Neolithic Spiral People

Mysterious Neolithic People Made Optical Art
Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

Sept. 22, 2008 -- An egalitarian Neolithic Eden filled with unique, geometric art flourished some 7,000 years ago in Eastern Europe, according to hundreds of artifacts on display at the Vatican. Running until the end of October at the Palazzo della Cancelleria in the Vatican, the exhibition, "Cucuteni-Trypillia: A Great Civilization of Old Europe," introduces a mysterious Neolithic people who are now believed to have forged Europe's first civilization...

...the Cucuteni might have seen the world as cyclical -- a concept they might have expressed in the circles they painted on their pottery. According to this hypothesis, every some 60-80 years they would sacrifice whole cities by intentionally burning thousands of their houses. Then they would move to create another settlement...

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/22/cucuteni-neolithic-art.html

The "let's burn our city every 60 years" theory seems a bit silly, but would make a cool fantasy element.