6,000-year-old fabric unveiled for the first time in Ukraine at Cherkasy Museum: a landmark discovery

The 6,000-year-old fabric, which is believed to be one of the oldest in the world, was shown for the first time at an exhibition at the Trypillian Culture State Historical and Cultural Reserve in the village of Lehedzyne in the Cherkasy Oblast. This unique piece of fabric was presented at the opening of the museum’s renovated entrance hall.

“We took a unique piece of fabric from storage for only one day to celebrate this special moment. Archaeologists discovered it in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast. The fabric has survived heat, humidity and cold, and today it transforms our perception of the life of Trypillians by revealing their high technology, ingenuity, and innovative spirit,” says Vladyslav Chabaniuk, Director of the Trypillian Culture State Historical and Cultural Reserve. 

Today, the reserve covers the area of eight giant settlements from the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture. One of them is the largest settlement of the pre-state period of human history, Talianky, which was established in the early IV century B.C. and spans an area of 450 hectares. Unique artefacts dating back to the Trypillian culture are preserved here.

However, until February 2024, tours of the museum were limited because there was only one old entrance, although all standards require that a museum have a central entrance and a fire exit. The MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation has renovated the entrance section of the museum under the National Project for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. This update aims to revitalise the museum’s tour activities and welcome visitors from across the country and the globe, enabling them to explore unique artefacts from the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture. 

“When the formation and rethinking of national identity enters a new stage, regional museums take on an important role in this process. Our strength, after all, comes from the Vinnytsia Oblast, where Vasyl Stus grew up, Cherkasy Oblast, where Viacheslav Chornovol was born and went to school, and the village of Lehedzyne, which houses the largest Trypillia museum exposition in Ukraine and where the world’s largest settlements existed a thousand years before the first Egyptian pyramids. That is why it was important for our Foundation to unlock the excursion and tourism potential of this unique destination,” says Tetiana Volochai, Director of the MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation. 

“Over the years, we have done some of the storage and exhibition work on our own. However, we did not have the resources to build such an entrance hall. Our museum will now start with beautiful steps and a reception. People who come up the stairs will have the sensation of entering a grand museum,” stresses Vladyslav Chabaniuk.

The opening of the entrance hall brought together artists from all over Ukraine. The visitors received an opportunity to see an art exhibition by the Honoured Artist of Ukraine Volodymyr Koziuk dedicated to the Trypillian culture and its symbols. In other halls of the museum, the renowned storyteller Sashko Lirnyk moderated a screening of the patriotic animated series about Trypillian culture, My Country Ukraine, and the writer Maryna Pavlenko presented a children’s book, Vasylyna and the Trypillian Trail, which depicts a cat who lives in the Lehedzyn Museum and teaches children about Trypillian culture.

At masterclasses on amulet making by Olha Sobkovych and pottery by potter Granddad Panas, visitors got to make their own souvenirs inspired by the Trypillian culture.

Museum workers say that the opening of the new entrance hall has given the Trypillian Culture Reserve new opportunities to develop and invite visitors from all over the country and the globe to join guided tours.