Archeologists have unearthed the remains of a 6,000-year-old mega temple in Ukraine’s Kiev region that is believed to be one of the oldest such structures in human history.
The 60×21-meter site at a Trypillian culture village sits in modern day Nebelivka, Ukraine – about 160 miles south of Kiev - where artifacts of the ancient civilization were first discovered in 1896.
The Trypillian culture - which lasted from approximately 5,400 to 2,700 B.C. - was very complex, with early advancements in metallurgy, pottery and textiles. Most structures were made of clay but evidence of wood in structures was also found.
According to the team of researchers led by Dr. Mikhail Videyko of the Kiev Institute of Archeology, the temple was likely two stories tall - the largest of its kind on the site - and may have been the “center of a complex plan” as the “central temple of the whole village community.”
The researchers said they believe that each single-habitation Trypillian settlement appears to have been burned to the ground after about 60 to 80 years of continuous occupation for reasons currently unknown. One particularly interesting discovery is that Trypillian culture was quite possibly matriarchal.
According to Sci-News, the large number of female figurines found at dig sites could provide further evidence of this. “Women were the head of the household, doing agricultural work and manufacturing pottery, textiles and clothing,” the publication wrote. “Hunting, keeping domestic animals and making tools were the responsibilities of the men.”
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