'The Lost World of Old Europe: the Danube Valley, 5000–3500 B.C.'

Above, the title of a show which opened last month at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University which includes the objects above and below among its more than 250 artifacts from museums in Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania, on display for the first time in the U.S.

Wrote John Noble Wilford in a December 1, 2009 New York Times Science section front page story about the show, quoting David W. Anthony, the exhibition's guest curator, "Old Europe was among the most sophisticated and technologically advanced places in the world" at its peak around 4500 B.C, yet it remains little known in the West.

The Times article was accompanied by a slide show, including these two pieces,

the "Thinker" and a female figurine from Cernavoda, made of fired clay and dated 5000–4600 B.C.

 

The show runs through April 25, 2010.

 

Reviews of the show here, here

 

and here.