cultures mixed with the Dudeşti culture to form the Boian culture in Muntenia with its various phases (Bolintineanu, Giuleşti, Vidra, and transitional) of excised pottery containing encrusted white lines. At the end of the Giuleşti phase, the Boian population penetrated southeastern Transylvania and southern Moldavia. In the same epoch, the Hamangia culture of southern origin developed in Dobroudja, which was distinguished by ceramics decorated with groups of incised lines and dots. In southeastern Oltenia, the Vădastra culture developed, while in western Oltenia and in Banat the Vinča culture thrived, with canelled decoration on ceramics fired red and black. In neighboring southwestern Transylvania lived the people of the Turdaş culture, who were closely related to the Vinča.

During the middle Neolithic epoch, the population of southern Romania had scanty settlements comprising few dwellings, mostly earth huts built below agricultural terraces. Those communities had a less stable life than the previously mentioned ceramic cultures, practicing primitive agriculture with little hoes, breeding cattle, hunting, and fishing. In the Giuleşti phase in the southern territories, the people gradually began to use ploughs pulled by animals, creating an essential change in farming techniques. In time, the Giuleşti communities penetrated southeastern Transylvania and southern Moldavia, where, by mixing with late linear ceramic cultures, they formed the pre-Cucuteni culture, whose area extended far to the northeast. At the same time in southern Transylvania lived the Petreşti culture (which made painted ceramics), and in the west the Tisa culture. Until the end of the epoch, these communities made continual progress toward more settled existence in southern Romania. Settlements comprising surface dwellings and protective walls were even constructed on high terraces surrounded by steep slopes. Some such settlements have been exhaustively excavated (Hăbăşeşti, Truşeşti, and Târpeşti in Moldavia; Radovanu and Căscioarele in Muntenia).

A period of significant development took place during the last decades of the Neolithic era. In Muntenia and Dobroudja, the Gumelniţa culture was descended directly from the Boian culture, and in Oltenia the Sălcuţa culture developed. Bowls, some with graphite painted decoration, are identified with both cultures. The Cuceteni culture developed out of a pre-Cucuteni culture in Moldavia, distinguished by ceramic vessels with painted decoration (white, red, and black) that were fired in improved ovens. The Cucuteni communities attained an advanced stage of development, with some settlements comprising over 1,000 dwellings. The Româneşti and Gorneşti cultures have also been identified with the late Neolithic era in western Romania. During the Neolithic epoch, an ethnic and cultural continuity can be traced for over two millennia in the Dudeşti, Boian, and Gumelniţa cultures in Muntenia and in the linear ceramics pre-Cucuteni and Cuceteni cultures in Moldavia.

At the end of the Neolithic era, semi-nomadic populations of Yamnaia shepherds who lived in the eastern and southern plains of Romania spread from the steppes into areas north of the Black Sea (identified by tumuli burials, with ochered corpses placed on their backs instead of their sides). This migration defined a period of transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age (Morintz and Roman 1973, 259–295). In the southern territories, the Cernavoda I culture in Dobroudja, southern Muntenia, and southern Oltenia developed and was characterized by ceramics made of paste mixed with ground shells. Ceramic vessels from the Celei complex in southeastern Oltenia and the Cernavoda II culture in eastern and southern Muntenia were shaped like sacks and made of paste containing sand and ground shards and ornamented with incised lines or relief bands. Cernavoda III (related to Cernavoda I and Gumelniţa), in Dobroudja and southwestern Muntenia, was also known for its vessels made of paste with ground shells. Simultaneously, the Horodiştea I communities lived in Moldavia and the local Cucuteni population mixed with eastern shepherd tribes to form the Folteşti I culture. These nomads rarely painted their ceramics, but used incised or corded decorations. Soon, globular amphorae began to appear from the north and along the Carpathian mountains,