公元前4500年左右,农耕技术从中东传入西北欧地区,这个时期石器被广泛使用。到了约公元前2500年,随着青铜器的出现,新石器时代结束了。欧洲最早的青铜文明由克里特岛的米诺斯人和希腊大陆的迈锡尼人所创造。在古希腊的鼎盛时代(公元前500—前336年),希腊人创造了影响整个欧洲的文明。而亚历山大大帝建立的马其顿帝国,又将希腊文明远布亚洲,他的功绩足以与征服整个地中海地区的罗马人相媲美。 Around 4500 BC, farming techniques were introduced from the Middle East into Northwest Europe, and stone tools were widely used during this period. About 2500 BC, with the advent of bronze, the Neolithic was over. The earliest bronze civilization in Europe was created by the Minos of Crete and the Mycenaeans of the Greek mainland. In the heyday of ancient Greece (500 BC-336 BC), the Greeks created a civilization that affected the whole of Europe. The establishment of the Macedonian Empire by Alexander the Great, and the Greek civilization far beyond Asia, his merit is enough to conquer the entire Mediterranean region as the Romans comparable.