The earliest stages of settlement and social evolution occurred in Greece between 10,000 and 3000 B.C., building the foundation for major advances to begin shortly thereafter.
Current evidence suggests that Greece was settled by people from the Near East, primarily Anatolia.
But some historians argue that groups from Central Europe also moved into the area. Larger villages built between 3500 and 3000 B.C. show that in that period society was becoming more complex, and that an elite group was forming. Shortly thereafter, craft specialists began to appear, and the form of social organization shifted from tribalism to chiefdoms. Population increased in this period at a slow rate. These early groups brought with them a wide range of domesticated plants and animals.