None of these ages and periods much matter, because sources disagree on how to divide them.
c.9000 | CORSICA: Paleolithic Age ends. Mesolithic Age begins until 6000. People from Sardinia cross the Strait of Bonifacio to hunt from rock shelters in Corsica. | 9000 wikPCr |
c.9000 | CRETE: First modern humans arrive. | 10-8000 wikMnC |
c.8700 | CYPRUS: Hunter Gatherers arrive, remain until 8000. Oldest evidence of neolithic settlement. First settlers have agriculture, but no pottery. They build round houses with floors of terrazzo - burned lime. They introduce dogs, sheep, goats, maybe cattle, pigs and wild animals like foxes and Persian fallow deer. They cultivate einkorn and emmer wheat. Cyprus partly occupied until 7000. | 88-8600 wikPCp 7-6000 wohiAC 8500 cpnt |
c.8500 | Permanent WATER WELLS in west Cyprus, could be among the oldest in the world. Levant 6500 | 8500 Copilot, wikHWSS 85-7000 wikPCp |
c.8000 | SICILY comes under the Sicani until 1290. | 8000 wikS |
c.7500 | CYPRUS:Average age at death is 34, with a high infant mortality rate. | 7500 wikPCp |
c.7500 | Domestic CATS, in Levant from 9000, are taken to Cyprus. | 7500 Copilot |
c.7500 | An 8-month-old CAT is buried on Cyprus with an adult human. Cats are not native to Cyprus, so people must have brought cats with them when they came to the island. | 7500 barc, wikPCp |
c.7000 | A man dies in Arbus Sardinia. His body becomes the oldest complete human skeleton, called AMSICORA, after a Sardinian rebel leader of 215 BC. | 7000 wikPNS |
c.7000 | MELOS island mined for obsidian by Greek sailors. | 7000 TTPC, bk |
c.7000 | ![]() |
map: Eva Fernández 7000 mxfld, wikMnC |
For the prehistoric Aegean we have no direct evidence for war and warfare. wikMnC |
c.7000 | Greek BOAT FISHERMEN catch fish too big to be caught from shore. | 7000 TTPC |
c.7000 | OLIVE trees V first cultivated in east Mediterranean. After the first cultivation, modern domesticated olives mostly come from the Near East (including Cyprus), the Aegean, and the Strait of Gibraltar. | 8-6000 Copilot |
c.7000 | ![]() |
photo: Ophelia2 7000 cpnt, wohiAC no date: wikKrk, |
c.6570 | First complete human skeleton on Corsica. | 6570 ±150 wikPCr |
c.6200 | FARMING villages arise in west and central Mediterranean. | 6200 PW 13 |
c.6100 | EARLY NEOLITHIC-! begins in Greece and Aegean until 5100. | 6100 ISBE 2-559 |
c.6000 | CORSICA: Mesolithic Age from 9000 ends. Neolithic Age begins until 3000. Early Neolithic begins until 5000. Sardinian obsidian is evidenced in south Corsica. | 6000 wikPCr |
c.6000 | SARDINIA, partly occupied from Upper Paleolithic times, is occupied by permanent settlements, but little trade until 1660. Cardium pottery or Filiestru culture begins until 4000. | 6000 wikHSr, wikSrd |
c.6000 | POTTERY first evidenced in the Mediterranean. See Africa 10,000, China 9000, Levant 6900, Mesopotamia 7000, Persia 6500 | 6000 Copilot |
c.6000 | People whose place names and language are not Greek, spread over the east Mediterranean, introducing baked brick architecture. They may be Luvians. | 6000 mxfld |
c.6000 | The oldest houses below Knossos on Crete, dated 6000BC, are made of baked mud bricks. The first settlers of Crete find a heavily forested land with cypress, oak, chestnut and pine. | 6000 mxfld |
c.6000 | CRETE, partly occupied from Lower Paleolithic times, is occupied by an advanced Neolithic Culture from now onward. | 6000 mxfld |
c.6000 | Greek and Cretan sailors start to exploit obsidian on Melos island, and bring it to their own countries. | 6000 mxfld |
c.5300 | CYPRUS: Pre-ceramic KHIROKITIANS, 1st settlers from 7000, end abruptly. No new settlers until 4500. | 6000 wikKrk, wikPCp 5300 cpnt |
c.5200 | MALTA 1st occupied by humans. Hunters or farmers arrive from Sicily. Neolithic period begins until 4100. Ghar Dalam phase begins until 4500. Their farming methods degrade the soil. | 5900 Copilot, wikHMl 5200 wikMlt, wikTop 5000 wikMTM |
c.5100 | EARLY NEOLITHIC-!, in Greece and Aegean from 6100, ends. NEOLITHIC-2 begins until 3000. | 5100 ISBE 2-559 |
c.5000 | CORSICA: Early Neolithic period from 6000 ends. Middle Neolithic period begins until 4000. | 5000 wikPCr |
c.5000 | MALTA: Santa Verna, a megalithic site in Xaghra on the island of Gozo shows pottery remains, showing occupation until ??. No temple until 3500. | 5000 wikSV |
c.4500 | MALTA: Ghar Dalam phase from 5200 ends. | 4500 wikMTM |
c.4500 | AKROTIRI (original name unknown) founded by Cycladic people as a small fishing and farming village on island of Santorini: It gains in prosperity until destroyed in the Thera erruption 1628. | 5-4000 wikAkr |
c.4500 | CYPRUS, abandoned from 5300, reoccupied by Neolithic II (Pottery Neolithic). Main settlement is SOTIRA near the south coast until 3900. Houses are mostly free-standing, with thin walls and tend to be square with rounded corners. | 5-4000 wikStr, 4500 wikPCp |
c.4100 | MALTA: Neolithic period from 5200 ends. Red Skorba Period from 4400 ends. Megalithic temple builders arrive or arise. Temple Period begins until 2500. Zebbug phase begins until 3850. | 4100 wikMTM, wikTop 3800 wikHMl 3500 wikMlt |
c.4000 | CORSICA: Middle Neolithic period from 5000 ends. Late Neolithic period begins until 3000. | 4000 wikPCr |
c.4000 | SARDINIA, under Cardium pottery or Filiestru culture from 6000, comes under Bonu Ighinu culture until 3500. | 4000 wikHSr, wikPNS |
c.4000 | MALTA: Tal-Qadi occupied until ??. | 4000 wikTQT |
c.4000 | WINE, in Greece from at least 4500, produced in Sicily. | 4000 Copilot |
c.4000 | MALTA and nearby island GOZO, people expand existing caves with the purpose of ritualizing life and death. Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, one of the first of such complexes, is an underground network of alcoves and corridors carved into soft Globigerina limestone 3 miles from Valletta. Temple period continues 4100-2500. | 4000 smtMH |
c.4000 | MALTA: Megalithic temples begin until 2500. | 4000 wikDSc |
c.4000 | Chalcolitic stone CRUCIFIX V pendants are carved in Cyprus until 2500. | 4000 cpfr, cpnt, kmr |
c.3900 | CYPRUS V, under pottery Neolithics from 4500, come under people from Levant, who move to Cyprus because of its copper deposits, and remain dominant until 3800. | 3900 wohiAC |
c.3850 | MALTA: in Temple Period 41-2500, in Zebug phase from 4100, is repopulated by Sikanians from Sicily until 2500. These colonists build megalithic temples. Mgarr [sic] phase begins until 3600. A short transitional period in Malta's prehistory. Pottery decoration consists of mainly curved lines. | 3850 Copilot, wikHMl 3800 bsic, wikMTM, wikTop |
c.3800 | Λ CYPRUS: under Pottery Neolithic culture from 4500, is destroyed by an earthquake. Chalcolithic Age begins until 2500. EARLY Chalcolithic begins until 3500. First metalwork begins. In the emerging society there are no signs of newcomers, but signs of continuity. | 3900 wohiAC 3800 cpnt, wikPCp 3500 wikPCp |
c.3700 | MALTA: KORDIN-3, the last of 3 temples built on Corradino. A complex of 2 temples, larger has a standard 3-apse plan, typical of Ġgantija phase design. The temple has a concave facade, with forecourt and entrance passage to the central court stone-paved. This stone paving is unique to Kordin III. Behind the temple are some small rooms. Stands until 2500. | 3700 wikKT ' |
c.3600 | MALTA: in Temple Period 41-2500, in Mgarr phase from 3850, Ggantija phase begins until 3200. Characterized by a change in the way inhabitants of Malta live. Megalithic temples at the end of the Xaghra plateau, facing south-east. | 3600 wikGgn, wikMTM, wikTop |
c.3600 | PHAISTOS on south coast of central Crete founded. 2nd largest city after Knossos. Has no palace until 1900. | 3600 wikPst |
c.3500 | SARDINIA, under Bonu Ighinu culture from 4000, OZIERI Culture begins until 2700. Some 200 sites of up to 267 small stone huts, with a circular (rarely rectangular) wall supporting a wooden frame with a ceiling of boughs. They produce finely made ceramics with complex patterns, incisions, and surface decoration. | 3500 wikBC 3200 wikOz |
c.3500 | CYPRUS: EARLY Chalcolithic Period from 3800 ends. MIDDLE Chalcolithic begins until 2800. | 3500 cpnt |
c.3400 | ![]() |
photo: Dreizung 3400 wikSV |
c.3400 | SARDINIA, under Ozieri culture from 3500, comes under San Ciriaco culture until 3200. | 3400 wikHSr, wikPNS |
c.3200 | SARDINIA, under San Ciriaco culture from 3400, comes under Ozieri culture until 2700. | 3200 wikHSr, wikPNS |
c.3200 | MALTA: Ggantija phase from 3600 ends. Saflieni phase beins until 3000. | 3300 wikMTM, wikTop 3200 wikMTM, wikTop |
c.3200 | Use of BRONZE V begins in the Aegean. | 3200 wikPE |
c.3200 | Neolithic Age on Crete from ?? ends. Λ BRONZE Age begins, signaling beginning of Early Minoan Period until 2100. Early Minoan-1 begins until 2650. | 3700 wikTop 3500 wikMnP 3200 wikTop 3100 wikMnC 3000 B76 VI-920, RAH 121 2900 RAH 121 2700 LEWH 59 2600 B76 5-252, CMoG 3-63, MCAW |
c.3200 | ![]() |
left: Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund right: Phoenix Ancient Art 3300 wikCcA 3200 TAWH 16, wikHCc 3100 wikCcc 3000 mxfld |
c.3150 | ![]() |
photo: Frank Vincentz 33-3000 wikTQT |
c.3100 | ![]() |
photo: Frank Vincentz 3150 wikPE 3100 wikTrT |
c.3000 | CORSICA: Neolithic Age from 6000 ends. Late Neolithic from 4000 ends. Chalcolithic Age begins until 1800. | 3000 wikPCr |
c.3000 | EARLY NEOLITHIC-2, in Greece and Aegean from 5100, ends. EARLY Λ BRONZE V begins until 2000. | 3100 wikCcc 3000 ISBE 2-559, RAH 121 |
c.3000 | Walled citadels in north Mediterranean means a powerful elite. | 3000 PW 14 |
c.3000 | Sudden changes occurr on Malta, Crete and Cyprus with a sudden end to the Neolithic phase and the beginning of the Bronze Age. | 3000 RAH 121, mxfld |
c.3000 | MALTA: Saflieni phase from 3200 ends. Tarxien phase begins until 2500. It has only 1 temple at Tarxien, with 3 symmetrical pairs of apses. Temple culture peaks in this period, in craftsmanship of pottery, and in sculptural decoration, both free-standing and relief. | 3000 wikMTM |
c.3000 | MYRTOS PYRGOS on south coast of east Crete founded. Lasts until 2150. | 3000 wikMPr |
c.3000 | ![]() |
photo: Tamás Kisbali 3000 wikMPr |
c.2800 | EARLY CYCLADIC-1 period (also called Grotta-Pelos culture) from 3200 ends.![]() EARLY CYCLADIC-2 (also called Keros-Syros culture) begins until 2300. Figurine types are Kapsala (left) which are narrower with foldes arms, sometimes pregnant, and Spedos (right) from the cemetery on Naxos island, which are most plentiful |
left: Zde right: Martin Durrschnabel 2900 wikCcc 2800 wikHCc 2700 wikHCc 2500 wikCcA |
c.2800 | CYPRUS: MIDDLE Chalcolithic Period from 3500 ends. LATE Chalcolithic begins until 2500. | 2800 cpnt |
c.2750 | MALTA V: Debdieba megalithic temple built. Now destroyed. | 3000-2500 wikMTM |
c.2700 | SARDINIA, under Ozieri culture from 3200, comes under Abealzu-Filigosa culture until 2400. | 2800 wikOz 2700 wikBC, wikHSr, wikPNS |
c.2700 | PLUMBING evidenced on Crete. Minoans use clay pipes to transport water and develop a drainage system, working with the natural gradations of the terrain, to manage sewage and water overflow. | 2800 wikOz 2700 wikBC, wikHSr, wikPNS |
c.2650 | Early Minoan-1 period on Crete from 3200 ends. Early Minoan-2 begins until 2200. | 2900 wikMnP 2650 wikMnC |
c.2600 | Λ BRONZE V AGE begins in east Mediterranean until ????. | 3000 RAH 121 2600 mxfld |
c.2500 | ![]() |
photo: Richard Ellis 2500 smtMH |
c.2500 | MALTA:' Megalithic Temple Period from 4100 ends.' Tarxien phase from 3000 ends. TARXIEN civilization, with its large complex of 4 megalithic temples, disappears. | 2500 wikDSc, wikMTM, wohiDS 2350 wikHMl |
c.2500 | ![]() |
photo: Alecastorina93 2500 wikBiN, wikDSc |
c.2500 | MALTA, repopulated with Sicilians from 3850, is depopulated, but soon (2400) has Bronze Age settlers, who build first fortifications in Malta. | 2500 wikMlt 2350 wikHMl |
c.2500 | Metal vessels produced on Crete until 1450. | 2500 wikMnC |
c.2500 | KNOSSOS Crete population 1,300. | 2500 wikMnC |
c.2500 | CYPRUS: Chalcolithic Age from 3800 ends. LATE Chalcolithic from 2800 ends. Early Λ BRONZEV AGE begins until 1600. | 2700 cpnt 2500 cpnt, wohiAC,' |
c.2475 | BEAKER pottery appears in Balearic islands until 1300. | 2475 wikBC |
c.2475 | OLIVE V trees, cultivated in east Mediterranean from 7000, cultivated in Crete. | 2475 TTPC 5 |
c.2400 | SARDINIA, under Abealzu-Filigosa culture from 2700, comes under Monte Claro culture until 2100. | 2400 wikHSr, wikPNS |
c.2400 | MALTA, depopulated from 2500, Bronze Age culture begins until 700. Tarxien Cemetery phase, an elaborate cult of the dead centered around rock-cut collective tombs begins until 2000. | 2400 B76 11-391, rcSI |
c.2400 | ![]() |
photo: sailko 2400 wikAmr |
c.2400 | CYPRUS has inlux of Anatolians. | 2400 wikPCp |
c.2300 | EARLY CYCLADIC-2 period (also called Keros-Syros culture) from 2800, the apogee of Cycladic civilization, ends. EARLY CYCLADIC-3 (also called Phylakopi culture) begins until 2000. | 2300 wikHCc 2200 wikCcA |
No. They overlap like this: Early Cycladic II (ECII) 2700-2200 Early Cycladic III (ECIII) 2450-2300 Middle Cycladic I (MCI) 2000-1800 |
wikCcc |
c.2300 | ![]() |
photo: Jonathan Zander 2300 mxfld |
c.2200 | ![]() |
photo: Spiccolo 2200 wohiDS, YSic |
c.2200 | CASTELLUCCIO Culture begins in southeast Sicily until 2200. Circular huts, Ceramic glass decorated with brown lines on orange background, and also tri-color, carved bones. Weapons are greenstone and basalt axes and, in later settlements, bronze axes. Burials in rounded tombs carved into rock, with doors with relief carving of spiral symbols and sexual motifs. | 2200 wikCsc |
c.2200 | Early Minoan-2 period on Crete from 2650 ends. Early Minoan-3 begins until 2100. | 2300 wikMnP 2200 wikMnC |
c.2150 | MYRTOS PYRGOS on south coast of east Crete from 3000 ends. | 2150 wikMPr |
c.2150 | DAGGER V: Copper daggers appear in Early Minoan III period at Knossos. | Copilot |
c.2100 | SARDINIA, under Monte Claro culture from 2400, comes under Bell Beaker culture until 1800. Beaker phase 1 begins until 2000. Strong Iberian and Provencial influences. | 2100 wikHSr, wikPNS |
c.2100 | Dokathismata Cycladic figurines of Amorgos island in Cyclades from 2400 end. | 2100 wikAmr |
c.2100 | EARLY MINOAN period ends. Began 3200. Early Minoan-3 period from 2200 ends. MIDDLE MINOAN (Old Palace) period begins until 1600. Middle Minoan-I begins until 1850. |
2100 B76 VI-920, RAH 121, wikMnC, wikMnP 2000 B76 16-677, 19-274, ISBE 1-814, MCAW 15 & 20, TAWH 16 |
But none of these ages and periods much matter, because sources disagree on how to divide them.
Mediterranean 2000-1001
V