The Vast Ancient Cities of Prehistoric Europe

Discover World Anvil – the ultimate platform for worldbuilding, writing, and RPG campaign management. Start building your universe today with 51% off any yearly subscription using the code DANDAVIS. Sign up here: https://www.worldanvil.com/?c=DanDavis The Cucuteni-Trypillia culture was a Chalcolithic society that flourished between about 5000 and 3000 BC in Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine. Their most astounding innovation is the vast settlements they constructed, with thousands of large houses covering up to 450 hectares, with estimated populations of up to 46,000 residents. Even larger than the first cities of Sumer in Mesopotamia. But why did they build these enormous settlements? *If you enjoy my videos please consider supporting the channel* Become a YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUVwT8zcS5Z_rYXnpomlbfg/join Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/dandavisauthor All my books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xngwz5 *Sources* The First Farmers of Europe https://amzn.to/3wNDcqA The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe https://amzn.to/43eSVRO The Lost World of Old Europe https://amzn.to/44YY7LN The Tripolye culture Giant Settlements of Ukraine https://amzn.to/4m2xEDb Maidanets-ke https://www.sidestone.com/books/maidanets-ke Tripolye Typo-chronology https://www.sidestone.com/books/tripolye-typo-chronology The Living Goddesses https://amzn.to/4fFaAYV The rise and fall of the mysterious culture that invented civilisation https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933230-900-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-mysterious-culture-that-invented-civilisation/ Who built Europe’s first cities? Clues about the urban revolution emerge / nature.com https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-04216-1 Nebbia, M., Gaydarska, B., Millard, A., & Chapman, J. (2018). The making of chalcolithic assembly places: Trypillia megasites as materialized consensus among equal strangers? World Archaeology, 50(1), 41–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2018.1474133 Immel, A., Țerna, S., Simalcsik, A. et al. Gene-flow from steppe individuals into Cucuteni-Trypillia associated populations indicates long-standing contacts and gradual admixture. Sci Rep 10, 4253 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61190-0 Kirleis, W., Corso, M.D., Pashkevych, G. et al. A complex subsistence regime revealed for Cucuteni–Trypillia sites in Chalcolithic eastern Europe based on new and old macrobotanical data. Veget Hist Archaeobot 33, 75–90 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-023-00936-y Gelabert, P., Schmidt, R.W., Fernandes, D.M. et al. Genomes from Verteba cave suggest diversity within the Trypillians in Ukraine. Sci Rep 12, 7242 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11117-8 The above includes affiliate links so we may make a small commission from your purchases at no additional cost to you which is a way to support the channel. *Thank you to the artists* Remy06 https://x.com/Re_my_06 *Video Chapters* 00:00 The World’s First Cities 01:49 Sponsorship 03:30 Megasites 05:46 The Cucuteni-Trypillia culture 07:05 Cucuteni-Trypillia Houses and Settlements 09:41 Steppe Herders 11:32 Intergroup Violence 13:35 Investigating the Megasites 14:35 Burned House Horizon 15:57 Seasonal Settlements 17:02 Hierarchies 20:18 Sources 20:50 The End of the Megasites