in which a linguistic anthropologist muses about archaeological news

{this is not a pyramid. rather, a scene on the kitchen table i am rather fond of}

Apparently, there are Bronze Age pyramids in the Donbass region of Eastern Ukraine.

Judging by the artefacts & ashes found in & around the structure, it seems to be that it was a place of sacrifice by burning, likely an altar to a sun deity. I'm not sure if it would be connected to the Dniepr-area Trypillian culture, but that would make some sense. That civilization lasted from about 5400-2700 B.C.E. & sun imagery/worship was definitely important then, as it was (& is, I suppose) for later Slavic cultures.

Now, the discovery of pyramid-like structures is not new in Eastern Europe. I had heard about the possibility of the Visočica "pyramid" in Visoki, Bosnia... but it's difficult to get any real information on it as one of the main people involved in the excavation has constructed a diffusionist pseudohistory about Illyrians & Atlantis, etc etc. using numerology & whatnot. I don't know. I get quite skeptical when people start talking about lost continents & energy-portals leading to other planets, & such... There is a very thorough critical article here on the pyramid.

Now, I'm not an archaeologist by any means, but it seems to me that the structure at Visočica could be part of a human structure. Hills usually aren't quite that pointy, but then again I'm not a geologist either, so... it could just be a pointy hill. I would be interested to see how this "pyramid" and the Ukrainian ones compare, if anyone else besides Sam Osmanagić gets to excavate in Bosnia, and if indeed it turns out to contain more evidence of human-made structures or buildings. With the focus on the Near East in looking at how all the 'great' civilizations developed, it's fascinating to see how in the last 30 years (with the Trypillian discoveries), older evidence is creeping northward into areas once seen as the domain of peripheral cattle-herders.
I guess this all just interests me because I like to see how our previous conceptions of human history shift like this. How we can be set on one idea for so long (e.g. The Tigris-Euphrates as the Cradle of Civilization) & all it takes is one little discovery for it all to change.

& you know, I've never been terribly enthralled with the so-called 'great civilizations' like Egypt & Sumeria & such... because it seems that a lot of our views of these societies are both informed by & inspire our Western industrialized notions of linear progress. Certainly, I'm not denying that building massive ziggurats is quite the feat! It's just that... I don't know. These grandiose civilizations all collapsed, falling apart, imploding in on themselves, whilst all the pastoralists & farmers & hunter-gatherers kept on herding cows & planting corn & catching fishes, (& feasting!) & many of them still continue today. & I guess I've always been fascinated and inspired by growing things, & how things regenerate.... & the resilience these sorts of cultures have shown, following their cyclic patterns... That is just as great & as advanced an accomplishment, I think, as building large things.

(Manda, have you heard anything about this -- either the Ukrainian discovery or this Visočica business? What do you think?)