Governing Tripolye: Integrative architecture in Tripolye settlements

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 non-ranked 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 socio-political 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.近年来，高精度磁法勘探发现了一类特殊建筑——即所谓的“巨型建筑（mega-structures）”，它们坐落于公元前5世纪末至公元前4千纪上半叶特里波利（Tripolye）大型聚落的公共空间醒目位置。本文旨在探明这类建筑的真实属性，并探讨其对理解特里波利大型聚落社会空间演变的学术价值。本研究将乌克兰迈达涅茨克（Maidanetske）大型聚落的最新发掘数据，与喀尔巴阡山麓至第聂伯河区域内通过磁法勘探获取的更大规模同类建筑样本进行整合分析。据此可知，特里波利巨型建筑属于一类特殊的整合性建筑，这一建筑类型在诸多无等级划分的民族志语境中均有记载。基于本研究结果，我们认为这类建筑可用于各类仪式与非仪式活动、集体决策，以及剩余物资的存储与分配。在特里波利大型聚落中，目前已识别出至少三类巨型建筑，它们大概率对应不同层级的社会政治整合与决策模式。面向全体社群的高层级整合建筑，与面向特定地方社群板块的低层级整合建筑所构成的层级体系，其出现与特里波利大型聚落的兴起密切相关。不同整合层级的存在，大概率反映了大型聚落中此前多个独立社群的融合过程。在大型聚落的后续发展阶段中，我们可以观察到低层级整合建筑的重要性不断下降——表现为规模逐步缩减，最终彻底消失。这一现象或表明，此前分散于社群内部的权力逐渐转移至中央机构。有观点认为，对这种权力集中的抵制，以及低层决策机制的衰落，或许是公元前3600年左右特里波利大型聚落瓦解的关键因素。