Unfortunately not much is known about this era. What we know is that large areas of Hellas were already habitated in the paleo- and mesolithicum. The neolithic way of living was most likely introduced by migration from Asia Minor. Wellknown neolithic find-spots are for example Sesklo and Dimini in Thesally, Lerna in Argolis and of course Cnossus at Crete. The oldest of these settlements already existed in 6000 BC.
The stoneage was followed by a period were copper became more and more used besides the traditional stone. We know this period as the copper-stone age, or chalcolithicum that comes from the Greek word for copper: chalkos. This phase in history was followed by the actual bronze age. Bronze is an alloy of 90% copper, and 10% tin. It is better for the construction of tools and weaponry as it was harder than copper. Copper was imported from Asia Minor and Cyprus, but the origins of the tin are unknown.
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