The Prehistoric Collection grew out of the discoveries of the great pioneering excavations of the late nineteenth century, which gave form and title to the civilizations of Greek prehistory. Two passionate men laid the foundations for the development of Greek prehistoric archaeology. Charismatic and ambitious, Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) excavated legendary places like Troy, Mycenae and Tiryns. Christos Tsountas (1857-1934) carried on the Mycenae excavations, dug the famous Vapheio tholos tomb and delved even deeper in time with his explorations in the Cycladic islands and Thessaly, which revealed the first civilizations in Greece. Tsountas initiated the first systematic investigations in Greece, which set the standard for research into the Neolithic, Cycladic and Mycenaean civilizations. As Keeper of the Mycenaean and Egyptian Collections of the Museum, from 1896 to 1904, he was responsible for the first inventory of the Prehistoric Collection, which was moved to the newly established National Archaeological Museum in 1892. In that same year Sophia Schliemann, wife of Heinrich Schliemann, donated his personal collection of Trojan antiquities to the new museum. The finds of Greek and foreign archaeologists during the twentieth century enriched the Prehistoric Collection with priceless works from all over Greece. Exhibits from the Peloponnese, Attica, Thessaly and the Cyclades make up the body of the Collection,while important works also come from Lemnos, Lefkada, Kythera and Skopelos.

The Prehistoric Collection remains the richest and most important of its kind in the world. Thousands of visitors converge each day to wonder the treasures from Mycenae 'rich in gold', the tablets inscribed with the Linear B script, the enigmatic Cycladic marble idols, and the Theran wall paintings. The wealth and variety of the exhibits offer both a comprehensive lesson in Greek prehistory as well as a fascinating journey through time.