Archaeologists have unearthed the first building complex ever discovered in Greece .
The complex of 60 buildings marble dates back to 4,600 years and was discovered on a small island in the shape of a mountain peak off the island of Keros , in the Aegean .
Specialists began excavating the site four years ago, but it is only thanks to a more detailed analysis of the data from the past 12 months that the true extent of the complex has been revealed.
Experts say that the latest findings have "transformed" their understanding of Bronze Age culture, suggesting that the early Greeks were "organizationally, technically and politically" far more advanced than previously thought.
Now it is understood that the early Greeks of the Bronze Age made at least 3,500 trips to transport materials to build the glittering complex, which was purposely built to sparkle in the sun.
The journeys, totaling approximately 45,000 miles, saw them ship between 7,000 and 10,000 tons of gleaming white marble from one Aegean island to another.
“It is by far the largest prehistoric shipping operation that has ever come to light anywhere in the world,” Dr. Julian Whitewright, a leading maritime archaeologist at the University of Southampton.
"It demonstrates quite clearly how important, and an integral part of their culture, navigation was for these peoples of the Aegean of the Bronze Age."
The marble buildings are believed to have made up a huge religious sanctuary and the site in the shape of a "mini-mountain", known as Dhaskalio is believed , has a religious significance.
Greek mythology traditionally sees mountain peaks as the home of the gods.
Dhaskalio is now believed to have inspired this fundamental belief.
"It is potentially a fundamental place of origin for the phenomenon of sacred mountains within the Greek world," the world's leading expert on Greek mountain sanctuaries, Dr. Alan Peatfield of the University of Dublin School of Archeology.