The Maykop-Novosvobodnaya archaeological culture and late Tripolye: contacts, military and production aspects

The paper reviews interrelations among the Maykop-Novosvobodnaya population, the tribes living in the South of Eastern Europe and the Late Tripolye population. Particular interest is payed to a new monograph by V. A. Dergachev on Late Tripolye culture and the Early Bronze Age population groups in the Fore-Caucasus. It discusses the concept advanced by V. A. Dergachev according to which penetration of the Maykop population to the Late Tripoloye domain was a military invasion aimed at subjugating the local people. This paper examines V. A. Dergachev's arguments in support of this idea. The author of the present paper comes to the conclusion that this interpretation of the connections between the Late Maykop populations based on available materials is not justified. The concept of the Maykop ‘administration' that brought the Tripolye tribes under control used by V. A. Dergachev cannot be considered grounded enough since, from the methodological point of view, this judgment on pre-state prehistoric society is erroneous. The relations between the Maykop-Novosvobodnaya community and the tribes inhabiting the South of Eastern Europe were reciprocal both in terms of their impact and exchange.