Shypyntsi ( ua, Шипинці; ro, Șipeniț), a village in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, is located within Chernivtsi Raion (district) of

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the upp ...

Oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom of ...

(province), about driving distance southwest of

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, and about northwest from the provincial capital of Chernivtsi. Shypyntsi is about from the Ukrainian/Romanian border, about from the Ukrainian/

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

n border, and about from the city of Suceava,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Boxing champion

Oleksander Usyk Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk ( uk, Олекса́ндр Олекса́ндрович У́сик; born 17 January 1987) is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WB ...

is from this village, which is located on the left bank of the

Prut River The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates ...

, amid rolling hills covered with farms and forests, in the region generally known as the

Dniester Hills Dniester Hills ( ro, Dealurile Nistrului), also known as Northern Moldavian Plateau ( ro, Podişul Moldovei de Nord) is a geographic area that comprises most of the northern Moldova, and parts of the Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine. Dniester Hills a ...

. It belongs to

Kitsman urban hromada Kitsman ( uk, Кіцмань, Kicmań, ; ro, Coțmani, older or ; yi, קאצמאן, Kotzman) is a city located in Chernivtsi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast, in the historical region of Bukovina of western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of K ...

, one of the

hromada A hromada ( uk, територіальна громада, lit=territorial community, translit=terytorialna hromada) is a basic unit of administrative division in Ukraine, similar to a municipality. It was established by the Government of Ukra ...

s of Ukraine. Until 18 July 2020, Shypyntsi belonged to

Kitsman Raion Kitsman Raion ( uk, Кіцманський район, Kitsmans'kyi rayon) was an administrative raion (district) in the northern part of Chernivtsi Oblast, in the historical region of Bukovina, in western Ukraine. The administrative center was t ...

. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Chernivtsi Oblast to three. The area of Kitsman Raion was split between Chernivtsi Raion and Vyzhnytsia Raion, with Shypyntsi being transferred to Chernivtsi Raion. To the north of the village are the ancient ruins of a Cucuteni-Trypillian culture settlement, dating back to the 5th Millennium to early 4th Millennium BC. Archaeological excavation began at this site in the late 19th century by a team of Ukrainians: J. Shombathy, R. Kindle, F. Volkov, O. Kandyba and Tatiana Sergeyevna Passek. Houses, earthenware, and ceramic shards were discovered, and in 1938 Kandyba published a collection of images from this site of beautifully decorated pottery. This settlement was part of the Neolithic Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, which lasted from 5100 to 2750 BC, and which had some of the largest communities in the world at the time. The members of this society plowed their farms, raised livestock, hunted and fished, created textiles, and developed a beautiful and highly refined style of pottery with very intricate designs. Their settlements were built in oval or circular layouts, with concentric rows of houses interconnected to form rings around the center of the community, where often a sanctuary building would be found. They left behind a large number of clay figurines, many of which are regarded as Goddess fetishes. For over 2500 years their culture flourished with no evidence left behind that would indicate they experienced warfare. However, at the beginning of the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

their culture disappeared, the reasons for which are still debated, but possibly as a result of invaders coming from the Steppes to the east. The artifacts taken from the Shypyntsi ruins are kept in museums in Chernivtsi and Vienna.

References

{{Authority control Cucuteni–Trypillia culture Villages in Chernivtsi Raion Archaeological sites in Ukraine Prehistory of Southeastern Europe Neolithic Ukraine

See also

References