The Vinča culture, also known as Turdaș culture or Turdaș-Vinča culture, is the oldest Neolithic culture in South-eastern Europe, dated to the period 5,500–4,500 BC.
The Vinca culture flourished from 5,500 to 3,500 BC on the territories of what is now Bosnia, Serbia, Romania and Macedonia. It got its name from the present-day village of Vinca, 10 km east of Belgrade on the Danube river, where over 150 Vinca settlements have been determined. There is no evidence of war or defences in the townships, and it appears that the Vinca were a peaceful society combining low-level agriculture with foraging and trade. They produced the first known European examples of a 'proto'-script and were the first people in the world known to smelt copper. They existed in a similar state for
The Tărtăria tablets (below) refers to a group of three tablets, discovered in 1961 by archaeologist Nicolae Vlassa at a Neolithic site in the village of Tărtăria (about 30 km (19 mi) from Alba Iulia), in Romania. Two of the tablets are rectangular and the third is round. They are all small, the round one being only 6 cm (2½ in) across, and two - one round and one rectangular - have holes drilled through them. All three have symbols inscribed only on one face
Similarities with cultures that followed the Vinca's demise have been noted such as the rise of the so-called Cycladic and Cretan cultures, where the new settlers arrived around 3,200 BC. with identical motifs such as the snake, intertwined with the bird goddess motif, the bee and the butterfly, with the distinctive motif of the double axe, are found both in 'Old Europe' and Crete. But the best evidence is in the writing of Old Europe and the 'Linear A' script of Crete, which are to all intents and purposes identical.