Farmers and Pastoralists

The division of labor in a family clan system was based on age and gender, with hunting generally reserved for males who were taught to make and use hunting-fishing implements at an early age, while gathering plant-based foodstuffs such as fruit, berries, roots, and herbs was reserved for females.

Although more limited in their food production nomadic pastoralism had its own advantages, which led to a radically dif­ferent lifestyle and culture. Supplemented by hunting and gath­ering, pastoralists enjoyed a healthy diet, and in terms of time spent on the production of food and other necessities pastoral

The distribution of early pastoral and farming cultures of eastern Europe, 4,000 âñ-2,000 âñ.

herding was more efficient than farming; it did not require a Iengthypreparation and maintenance of the soil, and the time­consuming planting and harvesting for both man and beast, since the imported sheep and cattle did not graze in the win­tertime.

The agricultural settlements were first discovered in Ukraine at Trypillia (Tripolye in Russian) in 1899 just to the west of the Dnipro River and ten years later at Cucuteni in Mol­davia, so to date some 2,700 sites of the Cucuteni-Trypillia cul­ture are known. The Trypillia settlements were the most easterly of the matriarchal societies of Old Europe as referred to by M. Gimbutas.¹⁷ Beginning with 12-house hamlets which occupied about one hectare of land, during 4200-4000 âñ we have 100- 200 house villages, and by 3800-3300 âñ we see veritable cities emerge such as at Tallyansky to the west of the Dnipro in Ukraine with some 2,000 houses which occupy an area of 3.5 ? 1.5 km. The settlements are situated near rivers and enclosed by two concentric earthen mounds, with an open gap in the outer wall perhaps for herding sheep and cattle. The recon­structed houses appear surprisingly modern with sloping roofs to withstand heavy snowfalls and contained ovens, clay tables, and sacrificial altars.¹⁸ The Cucuteni-Trypillia farmers were also highly skilled in the manufacturing of flint knives, polished stone implements, and ceramic pottery but it was the involved process of smelting copper and pouring moulds to cast tools and make ornaments that made them the bearers of the copper age. Several hoards have been found in Moldavia and Ukraine consisting of some 500 copper hammers, axes, chisels, awls, and fishing hooks but very few weapons. On the other hand there is a marked preponderance of ornaments, and hundreds of copper beads which could have served as currency in trade with the neighboring Buh-Dnisterpeople.¹⁹ Kiln-fired, elaborate multicolored ceramic pottery also indicates specialized artisan manufacturing.²⁰

The rich soil of the Ukrainian steppe was highly conducive to agriculture and as the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture expanded it began to have an influence on the local hunter-gatherers.

Another major culture of the Pontic-Caspian steppe was the Dnipro-Donets culture, which arose about 6500 âñ at the same time as the related Buh-Dnister settlements, and spread throughout eastern Ukraine. Its main settlement was at Seredny Stih I (Sredny Stog I) on the Dnipro River, and the culture is known from 200 excavations of permanent settlements and 30 cemeteries with a total of 800 burials, mainly males. Bodies were buried in communal trenches, a distinctive practice, and sites were strewn with red ochre. Their physical type was late Cro-Magnon, with more massive and robust bodies than the Cucuteni-Trypillia, the Balkan, OrMediterranean people. They were a tall people with average male height of 172 cm (5'10"). The male dead were buried with shell ornaments, flint tools, and some copper ornaments such as beads, rings (including one of gold), and a copper pot indicating trade with the Buh- Donets people. A mace carved from porphyry found at Mariupol in southern Ukraine also implied contact with the Caucasian region. The distinctive features of the Dnipro- Donets culture are the plaques which were cut from boars’ tusks, polished, and sown onto clothing. At Mariupol 429 plaques were found, with 310 for ten of the 124 bodies (11 chil­dren) in the cemetery.

A great disaster such as a major flood could also have forced the southern migration along the Dnipro River, for about the same time inhabitants of the more easterly wooded region began to move out into the south-eastern Russian steppe, to­wards the middle Volga River. Once on the open plain they would have encountered rich game such as wild cattle, deer, and above all herds of wild horses. Traces of early Stone Age man dating to 8290-7960 âñ have been found in the middle Volga region and later at Elshanka, Seroglazovo, and elsewhere between the southern Volga and Ural rivers dating from about the middle of the 7th millennium.

Ofparticular interest is the Samara culture which was dis­covered on the tributary of the Volga by the same name. They practiced internment of the dead, sprinkled red ochre, wore boar tusk plaques, and were probably related to the Dnipro- Donets people from whom they acquired domesticated goats and sheep. Much of the Samara culture was different in some important respects. Excavations reveal the importance which the horse had assumed, where it was probably first domesticated in the 7th millennium âñ to be used for both food and to pull the early chariots used to hunt the wild stock and to manage domesticated herds. We observe the first horse cult, remains of sacrificed horses and horse figures carved from bone, and par­ticularly weapons which are not known further to the west; flint and bone daggers, some with flint blades inserted in both sides measuring 56 cm. A child’s grave in a deep pit also contained a long adult’s flint dagger and it is here that we find the beginnings of the first warlike society in Europe. Interestingly, the Samara culture is also where we first find fired clay pottery, tempered with shells and dating to the mid-7th millennium âñ.²³