Lost Mails

The New York Times has an article about an exhibit at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World called The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000-3500 BC.

From the exhibition’s website:

In 4500 BC, before the invention of writing and before the first cities of Mesopotamia and Egypt were established, Old Europe was among the most sophisticated and technologically advanced regions in the world. The phrase “Old Europe” refers to a cycle of related cultures that thrived in southeastern Europe during the fifth and fourth millennia BC. The heart of Old Europe was centered in the Danube River’s fertile valleys, where agriculturally rich plains were exploited by Neolithic farmers who founded long-lasting settlements—some of which grew to substantial size, with populations reaching upward of 10,000 people. Today, the intriguing and enigmatic remains of these highly developed cultures can be found at sites that extend from modern-day Serbia to Ukraine. The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000–3500 BC presents extraordinary finds from the three countries with the richest Old European archaeological heritage—Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova, and Romania.

The exhibition will run until April 25, 2010. The Institute is located at:
15 East 84th St.
New York, NY 10028