History of Slovakia before the Slovaks

Radiocarbon dating puts the oldest surviving archaeological artifacts from Slovakia—found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom—at 270,000 BCE, in the Early Paleolithic era.

Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era (200,000–80,000 BCE) come from the Prepost cave (Prepoštská jaskyňa) near Bojnice and from other nearby sites.

The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone (22,800 BCE), the famous Venus of Moravany.

Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Moravany-Žákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and Radošina.

Discovery of tools and pottery in several archaeological digs and burial places scattered across Slovakia, surprisingly including northern regions at relatively high altitudes, gives evidence of human habitation in the Neolithic period.

The pottery found in Želiezovce, Gemer, and the Bukové hory massif is characterized by remarkable modeling and delicate linear decoration.

Starting in the Neolithic era, the geographic location of present-day Slovakia hosted a dense trade-network for goods such as shells, amber, jewels and weapons.

In the Early Bronze Age the Unetice culture established important centres in western Slovakia such as the large fortified settlement of Fidvár, which was involved in the mining of nearby gold and tin deposits.

The local power of the Hallstatt "Princes" disappeared in Slovakia during the last period of the Iron Age after strife between the Scytho-Thracian people and Celtic tribes who advanced from the south towards the north, following the Slovak rivers.

Celtic dominance disappeared with the Germanic incursions, the victory of Dacia over the Boii near the Neusiedler See, and the expansion of the Roman Empire.

The Romans and their armies occupied only a thin strip of the right bank of the Danube and a very small part of south-western Slovakia (Celemantia, Gerulata, Devín Castle).

After the Huns in the 5–6th century German tribes such as the Ostrogoths, Lombards, Gepids and Heruli, began to settle in the Pannonian Basin.