Tripolskoy mirror

With great sympathy, I read the open letter of the anthropologist Maria Mednikova to the leadership of the Channel “Culture” in the Trv-hunger No. 10 (dated May 22, 2012). In it, a well -known anthropologist complains to the addiction of a number of television channels to the stuffy sensations and the readiness of television people to exploit the stupid superstitions and ignorance of a part of the audience, which leads to the promotion and growth of such manifestations of Gothic. This trouble applies not only to anthropologists and not only in our country, but throughout the post -Soviet space. In addition to superstitions, other non -best ideas, prejudices and claims are exploited - xenophobia, nationalist arrogance, chauvinism, obscurantism, idolatry, etc.

I will give a case of such traction on the television of Ukraine - on a strange example, it is easier to show sobriety and balanced and see how funny these attempts are funny and ugly when viewed from the outside. In Ukraine (I do not write “in Ukraine” simply because it contradicts the rules of the Russian language) in the years after gaining independence, attempts were to prove the special antiquity of Ukrainian culture (not only all the Slavic, but all European ones!), Place the Center for the origin of the Aryans, a special ancient civilization of Aratt (that Boshdripoli culture), the existence of certain Ukrainian Ukrainians occurred (and not at all from the word "land"), etc. In vain, reasonable Ukrainian experts refute this nonsense, it is tirelessly promoted by ultra-rationalist journalists and semi-writers-semiologists (like Yu. Shilov), support some politicians (deputies, officials), and carefully but persistently pedal some media, in particular, television channels.

A noticeable place in these concepts is occupied by the Tripoli culture, which will be discussed in more detail below.

In August 2011, a very cute correspondent of the first channel of Ukrainian television Irina S. turned to me by phone from Kyiv with a request to immediately give an interview about the Tripoli culture. The program was supposed to be aired the next day. I asked me to send me questions first, then see my answers, and then decide what to give to the audience. Questions were sent immediately. Their character said something about the ideas and goals of the editorial office. I sent my answer that same evening. Here he is.

1. Evaluate the phenomenon of the Tripoli culture. How long it is and how important it is.

1a. The question is somewhat strange. The antiquity of culture is not the subject of taste or expert assessments. There are enough dates: a) radiocarbon and b) based on comparative archeology, based on touch with areas of early writing. This is known to every student. The Tripoli culture is now dated V-IV millennia BC. e., but V millennium without the first quarter. This is in Ukraine. And on the territory of Romania, where it was formed and where it is called the culture of the cuckoo, it begins earlier - from the end of the VI millennium BC. e. This means that its monuments are almost 7 thousand years - early and 5 thousand years - late.

1b. Now about its importance. The question is also not very correct. Each culture for science is important in its own way. It is better to talk about what this culture is interesting. First of all, this is the first agricultural culture in Ukraine. In Nizhny Podunavier and in Greece, such cultures arose much earlier, in the Middle East - even earlier, but in Ukraine this is the same early. And with agriculture, many other components of culture appeared, making it rich and bright - ceramics, special art, etc.

2. What is the connection of the Tripoli culture with the development of civilization?

If you mean whether the Tripoli culture is civilization, then not, is not. A few years ago, a two -volume encyclopedia in the Tripoli culture was published in Ukraine, very solid, but with the name "lecyclopedia tripilian Tsilizatziï". The name, of course, is confusing. Civilization is usually understood as a society with writing and cities, with class stratification. There is nothing of this in the Tripoli culture. Those huge settlements that appeared at one of its stages do not have the main signs of the city, its main functions. They differed from others only in size. These were big villages. Cities developed much later and not from these settlements. So the Tripoli culture is no civilization. And that agriculture is the path to civilization, this is undoubted, but this applies to all agricultural crops.

3. How possible is it that all Europeans descended from the Tripolis?

As much as all Asians descended from some culture of Korea. Or Vietnam. Or Azerbaijan. There are absolutely no data that the Tripolis or their descendants settled in Europe. Moreover, this is impossible. To start at least with the fact that the Tripoli part of the culture itself came from the Romanian part - Kukuten. This means that the culture of Kukuten could no longer come from Tripolskaya. Cultures of Greece and Balkans, earlier, could not come from her. There are many earlier and simultaneous cultures in the rest of Europe, why wouldn't Europeans come from them? For example, an extensive culture of line-lentic ceramics, Neolithic and agricultural.

Then, there is decisively any data that the Tripolites spoke Indo -European languages. Judging by the paleogenetic research, the entire southern part of Europe was populated in the Neolithic by immigrants from the Middle East, and the Tripolites ultimately belonged to them. It is very likely that they brought their speech with them. Then it was a speech, related to the current Caucasian. But this is all the fortune -telling. Probably, some part of the Tripoli population entered new communities, accepted new languages, and some part of their genes entered the gene pool of Ukrainians, Moldavians and Romanians, and maybe some other Europeans.

Do you need all Europeans to come from the Tripolis? Is it to amuse your pride? Is it better to seek “all Europeans” envy the successes of the current Ukrainian industry, democracy, and science?

The answer came immediately. Here he is:
Lev Samuilovich, hello!
I apologize, but we have changed the concept of material :(
Thank you for responding!

I responded like this:
As I understand it, my concept is not suitable for you. I reserve the right to publish my interview in the press.
LSK

Which I carry out. Now realize whether to many of this thrust of Ukrainian television books our domestic efforts to prove the special antiquity of one or another Old Russian or Old Towned city, a special connection between Russians (Tatars, Ossetians or someone else), the origin of all European peoples from the Russian root, to find the ancient Russian Paleolitis, and to prove the belonging of the Varangians certainly To the Slavs (albeit Western), and not to the Scandinavians, the superiority of the pagan Russian gods over the Jewish Christ, the superiority of Orthodoxy (or Islam, or Judaism) over all other religions or atheism, etc.

Looking at Ukrainian quirks, we look in the mirror.