I had not heard about this sculpture until I recently read about it in a book about the history of language (which I'll blog later). Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry:
The Thinker of Hamangia (Romanian: Gânditorul de la Hamangia), also known as Thinker of Cernavodă or collectively The Thinker and the Sitting Woman, is an archaeological artefact, specifically a terracotta sculpture. This ancient Neolithic figurine is believed to date back to the Hamangia culture, which existed in what is now Romania around 5,000 BC...The Thinker figurine is made of fired clay and depicts a person seated with their chin resting on one hand, suggesting deep contemplation. The figurine is 4.5 inches (11 cm) tall. This posture unmistakably conveys a meditative disposition, which led to its name, The Thinker, drawing inspiration from Rodin's renowned sculpture of a similar name. The recent finding of the "thinking" man seems to argue for the existence of a developed ideology of some type in this period, while it is impossible not to refer us to similar timeless types, such as the Karditsa Thinker of the Neolithic era, Thinker from Yehud of the Middle Bronze Age II, or even to the Pensive Christ in modern times.The Sitting Woman, on the other hand, assumes a contemplative posture by placing both hands on a single leg while sitting directly on the ground, without the use of a chair. Her left leg extends outward, her right leg is bent, her hips are distinctly delineated, and her facial expression is equally evocative..."
Interesting to me both for the artistic styling and the extreme age. For a quick review there is a Wikipedia page for the 5th millennium BC to brush up on what was happening around the world at that time.
Related: Rodin's "Thinker" reinterpreted
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