The archaeology of Greece includes artificial remains, geographical landscapes, architectural remains, and biofacts (artefacts that were once living organisms). The history of Greece as a country and region is believed to have begun roughly 1–2 million years ago when Homo erectus first colonized Europe. From the first colonization, Greek history follows a sequential pattern of development alike to the rest of Europe. Neolithic, Bronze, Iron and Classical Greece are highlights of the Greek archaeological record, with an array of archaeological finds relevant to these periods.
Paleolithic Greece
Hunter-gatherers of Greece inhabited the region during the Middle Paleolithic Age (55,000–30,000 BC). Franchthi cave, an archaeological site in Southern Greece, has uncovered evidence which demonstrates people hunting small and large game, gathering wild cereals and fishing in coastal waters, following the Ice Age.
Neolithic Greece
Succeeding the hunter-gatherers of prehistoric Greece is the Neolithic period (6500–3000 BC). This period saw the beginning of agriculture and the domestication of livestock; archaeological remains of farming settlements are evident in tells (mounds composed of mudbrick used in the construction of houses) that protrude from the landscape. Tells are formed through remains of older structures being built upon with new structures; they dominate the Neolithic archaeological record in Greece as the Neolithic period saw to the introduction of agriculture and firmer community and settlement patterns.
The beginning of agriculture within Greece is believed to have been a transition influenced by newcomers from western Anatolia. With human colonization occurring outside of Anatolia and the Levant, Greece was affected in economic and material means, adopting the structure of economic and material culture from Near Eastern neighbours. Northern Greece is home to Thessaly, where the majority of archaeological remains and information relevant to the Neolithic period of Greek history has been uncovered; around 120 sites, mostly tells, have been excavated in the whole of Thessaly. The region provides evidence of having been a significant agricultural centre with soils ideal for cultivation, and this evidence is further demonstrated in the number of tells and mounds bearing evidence of farming settlements within Thessaly. One tell that has been uncovered in Thessaly is Sesklo and comprises both a large lower town called a Polis, and a small upper town called an Acropolis; together the two sections of the settlement cover 13 ha of land. The houses within the acropolis of Sesklo were detached and spacious, compared to the houses within the polis, which formed tighter clusters over a larger space of land.
Following the Last Ice Age, archaeological remains of the period disappeared due to the rising sea levels. Natural geological processes, such as glacial periods and interglacial periods, have inhibited archaeologists from uncovering material from Neolithic Greece through the destruction or consumption of archaeological remains Archaeologists use the European record as a whole, in order to understand more on this period of Greek history. Although the extremities of the environment have led to archaeological challenges, there have been discoveries relevant to the Neolithic period of the region.
Pottery
Following the introduction of agriculture, Neolithic Greece saw its first wave of Pottery; the vessels that have been uncovered are thus assumed to have been used for cooking, eating and storing the crop yields of farming settlements. Early Neolithic pottery shows no sign of burning (indicating food was instead cooked directly over a fire) and are simple in shape. Pottery of Middle Neolithic Greece does show signs of being used over a fire. Middle and Late Neolithic Greece shows signs of design transformation for pottery with more elaborately decorated tableware; an example of this 'new' pottery is Middle Neolithic Sesklo Ware (red geometric designs on a pale background).
Pottery differs within regions of Greece but has also shown close links between regions and within close communities; similar shapes and styles of pottery from the Neolithic period have been uncovered in differing regions of Thessaly and the Peloponnese region.
Bronze Age Greece
Archaeology of Bronze Age Greece prominently features remains of two main civilizations that existed during the three thousand years from Early to Late Bronze Age Greece.