Life and death in Trypillia times: Interdisciplinary analyses of the exceptional human remains from the settlement of Kosenivka, Ukraine (3700-3600 BCE)

Abstract

We present an interdisciplinary analysis of finds from the Trypillia settlement of Kosenivka, Ukraine (ca. 3700-3600 BCE, Trypillia C1), that links information on human, faunal, and botanical remains with archaeological data to provide exceptionally detailed insights into life and death at a Trypillia mega-site. We obtained osteological, palaeopathological, and histotaphonomic data from human bone fragments; performed carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic analysis of human and animal bone to calculate food webs with the software FRUITS; and modelled newly generated radiocarbon dates to refine the sites chronology. The biological profile of seven identified individuals, some of whom suffered from disease symptoms common in the Chalcolithic, represents a demographic cross-section of the population. The analysis of perimortem cranial trauma suffered by two individuals suggest cases of interpersonal conflict. Food web calculations demonstrate the large contribution of cereals to the protein component of the human diet, which is supported by dental observations, and we suggest that livestock were a major manure producer for crop cultivation. The most probable scenario for the formation of the Kosenivka find assemblage is a deathly fire event. This makes the site a rare example where the archaeological and osteological results can be used to reconstruct a minimum number of house inhabitants. Following a literature review, we contextualise our analysis by discussing the general lack of human remains from Early and Middle Trypillia sites. The individuals from Kosenivka form part of the less than 0.05% of the total estimated Trypillia population that is represented skeletally; its members were deposited within settlements in the Middle Trypillia stage (until C1), preceding the shift to extramural burials in its late phase (C2). Our detailed results indicate the huge explanatory potential that has yet to be unlocked in the rare and often poorly preserved bioarchaeological archives of the Cucuteni-Trypillia phenomenon.