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The planning of the earliest European proto-towns: a new geophysical plan of

the Trypillia mega-site of Nebelivka, Kirovograd Domain, Ukraine

Article  in  Antiquity · March 2014

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Antiquity Volume 088 Issue 339 March 2014

The planning of the earliest European proto-towns: a new

geophysical plan of the Trypillia mega-site of Nebelivka, Kirovograd
Domain, Ukraine

John Chapman, Mikhail Videiko, Bisserka Gaydarska, Natalia Burdo, Duncan Hale,
Richard Villis, Natalie Swann, Nathan Thomas, Patricia Edwards, Andrew Blair,
Ashley Hayes, Marco Nebbia & Vitalij Rud

Introduction
The Trypillia (Russian Tripolye) mega-sites in the Kirovograd and
Cherkassy regions of Ukraine constitute the largest sites in fourth
millennium BC Europe (Videiko 2004). Discovered in the 1970s, aerial
photography and geophysical prospection were used to produce plans of
these sites in what has been termed 'the first mega-site methodological
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 revolution' (Videiko 2012). The five largest mega-sites are Taljanky
(340ha), Nebelivka (260ha), Dobrovody (250ha), Tomashivka (220ha) and
Maydanetskoe (200ha) (Videiko 2012). At Taljanky, over 2000 structures
have been documented by geophysical prospection and excavation (Burdo
et al. 2012). The resulting population estimates, together with an
apparent three-level settlement hierarchy (Ellis 1984), imply the possibility
of state-level societies contemporary with Uruk developments in Iraq. The
rationale, origins and collapse of these large sites, however, has remained Figure 1. Location map of Nebelivka, Kirovograd Domain,
unclear, as has their impact on the local environment and their place in Ukraine.
Click to enlarge.
local and regional settlement structures.

These research questions led to the establishment of collaboration

between Durham University and the Kyiv Institute of Archaeology in 2009.
Current support from the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is
providing funds for a four-year, interdisciplinary project (2012–16)
focusing on the Trypillia phase BII mega-site of Nebelivka, dated to the
early fourth millennium BC (Chapman & Videiko 2011) (Figures 1 & 2). A
key goal of the project was the creation of a plan of the mega-site, using
modern geophysical prospection methods, as the basis both for an
understanding of social space at Nebelivka and as a sampling strategy for
the creation of internal site phasing. Without knowing the numbers of
coevally occupied houses through the settlement sequence, we cannot
fully understand mega-site dwelling processes.

Methodology
The implications of modern geophysical results have been termed 'the
second mega-site methodological revolution' (Chapman et al. in press). At
Figure 2. The newly completed geophysics plot,
November 2013 (Source: Archaeological Services, Nebelivka, the Durham team used Bartington Grad 601-2 dual sensor
Durham University). fluxgate gradiometers to cover a total area of 286ha over 4 visits totalling
Click to enlarge. 38 person-weeks. The vast majority of anomalies relate to burnt, partly
burnt or unburnt structures, as well as soil-filled pits and ditches. Given
the absence of overlapping house-floors, the principal data-processing issue was the removal of the strong magnetic signal from the
Ukrainian 'granite shield'. Prospection extended beyond the outer circuit wherever possible, to ensure that all associated features were
included in the survey.

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 Results
The high-resolution plot (Figure 2) shows the features of a typical mega-
site plan structured around two concentric circuits of houses, with mostly
empty space between the circuits, almost 50 internal radial streets, a
scatter of features outside the outer circuit, enclosed within a boundary
ditch, and an apparently 'empty' core area. The settlement within the
boundary ditch covers an area of 238ha, and includes over 1200
structures, many large pits often associated with structures, several
ditches and two palaeo- channels. Many weaker anomalies almost certainly
reflect unburnt houses, typically on the radial streets. The external ditch,
of an estimated 4m width and a cored depth of 2.5m, is particularly visible
around the north, west and south-west sides (Figure 3), present on the
south side but hardly visible on the east side as a result of tree cover. A
fundamental structuring principle concerns the positioning of some 15
pairs of unusually large structures near the circuits, with one structure
Figure 3. External boundary ditch, pair of large
located between the circuits and the other placed either inside or outside structures and dog-leg in inner circuit (Source:
the circuits (Figures 3 & 4). There are also cases of single large structures Archaeological Services, Durham University).
(Figure 4). The extrapolation of the results of the 2012 excavation of one Click to enlarge.
such 'mega-structure' suggests the presence of public buildings for
meetings or ceremonies, acting as focal points for several clusters of houses. One such pair was placed on the axis of a major break in
both circuits, although there are few examples of aligned breaks in both circuits.

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 Figure 4. Pair of large structures, houses set in parallel Figure 5. SW palaeo-channel, single large structure,
and widely-spaced houses (Source: Archaeological houses set in parallel and widely-spaced houses (Source:
Services, Durham University) Archaeological Services, Durham University).
Click to enlarge. Click to enlarge.

The layout of the two circuits shows both segmentation and irregularity,
ranging from groups of closely-set structures which perhaps shared walls
(Figure 5), through small groups of parallel structures (Figures 4 & 6), to
widely spaced structures with perhaps more individual than group identity
(Figures 4 & 6). Such a layout suggests the notion of an 'ideal design'
whose variable implementation followed more or less successful pathways.
Gaps between house groups were also regularly reinforced with additional
features, whether ditches, linear pits or lines of pits. This segmentation led
to multiple deviations from the planning 'ideal' of a single continuous
circuit. The most striking deviation related to the course of a pre-existing
palaeo-channel (Figure 5) but there are six dog-legs in the inner circuit
and perhaps three in the outer circuit (Figure 3)—only one relates to an
existing topographical feature. A striking form of variability concerns the
distance between the two circuits—from 70m to 150m—showing that
Figure 6. 'Kirovograd Square', houses set in parallel and
concentricity was achieved over only 30 per cent of the plan.
widely-spaced houses (Source: Archaeological Services,
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 Durham University).
The distribution of inner radial streets shows a 'busy' north-west zone
Click to enlarge.
and a 'quiet' south-west area (Figure 2) but the maximum distance
between radial streets of 250m shows a discontinuous pattern. The
composition of the streets shows as much variability as that of the circuits, including at least three layouts which resemble open public
spaces (Figure 6). It is noticeable that, even in the streets, there were groups of structures, separated by gaps of up to 50m. Some of
the longer groupings may have represented 'primary' streets, between which later streets were added.

Summary and prospect

The completion of an entire mega-site plan with modern geophysical methods is a breakthrough in Trypillian archaeology, defining a
new research agenda for the next decades. Many of the individual features (pits, unburnt houses, house-pits, ditches) are ripe for
future excavation, with the prospect of genuinely novel information. The most important result reported here is the emergence of
distinct groups of structures, which can be interpreted as 'neighbourhoods', enabling us to study Trypillia people in the size of groups
most relevant to them rather than only at the level of a massive settlement.

Acknowledgements
Grateful thanks to Durham University and the Kyiv Institute of Archaeology for project support; thanks for financial support to the
AHRC for Research Grant AH/I025867, National Geographic Society (Grant 2012/211) and the British Academy for Small Research
Grant SG54204; and thanks to the Kirovograd, Novoarkhangelsk and Nebelivka authorities for support, the geophysics teams for their
enthusiasm and Janine Watson and Linda Bosveld for her illustrations.

References
BURDO, N., M.YU. VIDEIKO, V. CHABANIUK, K. RASSMANN, R. GAUSS, F. LUETH & D. PETERS. 2012. Large-scale geomagnetic
prospections at Majdanetskoe, using of new equipment to understanding the Tripolye megasite phenomenon. Stratum Plus
2012(2): 265–86.
CHAPMAN, J. & M. YU VIDEIKO. 2011. The Tripillia culture mega-site near Nebelivka: summer 2009 season. Praehistorica (Prague)
29: 79–94.
CHAPMAN, J., M.YU. VIDEIKO, D. HALE, B. GAYDARSKA, N. BURDO, K. RASSMANN, C. MISCHKA, J. MULLER, A. KORVIN-
PIOTROVSKIY & V. KRUTS. In press. The second phase of the Trypillia mega-site methodological revolution—a new research
agenda. European Journal of Archaeology.
ELLIS, L. 1984. The Cucuteni-Tripolye culture (British Archaeological Reports international series 217). Oxford: British
Archaeological Reports.
VIDEIKO, M.YU. (ed.). 2004. Encyclopaedia Tripil's'koi cyvilizacii. Volume 1. Kyiv: Ukrpoligrafmedia.
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 View publication stats

– 2012. Comprehensive study of the large settlements of the Tripolye culture: 1971–2011. Stratum Plus 2012(2): 225–63.

Authors
* Author for correspondence.

John Chapman*, Bisserka Gaydarska & Marco Nebbia

Department of Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK (Email: j.c.chapman@dur.ac.uk;
b_gaydarska@yahoo.co.uk; marco.nebbia@dur.ac.uk)
Mikhail Videiko, Natalia Burdo & Vitalij Rud
Institute of Archaeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 12 Geroiv Stalingrada Avenue, 04210 Kyiv – 210, Ukraine (Email:
wideiko@gmail.com; videiko@gmail.com; arhrud@mail.ru)
Duncan Hale, Richard Villis, Natalie Swann, Nathan Thomas, Patricia Edwards, Andrew Blair & Ashley Hayes
Archaeological Services Durham University, Green Lane, Durham DH1 3LE, UK (Email: d.n.hale@dur.ac.uk;
richard.villis@durham.ac.uk; natalie.swann@dur.ac.uk; n.thomas@dur.ac.uk; pd.edwards@live.co.uk;
a.c.blair@dur.ac.uk; ashley.hayes@durham.ac.uk)

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