Community negotiation and pasture partitioning at the Trypillia settlement of Maidanetske

The inhabitants of the vast Chalcolithic Trypillia sites Eastern Europe required highly organised strategies to meet subsistence needs. Here, authors use isotopic analyses faunal remains from Maidanetske, Ukraine, identify intensive and extensive grazing practices. former demanded intra-community negotiation ensure access high-quality pastures for valuable animals such as dairy cows, suggesting that pasture may have also served socially integrative functions. simultaneous pasturing cattle placed on different pastureland suggests landscapes were partitioned, with determined by cooperation or competition. Maidanetske's dual system reflects importance spatially practices in maintaining social structure.