© The Independent, UKBurnt animal bones found on the remains of stone altars.
The temple, thought to belong to the ancient Trypillian culture, was found near the modern-day city of Nebelivka and originally unearthed in 2009.
Burnt bones of lambs were found lying on the remains of stone altars, suggesting sacrifices had taken place on the site.
The building, which was two stories high, was part of a vast 288 acre prehistoric settlement which may have contained as many as 1,200 buildings.
The temple itself measures 60 metres by 20 metres and was made of wood and clay. It included a gallery and a courtyard.
© The Independent, UKHuman-like figures found on the site.
In these rooms, altars took pride of place. Clay figures of humans were found, scattered around the ceremonial areas, with pottery fragments and human hair decorations also found.
An academic paper describing the finds at the temple was published by John Chapman, Mikhail Yu. Videiko, Bisserka Gaydarska, Natalia Burdo, Duncan Hale in the Journal of Neolithic Archaeology late last month.
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and fear of what? Heat to dry up the grass, rains to fail, herds to move on, predators to become bolder.
Looking backward in time one seems new starts such as Supe valley after the collapse. In all recovering civilizations, one sees:
* overall city planning
* if not protection for women then equality
* coordinated effort to provide food for all
* development of trade routes
* birth control so population does not overwhelm developing food supply
I suggest Supe was chosen specifically because of the Humboldt upwelling that would be the mainstay of the civilization while it developed.
As the population increased as it inevitably would, we see monumental constructions to occupy the surplus population. Sadly this devolves into : 1) war or 2) sacrifice or less likely 3) expansion.