Notable Matches · Iconic discoveries
The Cucuteni-Trypillia Mega-Settlements
The Cucuteni-Trypillia Mega-Settlements (c. 4300-3500 BCE · Verteba Cave, Ukraine): what the published ancient DNA shows, 12 sequenced genomes, and how close your own Global25 coordinates come. Free with every Ancestry Map.
The dossier

- Catalog tier
- Iconic discoveries
- Period
- c. 4300-3500 BCE
- Found
- Verteba Cave, Ukraine
- Sequenced genomes
- 12 (I13064, I7920, VERT031, VERT015, VERT029, VERT030, VERT104B, VERT028, VERT100B, VERT107, Pocrovca3, I7586)
Who they were
Before the first cities of Mesopotamia, the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture built settlements of ten thousand people on the forest-steppe of Ukraine: planned rings of two-storey houses that they periodically burned to the ground, for reasons still argued over. The sequenced individuals, buried in the ritual darkness of Verteba Cave, carry farmer ancestry with the first whispers of the steppe herders to their east.
The genome-wide data behind this entry was published in The genomic history of Southeastern Europe.
How your distance is measured
Every Ancestry Map includes the free Notable Matches lens: your coordinates are compared to every sequenced member of every catalog entry, and the distance to the closest member is reported, a Euclidean distance in the same 25-dimensional space the Distance lens uses. Because these are a small group of real individuals, not a population average, distances naturally run larger than population distances. That is expected, not a poor result. And one thing is never claimed: a small distance means similar ancestry composition, not that the Cucuteni-Trypillia Mega-Settlements are your ancestor. See how it looks in the live demo or read about Ancestry Map, the full Global25 report.
Questions
Who were the Cucuteni-Trypillia Mega-Settlements?
The Cucuteni-Trypillia Mega-Settlements (c. 4300-3500 BCE, Verteba Cave, Ukraine) are one of the Iconic discoveries entries in our Notable Matches catalog, represented by 12 sequenced ancient genomes published in the study "The genomic history of Southeastern Europe".
What does "matching" the Cucuteni-Trypillia Mega-Settlements mean?
Your Global25 coordinates are compared to the entry's sequenced members and the distance to the closest one is reported, a Euclidean distance in the same 25-dimensional reference space the Distance lens uses. A notable entry is one person or one small burial group, not a population average, so distances naturally run larger than population distances.
Are they my ancestor?
No, and no DNA test can show that. A small distance means your genome sits near theirs in a shared reference space: similar ancestry composition, not descent. Ancestrify never claims a notable individual is your ancestor or relative.
How do I see my own distance to the Cucuteni-Trypillia Mega-Settlements?
Notable Matches is a free lens on every Ancestry Map, never sold separately. Order Ancestry Map, our Global25 analysis (29.99 EUR), and your report ranks your coordinates against the full catalog, with a portrait, dossier and map for every entry. The public demo shows the lens with example data.
More from the catalog
The catalog holds every published entry across three tiers. Browse the full Notable Matches directory. Nearby entries:
The Tren Cave Dwellersc. 4250-4150 BCE
The Long Barrow Buildersc. 3700-3400 BCE
The Yangshao Farmers of Baligangc. 4100-3000 BCE
The Chalcolithic Anatolians of Arslantepec. 3950-3050 BCE
The Copper Lords of Gumelnițac. 4500-4250 BCE
The Fall of Yunatsitec. 4500-4400 BCE
The Neolithic Peloponnesiansc. 6000-3200 BCE
Ötzi the Icemanc. 3350-3120 BCE
The Maykop Culturec. 3600-3000 BCE
The Varna Gold Elitec. 4600 BCE
The Newgrange Chieftainc. 3200 BCE
The Megalith Farmers of Falbygdenc. 3300-2800 BCE