communities included some part of Stog population.

Marked by complicated pottery assemblages ‘multiculturality” at Dnipro region developed around 600-800 years and led to more cultural differentiation inside the area to North from Ros River. At the same time groups with painted pottery, located to South from this area remained homogeneous.

For nearly a millennium (from 4300 to 3400-3200 BC), we can observe the few different strategies of life at the Trypillia Culture Eastern frontiers. From one side here we have some large groups, resistant to external influences, and small groups of population, aimed at the formation of multicultural communities. At the same time, trade was always an important connecting factor at all times.