The Bronze Age civilizations that arose and flourished с 3000–1000 BC in the region bordering the Aegean Sea.
They included Crete , the Cyclades , the Greek mainland south from Thessaly, including the Peloponnese, and Macedonia , Thrace , and western Anatolia. The most significant were the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. The term also sometimes refers to Neolithic civilizations in the same region с 7000–3000 BC.