SPINDLE-WHORLS FROM THE LATE TRYPILLIA SETTLEMENT TROIANIV

Abstract

At the Troianiv settlement more than 200 ceramic whole and fragmened spindle-whorls (SW) have been found. The size of the SW from Troianiv can be roughly divided into large, medium and small, with a diameter of approximately 55, 40 and 30 mm respectively. The height of the SW is from 2.0 to 3.5 cm. The weight of the SW ranges from about 20 up to 45 g.
 The shape of the SW from Troianiv was not standardized. Their profiles are varied but they mostly come down to a conical or biconical shape.
 Most of the SW has no decoration, only 56 items are ornamented. Two basic techniques are used to decorate — crossed lines and small needles made by very fine needle-shape tool. Only conical part on the Troianiv SW was covered by decoration.
 There are two main schemes of ornamentation — the radial and the circular ones. Large number of the items has the pictographic images. Among them several types of drawings can be distinguished with the dominated sign that most likely acts as a symbol of vegetation. The plant symbols on the spears are in conjunction with the zigzag and cross signs. The analysis of Troianiv SW suggests that they were not only utilitarian objects but also used in cult practice.
 With the SW from the Late Trypillia and other Early Bronze Age (EBA) cultural groups Troianiv items is definite unity by morphological features and decoration. However, many ornamental elements are inherent in the decoration of the SW from the specific locally-chronological groups of Trypillya CII and may indicate the identity of particular social collectives with common traditions in the sacral sphere. The analogies to the Troianiv SW in different EBA cultural groups testify to the close intercultural links between Late Trypllia and neighboring cultures.