The article presents a broad overview of economic, social and religious developments of prehistoric societies of central and eastern Europe. They are discussed in a broad historical and cultural context of trajectory of changes in other parts of Europe. Major geographic features of the region are the steppes in the east, plains in the west and the north up to the Baltic sea, and the Carpathians mountains in the south. The article presents a history of hunter-gatherers' occupation of this part of Europe from the first hominids to the specialized Mesolithic foragers. It further focuses upon emergence of early farmers and their subsequent dynamic developments. Multiscalar transformations of the Bronze and Iron Age communities are then scrutinized, in particular a significance of new technologies of bronze and iron production. Intensified contacts with the Mediterranean civilizations are also discussed. The article concludes by presenting a history of the region in the Roman times dominated by multidimensional relationships with the Roman Empire.