“War and peace”: Relations and interactions in the Northwestern Black Sea Region in the 3rd millennium BC
“War and peace”: Relations and interactions in the Northwestern Black Sea Region in the 3rd millennium BC

Summary/Abstract: Aggressive behaviour was characteristic of ancient people living in different regions of Europe during the Early Bronze Age. Injuries indicate this, and arrowheads are found among the bones of skeletons. In the 3rd millennium BC, the Northwestern Black Sea Region was inhabited by several cultures: the Budzhak/Yamna, the Catacomb, and the Babyno. Despite evidence of conflicts in the form of injuries, these conflicts were not intercultural: these were collisions within one society, not between people of different cultures. Archaeological evidence suggests that people from different cultures learned to live by avoiding conflicts and respecting each other’s rituals and traditions. It can be concluded that people of the three cultures chose a tactic of social distancing. This approach helped them avoid conflicts and wars, and it was the best solution. People from different cultures chose a tactic of social distancing with their close neighbours. However, the tactic of contacts spreads with far neighbours during migrations of populations of these cultures to the west, into the Balkan-Carpathian area. They established peaceful relations with people of local cultures. Their aim was exchange and trade, not war.

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