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[[Image:Or de Varna - Nécropole.jpg|200px|thumb|right|The world´s oldest elite burial and oldest gold jewelry from the [[Varna Necropolis]], [[Bulgaria]], 4600-4200 BC.]]
'''Danube civilization ''' or [[Old Europe (archaeology)|Old Europe]] is the name for several advanced (for the period) [[Old Europe (archaeology)|pre-Indo-European]] linked cultures in [[southeastern Europe]] and surrounding areas of the [[Danube River]] valley and beyond into [[Central Europe]] and the [[Aegean Sea]]. It was a cycle of cultures beginning around 7,200 BC, its time of peak was between 5,500–3,500 BC. At around 3,500 BC the civilization fell into decline, and by 3000–2700 BC only fragments of the civilization remained.<ref name="arheologija.ff.uni-lj.si">{{cite news| url=http://arheologija.ff.uni-lj.si/documenta/pdf38/38_29.pdf | work=Mykhailo Videiko Institute of Archaeology, National Academy of Sciences, Kyiv, UA | title=The ‘disappearance’of Trypillia culture | date=2011}}</ref> The main reasons for this were perhaps the spread of the [[Yamna culture]] from 3500 BC into the [[Balkans]] and the arrival of the [[Indo European]] people from [[Eastern Europe]], according to [[Marija Gimbutas]] and the [[kurgan hypothesis]].

==Overview==
Some of the achievements of the Danube Valley civilization include:
* The world´s first [[industrial revolution]]<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rise-metallurgy-eurasia/docs/2.1a.pdf | work=BBC history magazine | title=The first industrial revolution | date=2010}}</ref>
* The world's earliest known large scale copper smelting industry and oldest dated [[copper]] smelting from 5500–5000 BC.
* The oldest [[gold]]en treasure and elite burial in the world, dating from 4,600–4,200 BC, from the [[Varna Necropolis]].<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&pg=PA290&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest&hl=en#v=onepage&q=varna%20necropolis%20oldest&f=false] Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World, By Lance Grande</ref>
* Potentially the oldest [[proto-writing]] - [[Vinča signs]] in the world, beginning in 6000 BC.
* The oldest wooden [[wheel]] ever found, [[Ljubljana Marshes Wheel]] from 3350–3150 BC.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.google.dk/books?id=0MJ_PQAACAAJ&dq=oldest+wheel+3350+bc&hl=da&sa=X&ei=TD0tVNH1DqnlywO_x4GgDA&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA | work=Irena Šinkovec, Carmen Narobe, Matevž Paternoster, Matija Turk, City Museum | title=The oldest wooden wheel with axle in the world: 3350-3100 B.C. | date=2003}}</ref>
* The earliest known image of a [[wheeled]] vehicle ([[Bronocice pot]]), 3635–3370 BC.
* The oldest [[solar observatory]], ([[Goseck circle]]), 4900 BC.
* The largest [[Neolithic]] settlements in the world, with the possibility of [[sovereign state|state]]-level societies.
* [[Monument]]al [[architecture]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.google.dk/books?id=AAGGAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 | work=Michael Parker Pearson, Colin Richards Routledge | title=Architecture and Order: Approaches to Social Space | page=58 | date=2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.google.dk/books?id=KE4-OmYtMBwC&pg=PA53 | work=Richard Bradley, Oxford University Press | title=The Idea of Order: The Circular Archetype in Prehistoric Europe | page=53 | date=2012}}</ref>
* The oldest wooden [[water well]]s, which were also the world's oldest wood architecture, dating to 5200 BC. This was constructed by the first [[carpenters]] in the world from the [[linear pottery culture]] in Central Europe.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Early neolithic water wells reveal the world's oldest wood architecture |author=Tegel W, Elburg R, Hakelberg D, Stäuble H, Büntgen U |year=2012 |journal=PLoS ONE |volume=7 |issue=12 |page=e51374 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0051374 |url=http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0051374}}</ref>
* Long-distance trade was one of the traits of Old Europe, with [[copper]] pieces from [[Bulgaria]] found as far away at the [[Volga River]] 2000&nbsp;km (1200&nbsp;mi) east of Bulgaria.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/science/01arch.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 | work=John Noble Wilford | title=A lost European culture pulled from obscurity | date=2009}}</ref>

As a result of the [[Cold War]], the knowledge of this civilization was for a long time unknown in the [[West]], but today we know that southeastern Europe achieved a level of artistic creativity, technological skill and social sophistication that defies our standard categories. European civilization between 6500–3500 BC was not an imitation of the cultures of the [[Near East]], but a distinct civilization developing a unique culture.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=SLACTsmH4aYC&pg=PA17 | work=Marija Gimbutas | title=The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe: 7000 to 3500 BC Myths, Legends and Cult Images, University of California Press | date=1974}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC&pg=PA339 | work=J. P. Mallory, Douglas Q. Adams, Taylor & Francis | title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture | date=1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=7DfI39EDbMcC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149 | work=Marija Gimbutas, University of California Press | title=The Living Goddesses | date=2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://isaw.nyu.edu//exhibitions/oldeurope/introduction.html | work=Michael Balter, Christine Lin. Institute for the study of the ancient world at New York University (ISAW) | title=The lost world of old Europe. The Danube Valley, 5000 - 3500 BC | date=2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zKFFOoPlyjIC&pg=PA12 | work=Marija Gimbutas, University of California Press, 1982 | title=The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, 6500-3500 B.C.: Myths and Cult Images | date=1982}}</ref>

Although it was less known, the cultural development was earlier and faster in Old Europe than in [[Anatolia]], [[Mesopotamia]] or [[Egypt]]. The progress was so dynamic that it created the world´s oldest [[high culture]]. 7000 years ago, the Danube civilization was the most advanced region in the world. It [[flourished]] at a time when the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt did not yet exist.
The Danube civilization is also the root of the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] civilization.<ref name="Harald Haarmann, McFarland">{{cite news| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=M1qDBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA22 | work=Harald Haarmann, McFarland | title=Roots of Ancient Greek Civilization: The Influence of Old Europe | page=41 | date=2014}}</ref>

== Geography ==
The area of the Danube Valley civilization covered all of southeastern Europe from central Ukraine to southern Italy, and from Slovakia to Crete in the south. This included the modern day countries of [[Serbia]], [[Romania]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Greece]], [[Ukraine]], [[Hungary]], [[Slovakia]], [[Czech Republic]], [[Austria]], [[Albania]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Croatia]], [[Kosovo]], [[Republic of Macedonia]], [[Moldova]], [[Montenegro]], [[Slovenia]], [[Turkey]], [[Poland]], [[Italy]], and [[Germany]].<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=SLACTsmH4aYC&pg=PA15 | work=Marija Gimbutas | title=The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe: 7000 to 3500 BC Myths, Legends and Cult Images, University of California Press | date=1974}}</ref>

== Chronology ==
The Danube Valley civilization was a hybrid of many linked local cultures overlapping each other in time and area, starting with the [[Lepenski Vir]] culture around 7200 BC. It gained momentum when people from the [[Sesklo]] culture in [[Thessaly]] moved north and merged.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.dk/books?id=vXljf8JqmkoC&pg=PA17 | work=John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, Cambridge University Press | title=The Cambridge Ancient History| date=1982}}</ref> The same people from Thessaly merged with the proto [[Starčevo culture]] and then later this created the [[Vinča culture]].<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.dk/books?id=vXFW36L1hu4C&pg=PA16 | work=Harald Haarmann, Walter de Gruyter | title=Early Civilization and Literacy in Europe: An inquiry into cultural continuity in the Mediterranean World | date=1996}}</ref>

The roots of [[Cucuteni-Trypillian culture]] can be found in the [[Starčevo culture]] and [[Vinča culture]], in the East [[Balkan]] tradition. The [[linear pottery culture]] began an expansion north of the [[Carpathians]] into the [[steppe]] region of Ukraine, and there it became the pre Cucuteni-Trypillian culture. It constitutes the most northeastern outpost of the Old European culture. Its classical period around 4500-4000 BC.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=SLACTsmH4aYC&pg=PA34 | work=Marija Gimbutas, University of California Press | title=The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe: 7000 to 3500 BC Myths, Legends and Cult Images | page= 33 | date=1974}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=I91PZ6JVnR4C&pg=PA83 | work=A. W. R. Whittle, Cambridge University Press | title=Europe in the Neolithic: The Creation of New Worlds | page= 83 | date=1996}}</ref> The most southern fringe of the Danube civilization was in the [[Aegean sea]] on the islands of [[Crete]] and the [[Cyclades]]. In the peak of the Danube civilization the islands were of little importance, but the inhabitants of the islands shared the same cultural and religious ([[Mother Goddess]]) background as those on mainland Europe. With the spread of the Indo European culture into the Balkans and the following decline of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, the southern part of Old Europe in the Aegean sea and the islands of Crete and the Cyclades evolved into great civilizations with cultural layers rooted into the culture of mainland Europe. The [[Minoan civilization]], [[Cycladic civilization]], and [[Helladic period]] were the offspring of older traditions.<ref name="Harald Haarmann, McFarland"/>

There are many other cultures belonging to the Danube civilization before the arrival of the Indo European culture. Some of them include the [[Tisza culture]], the [[Butmir culture]], the [[Rössen culture]] and the later cultures of the [[Baden culture]], the southern [[Funnelbeaker culture]], who where all in the process of being [[kurgan]]ized, as in being Indo-Europeanized.
The Danube civilization covers many cultures with regional differences; below are the most famous and important ones.

In roughly relative order and approximate start of culture.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=SLACTsmH4aYC&pg=PA28 | work=Marija Gimbutas, University of California Press, 1974 | title=The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe: 7000 to 3500 BC Myths, Legends and Cult Images| date=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://www.academia.edu/3035626/Introduction_to_the_Danube_script | work=Marco Merlini, academia.edu | title=Introduction to the Danube script| date=}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!7200-6800 BC
!6200 BC
!5700-5500 BC
!5200-4800 BC
!4500 BC
!3200 BC - Offspring Cultures of the Danube civilization evolving
|-
|[[Lepenski Vir]]
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|[[Sesklo]]
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|[[Starčevo culture]]
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|[[Karanovo culture]]
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|[[Vinča culture]]
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|-
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|[[Hamangia culture]]
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|[[Cucuteni-Trypillian culture]]
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|[[Linear Pottery culture]]
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||[[Lengyel culture]]
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|[[Gumelniţa–Karanovo culture]]
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|[[Boian culture]]
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|-
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|[[Varna culture]]
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|-
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|[[Minoan civilization]]
|-
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|[[Helladic period]]
|-
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|[[Cycladic civilization]]
|-
|}

== State-level societies ==
The Danube civilization created societies with a high level of organisation. The Cucuteni-Trypillian culture was quite sophisticated with a complex [[hierarchy]] which most likely involved [[chiefdom]]s. This civilization's settlements had three levels of hierarchy; this implies the possibility of [[sovereign state|state]]-level societies.<ref name="antiquity.ac.uk">{{cite book| url=http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/chapman339/ | work=Antiquity Volume 088 Issue 339 March 2014 | title=The planning of the earliest European proto-towns: a new geophysical plan of the Trypillia mega-site of Nebelivka, Kirovograd Domain, Ukraine}}</ref> The strong organization made it easier to solve problems, from the distribution of land to the protection of territories and [[trade]] over great distances. The chiefdoms with their huge settlements could muster up to 1000 [[warriors]] for their defense, with the most advanced copper weapons in the world. The chiefdoms controlled a powerful and well armed military [[contingent]] for the time.

According to archeologists' calculations, the population in the area of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture in its peak could number as much as 400,000—a huge figure for the time. In late Cucuteni-Trypillian, the population fell to approximately 120,000 people.<ref name="arheologija.ff.uni-lj.si"/>

== Settlements ==
[[File:Talianki (Trypillian city).jpg|300px|thumb|right|Reconstruction of Trypillian city [[Talianki]] 4000 B.C.]]
[[File:Trypillian city (Maydanets).jpg|300px|thumb|right|Reconstruction of [[Maydanets]] 4000 B.C.]]
The urban life in the Danube valley started early with the settlement of [[Lepenski Vir]], [[Serbia]] 9500/7200 B.C. Around 6300 BC It consisted of one large settlement with around ten satellite villages. The next big urban life came with the [[Vinča culture]] in form of the [[Vinča-Belo Brdo]] [[Tell]] and from the [[Sesklo]] culture in central [[Greece]].
These early towns could have been home to as many as between 2500 and 5000 people in 5000 BC. The [[Belovode]] settlement occupied an area of 100 hectare with 700 buildings in the period 5500-4800 B.C. The size of the settlement was properly due to the fact that Belovode was one of the "capitals" of the first industrial revolution. Belovode are the site of copper smelting from 5000 BC making it the earliest record of fully developed metallurgical activity anywhere in the world along with [[Pločnik]].

Early Vinča settlement population density was 50-200 people per hectare, in later phases an average of 50-100 people per hectare was common.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://www.academia.edu/625659/Early_Vinca_Culture_Dynamic_in_South-Easthern_Transylvania | work=Steve Mills, Pavel Mirea, Editura Renaissance | title=THE LOWER DANUBE IN PREHISTORY: LANDSCAPECHANGES AND HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS | page=80 | date=2011}}</ref>
The [[Divostin]] site 4900-4650 BC had up to 1028 houses and a maximum population size of 8200, and could perhaps be the largest Vinča settlement. Another large site was [[Stubline]] from 4700 BC. It may have contained a maximum population of 4000.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://www.duncancaldwell.com/Site/Prehistory_Shows.html | work=Duncan Caldwell | title=Archaeological Exhibitions }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url= http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0567-8315/2003/0567-83150306427J.pdf| work=JOVANOVI S, SAVIC MILA, TRAILOVI RU@ICA, JANKOVIC Z. SLJIVAR D, | title=EVALUATIONS OF THE DOMESTICATION PROCESS IN SERBIA - PALEZOOLOGICAL REMNANTS AT NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT OF BELOVODE | date=2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/project/D208DC64-842F-4E99-9C9E-248D8185D75A| work=University College London, Institute of Archaeology | title=The rise of metallurgy in Eurasia: Evolution, organisation and consumption of early metal in the Balkans | date=2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://arheologija.ff.uni-lj.si/documenta/pdf39/39_12.pdf| work=Marko Por;ic´
Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, RS | title=Social complexity and inequality in the Late Neolithic of the Central Balkans> reviewing the evidence | page=171 | date=2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://arheologija.ff.uni-lj.si/documenta/pdf38/38_25.pdf| work=Marko Por;ic´
Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, RS | title=An exercise in archaeological demography> estimating the population size of Late Neolithic settlements in the Central Balkans |}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://coroplasticstudies.univ-lille3.fr/fichiers/fichierspdf/flash/newsletters/2014_12/2014Summer.pdf| work= Association for Coroplastic Studies | title=Newsletter of the Association for Coroplastic Studies Number 12, Summer 2014 | date=2014}}</ref>

[[Central Europe]] had large settlements with large [[longhouses]] up to 45 meters (148 feet) in length. The Neolithic Central Europeans built many settlements covering several [[hectares]] as far north as central [[Poland]].
The settlement at [[Oslonki]] (4300-4000 BC) in [[Poland]] was first discovered in 1985. The settlement was very large with 30 trapezoidal longhouses, [[fortification]] [[ditches]] and satellite settlements. Only 8 km from Oslonki, another large settlement—[[Brzesc Kujawski]]—was discovered. This settlement had up to 60 longhouses. From the last 30 years of archaeological work we can conclude that Central Europe was the home of a many complex and enormous settlements.
With estimates of up to 15 people living in one house, the population size of Linear Pottery settlements could have been quite high before 4000 BC.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Rd7LoAkhvDAC&pg=PA138&lpg=PA138 | work=Ludomir R. Lozny, Springer Science & Business Media | title=Landscapes under Pressure: Theory and Practice of Cultural Heritage Research and Preservation | page=138 | date=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://www.princeton.edu/~bogucki/oslonki.html | work=Peter Bogucki | title=Archaeological Research at Oslonki, Poland }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=jP5MnDHH5MoC&pg=PA189&lpg=PA189 | work=Daniela Hofmann, Jessica Smyth, Springer Science & Business Media | title=Tracking the Neolithic House in Europe: Sedentism, Architecture and Practice | page=189 | date=2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XneTstDbcC0C&pg=PA82 | work=Barbara Ann Kipfer, Springer Science & Business Media | title=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology | page=82 | date=2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=l25w3I5oWMkC&pg=PA175 | work=Peter Bogucki, CRC Press | title=Case Studies in European Prehistory | pages=155–175 | date=1993}}</ref>

Just south of [[Vienna]], [[Austria]], in [[Brunn am Gebirge]], the largest of the early [[Linear Pottery culture]] settlements was discovered in 1989, called [[Brunn Wolfholz]]. The settlement had up to 100 longhouses with the standardized size of 20x7m, dating to 5700–5060 BC. The settlement size is 850 x 500 m (2800 x 1600&nbsp;ft).<ref>{{cite book| url=http://homepage.univie.ac.at/Peter.Stadler/Stadler/StadlerP_2004b.pdf | work=Peter Stadler
Museum of Natural History & University of Vienna, Austria | title=Settlement of the Early Linear Ceramics Culture at Brunn am Gebirge, Wolfholz site | date=2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://www.academia.edu/1839883/Stadler_Peter_Kotova_Nadja_2011_2007_Early_Neolithic_Contacts_between_Croatia_and_the_Vienna_basin_from_5700-5200_BC._Festschrift_Minichreiter_151-173 | work=Peter Stadler
Museum of Natural History & University of Vienna, Austria | title=Stadler Peter, Kotova Nadja 2011(2007), Early Neolithic Contacts between Croatia and the Vienna basin from 5700-5200 BC. Festschrift Minichreiter, 151-173.more | date=2007}}</ref>

The settlement of [[Aszód]] in [[Hungary]] belonging to the [[Lengyel culture]] was populated by 500 people at one time. The settlement covered an area of 25 heactares and dating to around 4850-4360 BC.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://regeszet.elte.hu/uploads/File/siklosi/siklosi2007.pdf | work=Zsuzsanna Siklosi | title=Age and Gender differences in in late neolithic mortuary practic, a case study from eastern Hungary | page=195 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://real.mtak.hu/12404/ | work=Kalicz, Nándor and Kovács, Katalin and Siklósi, Zsuzsanna and Tóth, Zsuzsanna | title=Aszód–Papi földek Late Neolithic site: Connection between East and West | date=2014}}</ref>
[[Bučany]] in [[Slovakia]] represents a [[Lengyel]] settlement, 530 m long and 60–200 m wide and covering 6 hectares. The settlement had a Neolithic circular enclosure, which was common in Central Europe at that time. The enclosure had an outer diameter of 87 meter with two concentric ditches, the inner one with [[palisade]] and four gates. within the palisade there was a building with the measurements 15x7,5 m. The [[Neolithic circular enclosures in Central Europe]] are the oldest monumental [[architecture]] in that part of Europe.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://arheologija.ff.uni-lj.si/documenta/pdf34/DPpazinova34.pdf | work=Noémi Pazinová Department of archeology, Faculty of Philosophy, Constantine University Nitra, Slovakia| title=The Lengyel culture settlement in Bučany | date=2007}}</ref>

[[Parţa]] in [[Romania]] is the site of another neolithic settlement (7000-3500 BC) with 150 dwellings (population perhaps 1575) and two [[sanctuaries]] or [[temple]]s with monumental statues. In addition, the findings show 4 blocks of houses with 4-5 rooms and a suspended floor. The site also contained the [[Deer]] House (Casa Cerbului) named after a monumental statue of a deer head that once hung in one of the inner walls.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://www.prehistory.it/ftp/parta_archaeological_excavations01.htm | work=Gheorghe Lazarovici, Marco Merlini, EURO INNOVANET | title=Parţa archaeological excavations, the deer house | date=2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://europeanvirtualmuseum.net/evm/vm/e227t5n3Lenp1routep2The%20religious%20places%20(caves,%20sanctuaries%20,%20temples,%20e.g.).html | work=Banat museum of Timisoara, Virtual Museum | title=The religious places (caves, sanctuaries, temples, e.g.) | date=2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/28260599/The-Architecture-of-Temples-Sanctuaies-in-Banat-and-Transylvania-during-Neolithic-and-Copper-Age-Periods | work=Gheorghe Lazarovici, Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici | title=The Architecture of Temples/Sanctuaies in Banat and Transylvania during Neolithic and Copper Age Periods | date=2009}}</ref>
The [[Butmir culture]] settlement of [[Okoliste]] in [[Bosnia]] dating to 5200-4500 B.C. was home to 1000-1500 people. The settlement was largest in the early phase (5200 BC) with an area of 7.5 hectares. From there it gradually declined to reach the size of 1.2 hectares in 4500 BC.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://www.academia.edu/1347259/The_Socio-Political_Development_of_the_Late_Neolithic_Settlement_of_Okoliste_Bosnia-Hercegowina_Devolution_by_Transhumance | work=Nils Müller-Scheeßel, Robert Hofmann, Johannes Müller, Knut Rassmann | title=The Socio-Political Development of the Late Neolithic Settlement of Okoliste/Bosnia-Hercegowina: Devolution by Transhumance? | date=2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://dmc.ssst.edu.ba/ButmirNeolithicCulture/english/okoliste3.html | work=Sarajevo School of Science anf Technology | title=Butmir culture }}</ref>
The Cucuteni–Trypillian culture settlement of [[Petreny, Moldova]] 4000-3600 B.C. are very interesting, it is neither the oldest or largest settlement even though the settlement had 500 buildings covering an area of 30 hectare. It is interesting because of the layout of the settlement. It consist of [[concentric]] circles of buildings, just like the other Cucuteni–Trypillian settlements, but at Petreny there are the very high number of 10 concentric circles. Most of the building was the same size, but some was considerably larger at the length of 15 x 6 m.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=W8VRCTE88DkC&pg=PA212&lpg=PA212 | work=Douglass Whitfield Bailey, Psychology Press | title=Prehistoric Figurines: Representation and Corporeality in the Neolithic | page=212 | date=2005}}</ref>

With the mega [[settlements of the Cucuteni–Trypillian culture]] starting in 4300 BC, the period of very large settlements would continue for almost 2000 years. To date (2014) more than 2440 Cucuteni-Trypillia settlements have been discovered so far in [[Moldova]], [[Ukraine]] and [[Romania]]. 194 (8%) of these settlements had an area of more than 10 hectares dating to 5000 - 2700 BC, and more than 29 settlements had an area in the range of 100-450 Hectares and 2800 houses.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://www.trypillia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104:videiko-m-yu-trypillia-culture-proto-cities-after-40-years-of-investigations&catid=54:archaeology&Itemid=66 | work=Videiko M YU | title=Videiko M YU Trypillia culture proto-cities after 40 years of invistigations. Trypillian Civilization journal| date=2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://www.academia.edu/7972909/Trypillian_giant_settlements | work=Anatoly Rudenko. academia.edu | title=Trypillian giant settlements| date=2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=pA1-3KfkpuwC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44 | work=Philip L. Kohl, Cambridge University Press | title=The Making of Bronze Age Eurasia| date=2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yglkwD7pKV8C&pg=PA78 | work=Christoph Baumer, I.B.Tauris | title=The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors | date=2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=http://arheologija.ff.uni-lj.si/documenta/pdf38/38_29.pdf | work=Mykhailo Videiko
Institute of Archaeology, National Academy of Sciences, Kyiv, UA | title=The ‘disappearance’ of Trypillia culture | page=374 | date=2011}}</ref>

The settlements were primarily administrative, [[military]] and [[religious]] centers and not for [[crafts]]. The typical Trypillian hierarchy was one dominant "[[capital city|capital]]" with a population up to 15,000 people over more than 100 hectares. This capital was surrounded by dependent towns ([[satellite town]]s) typically in the size range of 10-40 hectares, and villages in the range of 2-7 Hectares. The capital controlled territories as far away as 20 km (12,5 mi) from the center.
<ref>{{cite book| url=http://www.trypillia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104:videiko-m-yu-trypillia-culture-proto-cities-after-40-years-of-investigations&catid=54:archaeology&Itemid=66 | work=VIDEIKO M. YU. Trypillian Civilization Journal ISSN 2155-871X | title=VIDEIKO M. YU. TRYPILLIA CULTURE PROTO-CITIES: AFTER 40 YEARS OF INVESTIGATIONS }}</ref>

The latest research indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture settlements had three levels of settlement hierarchy, this imply the possibility of [[sovereign state|state]]-level societies. Mega-structures suggest the presence of [[public buildings]] for meetings or [[ceremonies]].<ref name="antiquity.ac.uk"/>

The following are a list with the largest settlements with approximate time of peak population. Remember, population estimates of ancient settlements should always be taken with caution, with different [[interpretation (philosophy)|interpretations]] depending on the [[scholar]].
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!6300-5000 BC
!5000-4600 BC
!4300-4000 BC
!4000-3600 BC
!3600-3200 BC
!3200-2750 BC
|-
|[[Lepenski Vir]]. 150-1000
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|[[Nea Nikomedeia]]. 500-700
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|
||[[Divostin]]. 2000-8200
|
|
|
|
|-
|
||[[Stubline]]. 4000
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|[[Parţa]]. 1575
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|[[Okoliste]]. 1000-1500
|
|
|
|
|-
|
||[[Sesklo]]. 1000-5000
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|[[Vinča-Belo Brdo]]. 2000-2500
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|[[Aszód]]. 500
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|[[Mogylna]]. 500-800
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|[[Stepanivka]]. 500-800
|
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|[[Vesioly Kut]]. 5000-7500
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|[[Nebelivka]]. 10000-15000
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|[[Trypillia]]. 6600-10000
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|[[Myropillya]]. 6600-10000
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|[[Kharkivka]]. 3300-6500
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|[[Glubochek]]. 3300-6500
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|[[Pianeshkove]]. 3300-6500
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|[[Vil’khovets]]. 3300-6500
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|[[Fedorovka, Ukraine]]. 3300-6500
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|[[Tomashovka]]. 6600-10000
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|[[Maydanets]]. 10000
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|[[Dobrovody]]. 10000
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|[[Talianki]]. 6300-15000-30000
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|[[Khrystynivka]]. 3300-6500
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|[[Volodymyrivka]]. 3300-6500
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|[[Peregonivka]]. 3300-6500
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|[[Vladyslavcyk]]. 3300-6500
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|[[Andriyivka]]. 2600-4000
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|[[Valyava]]. 3300-5000
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|[[Garbusyn]]. 2600-4000
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|[[Chychyrkozivka]]. 10000-15000
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|[[Kvitky]]. 5000-7500
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|[[Ksaverove]]. 3300-6500
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|[[Yaltushkiv]]. 3300-6500
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|[[Sushkivka]]. 3300-6500
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|[[Stina, Ukraine]]. 3300-6500
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|[[Romanivka]]. 3300-6500
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|[[Rozsokhuvatka]]. 3300-6500
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|[[Apolyanka]]. 3300-6500
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|[[Chechelnyk]]. 2300-3500
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|[[Vasylkove]]. 3300-5000
|
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|[[Apolyanka]]. 3300-6500
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|[[Kosenivka]]. 3300-6500
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|[[Kocherzhyntsi]]. 3300-6500
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|[[Olkhovets]]. 6000-9000
|-
|}

== Neo-Eneolithic "writing" ==
{{multiple image
<!-- Essential parameters -->
| align = right
| direction = horizontal
| width = 150
| footer = <center>The face and the backside<br />of a copy of the [[Gradeshnitsa tablets]]</center>
<!-- Image 1 -->
| image1 = Vratsa-history-museum-Gradeshnitsa-tablet-face.jpg
| alt1 =
<!-- Image 2 -->
| image2 = Vratsa-history-museum-Gradeshnitsa-tablet-back.jpg
| alt2 =
}}

According to the world's foremost leading [[expert]] on ancient scripts and languages, [[Harald Haarmann]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyEcUR_wnsU | work= | title=Danube Script from Old Europe 5000 - 3500 BC | date=2013}}</ref> and other experts like [[Christa Dürscheid]], the Danube script or [[Vinča signs]] constitutes writing. The principle of writing is logographic with occasional marking of [[phonetic]] elements.

The [[Starčevo culture]] ([[Romania]]) was the earliest to use the signs and where most of them congregated. The very first occurrence was at [[Ocna Sibiului]] in 6000-5900 BC, the inception was quite rapid. From 5950-5850 BC there was a widespread [[Biological dispersal|dispersal]] of the Danube script. In the period of 5600-5500 BC, further development of the script was energetic.

The late period of the script, 3400-2300 BC, were some of the elements were used and developed in the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture. They developed a sign system, but in 3200 BC the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture faded away and the writing creation was interrupted, but some signs were used by different local cultures in the Bronze Age.
Several writings systems were inspired by the Danube script, among them [[Linear A]] of the [[Minoan civilization]] on [[Crete]], [[Cypro-Minoan syllabary]] on [[Cyprus]], [[Linear B]] of the [[Mycenaeans]] on mainland Greece.

The Minoan Linear A emerges in around 2500 BC and it resembles Old European [[linearity]] in its basic organizational features. Almost 1/3 of the sign [[inventory]] of the Danube script has been revived in the Minoan Linear A. The revived signs make up 50% of the whole inventory of Linear A.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vXFW36L1hu4C&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82 | work=Harald Haarmann, Walter de Gruyter | title=Early Civilization and Literacy in Europe: An Inquiry Into Cultural Continuity in the Mediterranean World | date=1996}}</ref>

With the findings so far, we know the Danube script consisted of several hundreds signs and perhaps more than 1000.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.brukenthalmuseum.ro/pdf/Biblioteca_Brukenthal/XXXV/BBXXXV.pdf | work=Ministry of culture, religious denominations and national cultural heritage. Brukenthal national museum | title=The Danube script Neo-Eneolithic ‘writing’ in Southeastern Europe | date=2009}}</ref>

== Long-distance trade ==
The long-distance trade of old Europe was very developed, the ''[[Spondylus gaederopus]]'' shells was very popular and excavations have shown that this precious material from the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] coasts could be transported more than 2000&nbsp;km to northern Europe before 4000 BC.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.ashmolean.org/assets/docs/Exhibitions/AshmoleanPressKit-LostWorld.pdf | work=The New Ashmolean | title=THE LOST WORLD OF OLD EUROPE THE DANUBE VALLEY 5000-3500 BC | date=2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.google.dk/books?id=gFEARIQ6zYoC&pg=PA179 | work=David W. Anthony, Jennifer Chi, Princeton University Press | title=The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000-3500 BC | date=2010}}</ref>
Other popular trade goods included [[obsidian]], [[salt]], [[copper]] and [[gold]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.google.dk/books?id=M1qDBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 | work=Harald Haarmann, McFarland | title=Roots of Ancient Greek Civilization: The Influence of Old Europe | date=2014}}</ref>

== Religion ==
The religion of Old Europe was the [[worship]] of the [[goddess]]. The worship of the goddess in Europe could be as old as 30,000 years starting with the [[Venus figurines]] in the [[Palaeolithic]] and it lasted without a break to the [[Indo European]] migration of Old Europe in 3500 BC and the final [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] conquest of [[Minoan civilization]] in 1450 BC. Old Europe was agrarian and peaceful, To them the [[Earth]] was the mother and they saw the goddess in anything living, all life was sacred.
Some of the aspects in the goddess worship were life giving, [[fertility]] giving, and birth giving powers.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=N5dQwcCWI08C&pg=PT4 | work=Matt Buttsworth | title=The Civilization of the Goddess | date=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MnbhH-lfkPYC&pg=PA113 | work=Joy Reichard, Bush Street Press | title=Celebrate the Divine Feminine | date=}}</ref><ref name="books.google.com">{{cite news| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zKFFOoPlyjIC&pg=PA9 | work=Marija Gimbutas, University of California Press, 1982 | title=The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, 6500-3500 B.C.: Myths and Cult Images | date=1982}}</ref>

== Decline ==
[[Neolithic]] Europe had a periode of cultural stability for 2000 years since the beginning of the Danube civilization, but in 4400 BC the first wave of [[Indo European]] people of the [[Kurgan culture]] began moving west and by 3500 they had infiltrated most of southeastern Europe and the Danube cultures. The newcomers disrupted the Danube valley culture and the world of Old Europe fell into decline, and by 3000 BC the overall picture can be characterized as a cultural [[anarchy|chaos]], and could be called a Balkan [[Dark Age]]. Only in [[Greece]] persisted the Old European culture in the [[Helladic period]], [[Cycladic civilization]] and the [[Minoan civilization]]. People from the north went south bringing them new influx of cultural trends from the heartland of Old Europe. This shows continuity between Old Europe and the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece.
<ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.google.dk/books?id=vXFW36L1hu4C&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49 | work=Harald Haarmann, Walter de Gruyter| title=Early Civilization and Literacy in Europe: An Inquiry Into Cultural Continuity in the Mediterranean World | date=1996}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
The world of the Danube valley cultures came to an end with the arrival of the Indo Europeans into southeastern Europe. But the most southern part of Old Europe would thrive with the [[Minoan civilization]] some 2000 years after the height of the Danube Valley civilization on mainland Europe. The Minoans had, since the first people came to the island, been a part of the same [[cultural]] and [[religious]] background as the people in the [[Balkan]]s. Between 6000-3000 BC, the same kind of pottery and figurines are found on mainland Europe.
Shortly after 3000 BC, a wave of migrants from the European mainland reached Crete. Thus the Minoan civilization is a blend of the older Neolithic heritage and the reinforcing cultural influx of the mainland Europeans. Minoan civilization presents the most vital offspring of the old Danube civilization.
<ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.google.dk/books?id=vXFW36L1hu4C&pg=PA49&lpg=PA57 | work=Harald Haarmann, Walter de Gruyter| title=Early Civilization and Literacy in Europe: An Inquiry Into Cultural Continuity in the Mediterranean World | date=1996}}</ref>

The Minoan [[art]] and [[architecture]] were entirely different from that of the [[Near East]]. The world view of [[Crete]] reflected its Old European-Anatolian roots.
When [[Sir Arthur Evans]] rediscovered the Minoan civilization, the question of what went before the Minoans remained to be answered. Now it is becoming more and more difficult to understand the Minoan civilization without the study of the culture which preceded it, and that culture was Old Europe.<ref name="books.google.com"/><ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=7DfI39EDbMcC&pg=PA132&lpg=PA132 | work=Marija Gimbutas, University of California Press| title=The Living Goddesses | date=2001}}</ref>

The Danube civilization is the root of the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] civilization. The high culture of Old Europe was transferred to subcultures like the Minoan civilization, Helladic period, Cycladic civilization, and thus the Greek cultural layers in Old Europe predate the rise of civilizations in the [[Near East]]. The Greek civilization is an offspring of older traditions, and this makes the Greek civilization the [[grandchild]] of the Danube civilization.<ref name="Harald Haarmann, McFarland"/>

<gallery widths=220 heights=140>
File:CucuteniHousingInterconectedHouses.jpg|Interconnected Cucuteni-Trypillian houses in the Maydanets settlement.
File:CucuteniInteriorReconstruction.JPG|Interior reconstruction of a Cucuteni-Trypillian house in the [[Archaeology Museum Piatra Neamț]], Romania.
File:Habitable wall fortifications, central part of Maydanets.jpg| Habitable wall fortification, central part of [[Maydanets]] 4000 B.C.
File:Reconstruction of mega structure Nebelivka.jpg | Reconstruction of mega structure from [[Nebelivka]]. 60x20 m 4000 B.C.
File:Reconstruction (public house - sanctuary) Maydanets.jpg | Reconstruction of public house - sanctuary from Maydanets.
File:CucuteniIMG 3670.JPG|Cucuteni–Trypillian culture pottery.
File:Cucuteni IMG 3691.JPG|Cucuteni–Trypillian culture figurine head.
File:Hamangia Muzeul din Constanta.JPG|The "thinkers" of Hamangia. 5200-4500 B.C.
File:Butmirska vaza.jpg|Vase from the Butmir culture.
File:CucuteniPottery6.jpg|Cucuteni Pottery.
File:Museum Quintana - Unternberg 1.jpg|Reconstruction of the Künzing-Unternberg Neolithic wooden circular ditch 4840-4590 BC, Künzing, Lower Bavaria.
File:CucuteniPottery111.JPG|Zoomorphic vessel from Cucuteni–Trypillian Culture.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

[[Category:Pre-Indo-Europeans]]

Latest revision as of 18:20, 18 November 2014

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