Trypillian Civilization 5,508 - 2,750 BC

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Architecture

The Trypillian people built their houses mostly from the wood. They had to cut thousands trees with stone or copper axes for this purpose. Their first settlements were not large - from 7 to 14 houses, but later a real cities with thousands of buildings emerged. The houses they built had a frame-columnar constriction. The walls were made from the wood or the reeds and coated with a clay and painted over with a charcoal mixed with water. This kind of buildings, which appeared in the Trypillian time, still exists in the forest-steppes of Ukraine.

Archeologists found models of the Trypillian houses and temples made from clay. Most of them had a two-story construction, which shows that Trypillians had a multistory buildings. The floors were made from the wood and coated with a clay similar to the wall's construction. The second story usually was utilized as a living floor, and the first was used for the household needs, like a storage and for keeping domesticated animals. The floors and the walls were painted in red and white colors and decorated with a geometrical ornamental pattern, which probably had a spiritual meaning and protected the inhabitants from a bad luck.

The living rooms were heated with an open fire or a primitive stove. Usually, there was a long clay bench along one of the inside walls to store products, tools and personal belongings. Often there was clay or stone mortar near the bench for grinding harvested grains into flour.

The sole rounded window was located in a wall opposite to the entrance. Under the the window there was rounded or cruciform clay altar. The altar was painted in red color and decorated with a dug-like spiral ornamental pattern (see our "ornaments and symbols" section of the museum). The total useful area of a Trypillia house was from 60 up to 300 sq. meters. It is known that Trypillians had also a special structures, which were used as public buildings and temples.


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A01. Artifact clay model of a house A02. Model of a wooden house A03. 3D computer model of a house

 
A04. Computer model of a 2-story house A05. Computer reconstruction of a room