After the last Ice Age (10,000 years ago) the settling of the Prydniprovia area began more intensely. In c.3500�2700 BC the first farmers lived here (people of the so-called Cucuteni-Trypillia culture).
The Cimmerians, ancient equestrian nomads who bred cattle, occupied the North Pontic steppe zone including Prydniprovye; their culture and civilization flourished between about 1000 and 800 BC The Cimmerians were driven out by the nomadic Scythians (700 BC), who in turn were overcome by the Sarmatians from the East (200 BC).
The mighty, broad Dnieper River (Greeks called it the Borysthenes, 'Borysphen' in local pronunciation) with its picturesque islands and peaceful backwaters, lush flood-meadows and shadowy oak woods stretches along river valleys and ravines. Abundant game and fish in local forests and waters are a result of good climate and vast fertile land. All this attracted hunters, fishers, cattle-breeders and land-tillers to these parts.
In the 3rd and 4th century, about 40 km south of the modern city, the village of Bashmachka (????????) was one of the centres of the Goths. A little later their place was taken by first the Huns, the Avars, the Bulgars, and the Magyars. After them the Slavs began to settle in the area.
The middle ages
A monastery was founded by Byzantine monks on Monastyrsky Island, probably in the 9th century (870 AD). The Dnipropetrovsk area was ruled by a steppe nomadic people called the Cumans or Kipchaks who ruled this area until the Mongol invasions. The Tatars destroyed the monastery in 1240.
At the beginning of the 15th century, Tatar tribes inhabiting the right bank of the Dnieper were driven away by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Unfortunately, by the mid-15th century, the Nogai (who lived north of the Sea of Azov) and the Crimean Khanate invaded these lands. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crimean Khanate agreed to a border along the Dnieper, and
