One of the great paradoxes of history is that the next hesitant advance of European civilization - the development of the first city-states - took place not on the fertile open central European plains, but in a remote island to the south of the Aegean Sea which was completely lacking in metal resources. While the glittering mounted warrior-princes of central Europe dissipated their creative energy in warefare, a highly cultured yet peaceful society, built on trade and an agricultural surplus, emerged on Crete.

The history of Greece can be traced back to Stone Age hunters. Later came early farmers and thecivilizations of the Minoan and Mycenaean kings. This was followed by a period of wars and invasions, known as the Dark Ages. In about 1100 BC, a people called the Dorians invaded from the north and spread down the west coast. In the period from 500-336 BC Greece was divided into small city states, each of which consisted of a city and its surrounding countryside.

Early Bronze Age (2900  -  2000) - The period in antiquity that corresponds to the introduction of metallurgy, notably bronze-working, for making tools, weapons, and ceremonial objects.

• The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean
  the Bronze Age civilization that developed (c. 3000-1200 BC) in the basin of the Aegean Sea, mainly on Crete, the Cyclades, and the mainland of Greece.

• The Early Cycladic Period
  small island group (Cyclades) situated in the centre of the Aegean in Greece, which developed a unique and distinctive civilization that flourished from around 3200-2000 BC.

• The Early Minoan Period: The Settlements
  Bronze Age civilization, centring on the island of Crete, that flourished c. 3000 to 1100 BC. It was named after the legendary king Minos.
  Evans divided Minoan civilization into three periods: Early Minoan (c. 3000-c. 2200 BC), Middle Minoan (c. 2200-c. 1600 BC), and Late Minoan (c. 1600-c. 1100 BC).

Minoan Age(2000  -  1400 BC ) - Bronze Age civilization, centring on the island of Crete. It was named after the legendary king Minos. It is divided into three periods: the early Minoan period (c.3000-2200 B.C.), the Middle Minoan period (c.2200-1500 B.C.) and the Late Minoan period (c.1500-1000 B.C.).

Mycenaean Age (600  -  1100 BC) - Period of high cultural achievement, forming the backdrop and basis for subsequent myths of the heroes. It was named for the kingdom of Mycenae and the archaeological site where fabulous works in gold were unearthed. The Mycenaean Age was cut short by widespread destruction ushering in the Greek Dark Age.

The Dark Ages (1100  -  750 BC) - The period between the fall of the Mycenean civilizations and the readoption of writing in the eighth or seventh century BC. After the Trojan Wars the Mycenaeans went through a period of civil war, the country was weak and a tribe called the Dorians took over. Some speculate that Dorian invaders from the north with iron weapons laid waste the Mycenaean culture. Others look to internal dissent, uprising and rebellion, or perhaps some combination.

Archaic Period (750  -  500 BC) - The period in which the beginnings of Greek monumental stone sculpture and other developments in the naturalistic representation of the human figure are found. During the Archaic Age the Greeks developed the most widespread and influential of their new political forms, the city-state, or polis . Rise of the aristocracies. Greek colonization of Southern Italy and Sicily begins.

Classical Period (500-336 BC) - Classical period of ancient Greek history, is fixed between about 500 B. C., when the Greeks began to come into conflict with the kingdom of Persia to the east, and the death of the Macedonian king and conqueror Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. In this period Athens reached its greatest political and cultural heights: the full development of the democratic system of government under the Athenian statesman Pericles; the building of the Parthenon on the Acropolis; the creation of the tragedies of Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides; and the founding of the philosophical schools of Socrates and Plato.

Hellenistic Period (336-146 BC) - period between the conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great and the establishment of Roman supremacy, in which Greek culture and learning were pre-eminent in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor. It is called Hellenistic (Greek, Hellas, "Greece") to distinguish it from the Hellenic culture of classical Greece.