REVISTA ARHEOLOGICA REVUE ARCHEOLOGIQUE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE ARCHAOLOGISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT REVISTA ARCHEOLOGICA APXEOJIOTMYECKHA XK YPHAJIACADEMIA DE STIINTE A REPUBLICI] MOLDOVA uy" INSTITUTUL DE ARHEOLOGIE $I ISTORIE VECHE REVISTA ARHEOLOGICA REVUE ARCHEOLOGIQUE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE ARCHAOLOGISCHE ZEIJTSCHRIFT REVISTA ARCHEOLOGICA APXEOJIOTHYECKHU JKY PHAJI 1993Revista Arheologica, 1993 3 J. V. Manzura THE EAST—WEST INTERACTION IN THE MIRROR OF THE ENEOLITHIC AND EARLY BRONZE CULTURES IN THE NORTHWEST PONTIC The realization of the particular status of the Carpathian—Dniester lands as a distinctive intercourse region, which brings together cultural worlds of absolutely divergent essential characteristics, engenders natu. rally deep interest to the cultural evolution problems within this territo- ry. The similar interest is undoubtedly encouraged by the entirely obvious conclusion that to all appearance the particular status presupposes speci- fic features for the cullural-historicat processes that were at play here. But what extent are they specific to? What is the difference between the present limited space and the similar ones? As a matter of the fact histo- ry gives very few examples oi strictly isolated cultural systems, whose pro- gress was not being ied with outside novations, if im this case the extre- melu slow evolution or complete stagnation of the main cultural compo- nents could be termed as a progress. Contacts, mutual relations and i teractions were being practised every time and everywhere, where he- terogeneous cullural entities had been brought together to say nothing about intensive structural relations inside these entities. At certain peri- ods of time they achieved the utmost dynamism to influence banefully or on the contrary beneficially the destiny of one or other culture. Someti- mes almost all the external impulses were inevitably extinguished by a reserved disposition of the latter when a tearing-away reaction appeared to be an effective warant for maintaining a finally established and gra- dually stiffening structure. But if one admits the similar alternation and heightened communication periods to be the indispensable condition for the cultural-genetic process in most of Europe, so the specific character of the Carpathian-Dniester region, where the features of internal conser- vatism were minimized, consists in the invarrable predisposition of _its functioning cultaral groups to actively interact with the different cullu- ral environment in any forms and directions (regimen of continuous cul- tural dialogues in M. E. Tkachuk’s terminology). The constantly open character of the Carpathian-Dniester communi- ties, their pronotinced susceptibility to the various cultural achievements, which had originated outside their own area, affect in turn the general course and above all the rhythm of the regional processes that were main- ly of an impulsive character, Another peculiarity of the territory being considered is traced to a rather sharp changeability of cultural ‘develop- ment vectors whose trends often became diametrically opposite. Moreo- ver it should be emphasized that these two markers — impulsive cha- racter and vector multiformity — are not only marked when one system clearly replaces the other one but also within the framework of cultural systems taken apart. Suffice it to site as an example the Cucuteni-Tripo- lye culture to successively trace what it had been at the early stage of its existence and what it turned to at the final stage and how this trans- formation was running. Here are the similar examples far form being single, The certain conditionality in the specific character as well as in the regularity of the similar phenomena and situations was lagely predeter- mined by the historico-geographical location of the Carpathian-Dniester lands lying at the junction of three powerful cultural-historical areas: © 1, Manzura, 1993