A story in Nature by new member Emma Marris sheds light on the archeological mystery of the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture, which flourished for over two thousand years at the end of the Stone Age in parts of what is now Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania. Archeological clues suggest the culture’s huge settlements, where beautiful ceramic art was commonplace, had none of the dramatic social stratification of other known ancient cities — no obvious temples, no palaces, and no differentiation in house sizes. Marris tells us what researchers know about this vanished society and explores the differing interpretations and lingering questions about what they left behind. Illustration: Susanne Beyer via Wikimedia Commons