Although the designs on these eggs are based on neolithic (New Stone Age) pottery patterns, they are not by any means traditional pysanka designs (all claims by vendors on eBay to the contrary). Trypillian “pysanky” were not first written by ancient Ukrainians in their caves, hoping to improve their hunting prowess.  They were, in fact, first written in the 1970s in North America. There was a revival of interest in Trypillian pottery among the Diaspora in the 60s and 70s, and Trypillian-style ceramics were quite popular.  Someone decided to adapt the colors and motifs of this style of pottery to eggs, and a new fad/style of Ukrainian egg decoration was born.

The practice has since spread to Ukraine, where Trypillian eggs are also popular and are being written. The white, terra cotta and black eggs, with their sinuous lines and ancient motifs, are gorgeous, even if they are technically more difficult to write than traditional ones.

Pictured above are actual examples of Trypillian-style pottery from the museum in Trypillia, Ukraine. The culture existed in Ukraine from app. 5400 to 2750 BC, and there was much regional and temporal variation in their pottery designs. You can see the curvilinear patterning in black on a red clay background in the pots above.  Often such pots also have white painted design elements.