Fragment of a vessel with symbol of the moon
- Inventory number:
- АР-180
- Creation Date:
- 4th - 3rd millennia BC
- Place of Creation:
- Koshylivtsi village, Ternopil region
- Provenance:
- Lviv Historical Museum
- Technique:
- molding, painted
- Size:
- 13 x 9 cm
- Material:
- clay
- Type of object:
- Vessel
- Subject:
- Cucuteni–Trypillia culture
A fragment of irregular rectangular shape. In the center, there is a dark brown moon outlined with a black line. In the central part of the fragment, a brown stripe is outlined with a black line. The vessel itself is light brown. The moon symbol could have been part of the cosmological beliefs of the Cucuteni-Trypillians, as well as a symbol of the moon’s phases, representing a natural phenomenon that influences the surrounding world. Archaeologist Vikentiy Khvoyka discovered the first Cucuteni-Trypillian settlement in present-day Ukraine in 1893–1894 on 55 Kyrylivska Street in Kyiv. However, the culture was named after the village of Trypillia of Kyiv Region. The area of its spread in Eastern Europe ranged from the Dnipro River to the Carpathians, from Polissia to the Black Sea and the Balkan Peninsula. The settlements of the Trypillians covered a significant area and are referred to as proto-cities. One of the distinguishing features of this culture was the burning of their homes, which could have been caused by soil depletion, a lack of resources for livestock grazing, or perhaps it had a ritual significance. The Trypillians were primarily engaged in cultivation, grain farming, fishing, pottery, weaving, metallurgy (including copper processing), and animal husbandry.
