Skip to main content
Log in

The Tripolye culture: Centenary of research

  • Published:
Journal of World Prehistory Aims and scope

Abstract

The Tripolye culture of the sixth and fifth millennia B.P., which spread over the territory of what is today Ukraine and Moldova, holds a special place in the prehistoric archaeology of southeastern Europe. This major European culture of the Copper Age existed for about 1500 years and survived as a rudiment of painted pottery cultures until the beginning of the Bronze Age. Its archaeological embodiment is highly diverse, expressive, and distinctive. Forming the eastern fringe of the Balkan-Danube early farming cultures, the Tripofye culture came into close contact with the world of the nomadic steppe herders, and both influenced their culture and was, in turn, influenced by them. This article attempts to synthesize the Tripofye culture archaeology on the occasion of the recent centenary of its investigation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Balabina, V. I. (1990).Zoomorfnaya plastica kidtury Tripolie (Zoomorphic Plastic of the Tripolye Culture). Unpublished history candidate dissertation, Archaeological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bibikov, S. N. (1953). Poseleniye Luka-Vrublevetskaya (Luka-Vrublevetskaya settlement).Materialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii SSSR 38, Nauka, Moscow (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bibikov, S. N. (1965). Khozyaistvenno-ekonomicheskii kompleks razvitogo Tripolya (The economic set-up of Middle Tripolye).Sovetskaya arkheologia 1: 48–62 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bibikova, V. I. (1963). Iz istorii golotsenovoi fauny pozvonochnykh v Vostochnoi Evrope (From the History of Holocene Vertebrates in Eastern Europe).Prirodnaya obstanovka i fauny proshlogo 1: 411–458 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Chernykh, E. N. (1966). Istoriya drevneishei metallurgii Vostochnoi Evropy (History of the early metallurgy of eastern Europe).Materialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii SSSR 106, Nauka, Moscow (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Chernykh, E. N. (1978).Gornoye delo i metallurgiya v drevneishei Bolgarii (Mining and Metallurgy in Ancient Bulgaria), Izdatelstvo bolgarskoi akademii nauk, Sofia (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Chernysh, E. K. (1962). K istorii naseleniya eneoliticheskogo vremeni v Srednem Podnestrovye (From the history of the Eneolithic population of the Middle Dniester region).Materialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii SSSR 102: 5–85, Nauka, Moscow (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Chernysh, E. K. (1982). Eneolit Pravoberezhnoi Ukrainy i Moldavii (The Eneolithic of the right-bank Ukraine and Moldavia).Eneolit SSSR, Arkheologia SSSR 166–320 (in Russian).

  • Danilenko, V. M. and Makarevich, M. L. (1956) Chervonokhutirskii mogilnik midnogo viku iz trupospalenniam (The Chervony Khutir Copper-Age Cremation Cemetery).Arkheologichni pamyatki 6: 92–98 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dergachev, V. A. (1978).Vykhvatinskii mogilnik (Vykhvatintsi Cemetery), Shtiintsa, Kishinev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dergachev, V. A. (1980).Pamyatniki pozdnego Tripolya (Late Tripolye Sites), Shtiintsa, Kishinev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dergachev, V. A., and Manzura, I. V. (1991).Pogrebalnye kompleksy pozdnego Tripolya (Funeral Assemblages of Late Tripolye), Shtiintsa, Kishinev (in Russian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dumitrescu, V. (1963). Originea si evolutia culturii Cucuteni-Tripolie.Studii si cercetari de istorie veche 1: 51–74;2: 285–305.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, L. (1984).The Cucuteni-Tripolye Culture: A Study in Technology and the Origins of Complex Society, British Archaeological Reports International Series, 217, Oxford.

  • Gimbutas, M. (1974).The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe 7000 to 3500 B.C., Thames and Hudson, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gusev, S. O. (1993). Pamyatki rozvynutogo Tripillya Seredniogo Pobuzhya (Tripolian sites of the Middle Period in the Middle Bug region).Arkheologia 3: 114–127 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hadaczek, C. (1914).Colonie industrielle de Koszylowce de l'époque énéolithique, Leopol.

  • Khvoiko, V. V. (1901). Kamennyi vek Srednego Podneprovya (The Stone Age in the Middle Dnieper region).Trudy XI arkheologicheskogo s'ezda 2: 739–812 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolesnikov, O. G. (1993a). Tripilske domobudivnitstvo (The Tripolian house-building).Arkheologia 3: 63–73 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolesnikov, A. G. (1993b).Tripolskoye obshchestvo Srednego Podneprovya (Tripolian Society of the Middle Dnieper Region), Naukova Dumka, Kiev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Korobkova, G. F. (1987).Khozyaistvennye kompleksy rannikh zemledelchesko-skotovodcheskikh obshchestv yuga SSSR (The Economic Assemblages of Early-Farming and Herding Communities in Southern SSSR), Nauka, Leningrad (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovaleva, I. F. (1984).Sever stepnogo Podneprovya v eneolite-bronzovom veke (The Northern Part of the Steppe Dnieper Region in the Eneolithic-Bronze Age). Dnepropetrovsk University, Dnepropetrovsk (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kremenetski, K. V. (1991).Paleoekologia drevneishikh zemledeltsev i skotovodov Russkoi ravniny (Paleoecology of the Earliest Farmers and Herdsmen in the Russian Plain), Institut Geografii, Moscow (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Krichevski, E. Y. (1940). Rozkopki na Kolomijshchini i problemi tripilskikh ploshchadok (Excavations at Kolomijshchina and the Problems of the Tripolian “Ploshchadkas”). In Yachmeniov, M. I., Passek, T. S., and Slavin, L. M. (eds.),Tripilska Kultur a, Izdatelstvo Akademii Nauk USSR, Kiev, pp. 479–592 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruts, S. I. (1987). Paleoantropologia Severnogo Prichernomorya epokhi rannego metalla (Paleoanthropology of the North Pontic Region in the Period of Early Metal). In Pitskhelauri, K. N., and Chernykh, E. N. (eds.),Kavkaz v sisteme paleometallicheskikh kultur Evrazii, Metsniereba, Tbilisi, pp. 146–156 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruts, V. A. (1977).Pozdnetripolskiye pamyatniki Srednego Podneprovya (Late Tripolye Sites of the Middle Dnieper Region), Naukova Dumka, Kiev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruts, V. A. (1989). K istorii naseleniya tripolskoi kultury v mezhdurechye Yuzhnogo Buga i Dnepra (Notes on the History of the Tripolye Culture Population in the Southern Bug-Dnieper Interfluve). In Berezanskaya, S. S. (ed.),Pervobytnaya arkheologia, Materialy i issledovaniya, Naukova Dumka, Kiev, pp. 117–132 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruts, V. A. (1993). Pytannia demografii Tripilskoyi kultury (Problems of the Demography of the Tripolye Culture).Arkheologia 3: 30–36 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Maisels, Ch. K. (1987). Models of Social Evolution: Trajectories from the Neolithic to the State.Man 22: 331–359

    Google Scholar 

  • Makarevich, M. L. (1954). Statuetki Tripolskogo poselenya Sabatinovka II (Figurines of the Tripolian Settlement Sabatinovka II).Kratkiye Soobshcheniya Instituto Arkheologii Akademii Nauk USSR 3: 90–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marinescu-Bilcu, S. (1974).Cultura Precucuteni pe Teritoriul Romaniei, Editura Akademiei, Bucarest.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marinescu-Bilcu, S. (1981).Tirpesti—from Prehistory to History in Eastern Romania, British Archaeological Reports International Series, 107, Oxford.

  • Markevich, V. I. (1973). Pamyatniki epokhi neolita i eneolita (Neolithic and Eneolithic Sites).Arkheologicheskaya karta MSSR 2, Shtiintsa, Kishinev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Markevich, V. I. (1981).Pozdnetripokkiye plemena Severnoi Moldavii (Late Tripolian Tribes of Northern Moldavia), Shtiintsa, Kishinev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Milisauskas, S., and Kruk, J. (1986). Middle Neolithic exchange systems and development of the low level hierarchical societies in southeastern Poland. InThe Neolithic of Europe, Unwin Hyman, London, pp. 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monah, D. (1987). La datation par C-14 du complexe culture Cucuteni-Tripolie. In Petrescu-Dimbovita, M. (ed.),La civilisation de Cucuteni en contexte Européen, Université “Al. I. Cuza,” Iasi, pp. 67–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monah, D., and Cucos, S. (1985).Asezarile Culturii Cucuteni din Romania, Juminea, Bucarest.

    Google Scholar 

  • Movsha, T. G. (1960). K voprosu o tripolskikh pogrebeniyakh s obryadom trupopolozheniya (Notes on Tripolian Burials with the Inhumation Rite). In Konduraki, E. V., Passek, T. S., and Smirnov, G. D. (eds.),Materialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii yugo-zapada SSSR i Rumynskoi Narodnoi Respubliki, Kartea Moldoveniaske, Kishinev, pp. 59–76 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Movsha, T. G. (1961). O svyazyakh piemen tripolskoi kultury so stepnymi plemenami mednogo veka (On the links between the Tripolian tribes and the Steppe tribes of the Copper Age).Sovetskaya arkheologia 2: 186–199 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Movsha, T. G. (1971). Goncharnyi tsentr tripolskoi kultury na Dnestre (A Tripolian pottery-production center on the Dniester).Sovetskaya arkheologia 3: 228–234 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Movsha, T. G. (1985a). Srednii i pozdnii etap tripolskoi kultury (The Middle and late stages of the tripolye culture). In Artemenko, I. I. (ed.),Arkheologia Ukrainskoi SSR, Naukova Dumka, Kiev, pp. 206–263 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Movsha, T. G. (1985b). Vzaemovidnosiny Tripillya-Cucuteni z synkhronnimi kulturami Tsentralnoi Evropy (The relations of Tripolye-Cucuteni with contemporaneous Cultures of Central Europe).Arkheologia 51: 22–31 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pashkevich, G. A. (1980). Kulturnye rasteniya tripolskikh poselenii Podneprovya (Cultivated plants of Tripolian settlements in the Dnieper region). In Artemenko, I. I. (ed.),Pervobytnaya arkheologia—poiski i nakhodki, Naukova Dumka, Kiev, pp. 234–242 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Passek, T. S. (1949). Periodizatsiya tripolskikh poselenii (Periodization of the Tripolian Settlements),Materialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii SSSR 10, Nauka, Moscow (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Passek, T. S. (1961). Rannezemledelcheskiye (tripolskiye) plemena Podnestrovya [Early-farming (Tripolian) tribes of the Dniester region),Materialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii SSSR 84, Nauka, Moscow (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Patokova, E. F. (1979).Usatovskoye poseleniye i mogilniki (Usatovo Settlement and Cemeteries), Naukova Dumka, Kiev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Patokova, E. F., Petrenko, V. G., Burdo, N. B., and Polishchuk, L. Y. (1989).Pamyatniki tripolskoi kultury v Severo-Zapadnom Prichemomorye (Tripolye Culture Sites in the Northwestern Pontic Region), Naukova Dumka, Kiev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Petrescu-Dimbovita, M. (ed.) (1987).La civilisation de Cucuteni en contexte Européen, Université “Al. I. Cuza”, Iasi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pogozheva, A. P. (1983).Antropomorfnaya plastika Tripolya (The Antropomorphic Plastic of the Tripolye Culture), Nauka, Novosibirsk (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Popova, T. A. (1980). Kremneobrabatyvayushchee proizvodstvo tripolskikh piemen (Flint-processing production of Tripolian tribes). In Artemenko, I. I. (ed.),Pervobytnaya arkheologia—poiski i nakhodki, Naukova Dumka, Kiev, pp. 145–163 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Potekhina, I. D. (1990). Naselennya usativskoi kultury za danimy antropologii (The population of the Usatovo culture. Anthropological data).Arkheologia 2: 56–67 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Quitta, H., and Kohl, G. (1969). Neue Radiocarbondaten zum Neolithikum und zur frühen Bronzezeit Sudosteuropas und Sowjet-Union.Zeitschrift für Archäologe 3: 223–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renfrew, C. (1974). Beyond a subsistence economy: The evolution of social organization in Prehistoric Europe. In Moore, Ch. B. (ed.),Reconstructing Complex Societies, Bulletin of the American Schools for Oriental Research, Supplement 20, Cambridge, MA, pp. 69–95.

  • Rybakov, B. A. (1965). Cosmogoniya i mifologiya zemledeltsev eneolita (Cosmogony and mythology of Eneolithic farmers).Sovetskaya arkheologia 1: 24–46;2: 13–33 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryndina, N. V. (1971).Drevneisheye metalloobrabatyvayushcheye proizvodstvo Vostochnoi Evropy (The. Earliest Metalworking Production of Eastern Europe), Izdatelstvo Moskovskogo Universiteta, Moscow (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryndina, N. V. (1993).Drevneisheye metalloobrabatyvayushcheye proizvodstvo Yugo-Vostochnoi Evropy (The Earliest Metalworking Production of Southeastern Europe), unpublished History D. dissertation, University of Moscow (in Russian).

  • Ryndina, N. V., and Konkova, L. V. (1982). O proiskhozhdenii bolshikh Usatovskikh kinzhalov (On the origin of the large Usatovo daggers).Sovetskaya arkheologia 2: 30–42 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryzhov, S. M. (1993). Nebelivska grupa pamyatok tripilskoyi kultury (The Nebelivka group of tripolye culture sites).Arkheologia 3: 101–114 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, H. (1932).Cucuteni in der Oberen Moldau, Rumanien, Berlin-Leipzig.

  • Sementsov, A. A., Romanova, E. N., and Dolukhanov, P. M. (1969). Radiouglerodniye daty laboratorii LOIA (Radiocarbon Dates of the LOLA Laboratory).Sovetskaya arkheologia 1: 251–261 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sergeyev, G. P. (1963). Rannetripolskii klad v s. Karbuna (The Early Tripolian treasure near Karbuna village).Sovetskaya arkheologia 1: 135–151 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaposhnikova, O. G., and Tovkailo, N. T. (1989). Nekotoriye itogi issledovaniya mnogosloinogo poseleniya Pugatch na Yuzhnom Buge (Some results of investigation of the multylayered settlement of Pugatch in the Southern Bug). In Berezanskaya, S. S. (ed.),Pervobytnaya arkheologia, Materialy i issledovaniya, Naukova Dumka, Kiev, pp. 86–97 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shishkin, K. V. (1973). Z praktiki deshifruvannya aerofotoznimkiv u arkheologichnikh tsilyakh (On the interpretation of aerial photographs for archaeological purposes).Arkheologia 10: 32–41 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shmaglii, N. M. (1980). Krupnye tripolskiye poseleniya v mezhdurechye Dnepra i Yuzhnogo Buga (Large Tripolian settlements in the Southern Bug-Dnieper interfluve). In Artemenko, I. I. (ed.),Pervobytnaya arkheologpa—poiski i nakhodki, Naukova Dumka, Kiev, pp. 198–203 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shmaglii, N. M., and Videiko, M. Y. (1993). Tripilski protomista (Tripolian proto-urban sites),Arkheologia 3: 52–63 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Telegin, D. Y. (1985). Radiocarbonne i arkheomagnitne datuvannya tripilskoi kultury (Radiocarbon and archaeomagnetic dating of the Tripolye culture).Arkheologia 52: 10–22 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Telegin, D. Y. (1986).Dereivka: A Settlement and Cemetery of Copper Age Horse Keepers on the Middle Dnieper, British Archaeological Reports International Series 287, Oxford.

  • Tkachuk, T. (1993). Znakova sistema Tripilskoyi kultury (The sign system of Tripolye culture).Arkheologia 3: 91–100 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tringham, R., Brukner, B., Kaiser, T., Borojevic, K., Bukic, L., Steli, P., Russel, N., Stevanovic, M., and Voytek, B. (1992). Excavations at Opovo, 1985–1987: Socioeconomic change in the Balkan Neolithic.Journal of Field Archaeology 3: 351–386.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsalkin, V. I. (1970) Drevneishiye domashniye zhivotniye Vostochnoi Evropy (The earliest domestic animals of eastern Europe),Materialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii SSSR 161, Nauka, Moscow (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsvek, E. V. (1980). Tripolskiye poseleniya Bugo-dneprovskogo mezhdurechya (Tripolian settlements in the Bug-Dnieper interfluve). In Artemenko, I. I. (ed.),Pervobytnaya arkheologia—poiski i nakhodki, Naukova Dumka, Kiev, pp. 163–185 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsvek, E. V. (1989). Bugo-dneprovskii variant vostochnotripolskoi kultury (The Bug-Dnieper variant of the eastern Tripolye culture). In Berezanskaya, S. S. (ed.),Pervobytnaya arkheologia, Materialy i issledovaniya, Naukova Dumka, Kiev, pp. 106–117 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasilenko, B. A. (1989). Vydobuvanniya i obrovka kremeniyu na provoberezhi Verkhniogo Podnistroviya v Eneoliti (Mining and processing of flint in the right-bank Upper Dniester region in the Eneolithic). In Tolochko, P. P. (ed.),Problemy istorii ta arkheologii davniogo naselennya Ukrainskoi RSR, Naukova Dumka, Kiev, pp. 38–39 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Vinogradova, N. M. (1983).Plemena Dnestrovsko-pnuskogo mezhdurechya v period rastsveta tripolskoi kultury (Tribes of the Dniester-Prut Interfluve During the Florescence of the Tripolye Culture), Shtiintsa, Kishinev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Yanushevich, Z. V. (1976).Kulturniye rasteniya yugo-zapada SSSR po paleobotanicheskim isskdovaniyam (Cultivated Plants of Southwest USSR Paleobotanical Investigations), Shtiintsa, Kishinev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaets, I. I., and Ryzhov, S. N. (1992).Poseleniye tripolskoi kultury Klishchev na Yuzhnom Buge (The Tripolye Culture Settlement of Klishchev in the Southern Bug Region), Kiev (in Russian).

  • Zakharuk, Yu. M. (1964). Problemy arkheologichnoi kultury (Problems of archaeological culture).Arkheologia 17: 12–41 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zbenovich, V. G. (1974).Pozdnetripolskiye plemena severnogo Prichernomorya (Late Tripolian Tribes of the North Pontic Region), Naukova Dumka, Kiev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zbenovich, V. G. (1985). Do problemy stanovlennya eneolitu (On the problem of the formation of the Eneolithic),Archeologia 51: 1–11 (in Ukrainian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zbenovich, V. G. (1987). Mesto tripolskoi kultury v eneolite Prichernomorya (The place of the Tripolye culture in the Eneolithic of the Pontic region). In Pitskhelauri, K. N., and Chernykh, E. N. (eds.),Kavkaz v sisteme paleometallicheskikh kultur Evrazii, Metsniereba, Tbilisi, pp. 109–119 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zbenovich, V. G. (1989).Rannii etap tripolskoi kultury na territorii Ukrainy (The Early Stage of the Tripolye Culture in Ukraine), Naukova Dumka, Kiev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zbenovich, V. G. (1991). Drakon v izobrazitelnoi traditsii kultury Kukuteni-Tripolye (The dragon in the art tradition of the Cucuteni-Tripolye culture). In Gening, V. F. (ed.),Dukhovnaya kultura drevnikh obshchestv na territorii Ukrainy, Naukova Dumka, Kiev (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zinkovski K. V. (1973). Noviye danniye k rekonstruktsii tripolskikh nazemnykh zhilishch (New information concerning the reconstruction of above-surface Tripolian dwellings).Sovetskaya arkheologia 1: 137–149 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zvelebil, M., and Dolukhanov, P. (1991). The transition to farming in eastern and northern europe.Journal of World Prehistory 3: 233–278.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zbenovich, V.G. The Tripolye culture: Centenary of research. J World Prehist 10, 199–241 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02221076

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02221076

Key words

Navigation