Governing Tripolye: Integrative architecture in Tripolye settlements

Hofmann, Robert and Muller, Johannes and Shatilo, Liudmyla and Videiko, Mykhailo and Ohlrau, Rene´ and Rud, Vitalii and Burdo, Nataliia and Dal Corso, Marta and Dreibrodt, Stefan and Kirleis, Wiebke (2019) Governing Tripolye: Integrative architecture in Tripolye settlements s. PLoS ONE, 14(9). pp. 1-54.

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Abstract

Recently, high-resolution magnetometry surveys have led to the discovery of a special category of buildings–so-called ‘mega-structures’–situated in highly visible positions in the public space of Tripolye giant-settlements of the late 5th and first half of the 4th millennium BCE. In this paper we explore what these buildings actually are and how they can contribute to the understanding of the development of social space in Tripolye giant-settlements. For this investigation, we linked newly obtained excavation data from the giant-settlement Maidanetske, Ukraine, with a much larger sample of such buildings from magnetic plans obtained in the region between the Carpathian foothills and the Dnieper River. Accordingly, Tripolye mega-structures represent a particular kind of integrative building documented in many nonranked ethnographic contexts. Based on our results we are interpreting that these buildings were used for various ritual and non-ritual activities, joint decision-making, and the storage and consumption of surplus. In Tripolye giant-settlements at least three different categories of mega-structures could be identified which most likely represent different levels of sociopolitical integration and decision-making. The emergence of this hierarchical system of high-level integrative buildings for the whole community and different low-level integrative architectures for certain segments of local communities was related to the rise of Tripolye mega-sites. The presence of different integrative levels most likely reflects the fusion of different previously independent communities in the giant-settlements. Later in the mega-site development, we observe how low-level integrative buildings increasingly lose their importance indicated by shrinking size and, finally, their disappearance. This observation might indicate that the power which was previously distributed across the community was transferred to a central institution. It is argued that the non-acceptance of this concentration of power and the decline of lower decision-making levels might be a crucial factor for the disintegration of Tripolye giant-settlements around 3600 BCE.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: architecture; Tripolye settlements
Subjects: Це архівна тематика Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка > Статті у наукометричних базах > Scopus
Це архівна тематика Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка > Статті у наукометричних базах > Web of Science
Divisions: Це архівні підрозділи Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка > Факультет суспільно-гуманітарних наук > Кафедра археології та давньої історії
Depositing User: д.і.н. Михайло Юрієвич Відейко
Date Deposited: 15 Nov 2019 09:17
Last Modified: 03 Jun 2020 19:38
URI: https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/28728

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