Early Bronze Age (around 2800-2000 BC)

At the beginning of this period, new influences from Anatolia were seen in Greece, including the use of copper, and a pre Hellenic language was used. Settlements from this period were concentrated mainly in the eastern coastal Peloponnese, Central Greece, the Cyclades island group, and Crete.

The most significant and impressive Early Helladic site is that of Lerna (in the Argolid of the Peloponnese), with its House of Tiles, which was the earliest building of such imposing dimensions. This was also the period of the very Early Minoan period in Crete, which was influenced by the nearby Near East civilizations, contact having been established with Egypt at the beginning of the Bronze Age; and trade was well established with the Cycladic islands to the north, from which came the famous and evocative marble figurines.

Settlements during this early period were in the eastern part of the long island, most notably at Mokhlos. Here, jewelry and stone vases reached a high level of craftsmanship; at Vasiliki, the later grand Minoan palaces were foreshadowed by impressive house plans. A complete village has been unearthed at Fournou Korifi, dating to around 2600-2200 BC.