The oldest culture discovered in the Carpatho-Danubian region so far is the Starcevo Culture, belonging to the Middle Neolithic age (no significant finds related to the Early Neolithic age were recorded so far). The Starcevo Culture covered a huge area, including today's Slovakia, western Ukraine, Romania, eastern Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, and northeast Bosnia. In Croatia, it extended at least as far as Vucedol (near Vukovar) and Sarvas (near Osijek), both in eastern Slavonia. Pottery in this culture was crudely made and was up to 1/2 inch thick. It was pinched or impressed with the tops of the fingers or nails. Globular vessels had flat bases and sometimes small standrings. Only a small percentage of pottery was painted. River fishing was probably the main occupation, but food was also obtained by hunting and agriculture. Two C-14 tests place the Starcevo Culture between 4915 BC and 4440 BC, but is generally accepted that this culture began in the sixth millennium and ended some time around 4200 BC.   The map of the Cris-Starcevo culture, the Carpatho-Danubian civilization of the first homo sapiens (Millenium 7-6 BC).     Starcevo-Cris archaeological site Starcevo is a little village near Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Eponymus site of the Neolithic Central Balkan, Carpatho-Danubian and Dniester civilizations. (Starcevo-Cris culture). First European pottery and the first painted with geometrical motifs pottery. Clay figurines of bird goddesses. A great ancient civilization on the Danube river, c. 6000 BC.   Globular ceramic vase with diamond-shaped patterns, painted white against a red foundation. The Cris-Starcevo Culture. Cca 6000 BC.     Starcevo The original Starcevo site (village) is located about 20 miles east-northeast of Belgrade Yugoslavia (Serbia). This archaeological site is the origin of the Starcevo culture, and is located on the northern bank of the Danube River. This site is also known as and called, the Starcevo-Grad site. There are other sites categorized under the name Starcevo in Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia, and Bosnia. All the Starcevo sites in the Balkan area are known for turning up Neolithic age pottery. Along with the pottery, the Starcevo sites are known to represent the earliest agricultural, and cattle-breeding population in the central Balkans. The concept of a "Starcevo Culture" was derived from an excavation in 1928 by M. Grbic and later from larger scale digs in 1931 and 1932. Here, a lack of stratified sites coupled with scarcity of radio carbon dates, have resulted in a creation of typological ceramic sequences, rather than absolute chronologies. The first attempt of a chronological sequence of pottery from the Starcevo sites was done by V.Milojcic. Milojcic used pottery from various sites to establish a four part ceramic sequence and relative chronology known as: Starcevo I, II, III, IV. Archaeological finds of pottery in Macedonia and Serbia have been dated as far back as 5,800 b.c. Starcevo sites are mainly found on river terraces on gentle slopes near springs and streams. A few cave sites have been found, but most are located in open spaces. Most sites reveal cultural deposits less than 1 meter in depth. At these shallow depths, it is clearly evident disturbances were made by natural and man-made occurrences. In conclusion, the Starcevo sites provide an interesting archaeological history to the ceramic pottery used thousands of years ago. It gives archaeologists a pathway into the past to come up with how humans lived during these times. Written by: Mark Kurseth The stag of the Dudestii Noi. The Cris-Starcevo Culture.     Starceviens (Translated from French) The starceviens are the septentrional branch of the seskliens . As they they are originating in Anatolia and live in square houses in cob. They are divided into several subcultures according to their geographical localization: People of Starcevo in the west (ox farmer-stockbreeders with potteries with spots and white lines on red then with garlands sunk on red then with brown spirals on clear bottom) People of Karanovo in the east (farmer-stockbreeders with potteries with spirals and geometrical figures on red bottom of Karanovo 1/Tchavdar then grooved potteries of Karanovo 2/Kremikovci) People of Körös in the North-West (farmer-stockbreeders of goats and sheep with potteries impressed or with white spots on red bottom and figures sunk in zigzag on clear bottom) People of Dudesti-cernica then of Boian-Bolinteanu in the North-East (potteries incised and encrusted with white). People of Tchavdar in the south (potteries with white spirals on red bottom. Use of square houses in posts and cob on mattresses of compactifiée ground branches then, with beaten ground and wood floors). All these cultures will be destroyed during the invasions of pélasges towards 4400 av.jc.   Religion of the Starceviens Like all the asianiques ones, the starceviens adored the large goddess of the fertility. This one was represented with a face not individualized then increasingly diagrammatic.         Sources:  http://www.archaeology.net/prehistory/stone2.html http://www.dacia.org/ http://perso.wanadoo.fr/atil/atil/y20.htm http://emuseum.mnsu.edu/archaeology/sites/europe/starcevo.html