Trypillia Mega-Sites: Neither Urban nor Low-Density?
René Ohlrau
Abstract
At the end of the fifth millennium bc, some of the largest settlements of the time emerged on the Pontic forest steppe. Some scholars proposed to include these mega-sites into the concept of low-density urbanism. These characterizations were, however, limited by a single-site perspective. Now, with ongoing surveys and radiocarbon-based internal settlement chronologies it was possible for the first time to trace the trajectory of the whole range of Trypillia mega-sites. It was found that they did not follow a low-density trajectory. Instead, they show a high volatility and appear to bounce off the low-density threshold. While the crossing of the 100 ha threshold on the Interaction-Communication Matrix suggests a potential urban status of these sites, no evidence for a functional rural-urban divide was found.