`  ==Cucuteni-Trypillian map== Thanks so much for doing that new map, Shandris. I actually did notice it before I went to bed last night, and was going to thank you for doing it. I am still trying to figure out how to do things on Wikipedia, and one of the things I'd love to be able to do is to created SVG images. What software did you use to make that? I would love to be able to create maps in SVG...   Anyway, there were a couple of things I would like to comment on about the map. The first is that I'm not very confident about the accuracy of it. I see that you probably based it on the map I'd made about a month ago, which I did in a rush. I was about to sub-divide the enormous Cucuteni-Trypillian culture article into a dozen sub-articles, and we didn't have a good map, which I felt was mandatory, especially since one of the articles (about the economy) was being nominated to be featured as a ``DYK`` on the main page - so I rushed through a ``quick-and-dirty`` map, based on very rough data that I was getting from a few sources. However, this data was not very accurate as far as the map goes, it was just ``good enough`` for a temporary fix. Afterwards, I have kept putting off redoing it, since there were other pressing issues that needed to be taken care of. But it has been on my ``to-do`` list - to make a new map that was absolutely accurate.   The reason the map is not completely accurate is due to a couple of reasons: 1) I could not find a map that shows the geographical territorial region of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture that is accurate. There are a couple of maps out there that have the territory indicated (a German one was being used that comes to mind), but it is innaccurate. 2) The map I made was based on where Cucuteni-Trypillian settlements are located, which means that instead of it being a shaded territory, it should actually show little dots where these settlements are. There's actually some indication that there were other groups living cheek-to-cheek with the Cucuteni-Trypillian settlements, specifically the Indo-European Yamna culture. However, I wanted to have a shaded region as a reference for people to quickly get an idea in their minds where the general region was for this culture's settlements. However, this is not very solid. 3) I didn't really have time to look at all of the Cucuteni-Trypillian settlements, and so the boundaries on that map are just very rough estimates based on the several dozen settlements I did look at (keep in mind there are over 1000 settlements), plus the knowledge I have of the region they occupied, but I would like to improve this.   So what I'd like to do to improve the map in this regard would be that I'd like to painstakenly go through all of the Cucuteni-Trypillian settlements, mark where they are on a map, and then use that data to create an accurate map based on verifiable data. I've played around in my mind with the idea of not having a map that has a shaded ``territory`` indicated, but instead just shows the dots where the settlements were located. I actually think this would be more realistic. The reason for that is because the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture was not in any conceivable way a ``state`` or ``nation`` - they had settlements that were completely independent from each other, and almost completely self-sufficient. Moreover, these settlements were scattered across vast areas in some cases - with lots and lots of land in between that was basically just wilderness. As I mentioned above, there also were nomadic or semi-nomadic groups of Indo-European pastoralists wandering through this area, leaving behind temporary camps or settlements that were only occupied part-time throughout the year as they would move from one grazing area to the next with their herds of cattle and horses. The large Cucuteni-Trypillian settlements were occupied by permanent residents who were farmers primarily, so we have these permanent large settlements of farmers with nomadic cattle herders roaming around amongst them, settling down temporarily either nearby or away from the permanent settlements. We know these two cultures interacted with each other, because they have found artifacts from each culture mixed with their respective archaeological sites. And they lived like this for almost two thousand years - hardly a brief encounter.   So what I'm trying to get at here is that I have problems with showing a shaded territory for the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture - which is probably why it has been impossible to find a map that has that shows this. Instead, I think it would be good to have a map that has the settlements marked out as dots. But that's going to take some time to create... )   Okay, the other thing I'd like a map to do would be to indicate how the settlements were built over time. The Cucuteni-Trypillian culture started out in a relatively small region (northwestern Moldova), and expanded dramatically to cover a very large area before their culture ended. This took place over about 2700 years - so if you think about it, that would be like a culture that would have existed going back from our present time clear to the time of Homer. So to show this as one single area is a little misleading. There are very easy methods to use to show this - I was thinking of using a color code to indicate rough time periods. So, for instance, if we used settlement dots instead of a shaded region, we could make the dots different colors that would correspond to the time periods for when they began. I am thinking that the best way to do this would be to use the general time periods indicated in the main article (under the section called ``Periodization``), and then try to come up with data that would show when the different settlements were started. This is, as you can imagine, going to be a BEAR of a job, especially since we're looking at over 1000 settlements! Oy. My brain already hurts just thinking about this. But to do otherwise would be to do this map a dis-service, since I believe its accuracy will be in question. Such is the demands of honest academic research...   Now, it may be that the best solution would be to have two maps - one that would be the basic reference map similar to the one you just made, and another more involved map that could be included where the actual specific settlements or geographical limits were being discussed in detail. However, even with that scenario, I'd still like to improve the general reference map, since the boundaries were roughly drawn originally, and not entirely accurate...   I very much like the clean look of the map you made, and I also like the way you placed the label for Moldova inside the country, instead of in the middle of the Black Sea, like I'd done. I like how you used different font for the name of the culture, too. Other than redrawing the boundaries to be more accurate (which I will work on producing), I think that what I'd like to suggest would be that I'd personally like to see a little more color in the map, but that's a personal preference on my part, and don't take it as a criticism, please. Your map is definitely an improvement over what I'd made, so thanks.   So, if you are interested in helping to make any of these future maps, just let me know. As I said earlier, I don't have the software available right now to create SVG files, but I wish I did. If I can't get this, then maybe I could create something on another format, and send it to you so you could make it into an SVG file. Does that sound okay? At any rate, thanks for the help, and congratulations on the nice-looking map! Let's stay in touch.    `