When you think about the modern region of Ukraine today, our immediate thoughts aren't directed towards the ancient history of the region, which is majorly overlooked, but wait, to hear this. Prior to the discovery of three Pianas in the late 19th century, a time when great archeological discoveries were taking place in various parts of the world, it seemed that Eastern Europe had made no notable prehistoric contributions to the development of so-called civilization in the region. But all this changed in 1893 as archeologists started to explore the ruins of these ancient settlements and discovered that the Kukultin III Piana culture had established cities to accommodate up to 15,000 inhabitants, being some of the largest settlements in neolithic European history. Described as gigantic settlements, and dating back 6,000 years, the site of Kukultin III Piana is shrouded in mystery of a lost civilization that vanished under incredible circumstances 4,000 years before the birth of Christ. The function of these enormous buildings is completely unknown, as is the specific layout of the site, which has thousands of buildings in such a concentrated area that appears to be part of something massively important that was only unearthed in 2012. Dr. Robert Hoffman, who is investigating the site, made the following remark about the functionality of the place when he states, The highly public location of the structures within their settlements and the lack of evidence of permanent habitation within them, led us to conclude these were public spaces. We also documented a hierarchy of megastructures based on their architecture and location. Some were apparently well suited to serve the entire community while others served smaller segments of the community. These lower level structures are also observed to decline in use over the history of the settlements. Scientists suggest these buildings were likely used for decision-making purposes and he goes on to say that, Now our interdisciplinary study detected one reason for their collapse, a social imbalance in decision processes led to an increased centralization of power structures. These did not allow the management of the city like settlements any longer. In consequence, these megacities are an example how humans should not govern, nevertheless in consequent urbanism developed much later in Europe and then in the Near East. It has been proposed that these sites were completely burned every 80 to 100 years or so and the settlers completely abandoning the site to relocate. These sorts of conclusions are completely naive in origin but not completely false. It is a conclusion after all but one in which for the research is needed. Jumping to conclusions on a 6000 year old site sounds all too familiar in a historical context and the understanding of the past is key to find answers of which we seek. This culture was a strange one, it appears they inhabited up to a quarter million square miles of land and though vast, these little compact cities appear to be popping up despite the potential for a greater spread into the landmass. Archaeologists and researchers have uncovered thousands of burned structures, statues, tools, vessels and even cremated remains of humans and animals. One researcher set forth a theory that these were the homes of the dead, perhaps tombs of sorts. However, later theories suggest regular dwellings and structures were simply burned to make room for new structures. The most widely accepted theory today is a combination of these, indicating that over time structures were burned with tools, vessels and animals included as a sacrifice to the ancestral spirits. The old structures and fields were left to the deceased ancestors and those remaining would move on to a new area. Some scholars have theorized that each structure was viewed as an almost living entity with its own life cycle of death and rebirth. But what do you guys think about this ancient place? Comment below and as always thank you for watching.